us education

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Malcolm Gladwell, author of Outliers, has an article in this past week's New Yorker called "Most Likely to Succeed." He weaves together two narratives -- the problem a NFL scout named Dan Shonka faces in trying to advise teams on which quarterbacks to draft -- and the problem of figuring out how to hire effective teachers.

The link? Top-drafted quarterbacks have an incredibly mixed record in the NFL, in part because the game is just so much more advanced than what they play in college. Rather than throw a perfectly straight pass to an open receiver you can see, you have to throw a perfectly straight pass to a well-guarded receiver you can't see. And you'll be doing this while 4 300-lb guys are trying to dive on top of you. You can't judge a college quarterback on how well he executes the same play over and over; in the NFL he'll have to improvise more because the defense is far less predictable. "There are certain jobs where almost nothing you can learn about candidates before they start predicts how they'll do once they're hired," Gladwell writes. "So how do we know whom to choose in cases like that?" The "case like that" with the most profound social consequence, of course, is teaching.

Readers of this blog know that teacher quality really matters. We've discussed Eric Hanushek's work at Gifted Exchange before, which shows that kids assigned to a good teacher and bad teacher can diverge wildly in achievement in as little as a year. In three years, it's an almost insurmountable difference. As Gladwell points out, "teacher effects dwarf school effects: your child is actually better off in a 'bad' school with an excellent teacher than in an excellent school with a bad teacher. Teacher effects are also much stronger than class-size effects. You'd have to cut the average class almost in half to get the same boost that you'd get if you switched from an average teacher to a teacher in the eighty-fifth percentile."

If you talk to any principal she can tell you -- quite easily -- who's an effective teacher at her school and who isn't. You can also see it in student test scores. A few districts test students at the start of the year and the end of the year. Barring massive differences between classes, this gives you an idea of which teachers give the most "value-added" bang for your buck. If you tested effectively, you could even judge teachers of gifted kids this way -- the kids might score at the 99th percentile on grade level tests, but give them an out-of-grade level test. I recall something like this happening in 3rd grade for me. I took the 3rd grade standardized math test, got a 99, so I took the 4th grade. I got a 99th percentile on that too, so I took the 5th grade test. My score there? 79th percentile -- which meant this was probably the level where I belonged. By the end of the year I was at the 99th percentile on the 5th grade test. That 20 percentage point jump is a pretty good indication I was learning something.

But how do we define effectiveness? Or is it just like the famous quote about pornography, that we just know it when we see it? Gladwell discusses watching tapes with folks from Virginia's Curry School of Education to show how effective teachers behave in the classroom -- they tend to engage students, evaluate where everyone is, problem solve to figure out new ways of explaining things, and keep order by redirecting kids who are misbehaving. There really are big differences -- he describes one trig teacher who, in the time it takes a less effective teacher to boot her computer because she forgot to turn it on, has managed to interact with every child in his math class.

But while it's obvious to everyone which practicing teachers are good and which aren't, Gladwell says, it's not obvious to anyone when you're hiring a new teacher who will be good and who won't. The things we typically look for -- masters degrees, teaching certificates -- tell you absolutely nothing. Only being in front of a class can tell you that. But by the time a teacher has her grounding in front of a class -- 2 years in -- she's protected from firing by a rigid tenure system if she's bad, and rewarded less than a 30-year piece of deadwood if she's good.

So Gladwell suggests changing up the process. "We shouldn't be raising standards" for hiring teachers, he says. "We should be lowering them, because there is no point in raising standards if standards don't track with what we care about. Teaching should be open to anyone with a pulse and a college degree-- and teachers should be judged after they have started their jobs, not before. That means that the profession needs to start the equivalent of...training camp. It needs an apprenticeship system that allows candidates to be rigorously evaluated... you'd probably have to try out four candidates to find one good teacher. That means tenure can't be routinely awarded...An apprentice should get apprentice wages. But if we find eighty-fifth percentile teachers who can teach a year and a half's material in one year, we're going to have to pay them a lot -- both because we want them to stay and because the only way to get people to try out for what will suddenly be a high-risk profession is to offer those who survive the winnowing a healthy reward."

(As a side note, this tracks my point about treating the teaching corps like McKinsey in my Michelle Rhee post: McKinsey is more selective than most big school districts, but it still hires a lot of associates and tries them out. Most leave of their own accord or are "counseled to leave" in three years. It's hard to stick around to make partner. But once you do, the rewards get much better).

It's an interesting piece and, in Malcolm Gladwell fashion, very engaging. Of course, he paints with a broad brush to make his point (also vintage Gladwell). Though Gladwell doesn't mention this, Hanushek studies have found that one or two variables we can figure out beforehand do matter some. A key one? Teachers' scores on standardized tests. That means that, other things being equal, a teacher who scores a 700 on the SAT math section is going to be a more effective teacher than one who scores a 500. The higher score tends to indicate that the teacher is better able to figure things out quickly. This ability to solve problems quickly is a key component of the "withitness" that Gladwell notes is a common attribute with good teachers. (Perhaps it's another way of saying "intelligence" but since Gladwell just wrote 2 chapters in his last book about how IQ doesn't matter, he doesn't mention this).

Furthermore, Gladwell gets so excited about proving a point that he often fails to be consistent across all his writings, arguing different points with equal vigor. For instance, in Outliers, he reprints charts showing that poor students in Baltimore learn as much as better-off students during the school years, it's just that they learn nothing (or forget things) over summer break. All the talk of reforming schools "assumes that there is something fundamentally wrong with the job schools are doing," he writes. "But look back at the second table, which shows what happens between September and June. Schools work. The only problem with school, for the kids who aren't achieving, is that there isn't enough of it."

Or is the problem that they have lousy teachers? Many more hours over the summer with a lousy teacher is not going to help matters.

The point is that there are many things that need addressing with education. For instance, even bad teachers can do better in classes that are tracked by ability than in heterogeneous classes. We need a lot more acceleration, teachers with better test scores, a more rigorous curriculum, reforms to tenure, etc.

But Gladwell does raise interesting points to a broad audience, and so I'm glad to see this piece in the New Yorker. A mediocre education system isn't good for anyone. Teacher quality matters a lot, and with Bill Gates and others now focusing on it, we may actually get somewhere.

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Going back into education often brings lots of changes, and with them challenges. Work and family commitments combined with a return to education demand that time is managed properly. While some adults going back into education find that they can take a full time degree at a college or university and live away from home for their studies, other adults returning to education find that distance learning, e-learning, or combining work with studies in a virtual learning environment are more appropriate to their learning requirements.
There are challenges for adults going back into education, but thanks to a range of online degree courses and other Internet based learning resources, there are many great ways of improving your skills and knowledge.
One challenge with going back into an education setting is learning to use the technologies associated with e-learning and distance learning. Because flexible work based learning is becoming more popular with professionals from a range of backgrounds, the virtual learning environment is an important aspect to consider. With education providers able to use the Internet to deliver a variety of teaching, research, and study resources including live broadband broadcasts of classes, syllabuses, lecture material and an array of research and study material, it is important to grasp the skills needed to engage in the e-learning environment.
Thankfully accessibility and easy to use web sites is the key to being accustomed to the virtual learning environment. With online learning, an incredible amount of quality courses – from online business degrees to distance learning management courses – are available. Because many providers of online degrees can deliver their programs entirely via the Internet, a great deal of flexibility for students can be made use of.
This makes going back into education less stressful and easier to manage. Taking a business degree online for instance, often allows you the opportunities to study at a pace that suits your work commitments, and time classes and e-learning activities around your job schedule and home life, so the challenge really lies in prioritising. Learning though will mostly always be the same.
Although the Internet makes it easier to do a distance learning course, or a range of online management courses, you still need to do the actual work!
And that requires the usual effort, commitment and focus you would need if you were going into a college or university during the week. So for that purpose, the challenges of going back into education are the same as ever. But that’s where the difference ends. You’ll find a noticeably more professional or vocational outlook through the online degree system, because these e-learning models are set up with professional workers, looking to combine study with work, in mind.
As the education sector has become more customer driven, the online education sector is fully devoted to ensuring students are given as much flexibility as possible. So the challenge is going back into education today is really in making the right choices about what online degree program is right for you.
This free Careers article is brought to you by http://www.articlevista.

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The Malaysian Insider remain valid, so I'll repost my entire statement below.

PAS Selangor Needs A Crash Course on Coalition Politics

The Chinese vernacular press today had headlines screaming that PAS Selangor intends to impose a ban on the sale of alcohol throughout the state, which will involve stopping the sale of these products in 7-11 outlets, mini-markets as well as 'open' coffee shops.

It also appears that despite not having obtain approval for such a proposal in the Selangor state executive committee (EXCO), PAS Selangor has attempted to subvert the EXCO's authority by introducing such regulations in Selangor by instructing its municipal councillors to table such motions for approval at the local councils.

While PAS Selangor has every right to propose any regulations it feels is necessary, they must not forget that in Selangor, they are part of a coalition comprising of 2 other parties in the state whereby they possess 8 seats out of 36 seats won by the Pakatan Rakyat coalition. Therefore, any attempts by PAS Selangor to flex its muscles without due regard to its fellow coalition partners will be deemed as arrogant and uncooperative, which will only serve to weaken the governing coalition which was voted in by the Selangor citizens.

More critically, PAS must understand the fact that Selangor, perhaps more than any other state is one of the most multicultural and cosmopolitan states in the country, with non-Malays and non-Muslims comprising at least 49% of the population. PAS Selangor leadership under State Executive Councillor, Datuk Dr Mohd Hasan Ali must realise that it has won many seats in Selangor which are mixed constituencies such as Kota Raja parliamentary seat. PAS has won with a sizeable 8,329 votes majority, despite the fact that more than 50% of the population are non-Muslims a feat which was previously unimaginable before March 8th.

Hence, if PAS Selangor choses to ignore the spirit of the multi-racial and multi-cultural mandate granted by the people of Selangor in the last elections, its continued unilateral attempts to impose its views in the Selangor administration will only lead to the break up in the state Pakatan Rakyat.

The DAP does not and will never support the sale of goods such as alcohol and spirits to Muslims, giving full respect to each their religious beliefs. However, the DAP will never support the blanket banning on the sale of alcohol in retail outlets, not because we encourage the promotion of alcohol consumption but because the proposed ban in essence infringes on the rights of others in state of Selangor.

We call upon the state PAS leadership to listen to the voice of reason not only from its coalition partners but also from within its own party which is not unanimous with the decision. PAS Selangor must understand that it is part of a coalition led by the Selangor Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim and learn quickly the intricacies of the Pakatan Rakyat coalition which is vastly different from the Barisan Nasional, where UMNO lords over its coalition partners.

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"If you believe people have no history worth mentioning, it's easy to believe they have no humanity worth defending" William Loren Katz

I want to work

Working is something that most of us take for granted. People with a learning disability have the same right to work as everyone else, but they find it much harder to get a job. This is despite the fact that research shows that 65% of people with a learning disability would like a paid job.

People with a learning disability make highly valued employees when given the right support, but there are less than 1 in 10 people with a learning disability known to social services in paid work.

We want to challenge people's attitudes about people with a learning disability and show how much people with a learning disability can offer in the workplace.

What is World disability week?

States are taking an important step in the promotion of further understanding and awareness of disability and the disability rights movement by designating a week (or more) to acknowledge the role and contributions of individuals with disabilities in our society. During an established Disability Week, states will require their public schools to infuse instruction and activities related to disability history into the existing school curriculum.

Why?

It is important that our youth understand in order to appreciate how individuals with disabilities were once viewed and treated. During Disability Week, students will be provided with the opportunity to learn how people with disabilities were instrumental in changing history, and how they became active participants in changing societal attitudes about their needs, desires and capabilities. By teaching disability in schools, we are taking the necessary steps to ensure that history is not repeated and that there continues to be movement towards an even more accessible society in future generations.

We, at Swami Brahmanad Prathishthan, centre for mentally challenged, are happy to inform you that all Special Schools, Organisations and Parents of Persons with Disabilities from Navi Mumbai and Raigad District have come together under the banner of on the occasion of World Disability Day which is celebrated on the 3rd December every year. The objectives of ARUSHI are awareness on Disabilities and empowerment of all Persons related to the field of Disabilities

The following program has been planned during the entire week.

2nd to 7th December Poster Exhibition on buses, railway station and bus depots.

3rd December Rally

4th December Panel discussion cum press conference at SIES College of Management

5th 6th December Health Check up cum Certification Camp

5th 6th December Information Counter at various locations

7th December Fun Fair, Cultural Program, Creative workshops

Friends we make a sincere appeal to you to help us in making this celebration a success. We also look forward to your valued participation on each and every day of the program.

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Posted in WackWall |
WackWall has now three new features:
1.    HTML box allows you to add any content into the box. For example you may add your own advertisements and run them free of charge and get revenue.
2.   RSS box – add news from your or other blogs it will help you attract new members and get activity on your network. You can always have fresh content on your theme even before your site gains members and activity.
3.    Widget gallery with more than 70,000 widgets from Widgetbox. We integrated and tested the library with 70 thousand widgets not long ago into WackWall. Now this feature is officially available.  You can choose any widget from the library and use them in your network. Your members will love them.
How to use:
To access three new features go to your network’s administration area - under the Features/Layout section look to the right and you will see a box with “Custom components”- drag and drop any of the feature into a desired block of your network - click the icon of a screw key in front of the added feature - follow  the and hit the button Save Changes.
All three features can be used on the index page.
Your feedback or commetns are welcome.

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Having read this article it's my hope that you'll have a better understanding of the process, even if some of the information may become out-dated over time you'll still have a good starting point to base your own research upon. Best of luck in creating your own eCommerce site, and consider sending me some canaps in the post when you've made your fortune.
Ben Bracken is a highly experienced graphic designer and stock photographer based in Hampshire, UK.
http://www.picdisk.co.uk/shop.html http://www.beecreative.co.

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Jessica Lopez had been homeless for five years, but transitional housing run by My Sisters Place in Hartford gave her an opportunity to get back one of her four children.
She told a group of housing advocates Thursday that if she was given the chance to live in one of the 30 proposed supportive housing units she may be able to get the rest of her children back.
m scared when two years are up I wont have a place to live, Lopez said. I dont want to end up back on the street with my son.
Lopez isnt alone. Housing advocates throughout the state recently received a wake-up call when Gov. M. Jodi Rells administration ended its support of a $35 million commitment to build 150 new supportive housing units throughout the state.

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The designer for this WordPress theme writes: "The Name of the theme was inspired by the famous American jazz sax-player, Branford Marsalis. Although Im German, I decided to present this theme in english in order to make it available for a greater audience. German version may follow.
"I took those elements that I liked the most in every theme and combined them together in one single theme. The different page templates are inspired by Brian Gardners theme, the use of custom fields is something I first recognized at by Darren Hoyt. The Tabbed section in this version 2.0 is done by using ui.tabs by Klaus Hartl (stilbuero.de).
"This is my very first WP-Theme and if you detect any bugs, please let me know. If you use this theme, please let me also know and make sure the copyright remains as it is."
Visit the theme home page.
Email the theme designer at kontakt@der-prinz.

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DR CONGO: UN-MANDATED GROUP FINDS EVIDENCE RWANDA, ARMY AIDING RIVAL REBELS
New York, Dec 12 2008 8:10PM
A group of experts monitoring a United Nations arms embargo on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) reported today that it had found evidence that the Rwandan authorities and the Congolese army have aided opposing rebel groups in the war-ravaged east of the country. In its final report to the Security Council the Group of Experts, set up in 2004, said that while there is little documentation available to prove Rwandan material support to the rebel National Congress in Defence of the People (CNDP), it had found evidence that Rwandan authorities have been complicit in recruiting soldiers, including children, facilitated the supply of military equipment, and sent their own officers and units to the DRC to support the CNDP.It based its research on dozens of interviews with eyewitnesses, including former combatants and officers of the mainly Tutsi CNDP, members of the business community, regional intelligence officials and local eyewitnesses, all of them consistent and credible in describing the involvement of the Government of Rwanda.Given the nature, however, of the conflict in eastern Congo, much of the financial and military support is informal and does not leave a paper trail, the Groups Coordinator Jason Stearns told a later news conference.The Group recommended that the Security Council Sanctions Committee remind the Government of Rwanda of its obligations under which it pledged last year to prevent any support to CNDP, entry into and exit from its territory of CNDP members, use of Rwandan telephone networks and banking systems, and holding fund-raising meetings in Rwanda.With regard to the DRC authorities the Group said it had obtained strong evidence that the Government army, known by its French acronym FARDC, collaborated with the mainly Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), including through the provision of military equipment and in joint operations against CNDP.FDLR collaborated extensively with FARDC during the December 2007 clashes with CNDP in Masisi and Rutshuru territories and has continued to collaborate with FARDC during fighting that began this August, it added.An upsurge of fighting since August between the two rebel movements, the army, and various other militias in North Kivu province in eastern DRC has driven 250,000 more civilians from their homes, in addition to the hundreds of thousands uprooted in earlier clashes.The Group interviewed over 30 FDLR ex-combatants, of whom 15 provided first-hand, concrete testimony of FARDC-FDLR collaboration. It also interviewed several former and active FARDC soldiers who corroborated this information.The Group has identified at least three Congolese army commanders who are guilty of providing support to the FDLR, Mr. Stearns said. While this collaboration is widespread and regular, the Group has not been able to prove to what extent the top leadership of the army is involved in this practise but its cleat that they know and have done nothing to bring it to an end.The Group has put forward several FARDC commanders for sanctions for supporting FDLR and another group called PARECO, and recommended that the Sanctions Committee request the DRC authorities to issue clear directives to its troops that collaboration and cohabitation with FDLR and PARECO are prohibited. Appropriate disciplinary measures should be taken against FARDC soldiers collaborating with these armed groups. The report noted that the FDLR obtains millions of dollars a year from the minerals trade, mostly through taxation of mines and traders, and that many traders are complicit since they know the gold, cassiterite, coltran and wolframite come from FDLR-controlled zones.We believe that the burden should be on the Congolese buying houses as well as on international mineral traders to conduct due diligence into the source of the product, Mr. Stearns said of one of the planks in enforcing the embargo.The Group also pointed out that CNDP and FDLR leaders reside or travel through countries in Africa, Europe and North America where they rally support and funds. The Group believes that such political support is essential for their fund-raising and constitutes a violation of the arms embargo, Mr. Stearns said.
Dec 12 2008 8:10PM
For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/newsTo change your profile or unsubscribe go to:
http://www.un.

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If you live in a house, as opposed to an apartment, you will need to install outdoor lighting. Now the biggest problem is to make sure that it is safe enough for people and animals. If you use overhead wiring, you run the risk of the wiring breaking in a high wind and falling to the ground. If you place the wiring underground, you run the risk that the insulation may get damaged by normal gardening activities, and the electricity may leak out. Your pet animals or your children can easily get a nasty shock if they come in contact with the exposed conductor. There is a chance that electrocution may take place. The basic reason is that the normal outdoor lighting system runs on high voltage electricity. You can eliminate any risk of shock or electrocution by installing a low voltage outdoor lighting system.
The concept behind the modern outdoor lighting system is straightforward and simple. You replace the traditional lighting system which utilizes high voltage circuitry operating at 120 volts with a modern lighting system operating at a low 12 volts. Some systems use 24 volts. Whichever voltage is chosen, these low voltages pose no threat at all to life or limb or property.
The outdoor lighting system is supplied low voltage electrical power by a transformer that steps down the high voltage of 120 volts from the mains supply to a safe and low 12 volts. Some outdoor lighting systems run on DC which means that they can be run even when the mains fails. Low voltage lamps are available in the market. You can choose incandescent lamps if you like. But incandescent lamps are very energy-hungry. It is better that you go in for high efficiency lamps like the latest LED lamps that have just appeared on the market at affordable rates. LED lamps consume just one-fourth of the electricity consumed by incandescent lamps with a comparable light output.
Installing an outdoor lighting system is very straightforward. You can hand the installation over to a contractor or you can do it yourself. The low voltage electricity running through the wires is safe to touch and handle barehanded. So you dont need to switch off the mains every time you handle the wires. Even official and legal formalities are easier to implement with low voltage outdoor lighting system. The fire hazard still remains but you can avoid that by using high quality fire resistant cabling and by installing MCBs at strategic points in the wiring system.
But getting back to the cost effectiveness for a second, consider the fact that an LED lamp uses only about 25% of the electricity of a standard lamp. How much difference would that make on your utility bill every month. Figure out those saving annually and thats quite a bit of extra money in your pocket. And it gets even better. LED laps will last at least ten times longer than a normal incandescent lamp or even fluorescent lamps. So youll save money there also. Plus you wont have the hassle of having to frequently change the bulbs.
The wiring for low voltage outdoor lighting need not be buried underground. Because the load of LED lamps is so low, the wiring is commensurately light. This means that you can change the wiring around quite easily whenever you feel the need for a change (of outdoor lighting, that is). This is a very handy feature when your house has many special features. Highlighting them all at once is garish, and that defeats the very definition of highlighting! So one month you can highlight the gable roofing, the next month the side elevation, and the colonial columns the following month. The same applies to the landscaping or wooded area around the house.
This primer on low voltage outdoor lighting should encourage you to change over to a modern efficient lighting system for your outdoor lighting needs. Youll save pots of money in electricity bills, take my word for it! More importantly, youll be 100% free of electrical shock hazard. Your householders insurance cover will benefit too, from the changeover. This means that the value of your house will go up while you are actually saving money. Now arent you glad you read this primer.

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Indian disenrollments a statewide, nationwide issue
Written by Elizabeth Larson
Saturday, 06 December 2008

This is the second in a series of articles on Robinson Rancheria's effort to disenroll certain of its tribal members.

UPPER LAKE Late last month, the Robinson Rancheria Band of Pomos Citizens Business Council informed several dozen members of its intent to remove their tribal membership, an action taking place not just locally but around California and the nation.

Between 60 and 74 members have reportedly been told they will be removed from the tribe's rolls unless, as a result of a half-hour appeal hearing granted to those who request it, the council chooses to let the members remain.

The appeal hearings to determine the future for these potential disenrollees began this week.

Tribal Chair Tracey Avilia said this week that questions surrounding these tribal members and their entitlement to be included among the band's number have been an issue for years, going back to 1990.

This is the largest disenrollment action the tribe has ever taken, she concedes, as the tribe prepares for a January election to determine who will be tribal chair, as well as two other seats.

A June 14 election was decertified, and the tribe's election committee dominated by Avilia's family has ruled that her challenger for the seat, EJ Crandell who won the June election has been disqualified from running.

Crandell and other tribal members, including potential disenrollee Luwana Quitiquit, say the disenrollments are purely political and retaliatory.

The tribe's own enrollment ordinance states that disenrollment is possible on three grounds: the person obtained enrollment by error, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation; they became a fully recognized member of another tribe without relinquishing their Robinson Rancheria membership; the person is a descendant of a disenrollee and doesn't otherwise meet membership requirements.

The ordinance doesn't allow for disenrollment due to adoption, which traditionally has been a common practice among American Indians.

However, the tribal council has passed a resolution to strike the adoption process, which Quitiquit and Crandell say is an ex post facto law, which is prohibited in the tribe's 1980 constitution, just as it is the US Constitution.

If it's truly the case that Robinson's disenrollment is born out of politics and animosity toward rival families, the Robinson band wouldn't be unique. That's because attempts to reduce tribal membership through these types of actions aren't new to Lake County, California or the nation.

On Nov. 10, 2007, 25 members of the Elem Colony were removed from that tribe's rolls, including the last native speaker of the tribe's language. Then-chairman, Ray Brown Sr. acknowledged the move to County News in a previous interview, saying that the move was justified because many of the people were adopted into the tribe and weren't blood relations.

To date, an estimated 2,000 Indians have been disenrolled by 15 California tribes not including those currently proposed at Robinson, according to John Gomez, president of the American Indian Rights and Resources Organization (AIRRO), a group that focuses on human and civil rights issues.

Bureau of Indian Affairs Deputy Regional Director Dale Risling, based in Sacramento, said quite a few tribes are going through disenrollments currently.

He said his agency hears about most of them through the media, and not directly, since they don't usually have a role in settling the disputes because of tribal constitutions. The ones that we really get are the ones that require our involvement.

Tony Gonzales, spokesman for the American Indian Movement-West, said gaming tribes decertifying members has become a big problem nationwide as well.

That's because a lot is at stake, with gaming tribes across the nation generating revenues in the realm of $46 billion.

Unfortunately, in the process to gain more money for themselves, they are decertifying members, said Gonzales. The irony, too, is they're adopting non-Indians into their tribes.

Some blame gaming for disenrollments

In California, Gomez said the vast majority of disenrollments have occurred since the passage of Proposition 5, the Tribal Government Gaming and Economic Self-Sufficiency Act of 1998 that allowed gaming on tribal lands, and Proposition 1A, passed in 2000, allowing tribes to operate slot machines and banked and percentage card games.

He said it's mostly the gaming tribes who carry out reducing membership in this way. I don't believe it's just about greed. I think it's about greed and retaining political power.

Gomez was among 200 people disenrolled by the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians in 2004. Two years later, as many as 175 more Pechanga tribal members saw their membership disappear. Both times it just happened prior to regularly scheduled elections for tribal council.

The Redding Rancheria's first tribal chair, Bob Foreman, and his family all 76 members were disenrolled in 2002 after their lineage was questioned. Despite providing DNA samples to prove their ancestry, Foreman who had been tribal chair for 20 years was pushed out of the tribe.

Gomez said Foreman, who incidentally was born in Nice, went on to be a founding member of AIRRO.

Foreman died Nov. 19, and Gomez and other AIRRO members are traveling to Redding for his funeral this weekend, at which time they're expected to discuss possible action in response to Robinson's disenrollment move.

He said disenrollments often evolve around election disputes, as in Robinson's case. Similarly, Gomez said the Mooretown Rancheria of Oroville reclassified 30 percent of its membership and denied them voting rights so they couldn't participate in an election planned four days later. The tribe still counts them as members but they're members without rights.

Many tribal members will attempt to justify disenrollment actions saying that there is a question about ancestry, but he points out that such questions didn't arise when the tribes were counting members for federal government assistance.

As tribal rolls dwindle, federal funding also can go away, he said. However, the larger gaming tribes can afford to fund their own programs.

Quitiquit and some other tribal members facing disenrollment, many of whom asked that their names not be used at this time due to fear of retribution, said they felt Robinson Rancheria's casino and gaming had given rise to many of their current problems.

Rather than helping Indians get a leg up, they say that gaming is leading to expulsion of tribal members among them veterans and elders who may face a life on welfare without the support of their tribal communities.

Some Indian activists have even gone so far as to call disenrollment the new Indian genocide.

The problem is such a concern in Indian Country that last year, American Indian Movement activist Dennis Banks said that the Bureau of Indian Affairs needed to intervene to stop the California disenrollments.

A Government Accountability Office report issued last month, titled Confirmation of Political Appointees: Eliciting Nominees' Views on Management Challenges within Agencies and Across Government, also recognizes the problem.

The report urged political leaders to ask the following question of nominees for the Secretary of the Interior, which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs: Tribal membership disputes and tribal leadership disputes seem to be occurring more and more frequently. What experience do you have in working with tribal leadership and trying to resolve these types of disputes or in trying to prevent them?

Far-reaching implications for loss of tribal membership

Gomez said AIRRO is seeing the same thing happening around the state Indians stripped of lawful citizenship and all of the associated rights from housing to education to health care to jobs.

When membership in a federally recognized tribe is lost, federal help goes away, he said. It cuts across everything that has to do with their lives.

The affects aren't just social or economic, but emotional and psychological as well, said Gomez. Being put out of a tribe has serious implications about identity for people who are being told they are no longer Indian.

If Robinson Rancheria goes through with its proposed membership reduction, Quitiquit said the implications could be devastating.

Among the first acts she expects is for disenrolled members to be banished from the rancheria. That would mean leaving their homes; Quitiquit's own family stands to lose two of an estimated 10 homes at stake.

Being cut off from the land also would mean they could be prevented from visiting the graves of their family members at the rancheria's cemetery, said Quitiquit. Gomez said that's happened in other areas.

There would also be a loss of education opportunities and funding, as well as Indian health services,which are critical due to the high number of tribal members suffering from diabetes and chronic diseases, particularly elders.

Those who hold jobs with the tribe also could be fired. She said some of the members in question already have been put on administrative leave from their jobs. A no gossip memo also was reportedly issued by Avilia to staff, warning that discussion about the disenrollments would result in termination.

Quitiquit, who recently left her job as a cook for a program that provides meals to 24 homebound elders, said 20 of those elders are facing disenrollment. The four who would be left would not be enough to justify continuing the federally funded meals program.

Elders would lose their monthly retirement payments of $400, said Quitiquit. All the elders are suffering right now because we don't have it.

All members currently on the disenrollment list have had their payments suspended, including the $300 per capital payment plus a $2,000 Christmas bonus, funded through federal grants and revenues from the tribe's casino on Highway 20.

One elderly woman who is a caretaker for her grandchildren told Quitiquit she won't be able to make ends meet outside of the tribe.

Quitiquit said the tribal council, in its attempt to maintain power, can take these actions under the guise of sovereignty. Forget about our civil rights.

In the last election, many people voted for Avilia because she said she was not for disenrollment, said Quitiquit. We were completely fooled.

She added, If this is what happens to us, then down the road it's going to happen to the other tribal members they don't like.

Tomorrow: Avenues of redress, government involvement and what the Bureau of Indian Affairs might do in the Robinson Rancheria case.

E-mail Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com

http://lakeconews.

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In the past, I really did not give much thought on my lesson planning. I had my textbooks and I just copied on the board what was on the textbook, gave quizzes from chapter summaries, and gave homework from the exercises in the workbooks. Teaching was so easy. But my students' results from benchmark assessments and spring testing were always below basic every year. I had a valid excuse, my students are diagnosed with learning disability, what do you expect? Well, low expectations lead to low achievement.
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For the first time in my 6 years as a teacher my lesson plans were reviewed by my instructional supervisor and Math Professional Developer this school year. I was told that my lessons were not aligned to the standards, I had too many goals, my students get lost in the activities (arrggh!). So I revised the template not just once, and I gave much thought and worked with the activities to make it more interesting this time. It took me at least 8 hours to finish my 12 page lesson plan that I didn't have time anymore to do my laundry and grocery and take care of my family during weekends! Teaching was a lot of paperwork! It was exhausting! It was stressful!
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But why do I have to stress myself? I shared my lesson plan to the lead teacher in my inclusion class and he exclaimed "this is a lot!" and I realized he was right. Where did I go wrong? I found a lesson plan template in my school district's website and used it. I discovered that it does not really restrict my creativity in lesson planning contrary to what one of my colleagues told me. Then I listened to my Math Coach and took into consideration the feedback of my instructional supervisor.
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Now I am only writing 3 page of a week's lesson plan, I can breathe better and have a restful weekend. I am now having quality products from my students targeted to the standards of the lesson. They are scoring better in their quizzes, and they are enjoying their homework. Teaching is more rigorous but is still fun.

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Lots of people around now are interested in starting selling online. Mainly this is because there is such an opportunity for profits and boosting current income. This is easily achieved through some sort of ecommerce solution. While yes it seems easy to run a shop that is all ready setup, that about someone who has absolutely no experience with setting up websites? Pay a company hundreds of $$$ to set one up and brand it.
So you may wonder where this is going, well the point is that in order to start selling online you need either lots of money or experience. This is where Kezoon comes in handy, without the task of learning how to set it up yourself, or paying others to do so. You will be able to start your own online store for free within minutes.
Some things you may be wondering are, what sort of features will be included in the store.

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The staff of a legislative advisory board recommended that the scandal plagued Texas Youth Commission be abolished and merged with another major agency dealing with young offenders. Dr. Chad R. Trulson, associate professor of criminal justice at the University of North Texas, says that the abolishment may be premature, and that officials need to consider all of the consequences of such action.

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Rhode Island is thinking up new and creative ways to destroy wealth - including one new idea to tax you for every single mile you drive.  Whether you drive inside Rhode Island or not apparently:
The major elements include:
•Both new and higher fuel taxes. The proposals include increasing the gasoline tax, now 30 cents, by up to 15 cents per gallon by 2016.They also include a new “petroleum products gross earning tax,” beginning with the equivalent of 10 cents per gallon of gasoline in 2010 and adding another 5 cents in 2014. That would affect all petroleum products, from gasoline and aviation fuel to those made from petroleum derivatives, such as plastics, paint and fertilizer.
•Car registration fees, now $60 for two years, would rise $40 per year immediately and could more than double, to $140, by 2013
A new mileage fee. The $150-million plan would not include it, but the $300-million plan would impose a half-cent-per-mile fee At a half-cent per mile, driving 10,000 miles per year would cost $50 per vehicle. One cent would cost $100.
Also referred to as a VMT fee (for vehicle miles traveled), the mileage fee would be based on odometer readings reported by vehicle owners when they renew their registrations. The mileage could be verified during mandatory auto inspections
Tolls. The $150-million plan could include tolls, $3 per car and $6 per truck, only at the Connecticut border
Tolls on a new Sakonnet River Bridge. The plan relies heavily on shifting the estimated $210-million cost of a new Sakonnet River Bridge, now the DOT’s responsibility, to the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority. It also assumes that the authority would borrow the money to pay for the bridge and charge tolls to pay the cost. Shawver said it isn’t clear how much the tolls would be, but guessed they would be in the $3-per-car range. That would take the cost of the new bridge off the DOT’s hands, while giving the authority the prickly job of imposing the tolls.
One other interesting fact.  Rhode Island already spends $354 million a year on its transportation systems.  So this postage stamp sized place is already spending $1 million a day and apparently getting broken bridges, bad roads, and lousy public transportation.
So based on that fact, why would giving more money to the obviously incompetent state transportation authority be a good idea?  Do you think they will spend the money wisely?  I would expect all the managers in the DOT to get a raise, lots of bonuses to be doled out to all the contractors, but if they do all this crap they will simply end up with the same crappy transportation system.  Only it will cost two or three times more than today.  And they will be back in a few years begging for more tax money.
And this doesnt count the money that is obviously being spent by county government, city government and who knows what other overlapping and duplicate wasters of tax money are also spending on transportation.
But they are good liberals up there in New England.  And apparently they hate Conneticut since they only want to charge tolls on getting in and out of that state.
Good luck with getting any value for all those taxes you will be paying.

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