'Til Death Do Us Part

Some good friends of mine got engaged last weekend. Normally this is a time of great joy and "buys" bragging rights until the next engagement. But this was so unique I think they gained rights for the next few.

Jack and Emily have been a couple for as long as I can remember. Encompassing all of my high school and college undergraduate years. So the real surprise to the friends was not if she'd say yes, but if he'd actually ask. They took a mini-vacation on Friday and Saturday to Arches National Park. (And no, they don't have the plague). Emily was quite sure this was her time and on many occasions accidentally bumped into him in a vain attempt to find the ring first.

Several hours into the hike as the sun began to set Jack stopped to 'tie' his shoe. His intention was to take the ring out of his pocket and rotate, on his knee, to ask the question. Unfortunately he lost his balance and fell. Normally falling and hiking are of no concern, but the ring was missing and he couldn't ask for help or show panic.

After multiple excuses and what felt like an eternity Jack caught the bling with his eye. Emily never appeared to notice and tearfully accepted. After returning to town they had each friend over for dinner separately. At each dinner Emily would do her best to show off the ring, but neither one would announce the engagement outright. While the women were preparing the meals she made sure to cut ring-side out, and during social time and dinner she was exceedingly expressive - waving that ring like Bush the Elder in a public address.

It was our mission, the guests, to notice. It took me too many hints. But I gather I was not alone in the delayed response. Once the guests took note and asked, Jack and Emily gleefully told their good news. And over dinner they humorously told of the experience that we won't let them forget.

The Plague is Back

Bubonic Plague found in the United States
Utah and Colorado have confirmed cases in Rodents

Arches National Park closed it campground on Tuesday by order of the National Park Service in an attempt to keep infection from spreading to humans.

Bubonic Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis which is carried by rodents and spread by fleas. The bacteria causes a blockage in the flea stomach and as a result they will attempt to feed from sources of food nearby -- this includes their usual hosts, rats, as well as near-by potential hosts, Humans. The fleas die shortly after infection due to starvation.

Infected Humans show flu like symptoms in three to seven days. If left untreated death occurs in 30 to 75% of cases. According to Wikipedia "These two countries [Madagascar and Congo] have on average 600-800 cases each per year. They accounted for 2,025 of the 2,118 cases and 177 of the 182 deaths in 2003".

There have been three pandemics of bubonic plague in recorded history: The Plague of Justinian (541 AD), The Black Death (14th Century), and the Third Pandemic (1855).

Dr. Paul-Louis Simmond researched the Third Pandemic and isolated this Flea-Rat cycle of infection. He found that people were not infected with the disease if they came in contact with the rodent more than 24 hours after death. This is since rodents and fleas infected with Yersinia pestis die shortly after infection. With this in mind, the campground needs to be closed for one day after the death of the last infected rodent.

And To Top It Off:
Google's Ad pairing cannot be beat.
In short: "Stay where the buffalo roam... And the rodents have bubonic plague"

A Case Against Online Education

100% True
100% Scary

The letters below are blinded copies of the official communication between a Masters of Science student and an online university.

This university also offers traditional courses. The in-class option provides an excellent education.

This university is fully accredited by the North Central Association of Higher Education.

Make your own determination as to the value of this course.

==========

TO COLLEGE FROM STUDENT
This letter is to inform you of several occurrences of plagiarism in the most recent course taught by Dr. ***. Blinded copies are enclosed for your review. On *** Dr. *** responded to my concern via email saying “it's not entirely unusual for one student to pick up ideas from another to help form their response.” So, after the second occurrence of plagiarism I asked Director *** to look into the issue.

The graduate code of the University is clear in its expectations of honesty and character. And a graduate student, according the *** Academic Bulletin, is “ expected to understand clearly the nature of cheating and is subject to dismissal from the university for a single incident.”

I am deeply concerned with the quality of education provided to the online students. In addition to the plagiarism, the spelling and grammar used in the discussion forum was not generally at the collegiate level (consider the sample dated *** at 10:55pm). If the instructor is unable or unwilling to assure honesty and quality then the University must step in.

The actions of Dr. *** and Director *** contradict the North Central Commission’s Handbook of Accreditation on three of the five criterion: (#1) Mission and Integrity (#3) Student Learning and Effective Teaching (#4) Acquisition, Discover, and Application of Knowledge.

I believe this can be handled without a formal NCA inquiry. I request that you review this situation thoroughly and respond in writing within thirty days.

Thank you,

**** Blinded Examples

Workshop One
Concerns to professor on ***
Concerns escalated to program director on ***
Concerns followed up with professor on *** (by director)

Workshop Six
Concerns to professor and director on ***
Concerns escalated to *** administration on *** (by director)

*** Discussion | Workshop Six

GROUP ONE
***, ***, ***, ***
Posted *** @ 5:13am
Sourced as: "Based on Walgreen’s found at..."

***'s ongoing task is to offer customers the best online gaming on the web. We focus on gaming innovation with the desires of the end-user in mind. We are guided by values of fairness, trust and honesty as we continue to expand our client base and offer career opportunities to a fast-growing and diverse group of men and women. Our passion is to form and maintain a corporate culture based on respect, creativity, productivity and dignity. We will support these efforts with the most current available technology and international multi-lingual customer service. The success we achieve will allow us to reinvest in our future and build long-term financial security for our customers, our employees and our shareholders.

GROUP TWO
***, ***, ***
Posted *** @ 6:32am
Sourced as: None Given

Offer the best online gaming on the world wide web for their customers, focusing on the desires of the end-user. Our core values will be that of trust and honesty as we go into expanding our client bases and career opportunities. Maintain a corporate culture based on not only trust and honesty, but also on respect, productivity, and creativity.

*** Discussion | Workshop One

***
Posted *** @ 9:48am
In situations of trust deficiency and training self-directed teams would not be advisable. And in situations of low skilled workers it should be used cautiously. The concept is built on knowledge, trust, and understanding. To paraphrase Seinfeld the members must be masters of their domain.

***
Posted *** @ 10:55PM

In continue education on our product or trust deficiency, self-directed teams cannot produce a productive outcome. The amount of product (phones, accessories, data accessories) is not conducive or can sales representatives—to some level, be trusted with this. Inventory is very important.

*** Discussion | Workshop One

***
Posted *** @ 2:16pm
While spirituality is not an official task or concern of a company, the value cannot be ignored. Employees strive to maintain a balance of work and life; this includes their religious affiliations and commitments. Furthermore spirituality serves as a cornerstone for individual values and ethical considerations. Therefore the employer must be sure that spirituality is cautiously monitored such that it can be followed individually if desired but is not forced onto/around others in a manner that is construed as offensive (employers must also assure there is no appearance of preference).

***
Posted *** @ 9:19pm
While spirituality usually isn't considered in a company, it can't be ignored. People that want to keep their Sabbath (no matter what day it is) has to be taken into consideration in some job assignments. As a general rule, one's spirituality, along with culture values, is the basis of one's morals and ethics. High morals and ethics are qualities that companies look for in their employees. However, a company can not be biased for or against a particular religion.

RESPONSE TO STUDENT

This letter is in response to your letter addressed to Dr. *** dated ***. In your letter you stated that there were “several occurrences of plagiarism in the most recent course taught by Dr. ***.” You then presented one instance of group work and two instances of individual discussion postings that you believe were examples of plagiarized material.

The two instances of individual discussion postings that you presented as plagiarism occurred during Workshop One. Your two postings in the *** Discussion Forum were the first student postings in the discussion forum and thus became the basis for an initial thread of discussion. Of extreme importance is the fact that, unlike in-class synchronous discussions where students can add to the discussion using somewhat incomplete thoughts, the initial post of an asynchronous online discussion requires that a student state their thoughts using complete sentences and paragraphs that often include general language related to the question as it has been stated in the workshop material.

In the first example presented, both you and your classmate submitted initial posts that included five paragraphs. Your claim is that the second paragraph of your classmate’s post, discussing the role of spirituality in an organization, was plagiarized based on your fourth paragraph. Careful review reveals that your classmate submitted an initial post that included their own thoughts, several of which were entirely new to the threaded discussion. The particular paragraph in question also had several unique thoughts wrapped inside some relatively general language. In this paragraph, the student was responding to the general question, “Discuss what role spirituality plays in an organization. How do you see [this] reflected in ***?” With this in mind, the statement in the *** honesty and cheating policy that says, “Unquestionable evidence must be in hand before any action will be taken to confront and accuse a student of cheating” cannot be upheld.

The second example provided was also a situation in which one of your classmates presented their initial post. In this case, the student was describing specifically how their company could not utilize self-directed teams. The somewhat poor grammar in the post did make it difficult to understand some of the content. However, other than utilizing a few similar words, the intent and meaning of the paragraph were significantly different than yours. In this case, the student may have developed some of the thought process from your post but the thought development is no different than how students will build on a synchronous conversation utilizing thoughts initially presented by a fellow student.

Regarding spelling and grammar in online discussion forums, it must be stated that the quality of the written word is judged and graded in accordance with the stated course discussion rubric. In comparison, in a classroom setting, the assignment of participation points often has little or no relationship to the quality of grammar or spelling during classroom discussions and activities. Thus, the “penalty” in an online course is more severe than the typical classroom setting.

Finally, concerning the group work example from Workshop Six, you must remember that there are threads of discussion within the small group rooms that allow facilitators and administrators to track the development of group items such as the Mission statement in question. *** has investigated your allegation of plagiarism in this activity and will determine the appropriate action, if any, to be taken.

I appreciate your desire to ensure that *** continues to provide the highest level of honesty and quality in our academic programs.

Sincerely,

Wallets Beware: Predatory Lending

Wikipedia defines predatory lending as "unconscionable lending practices that take advantage of vulnerable borrowers". While there are some APR guides in determining predatory status they are generally loans secured by real estate or automobiles where the total loan payment represents greater than 50% of the monthly after-tax income. In short, they are situations where the lender offers money under the expection of it defaulting. When a loan defaults the lender gains ownership of the collateral (i.e. car title).

One common example of a predatory loan is a Pay Day loan. This loan is granted without a credit check or collateral for a small amount of money (less than $2000 and often for as little as $100) over a short period of time (generally two weeks). The borrower gives the company a post dated check for the principle plus a fee equivalent to the state maximum APR.

In Ohio the maximum interest rate on a two week loan is 390%. So for every $100 borrowed the company is given $115 in the form of a post-dated check. At the end of the two weeks the borrower can (a) pay of the loan in full or (b) allow the check to be cashed. It is understood that the borrower does not have the $115 in the account on the date written, but it expected to be present at the end of the borrowing period.

According to Randy Ludlow of the Cincinnati Post (Payday Loan Abuses) there were ~400 lawsuits by lenders against borrowers in Ohio courts. Because of the nature of the business checks are often written on insufficient funds and Ohio law allows for prosecution under the "hot check" law. If found guilty the borrowers are liable for the original loan, original loan fee, damages equivalent to triple the loan amount, court costs, and 10% interest until paid. The $100 example becomes $410.

Wikipedia's discussion of Pay Day loans compares several other high rates:

• $100 pawn with 20% service fee= 240% APR;
• $100 payday advance with $15 fee= 391% APR;
• $100 bounced check with $48 NSF/merchant fees = 1,251% APR;
• $100 credit card balance with $26 late fee (assumes 25% interest) = 678% APR
  
• $100 payday advance with [sample] Ohio judgement = 3,100% APR

'Idol' Success Story

Fantasia Barrino, winner of American Idol 2004, will be highlighted in a Lifetime Television movie Life Is Not a Fairytale: The Fantasia Barrino Story. The movie is structured to tell the success story of Fantasia's rise from rags to riches. It will tell of her impoverished childhood, life as a single teenage mother, and professional and financial success after winning the American Idol reality television show.

Fantasia has released several songs since finishing Idol and is best known for her smash hit Baby Mama (Lyrics).

There are several possible definitions of Baby Mama according to Urban Dictionary, but none of them are particularly positive. The most common usage refers to a single mother who has never married the father, known as Baby Daddy, and is no longer involved with him.

Unfortunately this situation is often a deliberate plan by one party. Her lyrics And I think it should be a holiday For single mothers tryin' to make a way suggest it was Baby Daddy's plan.

Fantasia has made her own way and is an inspiration to many. The movie is scheduled to air in August 2006.