Student Loans: College Costs Will Continue to Rise

Lindsey Burke -

Last week, the Senate passed a bill that would peg interest rates on federal student loans to Washington?s cost of borrowing (the Treasury rate) plus 2.05 percent. The bill also caps interest rates at 8.25 percent in the event they rise in the coming years. The House has praised the move, meaning it is likely to become the law.

While this may make students happy, there are some serious policy limitations that should have taxpayers concerned:

• Capping interest rates is bad policy.?Any proposal to reform federal student lending that attempts to be more market-based should be uncapped. When markets improve, and these rates rise, they hit a cap at 8.25 percent. So if the market rate would have meant interest rates of 9.5 percent, the cap prevents them from actually reflecting that market rate.
• It eschews fair-value accounting.?The current proposal lacks any requirement for interest rates to be set according to fair-value accounting. Any federal student loan program should use a non-subsidizing interest rate?i.e., the rate at which the program breaks even?to make sure the proposed 10-year Treasury rate plus 2.05 percent interest rate isn?t creating a taxpayer-financed subsidy.

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• It does not help to reduce college costs.?The deal on student loan interest rates does not fundamentally solve the college cost problem. Once again, the policy provides access to easy money for students, enabling universities to continue to raise tuition.
• While this may provide some relief for students, the interest rate debate is a shiny object distracting policymakers from larger higher education cost issues.?Allowing the rates to stay at the current 6.8 percent isn?t the burden on students and recent graduates the Administration and many on the left make it out to be. The new rate only affects new borrowers; no students who took out loans prior to July 1, 2013, will be affected. Even for those students who fall under the current 6.8 percent rate, the difference they will pay per month is estimated to be between $20 and $40.

President Obama should have taken the opportunity in his speech this week to champion reforms to the ossified accreditation system, given a nod to low-cost degrees that are under development in the states, and most importantly, talked about winding down federal intervention in the student loan market by?limiting?access to easy money in order to put pressure on universities to lower costs.

via Student Loans: College Costs Will Continue to Rise.

About Jimmy Kilpatrick

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Source: http://educationviews.org/student-loans-college-costs-will-continue-to-rise/

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Google Calendar for Android gets cross-device notification sync

The simplest updates are sometimes the best. See the latest update to Google Calendar for Android as an example: the release adds notification syncing between Android devices, saving the trouble of clearing multiple alerts while hopping from tablet to phone and back. That's the only major addition, but it could represent a big time saver for anyone with a busy schedule. If you're in that camp, you can grab the new Calendar now through Google Play.

Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Google

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Source: Google Play

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/07/31/google-calendar-for-android-gets-cross-device-notification-sync/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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What You Need to Know: Condominiums | Metrowest Massachusetts ...

Is a condominium right for you? The market has been steadily rising for the past few years but condo living may not be for everyone.

Condo buyers typically fall into three categories:

-First-time buyers
-Second home or vacation home owners
-Retirees looking for a low-maintenance alternative

Under the right set of circumstances a condominium can be a great purchase. Before you run out and shop for condos you have to be comfortable living with rules and restrictions, and in close proximity to others.

There are different types of condominiums. They can take the form of apartment-style complexes, townhouses or converted multi-family dwellings. Most condominiums have common areas, such as stairwells, dividing and outer walls, fitness centers, pools, walking paths and gardens. These common areas are under shared ownership. Each unit owner holds an interest in these spaces.

Because space is shared there needs to a way to manage the maintenance, repair and costs of these common areas. To deal with that and other issues that involve space sharing every condo development has a condominium association. The association is typically elected by condo owners and makes communal decisions in the interest of the community.

When you find a condominium you are interested in you will want to inquire about the association: Some questions you may want to ask are:

• Does the association maintain reserve of funds to pay for unexpected and potentially expensive repairs? If so, how much is in reserve and how is it managed?
• Has the association maintained the building in good repair? Are there currently or any planned special assessments?
• Does the association have plans to add any facilities, such as a swimming pool or gym, in the near future?
• Does the development have any pending legal actions? Are there any disputes between owners, with developers or with the association that you should know about?

Buying a condo also comes with costs some are similar to a single family home purchase while others are condo specific. These costs include:

• Down payment, mortgage and property tax
• Condo fees, otherwise known as maintenance fees. Condo fees are paid by every resident to help with the maintenance of the building, pay the salaries of groundskeepers, concierges or handymen, and provide luxury facilities such as a pool, gym or rooftop garden. Condo fees are paid monthly and are subject to change. The condominium association budgets and determines the condo fees for all units. Condo fees are typically determined by the size of your unit, how many units are currently occupied, and the projected expenses for building maintenance and repair.
• Special assessment fees. These fees may be requested when an unexpected repair or planned modification exceeds the cost of the condo fees collected

One of the most important considerations is to determine if you can live with the condominium rules or covenants. The rules vary from one condo development to another. Some condominiums may impose restrictions on pet ownership, noise levels, remodeling projects, and renting. Always read the condo rules and regulations to make sure that you are comfortable with them before you make a commitment to purchase.

Tagged as: Condo, condo fees, condo rules, what you need to know

Source: http://www.metrowesthomesandlife.com/2013/07/what-you-need-to-know-condominiums/

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Temperature alters population dynamics of common plant pests

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Temperature-driven changes alter outbreak patterns of tea tortrix -- an insect pest -- and may shed light on how temperature influences whether insects emerge as cohesive cohorts or continuously, according to an international team of researchers. These findings have implications for both pest control and how climate change may alter infestations.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_environment/~3/h8DYNt_hgUs/130801142327.htm

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Severe NFL injuries rose every season from 2009-12

Sure didn't take long for some significant injuries at NFL training camps ? Philadelphia Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin, Baltimore Ravens tight end Dennis Pitta, Denver Broncos center Dan Koppen, to name only three.

Immediately, some theories developed: Too much offseason work. Not enough. New labor-contract rules limiting padded practices to one per day, while generally seen as helpful, are hardly a cure-all.

Washington Redskins linebacker London Fletcher thinks some guys get hurt in camp because players are trying so hard to impress coaches and earn a roster spot or a starting job.

"You know now coaches are really evaluating you," said Fletcher, whose teammate, second-year linebacker Keenan Robinson, tore his left pectoral muscle on Day 1 of training camp. "You've got guys with a competitive spirit and they're looking at it, like, 'My job's on the line. I need to make a play' and not realizing there's going to be times to show that coaches that you can hit, you can make plays in preseason games, but you don't want to have a guy go down because of something that happened in practice."

Whatever the cause, severe injuries are increasing in the NFL lately. The number of injuries that forced a player to miss at least eight days jumped every year from 2009 to 2012, according to an analysis of NFL injury data released Wednesday. The study by Edgeworth Economics, based on information collected by the league, also shows that players with concussions missed an average of 16 days last season, up from only four days in 2005, while the length of time out for other types of injuries has been steadier.

"Severe injuries are increasing in frequency," Jesse David, the economist overseeing the study, said in a telephone interview from Pasadena, Calif. "I know that's a very important issue for both the players' association and the league ? trying to tweak the rules and the equipment to deal with that. But despite everything they've been doing, it's still going on."

David said his company has done consulting for the NFL Players Association in the past and received the data for this study from the union, but wasn't paid by it.

The study says there were 1,095 instances of injuries sidelining a player for eight or more days in 2009 ? including practices and games in the preseason, regular season and postseason ? and that climbed to 1,272 in 2010, 1,380 in 2011, and 1,496 in 2012. That's an increase of 37 percent.

"The way I look at it, really, is that injuries are part of the game," said cornerback Kyle Wilson of the New York Jets, who lost another cornerback, Aaron Berry, for the season when he tore a knee ligament on the first day of practice last week.

"Injuries happen sometimes. They're unfortunate, but it really is just part of the game."

Concussions have become a far-more-noticed part of football in recent years, with more discussion of the links between head injuries and brain disease, hundreds of lawsuits brought by thousands of former players, and rules changes made by the NFL to try to better protect players.

During the nine years examined in David's study, the average number of days missed because of head injuries by players in the league went from 4.8 in 2004, four in 2005, and 4.1 in 2006, to 10.9 in 2010, 12 in 2011, and 16 last season.

"We have experts at practice every day to let you know, as a coach, if someone does have a concussion, so that makes it pretty easy. They leave it out of our hands; they put in the experts' hands," Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said. "But, yeah, I think there's more awareness in a lot of different areas when it comes to injuries over the last few years, and rightfully so."

David said "you now have more severe injuries overall" because of the hike in lengthy absences for reported concussions.

"Are the brain injuries actually more severe now than they were five years ago? Or is that players simply being held out longer for the same injury? That we can't tell from the data," David said. "My guess is it's both, but how much of each factor, I don't know."

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, who said the league will look at the study's findings, attributed the longer absences for players with concussions to more caution in the treatment of those types of injuries.

"We do know that the game is safer now, but we still have work to do. We continue to work hard on many fronts to make the game better and safer for our sport at all levels," McCarthy wrote in an email. "Our ongoing efforts include making rule changes designed to take dangerous techniques out of the game and also improving medical care to properly manage and treat concussions and raise awareness of their seriousness."

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

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Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

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AP Sports Writers Joseph White, Dennis Waszak Jr., Joe Kay, R.B. Fallstrom and Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/severe-nfl-injuries-rose-every-season-2009-12-210430990.html

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Quip (for iPad)

Quip is billed as "a modern word processor that enables you to create beautiful documents on any device." From what we've experienced in our testing, it doesn't quite live up to that lofty statement. The free iPad?app does let users create collaborative, editable documents on Apple's slate (or via an iPhone or web browser), but it lacks numerous features that one associates with a word processor, as well as basic saving and sharing abilities.

Start Me Up
Quip takes you to its home screen?ironically referred to as the "desktop"?after logging in with your Google credentials. Despite tapping the Big G as a log in, Quip doesn't sync with Google Drive.

The desktop is divided into two sections: a left-aligned column that gives you fast access documents, and the main area that houses folders. A few sample documents and folders are included so that you may play with the app a bit before leaping in wholeheartedly. In fact, the "Introduction to Quip" document is one you should eyeball to learn about the app's feature set.

Tapping the "+" icon in the lower-right corner opens a blank page so that you may begin working. Quip's interface is clutter-free, but there's a reason for that?a dearth of features. The style menu (which is part of the virtual keyboard) lets you tweak the heading size, create bulleted lists, insert images, add a table, and create links to another document or folder. The default font is very legible, but you can't change its size or text color. Google Drive for iPad,?on the other hand, lets you change the font size, text color, and background color?features that Quip lacks. ?That's not all that Quip lacks; word count, grammar check, and other traditional word processing features are M.I.A.

Quip also lets you leave messages for others within the document using the "@" symbol, which assists in the collaboration process. And, frankly, collaboration is the one area where the app truly shines.

It Takes Two (or more) to Tango
As you add messages, words, tables, and images to your document, Quip's excellent Inbox?and saving grace?becomes populated with your changes, too. Think of Inbox as one part instant messenger and one part track changes. When fellow PCMag analysts Max Eddy and Will Greenwald tweaked my Terminator/The Matrix fan fiction by adding transforming robots and magical ponies via the browser-based Quip, I could see their text (represented in a boxes remembering torn of bits of paper called "diffs") added in real time. Very cool. Quip even posts the time when the text was added, the platform (Web, tablet), and highlights new text (green) and deleted text (red). Quip does a good job of letting users when and where changes occurred.

Keeping an eye on Inbox instead of the actual document page yields another advantage: Inbox sometimes updates faster than the document itself. On more than one occasion I would see Max and Will's changes in Inbox several seconds before they appeared on the page. That's not a huge issue, but it should be noted. You can also leave Inbox messages for the other document editors (such as my "needs more ninjas" suggestion) that make collaboration a breeze. Documents and folders, thankfully, are set to private by default.

You cannot, however, save document to the iPad or iCloud. If you want to do that, you must fire up the browser-based Quip that lets users print documents or save them to their PCs' hard drives as PDF files. Yup, it lacks Word support. It's very disappointing that users can't do that from within the app itself.

Extra, Extra
Like Google Drive, Quip has an offline mode that lets you continue working in a document even when a cellular or Wi-Fi connection isn't. That said, offline modes negates Inbox's ability to broadcast messages and edits, but they sync when you connect to the Web again.

Quip lacks a major feature that Google Drive possesses?the ability to upload files for general use. Quip, however, lets you snap a photo (or pull one from your iPad's Camera Roll) and use it as an Inbox message or document insert.

Quip Can Wait
Quip, oddly enough, recalls the late, great Google Wave?a real-time collaboration tool with some head-scratching feature selections (or in this case, lack thereof). Whether or not you should use Quip instead of Google Drive depends how entrenched you are in the Google ecosystem (and whether you're willing to part with the font/color tweaking that app delivers). Despite tapping your Google credentials as a login, Quip doesn't sync with Google products?or any others.

Quip is a decent first attempt at a cloud-based word processor. The collaboration tools are neat, but the overall app needs refining. If you have lightweight team-based word processing needs, Quip may be worth exploring. Otherwise, wait for version 2.0.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/AMiODIieaVs/0,2817,2422559,00.asp

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Air Products Wins Korea's President's Award for Safety

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Source: www.streetinsider.com --- Thursday, August 01, 2013
Visit StreetInsider.com at http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/Air+Products+Wins+Korea%27s+President%27s+Award+for+Safety/8556572.html for the full story. ...

Source: http://www.streetinsider.com/Press+Releases/Air+Products+Wins+Korea's+President's+Award+for+Safety/8556572.html

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