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05 Sep 2009 23:11

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15 Jul 2009 14:20

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U.S., World: Some foreign exchange students deal with nightmare conditions

  • They weren’t provided with food. In fact there is one incident with tape on food items in the refrigerator of the host family that says, ‘Do not touch. This is for the host family only.’ So basically they were neglected.
  • Lackawanna County, Pa. District Attorney Andrew Jarbola • Regarding the treatment of 12 foreign exchange students in Scranton, Pa. Many were underfed and lost lots of weight, housed with convicted felons and neglected. The students – from countries as far away as Norway, Colombia and Tanzania – were placed by the Aspect Foundation, some on State Department grants. By the end of the school year, five students were removed from awful host family situations. • source

03 Jul 2009 11:54

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Offbeat: Note to teachers: Don’t mix up classroom memories with sex tapes

  • It goes from my son, straight to her on the couch. My son’s reaction was, ‘Dad, is that Ms. Defanti?’ …We were up till midnight doing the ‘birds and the bees.’
  • “Joe,” a parent who did not wish to be identified further • Describing the awkward situation he was placed in when a video of classroom memories he and his son were watching switched to a sex tape featuring the teacher. The teacher at Jackson Elementary in Elk Grove, Calif., had a lot of ‘splaining to do, but it was unlikely that she would get fired. • source

20 Jun 2009 18:23

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Offbeat: “I” before “e” except after whatever: The Brits kill grammar rule

  • They said it had too many exceptions. The British government, after weighing their options, decided to get rid of their insufficient “i before e except after c” rule. They specifically decided to get rid of it in its “Support For Spelling” documents sent to thousands of primary schools, noting higher frequencies of words that did not follow that standard – neither with a “c” or without one. Just to emphasize the point, we used a bunch of different exceptions in this post. Weird. source

09 May 2009 08:52

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Tech, U.S.: Why UC Berkeley students shouldn’t be happy right now

  • 160,000 students and alumni had their personal information stolen by hackers source

18 Feb 2009 10:41

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U.S.: Feeling lazy about graduating on time? Go to Mercer U.

  • The school’s paying for anything after the fourth year. Mercer University officials say that the goal is to get students to graduate sooner from the Macon, Ga. school, but we see it working the opposite way. “Oh, you mean you’re gonna pay for my classes? Well, I’m gonna be a regular Van Wilder! Party in my dorm room!” source

22 Jan 2009 18:40

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U.S.: Another disturbing tragedy on the Va. Tech campus

  • An unspeakable murder A Chinese graduate student was decapitated by a fellow classmate in a cafe on campus. Yesterday, 22-year-old female student Xin Yang was killed with a butcher knife by 25-year-old male student Haiyang Zhu. Yang had only recently started at the Blacksburg, Va. school a few weeks ago. Haiyang knew the student, but no motive has yet been determined for his actions. source
  • An unspeakable murder A Chinese graduate student was decapitated by a fellow classmate in a cafe on campus. Yesterday, 22-year-old female student Xin Yang was killed with a butcher knife by 25-year-old male student Haiyang Zhu. Yang had only recently started at the Blacksburg, Va. school a few weeks ago. Haiyang knew the student, but no motive has yet been determined for his actions.
  • Echoes of a major tragedy The tragedy shook the campus of a university that, just a year and a half ago, suffered one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history, when a gunman shot 32, then himself. University president President Charles Steger was cognizant of the emotions on campus. “An act of violence like this brings back memories of April 16,” he said. “I have no doubt that many of us feel especially distraught.” source