Dear J-

The only thing you really know about how a given mutual fund performs is its history (I suppose that if you were motivated enough, you could dig down into the actual fund portfolio and do your own research on the investments — but that’s why I give them my money:  that’s their job, and they should be doing that work) but all histories are accompanied by the disclaimer that past history is no indicator of future performance.  It’s like your grades:  if you got high marks last term, there’s a reasonable expectation to get similar marks given the same effort and time.

That, I suspect, has to do something with how people (okay, men) are prone to reading war and competition into everything we do:  my dad waged an unsustainably expensive war of computer one-upsmanship with our neighbors, I conspicuously pull out the big lens when faced with the putty-and-red-ring L-lensed Canon set at the Zoo.  Surely, I think, there’s something better out there:  we as a society are trained to be dissatisfied with the status quo, driving innovation and aggravation alike in equal measure.  I see the already-ridiculously expensive gear hanging off me on weekends and wonder what I could do with more costly stuff.

The truth is that if I had to live with only one lens, say, I could; the fact that I have a silly roadmap in my head of what would make up a complete photographic toolkit for me doesn’t mean that missing tools make me unable to work.  I have pressed Vise-Grips and pliers into service as (or even in favor of) adjustable wrenches when needed; the ridiculous idea that I need something because I don’t have it leads only to that rapidly escalating war with wages, money flowing out as quickly as it comes in.  After all, the US won the Cold War by spending the USSR into oblivion; who are we to argue with past precedent?

Mike

Who are these Philadelphia Eagles? Since when could the Eagles put together back to back clutch fourth-quarter drives to win a game? Let the motto continue for the 2009 ‘Birds: all that matters is the score at the end of the game.

But how long can the Eagles continue this grinding attitude? When will their lack of experience truly shine? O, the many questions that all Philadelphia sports fans are asking themselves today.

I’m pretty sure that I would have preferred to watch paint dry than the third quarter of Sunday’s game. The Eagles were outplayed by the very mediocre Washington Redskins. Not to mention, the injury bug continues to bring down the Eagles and the confidence of Eagles fans. DeSean Jackson left the game with a concussion and Brent Celek may have torn ligaments in his hand (he is still expected to play this weekend).

Now for the grades:

Quarterback: A –

I always like to defend Donovan McNabb when I can. Sunday’s performance against the Redskins might not look great on paper, but McNabb had a much better outing than his 80.7 QB rating shows. He completed 21 of his 35 passes on Sunday. Nothing to write home about, right? Wrong. The problem with just looking at the numbers is that 3 of his 14 incompletions were pass deflections and good plays made by the defensive line. Also, the Eagles wide receivers dropped four passes, three by Celek and one by Maclin. So you put that together and McNabb could have been 28 for 35, which would be an 80 percent completion rate. And who could forget the drive that he put together at the end of the fourth quarter for the second straight game. The man deserves more credit.

Running back: B+

The two point conversion run by LeSean McCoy was one of the most athletic plays of the season. I had to watch it more than once because I couldn’t believe how McCoy was able to keep his balance and convert on one of the biggest plays of the game. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry and is quickly making people forget about Brian Westbrook’s absence. Also need to credit the effort by Leonard Weaver because he has complimented Shady extremely well this season. Not a bad one-two rookie punch.

Maybe it was the black jerseys, but Jason Avant came to play Sunday

Wide Receiver: B --

It’s about time that I see Jason Avant lead the Eagles in yards. It looks like Andy is finally to come around on playcalling. It was a tough blow to the receiving core for the Eagles on Sunday, losing Jackson and Celek. As mentioned earlier, the receivers need to work on their case of butterfingers. McNabb throws a hard ball and not always a perfect spiral, but they are paid the big bucks to catch anything that hits their hands. And did I mention that it was nice to see Avant used more in the offense?

Offensive Line: B-

Straight off his new contract with the Eagles, Winston Justice looked like the scared lineman he was against the Giants two seasons ago. He looked shaky at best, recording two crucial penalties during the game. The first was on a third and goal on the Washington five yard line, where he was called for a false start. The drive ended in a field goal. Later in the game, he was called for holding on a long completion to Maclin. Not exactly the performance the front office was looking for after the contract agreement. On a positive note, I was really impressed with the play by Nick Cole and Jamaal Jackson.

Defensive Tackle/Line: C+

Early in the season, the defensive line was holding the team together. They were recording over three sacks a game and three tackles for losses. Now, it seems as though the opposing quarterbacks have endless amounts of time to throw the football. The Eagles only had one sack on Sunday, from the only player that has truly been carrying his weight on the line—Trent Cole. There is no reason for Jason Campbell to throw for over 230 yards on the Eagles. They need to pressure the quarterback.

Secondary: A –

The MVP of the day in my mind goes to Asante Samuel. Granted his one-hundred pound frame results in tackling difficulties, but the man can flat out cause turnovers. He is a playmaker and he can really change the style of the game. He might give up the occasional big play, but Samuel single handedly kept the Eagles in the game on Sunday.

David "Green" Akers is back to his old ways

Special Teams: A –

David Akers finally looks like the David Akers of old. Ever since his Pro-Bowl caliber year in 2004, Akers’ age seemed to finally catch up with him. He was missing a lot of crucial kicks that used to be automatic. This season though, Akers has come back to life and made his last 15 field goal attempts.

This weekend the Eagles go on the road to face the Atlanta Falcons. Quarterback Matt Ryan will not play due to a turf toe and running back Michael Turner is questionable. So it looks like the Eagles have a pretty good shot to win their third straight game, but it always depends on what Eagles team shows up on Sunday. This is also a crucial week for the ‘Birds because Dallas and the Giants square off. If New York wins, the Eagles will be tied with the Cowboys for first place in the division. So I never thought I would say this, but let’s go New York.

With fall commencement right around the corner for many college campuses around the country, graduates are excited and expecting their diplomas. But are some graduates too fat to graduate? This sounds crazy to me! According to an article on CNN.com, a school in Pennsylvania is basing graduation on physical fitness as well as grades. To read the entire story, click here.

…I have the students I have.

There is a student, a senior girl, in my computer skills class, whom I have never had before this year.  She is a nice, polite girl who does very good work on the computer.  She is diligent and follows through on all the assignments.  The other day, while checking the grades for all my students in all classes, I found that this young lady has two very low grades in classes she needs to graduate.

I questioned her about this, “Eva, why do you have these low grades?  You are way too smart for these grades?”

“Really, you think so?”

“Of course.  You do such good work in here.  You are very smart and should have better grades.”

“No one ever told me that before.”

What?

For 17 years I taught only in the Marketing Academy and I encouraged all of my students.  Sometimes they thought I encouraged them too much!  I just assumed that all the other students out there in the school were getting that same attention.  Maybe not.

The BBC reported on a recent survey by the British Heart Foundation which found that most parents in the UK vastly overestimate the amount of exercise their children are getting. While 72% of parents believe that their children are getting enough exercise, according to the survey, only one in ten children actually get the recommended amount of exercise per day.  As more children begin to suffer the ill effects of not exercising and because obesity in children is on the rise, there is added urgency to understand how weight impacts the lives of children.

A recent study by Clark, Slate, and Viglietti (2009), found that children who were severely overweight had significantly worse marks in all subjects than students who were not obese.  The same was seen with standardized test scores and was found even when controlling for economic status or student conduct. However, the results were only found among white students; weight was not significantly correlated with grades for students in other ethnic categories. The authors caution that much more research should be done as their sample was somewhat limited and that people should be careful of studies looking at weight categories because many children go through growth-spurts at different times. Furthermore, it is important to remember that their research only showed that weight and academic performance were correlated. It is impossible to say that obesity causes low grades when it could very well be the other way around or other factors may influence both grades and weight.

Regardless, the study is interesting because it highlights that the issue of obesity may be worrisome not just because of its ill effects on physical health. Children who are overweight might suffer from low self-esteem or become victims of bullying or social exclusion, all of which could impact their physical and mental health. There are still a number of questions that social psychologists could help answer: Why does obesity negatively correlate with academic success? Do teachers treat obese children differently than non-obese children? Or, are children who are suffering academically less likely to exercise and eat a proper diet?

Read more: David Clark, D., Slate, J. R., & Vigliett, G. C. (2009). Children’s Weight and Academic Performance in Elementary School: Cause for Concern?. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. 9, 1, 185-204.

It was not the prettiest of games, but there was one thing that truly stood out to me on Sunday night. It wasn’t the sight of Devin Hester’s backside that was broadcasted to the millions of viewers, but rather a fourth quarter game-winning drive by the Eagles. For once, the Eagles were not the victims of a late-game run. The Eagles shook off an extremely mediocre first half (where they should have been down by 21 points had Jay Cutler learned how to throw a touchdown pass) and clinched the game with a 10-yard run by LeSean McCoy.

Sorry for the delay on the post, but here are this week’s grades:

Quarterback: B

After the game, McNabb had this to say to the media, “It wouldn’t have mattered if we had won 3-2, this was a game we needed to come out and win by any means necessary.” I couldn’t have said it better myself. He didn’t make the best plays, but he showed the pose on a final drive that Eagles fans have rarely seen. One statistic that really stuck out to me after the game was McNabb’s success on play-action plays. During the game, McNabb was 9-10 for 115 yards and two touchdown passes. That’s a passer rating of 154.2. However, under the shot gun or on non-play action passes, his passer rating was only 60.6 (14-22 for 129 yards and an interception).

Is LeSean McCoy ready to be a premier back in the league

Running back: B+

After a rough week against the Chargers, LeSean McCoy responded with 20 rushes for 99 yards. He took the heavy load and answered some questions about the run game for the Eagles. Not to take too much credit away from McCoy, the Bears defense is not anything to call home about. I don’t think the running game against Chicago could be discussed without the breakout play by Michael Vick. For the first time since entering prison, Vick made a large impact on the football field when his only rush of the game resulted in a 34-yard gain. However, I’m pretty sure that I could have hit that hole created by the offensive line.

Wide Receivers: B

Welcome back DeSean Jackson. He was nowhere to be found last week, but caught another long pass for a touchdown. He finished with his third 100-yard game and fifth game of the year with over 90 yards receiving. Even though he is so athletic, he does need to work on his bad case of the butterfingers (2 fumbles, 1 lost). Jeremy Maclin, Brent Celek and Jason Avant all contributed to a very balanced passing attack by the Eagles. Still need to use Celek and Avant more in my opinion.

Offensive Line: C+

The offensive line did a good job as far as run protection, but they still need some work with pass protection and giving McNabb more time. The Bears recorded three sacks, three tackles for losses and seven hits on McNabb. The main reason for giving a C to the offensive line has to do with penalties. Jason Peters picked up two more penalties, giving him a team-leading six on the season. Five of the Eagles’ eight penalties came on the offensive side of the football. Here is a complete breakdown of the Eagles penalties this season

Trent Cole seemed to be the only Eagle to show up on Sunday night

Defensive Line/Linebackers: C+

Not the strongest performance by the Eagles defensive front. They were unable to cause any turnovers and the Bears averaged 6.3 yards per carry (mostly due to Kahlil Bell’s 72-yard rush in the second half) The linebackers seemed to struggle with coverage for most of the game, especially with tight end Greg Olsen. How shocking? Olsen finished with only 42 yards, but he should have finished with about 90 yards and a touchdown. If only Jay Cutler knew how to hit a receiver that is. The Bears offensive line dominated the ‘Birds’ line for the entire game. The only sack came from Trent Cole and Jay Cutler was only hit two times the entire game. It only makes it harder on the defensive backs when the front seven don’t put pressure on the quarterback.

Secondary: C

Just when you thought the secondary solved their tackling woes, it took five different Eagles to take down Earl Bennett. Even though Sean Jones had an interception, I thought the secondary played pretty poorly against a terrible wide receiving core. As I mentioned twice before in the post, the Eagles are very lucky that Jay Cutler played so poorly or else the secondary could have earned a failing grade. Both Devin Hester and Johnny Knox beat the secondary for what should have been touchdowns. For how talented the secondary is individually, they really need to improve as a whole.

Special Teams: B+

I’m a big fan of Macho Harris as the Eagles return man. He is athletic and is not afraid to hit the holes, averaging 25.2 per return. David Akers wasn’t tested too much on Sunday as he hit his only field goal of 25 yards.

The win against Chicago saved the season for the Eagles. I am not convinced that the ‘Birds are a top team in the NFC because they are too young and inexperienced. However, I do believe that the Eagles are always a contender because their role players know how to win and the defense has the ability to be one of the best in the NFL.

The Eagles are going to be tested for pretty much the rest of the season. There are no more gimme’s from here on out. Up next, the Eagles take on the two-faced Washington Redskins. At the beginning of the season, the Redskins were statistically one of the worst teams in the NFL. As of late, they have won a few crucial games and they realize they are playing a divisional game. While the game is at home, this is no push-over. Happy Turkey weekend and see you on Sunday.

[mood | frazzled but okay]

[listening to | Read My Mind (Like Rebel Diamonds) by The Killers]

…the less happy you get.

“Victoria: a name derived from the Latin word for ‘victory’. Also the name of the Latin goddess of victory, who was based off the Greek goddess Nike.” ~Courtesy of 20000-names.com

So why do I not feel very victorious?

I’m not usually one to gripe, but lately my life has been…a little disappointing. Two friends are essentially talking shit behind my back, I’m barely one week into the six weeks and I’m already failing two classes, and on top of it all my parents are taking advantage of the fact that I love my brothers and are forcing me to care for them all on my own. Add the pre-Thanksgiving frenzy of cleaning and getting the house ready, and I’m frazzled and at the end of my proverbial rope.

@_@;

But you know what? Despite it all, I’ve actually managed to find some creative ways to see a good side to it all. Those friends are probably just angry that they can’t be like me. Those failing classes? It’s only the beginning of the six weeks! I can totally bring those grades up! Caring for my brothers? I’ve been meaning to hang out with them for ages now. And Thanksgiving? Piece of cake: It takes two days tops to clean the whole house. I can pull that off before Thursday.

So see? Every cloud has a silver lining! I won’t let the haters and the jerks ruin it for me this year. Right now I’m smiling and laughing in their faces because you know what? They’re the ones who are wasting their time insulting me when they could be doing something better themselves. And everything else? Nothing I can’t handle; I’ve seen scarier stuff at my dad’s old house on the Southeast Side! My motto has basically become this: Every storm cloud is bound to have a solid gold lining. Make that your mantra for the rest of the year, and be happy! Lord knows that the way things are, we all could use a little happiness in our lives.

Much love and blessed be,

Victoria

High schools in New York that have higher percentages of poor African-American and Hispanic students have been receiving the lowest marks, according to the New York Times. African-Americans and Hispanics make up about 77 percent of A high schools in New York, but 90 percent in schools that got C’s or worse.

The study was meant to equalize differences among student bodies. According to Philip Vaccaro, the grades were designed to be as “demographically neutral” as possible. Schools are measured only against those with students scoring similarly on tests.

My suggestions for improving schools with higher percentages of minorities are:

• Schools should set a high standard for their students to meet. When there are students who need extra help then the teachers should motivate them to better themselves. When people work together, it makes getting better grades easier.
• Offer after-school tutoring from teachers and peers
• Tailor teaching methods to attract student from that culture. For example, the students could teach learn a lesson through music they like, by writing a poem or lyrics and pairing it with a song

By Jalisa

It is the last day before Thanksgiving break for our senior, Emily.  She’s been studying for a Physics test, an exam she takes today.  Like most students in her class, she is dreading that hour of testing.  But then, who among us actually looks forward to taking tests?

I think back on my high school/college days and a great test taker I was not.  Writing papers, reading books, homework, learning new things I enjoyed and did okay at.  The tests, though, especially the math tests, scared me something fierce.  I remember sitting down to tenth grade geometry tests and totally blanking out–not being able to recall one darned thing, which wasn’t saying much since I never ‘got’ geometry in the first place.  I would do an internal freak and sit there and pray asking God to please help me remember something, anything.  Sad to say, I don’t recall any angel visitations or magical equations dancing before my eyes–geometrical illumination completely escaped me.  God was silent, I was paralyzed in mathematical darkness.  Low geometry test scores resulted (geometry was the very last math class I ever took, ever).  To this day I couldn’t explain a proof if my life depended on it…and I’m ok with that (really!). 

I wonder at real life tests, though, that God sends our way.  I wonder at the six months of my husband’s unemployment…was that a test?  Was that time (for me…I can’t speak for the rest of the family here) a time of revealing to me how much I’d learned in the previous years?  Was it a time where I had to not only know I could trust God to lead and provide, but a time when I had to actually trust God to lead and provide?  If so, I had test anxiety!

These past six months I vacillated about what the answers were to our conundrum.  The test question I swam in:

How do we manage to get through this time of uncertainty and financial struggle?  
a. does God want me working?  with short answer option: if so, what work does He want me doing? 
b. does God want me sticking with what I’m doing (giving my time away thru volunteer work and prayer)? 
c. does God want us to try to sell our comfy, beautiful home (at a loss) and move into a cheap apartment? 
d. does God want me to grab this sucker and make something happen in my own power/create income however I think best? 

Of course, everyone had opinions about which answer was correct.  I heard many suggestions from well-meaning friends and family.  But I sat in darkness about what God wanted me to do….I couldn’t hear His answer to the question.  I froze up, just like I did during my geometry tests, gritted my teeth and spun in my seat. 

I think part of the problem had to do with the fact that I’d had this particular test before: it was early in our marriage and we were flat broke and unable to pay our rent.  I looked to God for a rescue of sorts–I wanted Him to provide for our situation.  I wanted Him to show up on my terms.  We landed flat on our faces, utterly humiliated.  A pretty sight? No.  To top it off, deleterious effects ensued for years.  It was a hard lesson and it revealed to me I had much to learn about God and His ways–it was kinda like a pre-test that totally I sucked at it.  What did I learn? I learned that God is not a sugar-daddy but a Father bent on helping me mature spiritually and taking ownership for my decisions in light of His will.   

So, here I was, 20+ years later, taking the test again with my previous grade results blaring through my mind.  “F”, I’m going to get an “F” on this one too!  Unable to relax and let His answer come, I began to wonder if I could ever know the answer.  The best I think I heard was “wait”…which left me with answer “b”, which remedied none of our financial issues and looked (on the surface) a heck of a lot like what we did twenty years ago.   Of course, I second guessed that answer and quickly started examining my motives to see if I was hearing another voice besides His.  Was I expecting a heavenly sugar daddy to show up on my terms?  Was I moving out of fear?  Was I afraid to work?  Was I in denial?  Was I moving from messages from my childhood (that women stay home and men work)?  etc.  The internal work was exhausting  and for a heck of a long time I internally jumped from answer “a” to “b” to “c” to “d” to “e” and back to “a” again.  They all looked plausible and every day Rich was out of work the choices loomed larger before me…the test would not go away, I had to stay there, check the answer I thought was God’s will and live with the consequences. 

With motives thoroughly examined and fears prayerfully faced, I still thought I heard “wait”….”Jeepers, what a crummy answer”, I thought, yet to choose another answer would have felt like disobedience, which (I’ve learned the hard way) is a much crummier way to go.  So, wait and stick with what I was already doing was my answer…even though I second guessed it hourly, it was all I got, so was all I could do in good conscience.  Before God I sat ready to accept the fallout of my decision…ready to accept the ramifications of what I perceived to be His Will for our life.  Still squirming in my chair I handed in the exam and am waiting for the test grade.

Ten days ago Rich (my husband) was offered and accepted a position that will float us pretty well financially and allow us to stay in our home.  In many ways prayers have been answered (thank YOU if you prayed for us!!!)…in many ways I sense my answer was pleasing to Him.  Yet, I’m not sure I aced this test.  But then maybe His tests aren’t really about acing…maybe they just reveal where we’re at spiritually.  Maybe they help us see how we’ve grown or withered in our relationship with Him.  It may be years before I get to see this test grade…until then I think it is probably prudent to quit sweating and squirming in my desk wondering how I did and get on with answer “b” until I hear Him say something else.

I texted West Coast while high last night. I know I said I’d never smoke weed again, but oh well. I was in a really good place last night.

He looked great for the dinner but I didn’t see him at the dance. So I told him he looked good and that I was too high to worry. He didn’t respond, but there’s nothing I can do.

Tomorrow is the boyfriend’s birthday. He managed to get some weed from a friend so I have to think of something else to buy him. He’s turning into kind of a big stoner, which isn’t good because his grades are suffering anyway… but that’s not for me to worry about, it’s his cross to bear.

My grades are what I need to worry about. I spoke with the advisor for students with disabilities on Friday, and he told me he could help me with classes that I don’t have the energy to wake up for. Sometimes I feel so weak that I can’t get out of bed, and he said that it counts as a disability. So what that means is I’ll get to live in a single next year at no extra cost and that my professors will all be notified that I have some debilitating illness that prevents me from having perfect attendance.

My attendance is near perfect, but I don’t want to drop from being an A student to a B+ student just because of depression and anorexia.

I weighed in, and my BMI is 18.4. I’m underweight, but barely. I mentioned last time that I’m doing the “Skinny Bitch Challenge” and that I’m liquid-fasting right now, so I’m hoping to see that number go down soon.

I set a goal at 95. That’s when I’ll be able to smile again. Not so thin that I black out while walking, and not fat enough to invalidate any fleeting moments of joy I might experience.

I’m feeling really tired, but I’m going to go into town to get a gift for the boyfriend later. I’ll need more coffee first I think.

For the next several weeks, we’ll look at report cards from around the world.

~ A Spot of Tea ~

~ 6^th Stop ~ England ~

.

You may be familiar with the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, but do you know where they were originally bred? Staffordshire, a county in the West Midlands region of England, has a little over a million residents living in 2 cities and about 6 towns. Known for its porcelain and cathedrals (and a rock formation called The Roaches), Staffordshire has its fair share of tourists. In terms of education, the county has a handful of independent schools and two major universities Keele University and Staffordshire University.

.

Report Card Basics

• Type of School: Independent Local School
• Academic Year: 1999 – 2000
• Class: 3^rd Year (8^th year of education)

Here’s the report card! The blue numbers highlight a few interesting aspects of the report and the numbers correspond to notes below the image.

1. 14 Years Old in… Year 3

The top of this report card reads. “Third Year Progress Card,” which would indicate elementary school to an American. However, in England, the Year 3 can mean the third year of secondary school, which is 8^th Grade in the U.S.

2. A Letters & Numbers Report Card

Unlike some 7 to 11 page report cards we’ve seen so far, this report card consists of just 1 page of (mostly) letters and numbers. While the card contains much less comment space than the Australian report cards, the grading system is much more flexible than India’s card of exam scores. The focus of this report is student’s measurable performance and effort.

3. A is for Excellent!

Unlike the U.S., the British system does not have a grade point average (GPA) system, which correlates to the letter grade. The letter system in this report card seems more flexible (and some would argue more subjective) than a number based on 100, for instance an 88 percent (which is a B+ in the U.S.). Not that American students have anything to complain about; British students will sit for Board Exams, which can be very competitive and strictly scored. Note that the effort grade—based on a 5-point system—receives as much space and importance as the performance grade.

4. I’m Giving You an A… I mean a B… How about an A/B?

Another example of the flexibility of this reporting system is the use of an A/B. In many American schools (especially where the grading system is computerized, and every box needs to be filled.

5. Classes ~ E, H, G, F, RE… Take A Guess!

On this report card, the course names are abbreviated to a letter or two… so the students better know what classes they are taking, so they can tell their parents. Here’s my best guess as to what all the abbreviations stand for:

E – English

H – History

G – Geography

F – Foreign Language

RE – Religious Education

M – Math

P­ – Physics

C – Chemistry

B – Biology

We’ll see how close I got… UPDATE ~ All the classes are correct!

See Report Card from: Zomba, Malawi; Sydney, Australia, week 1;    Sydney, Australia, week 2;   Dalhousie, India; Kathmandu, Nepal;    Soro, Denmark

Report card analysis to look forward to: Palestine, Canada, Mexico and more!

In D2L, you have the capability of editing multiple items on one screen for Content, Dropbox, Quizzes and Grades. This is especially useful for the converted courses. For example, you can hide enumeration for all the items in Content at once. However, the options that you can edit on the multiple items page are limited. For some detailed settings, you still need to edit the items one by one. Let’s look at what you can do on the edit multiple items page for Content, Dropbox, Quizzes and Grades.

First, you have to use the checkbox in the left upper corner to select all the items. Then, click on the double pencil icon to bring up the edit multiple items page.

Content

In Content, you can change titles, hide or make files available, and hide enumeration.

Dropbox

In Dropbox, you will see the list of assignment folders on the page. You can change the name of assignments and the assignment’s category if you have categories set up, as well as set the date availability for the assignments (which maybe the most useful option).

Grades
In Grades, you can change the name of Grade items, max points, weight, grade scheme, and category. You may find the capability of editing points here is the most useful option.

Quizzes
In Quizzes, you can change the name of quizzes and the assignment’s category, make the quizzes active or inactive, and change the attempts allowed setting. If you are using Start date to control the availability, make sure it is set to active so students will see the quizzes when Start date begins.

Posted by Chia-Chi Yang

A page from the Federal Trade Commission on Amy Lyngstad using her daughter’s identity. When called they are confused too why Amy Lyngstad has not been arrested for identity theft.

The trial court has a duty to ensure the children are protected at every turn. Williams v. Williams, 425 N.W.2d 390, 393 (S.D. 1988); Jasper v. Jasper, 351 N.W.2d 114, 117 (S.D. 1984).

Just another case law Judge Anderson and the rest of his brethren ignore. Laws are only to scare honest people.

No prosecution walked away with 13 thousand in “free merchandised which the public paid for.

106 bad checks no prosecution.

Lists different Social Security numbers and alias, FTC has as well as law enforcement and the Courts. No prosecution.

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Met with my Career Services counselor today – eehhhh!  She was very nice, answered almost all of my questions.  Just not as proactive as I would have liked.  It was more about her wanting to answer any questions I had and not so much offering advice or asking me leading questions to determine how best I could be served.

So, this is it – the main crappy part of law school – in class, at career services, in the book – no one wants to give you the answer!!!  Professor Contracts calls it “hiding the ball”!!!  Have you ever asked someone a question, like imagine going to a restaurant and asking the waitress, “Do you have the Sea Bass today?”  and she responds, “Well, based on the your last experience here, did you ask that same question?  Well, what was the response then?  And was it around the same time as it is now?  And what about that situation is different than this?”…..AAAAHHHH!!!  And then even when you come up with the answer, the Prof still might say, “I see…”!  So hard to learn that way – and I cannot understand how that is at all helpful!

Personally, I am beginning to beleive 1st year is about making it soo unbelieveably hard and combining that with the impossible task of achieving the highest grades so that people freak out and quit!!  I mean, think about it – we have 1 semester!!!  That is IT!!!  If you don’t get over a 3.4 I would say, you are forever out of the runnning for HALF of the law school experiences!!!

More later…

Kids are like tax attorneys:  give them a rule, and they’ll find a loophole.

My rule:  My teenage daughter is not allowed to have electronics in her bedroom.  No cell phone, no I-Touch, no internet, no cable t.v., no D.V.R. Not even a digital camera.  Why?  Because if she has that stuff in her room, she’ll never come out. 

Also, because of a 2008 study, from Stanford University, on the effect of cable t.v. and internet in teenage girls’ bedrooms. They studied 1,345 teenage girls, ages 13-17, and found that girls with cable and/or internet in their bedrooms were:

1) Likely to have significantly lower grades than girls with electronic-free bedrooms,

2) Twice as likely to use drugs and have discipline problems at school

3) Three times as likely to get pregnant during high school.

Alani has grumbled about the no electronics rule, but she accepts it.  Sort of.  Last Sunday I came upstairs and found her laying in the hallway, tucked in a blanket, just outside her bedroom door.  She’d propped pillows against the wall and was reading a book.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“It’s my bed-in-the-hall,” she said. 

Her trusty I-Touch and cell phone sat on the floor next to her.  Her hallway spot  – inches from her bedroom door – was the equivalent of those retail fireworks places that sprout up in Indiana just across the Michigan border, to evade the Michigan anti-firecracker laws. 

Well done, Alani. 

Oh, and that Stanford University study?  It doesn’t exist.  I made it up. 

Still, you know it’s true.

I’ve certainly been busy since the last time I posted something! Where to begin with what I’ve been doing?

Well, for starters, I was given the chance to act in a college film. I was there for 8 hours of filming, and I only acted for about 2 hours at most in it. But, it was fun anyway. I learned that my college does not have digital video cameras. We have the 16mm film cameras (the first design to have a zoom button!). I learned that actors need to find a way to keep themselves entertained between scenes. There is a short period of movement and action, accompanied by long moments of nothing.

An interesting note about this filming experience was that I was nearly arrested. Our director had found ‘the perfect spot’ to film the movie. (I will be saying ‘our’ and ‘we’ because there were about 5 or 6 people working on this film every moment I was there.) So, we all crammed into the pack of gum he calls a car and went off to this dirt lot on a fairly busy road next to a liquor store. (Needless to say, my claustrophobe self was more than happy to get out of the car.) Now, the story has a homeless man in it. So, one of our actors set himself up as a homeless man. We were recording for about an hour before the liquor store owner came out. Man, the owner was seriously P.O.ed. He was angry because we were recording a ‘bum around his establishment.’ Our director told him that his store wasn’t on the film. We couldn’t prove it to the owner because we were using the old 16mm film. He said that we had to prove to him his store wasn’t in the film, or he was going to call the police to arrest us. We didn’t want to get into trouble with the police, and we couldn’t prove to him that his store wasn’t in the film, so we had to leave. It really orally evacuated that we had to move. That dirt lot was an awesome place to shoot, and was better than the place we had to go to film the movie.

I saw Celtic Thunder when they came to San Diego! They were only here for one night, but it was a beautiful night. I fell deeper into love, had my heart broken, and fell in love with them all over again. I’m convinced that only a Celtic Man can pull such emotions from me. I had so much fun. I couldn’t hear properly for a day (due to my own screaming), and my throat was a bit sore from the event for about 5 days after they event. I can’t wait for them to come back to San Diego, though. I just hope that I can get better seats next time!

I also had the chance to see The Lion King in the theatre!  Alright, I had nosebleed seats (what do you expect for $28?), but I still saw it!  I took my aunt with me to the show, as she’s never been in the audience of a theatre, only on stage.  She, for some reason, wasn’t as impressed with everything as I was.  She was expecting the actors to be in more of an animal-looking costume.  We had the chance to go with the Director behind the scenes of The Lion King.  I learned so much information from there.  Apparently, there is 2 of everything for the traveling show.  There were two traveling shows in the USA, and when it became 1 show, that show ended up with both sets of props, costumes, and equipment.  The show I saw had the most South Africans  then any other Lion King show being played in the world.  6.  6 South Africans in the USA Touring Show.  That doesn’t seem like a lot to me, but it appearently takes at least that many to keep everyone in the show on track!  There are about 5 differnt African languages spoken in the show, which I found to be fascinating.  The one spoken the most is Zulu.

On the school front, I have been working on two group projects, a midterm, and a couple of essays. I think that my group projects are going well. One is going to be a Civic Engagement speech on the Ugandan Children, and the other is 10 minute play for my Theatre class. Our play is going to be a comedy of the LA judge that refused to marry an interracial couple. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s an article about it on CBN News.) I think that my midterm went well – it was in math. I hope that I passed it! I need all the good grades I can get in that class.

I’ll probably be putting the theatre project and play up onto Youtube when I get a copy of them. I’ll post the links/put the video on here when I get the chance to.

Well, now that I’m done telling you all about my life, I’m off to do some school work. Group projects really take all possibilities of having a life away from you.

Brightest Blessings,
Sockgirl