But despite the fact that I now have official homework to take away from my post-graduation socializing, I would have to admit that I am quite excited to read these books. After all, if they're assigned to some two thousand Freshmen-to-be at a rather prestigious school, they must be at least decently interesting, right?

Now the big question is, which book do I start with? Junot Diaz's Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao? Or ZZ Packer's compilation of stories Drinking Coffee Elsewhere? Or perhaps Lynda Barry's graphic novel One! Hundred! Demons! would be a better start?

But I'll leave this post here for now. I have three books on my plate to read!

Things have changed a lot too. Not just at this zoo, but all the ones we've been to lately. See it used to be when you went, you just paid the gate admission and laughed at frolicking monkeys and wondered if that little man-made ravine was really enough distance between you and the grizzly bear. You might need a quarter or two if you wanted to feed the goats in the petting zoo.

But now, there's a hundred other things to do at the zoo besides walk through the aviary and hope you don't get pooped on. Apparently not entertaining enough for the Wii generation, zoos have added all kinds of other activities to their rosters. And none of them are included in the price of admission. There are trains, pony rides, carousels, water rides and sky rides to occupy you when you get tired of watching sea lions dancing for fish. It also costs a whole dollar to feed the goats these days. I thought a gallon of gas was expensive. A dollar for a tablespoon of goat feed? At least posing for a photo on the turtle statue was free.

Oh, we had lots of fun. My son loved the canoe ride and the train. I'm not sure he even spent a minute looking at each animal exhibit, because he was too busy looking for the next thrill ride. By the time we left, we'd spent more on the extras than our gate admission cost.

I know zoos are non-profits, and like everyone else these days, they're just trying to come up with ways to bring in more money to fund rising costs. But they could be a little more upfront. Perhaps a disclaimer at the gate warning you that the seemingly inexpensive price of admission is really just a way to get you in the door, then they will really sink their teeth into your wallet. Or what about an all-inclusive ticket so you can just pay for it once a not have to keep sticking dollar bills into those annoying token dispensers?

So if you're headed to the zoo, brace yourself for the add-ons and bring lots of ones. Oh, and watch out for those penguins trying to make a buck washing car windows as you leave the parking lot.

Troubled Galaxy Destroyed Dreams: Chapter 16

Palash Biswas

http://troubledgalaxydetroyeddreams.blogspot.com/

We are habitual to celebrate the rat race amongst the Generation Next lost in virtual Reality in an Era of Sovereign Market run by the Post Modern Manusmriti Apartheid White Zionist Hindu Galaxy Order of corporate Imperialism.Young people are being tragically corrupted by a seductive new form of popular entertainment. Oddly enough, this seems to happen in every generation.

Columbus happens to be the Post Modern Manu Maharaj. The icon of Hindu Zionist white Galaxy Imperialism Columbus happens to be Corporate now. The Phenomenon of Genocide is corporate. It is ultimate silencer as the indigenous people, always deprived of knowledge, is defeated in a war of Information. The History of Genocide repeats itself in every part of this Globe.

The Genocide is Iconised! It is Open Market. It is neoliberalism. It is fashion. It is Reality Show. It is TV clipping, Print Media, Net,Mobile,Fashion,Ramp,Style,Brand and Vogue ultimate.

Our ancestors could not resist , neither we may!

Bishop Fred Henry exposes the moral bankruptcy of his brand of Catholicism with his statement on the cervical cancer vaccine. That he would prefer to risk anyone having this terrible disease over possibly appearing to condone early sexual behaviour is clearly a sign of his deeply skewed priorities. Young people are going to have sex. Shaking your finger at them doesn't help, nor does exposing them to additional risks from the practice by not preparing them with proper education and health-care precautions. The same attitude in Africa was a huge contributor to the spread of the AIDS virus, as Catholic priests taught people there that condoms did not work. If you believe this behaviour is wrong, then teach your children that, but don't make the hazards of sexual behaviour greater just to prove that you disapprove of it.

Today newspapers in India are full of news of murder committed by teenagers like Vishal or Chandra. The National Crime Research Bureau (NCRB) says that 83.7 per cent crimes committed by juveniles in 2006 came under the Indian Penal Code. While Maharashtra reported the highest number of IPC crimes among juveniles in 2006, Madhya Pradesh registered the highest number of crimes such as murder, rape, kidnapping and abduction. The news of teenagers being used to smuggle marijuana makes almost regular headlines in the dailies.

Sometimes the teenager is a drug addict who is being sent to a mental hospital. Sometimes it is one accused of murdering his alcoholic father. At other times it is a teenager committing suicide after fighting with his parents.

Merit lists are published every year. Photos create symphony of Iconisation. Interviews are live casted. But we never  try to locate the toppers in different exams during the year followed.What happens to them?

One of them, Indrajeet Chatterjee from Kolkata surfaced this time to open our eyes, if we have twosome! Indrajeet was published to have  stood Seventh in the Higher Secondary Exams in 1982, but later enquiries proved the claims to be false. But Kolkata media highlighted this so called standing.

In fact, Generation Next is engaged in super rat race. nothing is enough less than ninety percent in any exams. Toppers  often get Full marks minus two or three.Bulk of candidates get Star. The appear in different competitive exams. Some of them happen to be lucky to get admission in IIT or IIM. Many of them get admission in Medical and engineering Colleges. But thousands of Star students are not lucky enough to follow up with their earlier success. Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation have killed the Natural Resources, Natural Livelihood and Indigenous production system. Job is never available in Open Market. Reservation wo'nt do any help either. Campus recruitment is a solution who get admission in suitable institution with a meat of Donation in lacs. MBAs do work as boys in five star hotels. engineers struggle to get job.

Graduation, Post Graduation and Research students may have better knowledge, but have very little scope in job market. Only job available is marketing. Some bright students get very high salary. Some get high. Some go abroad. But the rest have to satisfy with substandard jobs and working conditions.

What option is there for the Rest?

But the Consumer Culture makes them habitual with hi-fie  hazardous lifestyle which they may not afford in along run of time.IT industry with some spoken English and technical diploma or degree opens doors of outsourcing. The long working hours and tough schedule create an environment of depression. The temporary Hire Fire jobs with Hi FIE salary stays very little.But the style and brand remain. Cyber crimes are not surprising in India nowadays. The Bollywood films have innovated ways of perfect crime. They have the lead. And the result, we know very well.

 In the last 12 months, some 10 Indian government ministry websites have been targets of cyber attacks. Recently, security experts with Boston-based Core Security Technologies said such attackers could “gain control of countries’ water treatment plants, natural gas pipelines and other critical utilities”.

At the same time, a number of online privacy concerns have surfaced. Mediadefender, a system designed to spot and prevent copyright infringement, has come under fire for crippling networks for alleged piracy. In August 2007, Comcast, the second largest Internet service provider, or ISP, in the US had drawn flak from advocacy groups for “actively interfering with Internet traffic”, choking bandwidth to file-sharing networks such as Bittorent. In a phone interview, Howard Schmidt, an information networks expert and a senior cyber-security adviser in the Bush administration, talks about the growing concern over surveillance and monitoring on the Internet.

The Apple iPhone has not officially hit Indian shores, yet spammers have launched a malicious email spam campaign that employs social-engineering tactics. Visitors who click on an embedded link for ‘presentation' or for ‘more information,' on the iPhone, could end up downloading a trojan — malware that transmits a computer virus, opening up the computer system to fraudsters. 
 
Previously, a similar attack designed around iPhone was discovered by Sunbelt Software. Windows-run computers were infected by the malware, triggered by visiting legitimate sites such as yahoo.com or google.com where an embedded link prompted users to visit iPhone.com. 
 
Users were redirected to a pseudo site under the control of fraudsters. Victims were then asked to send payment for their Apple iPhone through Western Union or Moneygram rather than via a credit card. 

These scams, say experts, are part of a criminal-to-criminal (C2C) business model. A Finjan (web security solutions provider), report states: "Owners of malicious sites share their victims with other site owners in order to leverage the strength of one site and provide business to the other." Trojan 2.0 attacks use regular Web 2.0 technology and websites to exploit legitimate web services, said Finjan, which has monitored such attacks through its Malicious Code Research Centre (MCRC).
 
 
Just create Icons! And then, escalate the killingfields! The infinite Hunting ground! This is Vogue today. Consumer culture needs a Killing Instict and thus, you don`t feel anything when uprooted! It is precise surgical operation. Man made calamities play havoc while you indulge yourselves in Carnivals infinite with Virtual Icons created to destroy you! Thus, the Zionist Hindu Manusmriti Order has not to face any resistance and the Brahminical hegemony remains intact. You are spellbound by the Icons and never feel the pain to react in revolt!

Iconised economy demands fresh Icons to boost the market. Brand is the last word. So shining India is a Brand and brand happens to be the Capitalist Marxist Chief Minister of Left Ruled West Bengal. Sensex India gets a new set of Icons to boost Sensex india. West Bengal is facing a rough weather and All local TV Channels focused on either Indian Idol or Twenty 20 World cup. Wacthing Indian TV Channels you have to stumble on either Laughter channel, Soft porn covered crime stories or reality shows. All realities are so subverted and you have no Chance to get a news update. So it is the same case with the Print Media which press for more skin, more ramps, more sensation, more scandals, more crime, more style, eat outs, life style and Icons. News always overplayed or underplayed!

The established Icons are also engaged in hazardous life style  leading to crime.

Breaking News! Putting all rumors and speculations into rest, the Noida police finally arrested Arushi Talwar's father Dr. Rajesh Talwar. Arushi's mother Nupur Talwar and Dr. Rajesh's friend and assistant Dr. Anita Durrani is also under scanner. The police confirmed that they have been arrested on charges of murder of Arushi and Hemraj. The Noida SSP had yesterday hinted at the possible angle of honour killing.

14-day remand won, CBI expects help’s help to seize Arushi, Hemraj’s phones, murder weapon

After getting Durani family help Rajkumar’s custody for 14 days in the Noida double murder case, CBI officials on Saturday said the suspect has promised help in recovery of crucial evidence, including Arushi Talwar’s mobile phone.

The prosecution submitted Rajkumar’s confessional statement, made under Section 161 of CrPC, in the court of special judicial magistrate Sapna Mishra Tripathi along with the case diary. The case diary says Rajkumar has confessed that he had first switched off Arushi’s mobile phone and later allegedly broke it and hid it. The case diary also says he has “agreed to help the investigation agency in finding Hemraj’s mobile and khukri” used in the crime.

The CBI had arrested Rajkumar on Friday as third suspect in the May 15 murders —Arushi’s father Dr Rajesh Talwar and his compounder Krishna are in judicial custody. In court today, Rajkumar wore a relaxed look, at times even cracking a smile.

Next Battlefield is the space and you have an Icon to prepare for that.Cricket Carnival goes on with Reality Shows and Parliamentary soap opera!

Whatever may be the case, Shinjini is an example of parental ambitiousness and illusions. Great expectations of parents have resulted in disasters. Nowadays, from toddlers to teenagers, children are subjected to tremendous pressure. The media makes things worse. Even after the publication of Madhyamik or CBSE results, we find the TV channels arranging interviews with the rank holders, thus rousing such expectations in the mind of parents of other children. It is true that Shinjini’s family is under great stress. But the family cannot avoid all responsibilities regarding their daughter’s illness. They should have taken due precaution about Shinjini’s sickness before they engaged her in the reality show.

Only the other day, we got to know the horrid story of little Biswajit, who was killed with a bat by his own father as he wanted his son to be the best tennis player. Parents, today, run after the illusion of money and fame. They make their children the scapegoats without taking care of their weaknesses and drawbacks.

 A city court Tuesday remanded Bengali film producer Indrajit Chatterjee, arrested for alleged Rs.150 million bank fraud, in police custody till July 5. Chatterjee’s bail plea was rejected by the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s court Tuesday. He was arrested Monday from Howrah district’s Kona Expressway.

The police Tuesday arrested Amit Sen, an associate of Chatterjee, from the Entally area in the central part of the city.

“We have got some important documents regarding the fraud from him. Another partner-in-crime, Dipankar Chatterjee, was nabbed Monday late night,” city police deputy commissioner (detective department) Jawed Shamim told IANS.

Chatterjee took loans from several banks against a single property in 2006 and even produced a Bengali film before going undercover. He defrauded the banks of about Rs.150 million, a police official said.

“Even CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) had filed two cases against Chatterjee for similar crimes,” the official said.

Ban on cellphone in classroom cannot be interpreted as a restraint on the rights of the learners. Excessive use of cellphones is an interference into the rights of others in the classroom. It is a huge distraction. The implementation of the ban is a smart decision.. The society should have its own disciplines. The academic institutions expect this kind of restrain from the teachers and the taught. Schools may have intercom systems and people to search and reach out to the students in an emergency. Schools are for education, not for talking/messaging/downloading with a cellphone. Cellphones are a luxury convenience, not a necessity.

Cell phones and iPods play a big part in a learners life, in the post graduate and research classes, especially in science subjects. But at the same time we should not forget that students need motivation to do work in class. For example, if they have a quiet time, they might find it easier to complete their work if they listen to music. But it should not be at the cost of disturbing others.

OF LATE, the Toronto school board has banned cellphones in the classrooms. Now, in India cellphones must be switched off in schools and colleges of the North East. In the only autonomous college of West Bengal, St Xaviers, cellphones have to be kept off in classrooms. Even in the corridors, the students are not allowed to use cellphones as it is regarded disruptive to the learning environment. To be hanging around a cellphone in front of a teacher is to show disrespect to the teachers.

The family of 16-year-old Shinjini Sengupta landed in Bangalore from Kolkata on Friday, pinning its hopes on the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-sciences (NIMHANS). While doctors are yet to arrive at a final diagnosis, they surmise that depression could be a likely cause.

SHINJINI SENGUPTA, a 16-year old class XI student of a reputed Kolkata school, participated in a popular dance contest, which is aired Monday - Wednesday on ETV Bangla channel. During the shooting of the reality show, Shinjini was rebuked for her lackadaisical performance by the judges. The incident made Shinjini psychologically and biologically vulnerable. She was traumatised over being scolded and suffered a paralytic attack. She slipped into depression and then lost her speech and finally could not even use her limbs. She is now seriously ill and has been admitted to the state-run National Institute of Mental Health and Sciences (NIMHANS).

Shinjini couldn't cope with the "public humiliation" by judges. She has slipped into depression, has stopped speaking and can't even move her limbs. She was brought to Bangalore after doctors in Kolkata couldn't zero in on the exact cause of her condition.

Psychiatrists feel that Shinjini might have been a victim of extreme form of depression. General physicians ascribed the serious illness to her biological vulnerability and disorder in the spinal chord. The neurological disorder led to severe weakness and numbness for Shinjini. The doctors are not sure if Shinjini will at all be fully cured. This is simply unfortunate that a talented girl like Shinjini has become a victim of such incurable sickness. Shinjini has been subjected to tremendous pressure. The parents as well as the judges are responsible for the girl’s sad state to a large extent.

Days after 16-year-old girl from Kolkata went into coma after being rebuked on a reality show, opinion is divided over who is to be blamed for her plight -- her parents or the judges on the show.

In what was a dramatic moment on a reality show, the judgest decided to oust a young teenage girl from the show, which left her in tears. However, for 16-year-old Shinjini Sengupta, the rebuke proved to be devastating. The oust affected her to an extent that she went into depression.

Within days, she lost her speech and was unable to even move her limbs. Shinjini is now admitted in a hospital in Bangalore, where she is under psychatric care. Devastated at what has happened to his daughter, Shinjini's father said that the line has to be drawn somewhere. He said, "I am fighting for my daughter's life and death. So this should not take place for other father's as well. Such kind of programme's should be stopped."

However, the judges said that it is not their fault, but that of parents who push their kids too far. Ringo -- one of the judges said, "It is ridiculous that we are being targeted. Unfortunately parents push their kids too far, which eventually leads to such an emotional outburst and trauma."

Shinjini's plight has raised questions on how far televison reality shows should go in the race for ratings. Well known singer Sonu Nigam and judge of popular reality shows said, "It is unfair to treat anyone like this. Just because one can sing well or dance well, it does not mean that they have to compare themselves to someone in front of them and not if that person is a child."

Calling such reality shows as a catalyst for channel viewership, Sonia Mehta a renowned Psychologist said, "This suddent emotional outburst and over reaction adds to the TRP's and increases the channel's viewership."

On the other hand, the Union Women and Child Development Minsiter -- Renuka Chaudhary blamed the parents and said, "Why do parents put so much pressure on their kids?"

Shinjini Sengupta, like any typical teenager loved singing and dancing, but life on reality television is not all fun and laughter - a truth that the 16-year-old had to find out the hard way.

 Shinjini Sengupta is better than when she was flown in to Bangalore for treatment, her mother said Sunday.

“Shinjini's condition is much better than what it was before she was admitted to this hospital late Friday. It was worse earlier. Some more tests were conducted till afternoon. A medical team is monitoring her health parametres,” her mother Sibani Sengupta told IANS Sunday at the neuro-centre of the state-run National Institute of Mental and Health Sciences (Nimhans).

Though Shinjini managed to sleep for longer time during the last 36 hours, investigations were being done to ascertain the main cause of her paralytic condition and prescribe medication accordingly.

“Doctors and nurses are first trying to improve her response to liquid food through intravenous (IV) system. They say it will take another day or two to study the various tests and decide the course of treatment. Even we (my husband D.K. Sengupta and I) are not allowed to meet or be with Shinjini when tests and diagnoses are under way,” Sibani said, trying to hide her anguish over the trauma her daughter was going through.

Doctors on duty declined to comment or give any information on Shinjini's condition. They are trying to locate and identify the neurotic order that paralysed her vocal chords and limbs movement - whether it was due to nervous breakdown, blood clot or deep depression - a couple of weeks after the reality show performance in Kolkata.

The much-awaited medical bulletin of the hospital on Shinjini was neither prepared nor released to the waiting media despite such an assurance by the hospital resident medical officer (RMO) on Saturday.

“We are hoping for the best with prayers and god's blessing. It is too early to say when Shinjini will be able to recover fully. Our priority is to first stabilise her condition. Make her take food and come out of the depression she appears to have gone into after the tragic incident at the reality show,” Sibani noted.

Shinjini's father could not be contacted as he was inside the special ward attending to her after a CEG test and where visitors, especially mediapersons, are barred from entry.

"Two MRIs have been done and more tests will be done on Tuesday. Doctors suspect it could be due to psychological pressure. Basically, my daughter is a very shy person and would suppress her emotions. This could be the cause for her condition and NIMHANS is our last hope," said her father D K Sengupta.

NIMHANS medical superintendent Dr B N Gangadar said doctors were still examining the girl and trying to figure out why she slipped into depression and what could be the consequences. Alluding to the case indirectly, Dr Gangadar said: "Depression is a disorder of the mind that can biologically impair patients. Patients stop sleeping, eating and consequently lose appetite. If untreated, patients with depression are prone to committing suicide."

When asked whether Sengupta's loss of speech and limb movement was a result of her psychological condition or depression, Dr Gangadar said, "We can say at this juncture that she could be suffering from depression. Depression does not lead to permanent loss of speech or physical disability. We are diagnosing why that has happened. There could be complex neurological factors leading to such conditions."

That Sengupta was affected so seriously is shocking considering she is a highly talented girl. She is a good dancer, has acted in teleserials and appeared in a Bengali film. Sengupta was affected when she was rebuked by judges during a dance competition on a Bengali channel on May 19.

She was taken to Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan for diagnosis who then referred her to a psychiatrist.

Children breaking down during such shows because they couldn't win or because judges didn't say good things about them are a common sight on TV.

It is not that only one Shinjini has suffered in one reality show. There are thousands of Shinjinis all around us in this society. The commodified society measures men and women in terms of money and material achievement. The stress factor and cut-throat Other Articles by  Dr. Ratan Bhattacharjee

We should remember that without adequate precaution, such rat race for money and fame can prove to be disastrous. Well, talents are to be nourished and not to be exploited. Danseuse Tanushree Shankar, another judge in the reality show said, “Shinjini was a great dancer, but unfortunately she was eliminated because of her performance on that particular day. We always want to see her back on stage. We also pray for Shinjini and other such unfortunate girls that they are able to recollect their usual self.”

Young people are being tragically corrupted by a seductive new form of popular entertainment. Oddly enough, this seems to happen in every generation.

In his 1883 book, Traps for the Young, U.S. postal inspector Anthony Comstock warned of the sinful hazards of reading dime novels. In his 1954 book, Seduction of the Innocent, child psychiatrist Fredric Wertham warned of the psychosexual perils of poring over comic books. In their 2008 book, Grand Theft Childhood, Harvard Medical School psychiatrists Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson warn about video games.

The gist of their warning: Don't jump to conclusions.

Video games have a dual reputation as harmlessly exciting fun and as home training systems for mass murderers. Kutner and Olson's book shows that neither characterization is true across the board, although one of them is much closer to the truth than the other.

Using a 1.5 million dollars grant from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, part of the U.S. Justice Department, Kutner and Olson set out to explore what kinds of video games children aged 12 to 14 play, how they play them, why they play them, and what relationships there might be between game habits and other behavior.

The two researchers, who are also the married parents of a video game-playing teenage son, surveyed more than 1,200 middle school students in Pennsylvania and South Carolina, along with 500 parents of those children. They also conducted focus groups of middle school boys and (separately) their parents in the Boston area.

Their survey did not directly address serious criminal behavior, in part to avoid asking kids to incriminate themselves, but their book uses statistics published by the Justice Department to conclude that "Video game popularity and real-world youth violence have been moving in opposite directions. Violent juvenile crime in the United States reached a peak in 1993 and has been declining ever since."

Mass shootings at schools are the ultimate juvenile crime nightmare, but Grand Theft Childhood (Simon and Schuster, 260 pp, 25 dollars) cites a U.S. Secret Service study concluding that only "one in eight school shooters showed any interest in violent video games."

The couple recently discussed their own study with The Daily Yomiuri in a telephone interview from their home office in Boston. "What we were really looking at was the issue of violence and the typical child. That's something where we don't see evidence of any sort of worrisome connection," Kutner said. "At least not the big scary stuff, the going out and shooting or stabbing someone," Olson added.

However, they did find that kids who listed M-rated games among the ones they had played "a lot" in the previous six months were significantly likelier to have problems of a less dramatic nature, such as getting into fights with other kids, getting into trouble at school or shoplifting.

"It's true, but it needs to be put into perspective, in that the majority of kids who play them still do not get into trouble," Kutner said.

A game rated M, or mature, by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), a U.S. industry group, is suggested for players aged 17 and older. (In Japan, games thought suitable for the same age range are rated D by the Computer Entertainment Ratings Organization, or CERO.)

"Different groups are cherry-picking our results. There are a lot of avid gamers who are saying that we proved there was no relationship, and that's not true. We actually found that there was some correlation among normal problematic behaviors and the amount of gameplay and type of gameplay," Kutner said. "And at the same time, people on the other side, saying games are evil, were saying: 'Look! They're showing this.' Back when Grand Theft Auto IV was released [in early May], we did a lot of interviews, and there were several stations in Boston that interviewed Cheryl [Olson]. And she told them essentially the same thing in the individual interviews.

"And that evening one of them set up the story saying, 'Experts say there's nothing to worry about,' which isn't what we say. And they showed her quote. And another station said, 'Experts say there's a lot to worry about,' and they showed the same quote."

"Pretty much the same quote," Olson said.

"There are times when people will not let information interfere with their preconceived notions," Kutner concluded.

Their survey was conducted at the end of 2004, not long after Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was released. It was no surprise that the GTA games collectively ranked No. 1 in the titles most frequently played by boys. But they were surprised to see the famously violent game series come in second on the girls' list (after The Sims, which didn't even make the boys' top 10).

"Anecdotally, it sounds like [girls] play it a little bit differently than the boys do," Kutner said.

"We had a couple of young college student research assistants who were telling us about how they played it," Olson explained. "And they would drive around and go to the mall and shop for clothes and things. But I'm sure there must be some girls who are also playing it to get their anger out, though, and that's what our 'reasons for play' questions suggested. Many boys are using violent games to manage their emotions and get their anger out and so on, but there's a substantial number of girls who may be doing that as well."

Boys who vent their frustrations by shooting monsters are not likely to do the same with people because they have a better grasp of the distinction between fantasy and reality than adults sometimes give them credit for. One finding pointing at this idea is that kissing and swearing were the two things that boys mentioned most often when describing why they thought their younger siblings should not be allowed to play certain games.

Olson said that "swearing and kissing...are things that they or their little siblings can do in real life. That really struck us as great evidence of how good they were at distinguishing fantasy versus reality, if they were zeroing in on the two things that were possible to do in the real world."

"You know," she joked, "girls are much scarier than zombies, because girls are real."

Discussing boy-girl relations in a more serious vein, Olson described a game called Def Jam Vendetta, which features "rappers that are wrestling or fighting each other. And as you get higher in the levels, you start to win women as trophies. The sexism is something that I think Larry [Kutner] and both strongly object to. Were our son 13 or 14 today, I would have much more concern with him playing a title that glorifies sexism and [shows] women as objects to be won than a game that has him blasting away at some aliens."

An intriguing sidelight in Grand Theft Childhood is that for boys (although not yet for girls), playing games together, talking about games and sharing game techniques has become such a mainstream method of socializing that it is the kids who don't play who are now de facto abnormal. Olson cautioned that no real conclusions could be drawn about this group in the study because their numbers were too small for statistically significant findings.

But as for the overall results, Kutner mentioned one excellent reason to have confidence that the kids had reported accurately on the role of video games in their lives: "Unlike a lot of research that is done on students, this was something they were interested in." 

 Juvenile crimes

ONCE MORE the country is concerned over juvenile crimes. There are not just one Vishal or one Chandra who can be put to prison so that all juvenile criminals are silenced.
 
Juvenile crime is the burning question of the day. The number of juvenile crimes is increasing everyday. In India juvenile crime occurs chiefly because of parental neglect, narcotic addiction, boredom, unemployment, the evil influence of Bollywood and Hollywood potboilers, love- revenges, poverty and the abundance of alcohol.
 
 
Juvenile crime has a global dimension. Only a few days earlier Se ung-Hui Cho’s Virginia Tech killings have raised a plethora of questions. Teenage violence and creative writing have become synonymous. Seung-Hui Cho in his creative writing classes wrote two dreadful plays. Teenage sex crime victims are shown fantasizing about killing their molesters. In Mr. Brownstone, three 17-year-old high school students sneak into a casino to escape a teacher who they say has sodomized them. "I wanna kill him," says a character named John. "If he’s a leech, we’ll be able to yank it off and squash him beneath our boots," adds Joe. Jane follows shortly with: "I wanna watch him bleed like the way he made us kids bleed."  Richard McBeef is his second play in which a teenager is seen accusing his new stepfather of molesting him and murdering his father.
 
Some surveys have measured correlation between adolescent crime and family problems. Ten times as many juvenile delinquents come from an atmosphere of vulgarity or heavy drinking as from a normal environment.
 
Sometimes classrooms turn the teenagers to criminals. In the classrooms most teachers do not want to pay attention to any comment from students they have named as ‘bad’. They treat them like untouchables in the class. This kind of unequal treatment is often at the root of all troubles. At times it is seen that the dropouts of the schools fall prey to drug addiction. The world of drugs is a lonely world of mental frustration, false happiness and sickness. One time smoking of marijuana may get one hooked on heroin forever. But how can these be remedied? Certainly not by punishment. In Imphal sometimes the feet of the young boys are cut to bleed as a punishment for smoking hash. But later these boys go astray and they really become the garbage and spoil the society.

 Adolescents in their search of more affection and satisfaction are often abused by drugs. Some again engage themselves in violence. Today’s youths search more affection and satisfaction than the youth in the past and the questions remain unanswered. Generation conflict is not the only answer. The future of the country, nay the whole world is in the hands of the youth. But if they are not empowered today, time will take them slowly and quietly and with much anguish and bewilderment, to a confused society. So the need of the hour is to love the youths, nurture, develop and give them strength before it is too late.

While natural calamities do not come so frequently and are anyway beyond our control it is the man made calamities we must be beware of! Warning that outer space may become the "battlefield of the future," India on Monday proposed a "robust" international mechanism for protection of space assets since they were "vulnerable to attacks". Whie they come in all forms and intensity – earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, drought, tornados; even man-made calamities. Hinduja TMT Ltd, which is being renamed as Hinduja Ventures, and its joint venture partner UAE's DP World will invest Rs 100 crore each to enter the healthcare sector.

The superstitious among Indonesia’s 200m people could be forgiven for thinking that the gods must be irate. By almost any standard, 1997 has been a very bad year, bringing drought, forest fires, air crashes, a currency collapse, stock exchange slump, and riots. But much of the calamity has been man-made, and it has tarnished the reputation of President Suharto’s regime, at a critical moment for the ageing president and his supporters.

India will launch its maiden moon mission 'Chandrayaan I' early next year, Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman G Madhavan Nair said today.On the other hand, Amid confusion, the visit of a 19-member British group to Lucknow to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the first war of Independence in 1857 starts today despite opposition by the BJP, Samajwadi Party and some Muslim religious leaders and intellectuals.

Columbus returns. Columbus has the single point agenda to kill the indigenous people worldwide as he killed some five hundred years back.

Millions of indigenous people lived in the Americas when the 1492 voyage of Christopher Columbus began a historical period of large-scale European contact with the Americas. European contact with what they called the "New World" led to the European colonization of the Americas, with millions of emigrants (willing and unwilling) from the "Old World" eventually resettling in the Americas.. While the population of Old World peoples in the Americas steadily grew in the centuries after Columbus, the population of the American indigenous peoples plummeted. The extent and causes of this population decline have long been the subject of controversy and debate. The 500th anniversary of Columbus's famous voyage, in 1992, drew renewed attention to claims that indigenous peoples of the Americas had been the victims of ethnocides (i.e. the destruction of a culture).

Columbus started from Atlantic Coast to get India. He got America. The rulers established that he was the man who invented America. Though America existed with high level Maya and Inca and red Indian civilisations. Columbus destroyed everything without any weapon of Mass destruction. He exercised genocides without any missile, without any atom bomb!
Now the Columbus has got full control on World affairs. It is total dominance in the space. Nature raped and Humanity annihilated. He robbed natural resources. Now they rob everything we have!

Our ancestors did not welcome Columbus. Though they could not resist the destiny of eternal slavery.

We welcome Columbus everywhere. Latin America resists. Latin America which was the killing field , a free hunting ground for Sovereign Columbus. Our Civil Society is a committed ally of the Sovereign Columbus now. We have surrounded political borders, cultural roots, mother languages, national identity, production system, economy, sovereignty, freedom, democracy, humanity, human and civil rights!

Case Study: Indrajeet Chatterjee

The Detective Department of the Kolkata police arrested Indrajit Chatterjee from Howrah on Monday for committing fraud against various banks. He was also wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The police are on the lookout for his wife Rashika, who was a part of the racket.

Another accused in the case, Amit Sen was arrested from Entally on Tuesday. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Detective Department, Jawed Shamim said several tracing papers and duplicate stamps of the state government were recovered from him. “He is an accomplice of

Chatterjee and had helped him in forging various documents,” added DC.

With four persons arrested earlier, seven arrests have been made so far in the case, the police said. “Chatterjee seems to be the kingpin of a forgery gang,” said a senior officer of the anti-bank fraud section of the Detective Department. Sources said that he was arrested by the Kolkata police on charges of forgery nearly four years ago.

The economic offence wing of the CBI was hunting for him, as he had been duping various banks since 2006. “Chatterjee had cheated UCO bank and Canara bank with crores of Rupees,” said a CBI source. The Kolkata police had received a complaint to this effect from the Karnataka bank in last December. “To catch him, we conducted raids at several places throughout the country,” said Shamim.

“He deposited the papers of a flat in the Sayeed Amir Ali Avenue as security and took huge loans from several banks,” added DC.

Rashika was the owner of Ma Karunamoyee Films Ltd, that produced films and serials, said the police. Chatterjee was the promoter of a company, Amtech Universal. The duo had recently produced a Bengali film, Greftar.

Police are now investigating more cases of his fraud. “On Tuesday morning, a person called us that Chatterjee had duped him. We have asked him to file a complaint,” Shamim added.

Mobile Phones

Mobile phones in classroom cause distraction and kids are unable to concentrate on learning. Nowadays in colleges, students misuse cellphones by sending SMS and MMS. Only the other day, newspaper headlines screamed with the report of obscene picture messages sent through cellphone by a student. However, he was nabbed later.

But besides cellphones, the pampered children of wealthy families are gradually getting used to other luxurious ways of life. Air conditioned cars, costly school bags, pens, watches or shoes are their regular requirements. This not only creates differences in the mind of the students but also a kind of complex, which makes the children lonely and even depressed.

The Meghalaya government has already announced a ban on cellphones in the classroom and cars outside to prevent the students from being engaged in too much luxury and show-off. Parents are asked not to drop their children in cars. In school buses, children develop community sense. The luxurious ways of life make the children selfish. This is going on in other states. Use of cellphone by parents, especially at the time of driving can cause accidents.

Schools are for learning. It is high time that the states step in to ban the high-tech gadgets, which cause distraction, especially when a class is in progress. If their parents need to contact them regarding rides or appointments, they can leave a voice mail and the student can pick it up later.

Cybercrime threatens Internet economy

Government ministers from across the world have issued a call for greater vigilance against cybercrime at the close of meeting on the future of the Internet economy, says Computing.co.uk.

The Seoul Declaration came at the end of a two-day ministerial conference on the future of the Web in the South Korean capital hosted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

OECD member countries, the European Community and ministers from Chile, Egypt, Estonia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Latvia, Senegal and Slovenia affirmed the declaration.

Turkish hacker tips Photobucket

Photobucket, the popular photo sharing Web site, became the target of a DNS hack on Tuesday, reports The Register.

As a result of the attack, some (but not all) surfers hoping to check out pictures were involuntarily redirected to a greeting from hacker NetDeliz and a message in Turkish.

A post to Photobucket's user forum blamed the problem on "an error in our DNS hosting services". It stressed that users' personal information was not affected by the redirection.

Verizon speeds up fibre-optic Internet

Verizon Communications is boosting the speed of its FiOS fibre-optic Internet service in 10 states, says The Associated Press.

The FiOS service areas of California, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington will see new plans that nearly double Internet speeds, Chief operating officer Denny Strigl said in remarks to be delivered at a conference Wednesday.

The faster speeds were already available in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, where competition from cable is particularly fierce, and in Florida, Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Data glitch stops Mars lander

The Phoenix lander stopped digging soil near Mars' north pole Wednesday as engineers on Earth worked to fix a glitch that caused the loss of a day's worth of photos, reports The Associated Press.

The problem was discovered late Tuesday after the spacecraft dug a trench inside a polygon-shaped surface feature that was likely caused by seasonal expansion and shrinking of ice.

The lander beamed back pictures of the trench, but an overload of data prevented it from saving images of the landscape and atmosphere in its flash memory.

 Crimeware developers now supply "crimeware toolkits" to other fraudsters. These packages guide users to sneak into a system and then retrieve data for financial gain. But criminals can also go the old-fashioned way — purchasing data collected by trojans, keyloggers and other types of crimeware.
 
 
SophosLabs, which had intercepted emails with subject lines such as ‘Million dead in Chinese quake' linking victims to websites on a .cn domain, agrees on the increasing complexity of trojans. 
 
Sophos experts predict, "Using the highly-anticipated Olympic Games due to take place in Beijing in August, cyber thieves would be on prowl to launch many more trojans that could sneak into systems and silently track a victim's system and data stream." 

The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. However, several widely-accepted formulations, which define the term "Indigenous peoples" in stricter terms, have been put forward by prominent and internationally-recognised organizations, such as the United Nations, the International Labour Organization and the World Bank. Indigenous peoples in this article is used in such a narrower sense.

Drawing on these, a contemporary working definition of "indigenous peoples" for certain purposes has criteria which would seek to include cultural groups (and their descendants) who have an historical continuity or association with a given region, or parts of a region, and who formerly or currently inhabit the region either:

before its subsequent colonization or annexation; or
alongside other cultural groups during the formation of a nation-state; or
independently or largely isolated from the influence of the claimed governance by a nation-state,
And who furthermore:

have maintained at least in part their distinct linguistic, cultural and social / organizational characteristics, and in doing so remain differentiated in some degree from the surrounding populations and dominant culture of the nation-state.
To the above, a criterion is usually added to also include:

peoples who are self-identified as indigenous, and/or those recognised as such by other groups.
Note that even if all the above criteria are fulfilled, some people may either not consider themselves as indigenous or may not be considered as indigenous by governments, organizations or scholars.

Other related terms for indigenous peoples include aborigines, aboriginal peoples, native peoples, first peoples, first nations and autochthonous (this last term having a derivation from Greek, meaning "sprung from the earth"). Indigenous peoples may often be used in preference to these or other terms, as a neutral replacement where these terms may have taken on negative or pejorative connotations by their prior association and use. It is the preferred term in use by the United Nations and its subsidiary organizations.

 India's dirty laundry: The murder tearing Indian society apart

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/indias-dirty-laundry-847914.html

The murder of a teenage girl in Delhi, unjustly blamed on a domestic servant, has heightened hatred and suspicion at the heart of Asia's most class-riven society. Andrew Buncombe reports

Monday, 16 June 2008

When 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar was found murdered the police made no effort to examine the crime scene and assumed the killer was the family's servant, Hemraj (below left). A day later it was found that Hemraj had also been murdered. Aarushi's father, Rajesh Talwar (circled), is now a suspect. Bottom left is Aarushi's mother.

 For police in the eastern suburbs of Delhi it seemed like an open and shut case.

When the body of 14-year-old Aarushi Talwar was discovered in a pool of blood, her throat cut and the family's domestic servant nowhere to be found, detectives had only one suspect. Senior officers said they even had clues as to where the 45-year-old Nepali servant might be hiding and said that a team of officers was being dispatched to Nepal to track him down. The police saw no reason to bring in sniffer dogs, photograph the crime scene or even force open a locked door that led to a terrace despite the presence of drops of blood on the steps.

An immediate media frenzy erupted. The TV channels and newspapers were full of lurid details and unquestioningly blamed Yam Prasad Banjade, also known as Hemraj, the missing servant, for the grisly killing of the teenager. And then one day later, someone opened the terrace door and discovered Hemraj's decomposing body lying on the floor. He too had been murdered, in the same way as Aarushi. Police were forced to reopen the murder mystery.

The authorities' handling of the high-profile case – Aarushi's father, Rajesh Talwar, a dentist, is currently the police's latest suspect – resulted in angry demonstrations by Nepali labourers, outraged that one of their countrymen had been blamed unfairly for such a horrible crime. But the case has focused fresh attention on the uneasy relationship between India's middle classes and the ubiquitous servants who wash, cook, shop, drive, garden and clean for them. It has highlighted too, the deep anxiety of many Indians who live in perpetual fear that their servants will rob them, poison them or worse. A constant source of conversation among Indians who employ domestic staff, such fear has now even found its way into a popular new Indian novel that tells the story of a bitter and disenchanted chauffeur in Delhi who slits his employer's throat.

"We always get our staff verified by the police and we also try and get people who are recommended to us. Only then do we let them in our house," said Rosie Kapoor, a businesswoman from south Delhi, who employs one full-time and two part-time maids. "But even after all this I am still very careful."

While in the West servants largely belong to an earlier generation, in India they remain commonplace. Even families with a modest income will employ one or two maids; however industrious middle-class Indians may be in other respects, most have a loathing of domestic chores. In Delhi alone, it is estimated there are at least 60,000 domestic servants, of which perhaps just a third are registered with the police.

The maids, cleaners, drivers and cooks usually earn pitifully little and often live in miserable conditions. Often they are migrants from Nepal or else impoverished Indian states such as Orissa or Bihar. A full-time maid can earn as little as 2,000 rupees (£24) a month, supplemented with a meagre diet and perhaps some cheap clothes given to them by their employer. For this, the servant will usually work 12 to 14 hours a day, perhaps with one day off a week. Usually, servants will live in a simple one-roof shack or shed, often built on the roof of the house – swelteringly warm during the long, hot summers and bone-chilling in northern India's brief but cold winters. Most servants' bathroom facilities are probably best left undescribed.

And the relationship between domestic staff and the families they work for can have additional complications above and beyond the obvious financial disparity. Often staff will be from a lower caste than their employer, adding to possible mistrust and resentment.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that some employers treat their staff well, even almost considering them members of the family. On holidays such as Diwali and Holi, the staff will get a generous bonus or gift, they will receive their meals and clothes and time off to go back to their village or town if a family member is ill.

But there are numerous reports of employers treating their staff as little more than slaves. An 18-year-old who works as the live-in cook for a businessman in the Safdarjang area of south Delhi said that his every move was followed by CCTV monitors that his employer had installed in the house. The cook, Sushil, said that if he was caught leaving the house during working hours he was punished. He said that he, and two teenage girls employed as maids, were often beaten.

"If anyone makes a mistake, the boss beats them. He is dangerous," said Sushil, who came to Delhi from the Sultanpur district of Uttar Pradesh. "He hits the girls as well. He is a really bad man."

Sushil said that he earned 4,500 rupees a month but that he had to pay for his own food and clothes from this. In the three years he had worked at the house, his employer had never given him a holiday bonus.

Given the wretched, impoverished conditions in which India's domestic servants live it would perhaps not be surprising if servants were to turn to opportunistic crimes. "The class difference of employers and the employed is so big and that tempted them to commit crimes," a Delhi police spokesman, Rajan Bhagat, told the Associated Press.

But despite the widespread stories of chauffeurs routinely siphoning off petrol from their employers' cars, maids rustling through jewellery boxes when they should be sweeping the floor and newspaper cartoons showing Nepali servants chasing terrified elderly women, to what extent is the middle-class fear of their staff justified and how much of it is urban myth?

"I think it is real and I think we are hearing a lot less than actually takes place," said an expatriate living in Delhi who employs domestic staff and asked not to be named. "It's getting worse. [Domestic servants] can see the light. They know that money will give them a way out. It's something new. And people have to be careful."

While the media attention devoted to Aarushi's murder was exceptional, even the family's lawyer believes such servants are often responsible for crimes. Pinaki Mishra said there were many factors behind the phenomenon – increasing economic disparity, the increasing influx of rural people into India's cities and even mafia-style groups that force domestic servants to steal from their employers.

"India is an entire society in transformation," he said. "You have a middle class of up to 300 million people and below that you have an aspirational class of up to 300 million ... All the values are breaking down. No one wants to do menial work."

This view was shared by the family of an east Delhi businessman killed 10 days ago in his home. In this case too, the family's Nepali servant – employed for less than a year – has gone missing and police say he is a suspect. The businessman's hands had been tied behind his back and he had been strangled by a bed-sheet.

"Globalisation is the problem. Everybody wants a television, everybody wants the luxury. If they cannot get it by hook then they get it by crook," said the businessman's sister, her eyes red with tears. "We want to catch the person who did this to stop it happening again. We know we are not going to get our brother back but we are not going to lose our humanity."

Yet while such killings made big headlines, official figures suggest that the problem is not as great as some may believe. Mr Bhagat, the Delhi police spokesman, said that five people in the city with a population of more than 16 million had been robbed or killed by their servants so far this year. Last year the total was six.

Domestic servants say they are often blamed unfairly by their employers, the first in line to be accused if something goes missing. In the aftermath of Aarushi's death and the accusations that were made by police about the alleged guilt of the family's servant, dozens of other domestic workers gathered outside the local police station to complain. "We become prime suspects every time there is a crime in the house or the neighbourhood we work in," Ram Bahadur, a labourer, told journalists. "We are poor people trying to earn a living with dignity. Is it fair to suspect us without evidence?"

Sushil, the cook, said that he too was often accused of things, even though he insisted that thoughts of committing a crime had never entered his head. He said he was shocked by the murder of the businessman in east Delhi. "This is not something I think about," he said. "How can anyone do this sort of thing if he is a servant?"

The family of the murdered businessman said that they will no longer employ a live-in servant, even if it means they will have to perform the chores that their domestic help have traditionally carried out. "The culture can change. People can learn to adapt," said one of his sons, standing outside his father's store, talking with friends and relatives who had come to pay their respects. "They will have to change."

But are other Indians ready to give up their domestic staff and get down to scrubbing the dishes? Nishant Singh, a lawyer who works in Gurgaon, Delhi's Westernised satellite city, said the flurry of recent headlines would certainly encourage more people to think carefully about the staff they hire, about getting them verified by police and perhaps opting for part-time help rather than live-in servants.

But he doubted that Indians would forgo employing servants altogether. With the upper part of India's economy booming, more people had money to spend on help and with increasing numbers of women entering the workplace there was more demand for people to carry out the household tasks traditionally performed by women. "There has long been this concept of having staff," he said. "It's part of the culture."

View Full Version : increasing teenage crime in dublin...from a unlucky visitor

http://www.dublin.ie/forums/archive/index.php?t-1807.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

s200030-10-2005, 03:40 PM
I am disappointed to publish this message but I want people to read my story…..I want people to be more aware of teenager crime in Dublin. I am from England and a secondary school teacher. I've always wanted to go Dublin as I hear great things and love Guinness and the Irish accent. Although we did have a fun time in Dublin, it got ruined by the "tracksuit" teenagers that loom around the inner city Dublin streets, causing hassle to vulnerable innocent passer-by.

My story has a sad ending for me but I’m hope things will be positive from what happened to my friend and I. It was our second and last night in Dublin as it was short holiday. We have just left a night club round 1 am to go to another club. As we crossed the traffic lights on O' Connell Street, two teenage girls, barely 15 yrs old, snatched my mate's mask as they passed us. (It was Halloween weekend) We were drunk ourselves; and our natural instinct was to get the mask back, so I helped my friend to take the masks out of the girl’s hand, which we did.
As we walked away, they swore at us. So we swore back and carried on walking. When we approached the black statue of Daniel O’Connell, they followed us, then ran towards us and jumped on my friend. They started to kick my friend so I shouted them to get her off. Then, one of the girls pushed me over into the busy road and grabbed my hair and started kicking me. I tried to fight back but she pulled my hair tighter and carried on kicking me. I had to roll in a ball as she would kick me in the stomach. People just stood there and watched us getting attacked. I felt so embarrassed and helpless. The men who saved us were this very heroic Asian guy and his Italian friend. They pulled the girls off us and helped us to cross the bridge to get away from the girls.
Obviously we were in great shock from the incident. I have never been attacked or been in any fights before as I always stay away from trouble. I believe I am an intelligent and sensible person and I rarely drink. But, naturally, we were enjoying the Guinness too much and enjoying our holiday in Dublin. We didn’t think our long awaited dream holiday would be ruined by such evil and uneducated people.
It was a blessing in disguise when the girls came back up the bridge and began to attack me again. She pushed the guy out of the way and jumped on me, pulling my hair so tight. She was like an animal, getting pure satisfaction out of causing pain. They had this evil smile on their face as they approached is again. They even walked normally across the traffic lights to get to us. It was so surreal. My friend shouted for people to help me. It took four men to pull her off me and it felt like it took awhile to do this as she held on to my hair so hard. Being oriental, I have long black hair but about fourth of it has been ripped off.
The police arrived very soon after the incident in a big white van. As the four men held this girl down, My friend told me one Irish guy told the guys to let her go, not knowing what happened which made my friend angry. I just wanted to be well away from the situation as I was so upset and angry. I kept on shouting out “how evil they were”. The police retained the girls. They didn’t retaliate. They appeared to be so calm and emotionless. I was livid. Deep down I wanted them to suffer the same pain I went through. I just kept shouting at them and cried. One of the female officers said if I carried on shouting, I would be put in the van which made me angrier. The police didn’t seem too sympathetic towards us apart from one officer. We were the ones so distress and in pain. It was so evident in our appearance. My friend lip was cut; her hair was messed up and cuts on her face. But I was the one who got attacked twice. I couldn’t calm down; I was just shocked and angry about what just happened. In one way I was very conscious of the situation as we asked what will happen to the girls. They told us if it’s the first offence, they probably just get a caution. We were even more livid when we heard this. The trauma and pain these girls caused us, we felt it was unfair. Two days on and being back in the safety of my home, my whole body aches and constantly reminds me of the night. The bruising on my knees prevents me from even walking now. I have cuts and grazes on my face which probably will scar. I can’t go back to work due to the injuries. But I know I need to recover mentally as I work with rebellious teenagers at school. When I see teenagers hang out in groups on the streets, it does scare me. I reported this incident to the ‘Irish independent’ as I want public awareness of teenage crime in Dublin.
I found out from the Asian guy who saved our lives that the girls were under influence of alcohol and one went unconscious in the hospital afterwards. The first evening, a gang of these tracksuit teenagers tried to steal my friend’s bag. Also, on the night where we were brutally attacked, this guy in fancy dress had his hat stolen by these tracksuit teenagers. He tried to get it back and they were just playing with him.
Its really unfortunate incident that happened to us and I hope no one else will have to go through the trauma we went through. It was an unprovoked attack and it made us scared to back to Dublin. I never walk on my own anywhere, but is it safe to be just in pairs? The issue I really want to raise is what is the government is trying to do about these teenagers who loom around the streets in gangs. Too often we saw them and we were only been there for two days…..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The good thing to remember is that habits can be overcome. In eastern philosophy there are a lot of writings about attachment and that we repeat patterns until we realize that they don't make us happy.

Try to reflect upon what you really get from the habit and if it really is fulfilling. Is it just a distraction or a way to hide pain? While you are engaged in the habit try to look at it. This is hard to do and takes a lot of concentration but is very worthwhile.

Willpower can be helpful but insight is key to preventing symptom replacement. It is natural to get in a conflict between our will and desire. We may want to be thinner but also desire the ice cream. It helps to not view what you are giving up as a deprivation but instead to see it as taking away your energy, potential and new life. For instance, visualizing the effects of smoking on your body, the odor in your hair etc is a good way to do this.

In addition to not feeling deprived, focus on what you DO want. Think about the lightness you want to feel when you run after dropping thirty pounds or on the vision of your hands by overcoming nail biting.

Picture yourself in six months from now and how proud you'll be of yourself. Replacing bad habits with good habits is a healthy way to overcome them. Often we feel better when we do this. If you are someone who eats oreos and goes to bed without brushing your teeth, try to commit to brushing them at night for a week. It is very satisfying to feel refreshed before going to bed.

சி. வேழவேந்தன்

தமிழகத்தில் மாவட்ட ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சி மையங்கள் உள்பட அரசு மற்றும் அரசு உதவிபெறும் ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் பள்ளிகள் கடந்த சில ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்னர்வரை சொற்ப அளவில் மட்டுமே இருந்தன.

எனவே, அப்போது பிளஸ் 2 தேர்வில் அதிக மதிப்பெண்கள் பெறும் மாணவ, மாணவிகள் மட்டுமே ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் பள்ளிகளில் சேரும் நிலை இருந்தது.

மருத்துவம், பொறியியல் படிப்புக்கு விண்ணப்பித்து அங்கே இடம் கிடைக்காத மாணவர்கள் ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் பள்ளியில் சேருவது வழக்கம்.

ஆனால், இன்று நிலைமை தலைகீழாகிவிட்டது. கடந்த ஆண்டு தமிழகத்தில் உள்ள பொறியியல் கல்லூரிகளில் 18 ஆயிரம் இடங்கள் காலியாக இருந்தன என்பது குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது.

எனவே, இந்த ஆண்டு பொறியியல் கல்லூரிகளில் மாணவர்கள் சேருவதற்கான குறைந்தபட்ச மதிப்பெண்களை அரசு மேலும் குறைத்துள்ளது.

இதன் மூலம் விண்ணப்பித்த அனைவருக்கும் (குறைந்த மதிப்பெண்கள் பெற்றால்கூட) பொறியியல் கல்லூரிகளில் அரசின் கலந்தாய்வு மூலம் இடம் கிடைக்கும் நிலை உள்ளது.

மேலும், சில ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்னர் சுயநிதி ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் பள்ளிகளில் நிர்வாக ஒதுக்கீட்டு இடங்களுக்கு எவ்வளவு பணம் கொடுத்தாலும் (ரூ. 2 லட்சம் வரை) சீட் கிடைக்தாத நிலையே இருந்துவந்தது.

ஆனால், தற்போது தமிழகத்தில் 600-க்கும் மேற்பட்ட தனியார் ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் பள்ளிகள் தொடங்கப்பட்டு செயல்பட்டு வருகின்றன.

இதன்மூலம் ஆண்டுதோறும் இடைநிலை ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சி மாணவர் சேர்க்கைக்கு மொத்தம் உள்ள 40 ஆயிரம் இடங்களில் 25 ஆயிரம் இடங்களை அரசு கலந்தாய்வு மூலம் நிரப்பி வருகிறது.

மீதம் உள்ள 15 ஆயிரம் இடங்களுக்கு தனியார் பள்ளி நிர்வாகத்தினர் நேரடியாக மாணவர்களைச் சேர்த்து வருகின்றனர்.

அரசின் கலந்தாய்வு மூலம் அரசு மற்றும் தனியார் ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் பள்ளிகளுக்குச் செல்லும் மாணவர் அரசு ஒதுக்கிய கட்டணத்தை மட்டும் செலுத்தினால் போதும்.

போட்டி அதிகமாக இருந்தபோது தனியார் ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் பள்ளிகளில் உள்ள இடங்கள் தானாக நிரம்பின.

ஆனால் இன்று தனியார் பொறியியல் கல்லூரிகளைப் போலவே, தனியார் ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் பள்ளிகளும் தங்களுக்கு ஒதுக்கப்பட்ட கோட்டாவிற்கே மாணவர்கள் இல்லாமல் இடத்தை காலியாக வைத்துள்ளன.

எனவே தனியார் ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் பள்ளிகளில் முன்னர் ரூ. 2 லட்சத்திற்கு விலை போன இடைநிலை ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் படிப்புக்கான இடம், தற்போது ஆண்டுக்கு ரூ. 35 ஆயிரம் என குறைந்துள்ளது.

இதையும் தவணை முறையில் கொடுக்க வாய்ப்பு வழங்கப்படுகிறது.

கடந்த ஆண்டு அரசு சார்பில் நடைபெற்ற இடைநிலை ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சி கலந்தாய்வுக்கு 70 ஆயிரம் மாணவ, மாணவிகள் விண்ணப்பித்திருந்தனர்.

இந்த ஆண்டு 40 ஆயிரம் பேர் மட்டுமே விண்ணப்பித்துள்ளனர்.

கடந்த ஆண்டு மாணவர்கள் பிரிவில் ஒரு குறிப்பிட்ட இடஒதுக்கீட்டில் குறைந்த பட்ச கட்-ஆப் மதிப்பெண் 470.

இதேபோல, மாணவிகள் பொதுப் பிரிவில் அறிவியல் பிரிவுக்கு 835, கலைப் பிரிவுக்கு 952, தொழில் பிரிவுக்கு 971 என கட்-ஆப் மதிப்பெண் இருந்தது.

பிளஸ் 2 தேர்வில் 1200-க்கு 470 மதிப்பெண்கள் பெற்ற ஒரு மாணவர் அரசு ஒதுக்கீட்டில் இடைநிலை ஆசிரியர் பயிற்சிப் பள்ளியில் சேர்வதற்கான வாய்ப்பை கடந்த ஆண்டு பெற்றுள்ளார்.

இந்த ஆண்டு கடந்த ஆண்டை விட 30 ஆயிரம் பேர் குறைவாகவே கலந்தாய்வுக்கு விண்ணப்பித்துள்ளனர்.

தரமான ஆசிரியர்களால்தான் தரமான மாணவர்களை உருவாக்க முடியும் என்பதில் யாருக்கும் மாற்றுக் கருத்து இருக்க முடியாது.

ஆங்கில மோகத்தாலும், தரமான கல்வி கிடைக்குமா என்ற சந்தேகத்தாலும் தமிழகத்தில் மொத்தம் உள்ள 34,208 அரசு, தனியார் தொடக்கப் பள்ளிகளில் கடந்த சில ஆண்டுகளாக மாணவர் சேர்க்கை தொடர்ந்து சரிந்துவருகிறது.

ஆனால், அரசிடம் அனுமதிபெற்று இயங்கிவரும் 4622 நர்சரி, பிரைமரி பள்ளிகளில் மாணவர் சேர்க்கை விகிதம் தொடர்ந்து ஆண்டுதோறும் உயர்ந்து வருகிறது.

300, 400 மாணவர்கள் படித்துவந்த சில தமிழ்வழிப் பள்ளிகள் தற்போது ஒரு மாணவர் கூட இல்லாமல் மூடப்பட்டுவரும் துர்பாக்கிய நிலை ஏற்பட்டுள்ளது.

இதைத் தடுக்க ஆங்கில வழியில் கற்பிக்கப்படும் பள்ளிகளுக்கு இணையாக தமிழ் வழிப் பள்ளிகளிலும் கற்றல் முறைகளை மாற்றவேண்டும். அதோடு தரமான ஆசிரியர்களின் சேவையும் இன்றைய முக்கியத் தேவையாக உள்ளது.

மேலும், நமது அண்டை மாநிலமான புதுச்சேரியைப்போல தமிழகத்தில் உள்ள அனைத்து அரசு தொடக்கப் பள்ளிகளிலும் எல்.கே.ஜி., யு.கே.ஜி. வகுப்புகளை அரசு தொடங்கி ஆங்கிலத்தில் புலமை பெற்ற ஆசிரியர்களை அந்த வகுப்புகளுக்கு நியமிக்கலாம்.

இதன்மூலம் அரசுப் பள்ளிகளில் மாணவர் சேர்க்கை விகிதம் குறைவதைத் தடுக்க முடியும்.

மேலும், பணக்காரர் வீட்டுக் குழந்தைகளுக்கு மட்டுமே கிடைத்துவரும் தரமான கல்வி சாமானிய ஏழைக் குழந்தைகளுக்கும் கிடைப்பதை உறுதி செய்யலாம்.

இன்றைய போட்டி நிறைந்த உலகில் ஆங்கில அறிவும், கணினி அறிவும் அவசியம் என்பதால் அதற்கேற்ப மாணவர்களை உருவாக்க வேண்டும்.

Now, after the call ends, some guy asked me, what am I doing and what have I done. I told him that I am doing an internship in some company which works in Finance related stuff. That guy is doing MBA in Finance. So we had some conversation about finance and I could not stop myself from telling him that I'm joining IITB for M.Sc program. Luckily that guy knew about IIT and how great it is. So he started praising my success, and blah blah.

I didn't know that there was another person who was listening us too. That person was sitting next to me. Now this person is almost illiterate(I could make out that from his accent and looks). I tried to make it as simple as I could. I told him that IIT is one of the best institutes in India, etc. After sometime he told me that he's has a son of about my age. And since IIT's are best in the India, he wanted his son to study there. Now, he asks me about admissions. I told him that, after +2 there is an exam called JEE, and after gradution one can appear for GATE/JAM to get into IIT.

Now he asks me, "Which exam should you appear to get into IIT after Diploma?"

For a second I fell like, what should I say. Also I had hard time to stop myself from laughing.

It's like, afaik, those people go for diploma, who can't get admission in Junior college with there 10th class marks. This person should know that his son is not capable of making it to Junior college, how the hell is he going to compete for getting into India's best college.

சமீபத்தில் சென்னை முகப்பேரில் நடந்த சம்பவம் ஒன்று நமது சமுதாயத்தின் மீதும் ஆட்சியாளர்கள் மீதும் ஏன் நம்மீதே நமக்குக் கோபத்தையும் ஆத்திரத்தையும் ஏற்படுத்துகிறது. 24-வயது அனிதா என்ற பெண்மணி தனது மூன்று வயதுப் பெண் குழந்தையை நர்சரி பள்ளியில் சேர்க்க நன்கொடை கொடுக்க முடியாத நிலையில் தற்கொலை செய்து கொண்டாள் என்பதுதான் அந்தத் திடுக்கிடும் செய்தி.

அனிதா தற்கொலை செய்து கொண்டு விட்டாள். ஆயிரக்கணக்கான அனிதாக்கள் தங்கள் குழந்தைகளைப் படிக்க வைப்பதற்குப் பல்வேறு தியாகங்களைச் செய்து கொண்டும், வெளியில் சொல்ல முடியாத நரக வேதனையை மனதில் சுமந்து கொண்டும், கடன்காரர்களுக்குப் பதில் சொல்ல முடியாமல் அவமானத்தை மென்று விழுங்கிக் கொண்டும் வாழ்கிறார்கள் என்பது ஒன்றும் ரகசியமல்ல. பள்ளிக்கூடம் திறக்கிறது என்கிறபோதே வயிற்றில் நெருப்பைக் கட்டிக்கொண்டு பதைபதைக்கும் பெற்றோரும், உற்றார், உறவினர், நட்பு என்று அனைவரிடமும் கைநீட்டிக் கெஞ்சும் பெற்றோரும் ஏராளம் ஏராளம்.

"தம்மிற் தம்மக்கள் அறிவுடைமை மாநிலத்து மன்னுயிர்க் கெல்லாம் இனிது' என்பது வள்ளுவப் பேராசானே எழுதி வைத்த குறள். அக்கம்பக்கத்துப் பெண்டிரும், உற்றார் உறவினரும் தத்தம் குழந்தைகளைப் பெரிய பணக்காரக் குழந்தைகள் படிக்கும் பள்ளிகளுக்கு அனுப்பும்போது, தங்களது குழந்தைகளுக்கும் அந்தக் கல்வி தரப்பட வேண்டும் என்று எந்தவொரு பெற்றோரும் விழைவது இயல்பு. அப்படித் தர முடியாத நிலையில், விரக்தியும் வேதனையும் ஏற்படுவது தவிர்க்க முடியாதுதான்.

கிராமப்புறங்களிலிருந்து படித்துப் பட்டம் பெற்றுத் தங்கள் வாழ்க்கைத் தரத்தைப் பன்மடங்கு உயர்த்திக் கொண்ட கையோடு, தத்தம் குழந்தைகளை மிகப்பெரிய பணக்காரக் குழந்தைகள் படிக்கும் பள்ளியில் படிக்க வைக்க, தங்களுக்கு இயலாமல் போன கனவுகளைப் பூர்த்தி செய்து கொள்ளப் பலர் துடிக்கிறார்கள். அதற்காக எந்த விலையையும் கொடுக்க அவர்கள் தயாராகிறார்கள் என்பதைத்தான் மேலே கூறிய செய்தி உறுதிப்படுத்துகிறது.

சமச்சீர் கல்வி, உயர்கல்வி, மருத்துவ மற்றும் பொறியியல் கல்லூரிகள் என்றெல்லாம் பேசுகிறோமே தவிர, இந்தத் தனியார் பள்ளிகளின் கட்டணத்தையும், நன்கொடையையும் முறைப்படுத்த நமது அரசு ஏன் முன்வருவதில்லை என்பது புதிராகவே இருக்கிறது. காளான்கள் போலத் தனியார் பள்ளிகள் ஆங்காங்கே முளைக்கின்றன. இந்தப் பள்ளிகள் நன்கொடை வசூலித்துத் தங்களது கட்டமைப்பு வசதிகளைப் பெருக்கிக் கொள்கின்றன. கேள்வி கேட்க அரசுக்கு அதிகாரம் இல்லை என்றும், இது தனியார் முயற்சி என்றும் கூறுகிறார்கள். நாமும் பார்த்துக் கொண்டு வாளாவிருக்கிறோம்.

தனியார் பள்ளிகளை விடுங்கள். அரசு நடத்தும் பள்ளிகள் மற்றும் அரசின் உதவியுடன் நடத்தப்படும் பள்ளிகளில் அதிகாரபூர்வமற்ற வகையில் நன்கொடைகள் வசூலிக்கப்படுகின்றன. இது அரசுக்கும் அதிகாரிகளுக்கும் தெரியாமலா நடைபெறுகிறது? இத்தனைக்கும் தமிழக அரசின் 1972ஆம் ஆண்டு சட்டப்படி இந்த நிறுவனங்கள் நன்கொடை வசூலிப்பது தடுக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

ஒருபுறம் இட ஒதுக்கீடு மூலம் சமூக நீதியை நிலைநாட்டுகிறோம் என்று சொல்லிக் கொள்பவர்கள், இன்னொருபுறம் பள்ளிக் கல்வியில் தனியார் தலையீட்டை அதிகரித்து சமூக ஏற்றத் தாழ்வு என்கிற நஞ்சைப் பிஞ்சு உள்ளங்களில் விதைக்கின்றனர். பணக்காரக் குழந்தைகள் மட்டுமே படிக்கும் தனியார் பள்ளிகள் ஒருபுறம், ஏழைகள் மட்டுமே படிக்கும் அரசு, மாநகராட்சி, நகராட்சி மற்றும் பஞ்சாயத்துப் பள்ளிகளும், அரசு உதவியுடன் நடத்தப்படும் பள்ளிகளும் மறுபுறம்.

பசி, வறுமை, ஏழ்மை என்றால் என்னவென்றே தெரியாமல் வளரும் சமுதாயம் ஒருபுறம். கல்வியில்கூட வறுமையே கதி என்கிற விதியை வரித்துக் கொண்ட குழந்தைகள் மறுபுறம். இட ஒதுக்கீட்டால் ஏற்படும் சமூகநீதிகூட பணக்காரப் பள்ளிகளில் படித்தால் மட்டுமே கைகொடுக்கும் துர்பாக்கிய நிலை. ஏழையாகப் பிறந்த குற்றத்திற்காக அந்தக் குழந்தையும், அந்தக் குழந்தையைப் பெற்ற குற்றத்திற்காக அந்தப் பெற்றோரும் இதையெல்லாம் விதியென்று கருதி வாளாவிருப்பதுதான் சமுதாய நீதியா?

மேலே எழுப்பிய கேள்விகளைப் பெருந்தலைவர் என்று அழைக்கப்படும் முன்னாள் முதல்வர் கு. காமராஜ் உணர்ந்திருந்தார். அதனால்தான் கட்டாயக் கல்வி என்கிற பெயரில் அனைவருக்கும் கல்வி அளித்தது மட்டுமல்லாமல் பள்ளிக் கல்வியை அரசின் கட்டுப்பாட்டுக்குள் வைத்திருந்தார். தனியார் பள்ளிகளும் அரசின் சட்ட மற்றும் பாடத்திட்டங்களுக்கு உள்பட வைத்தார். தமிழகத்தில் சாதி பேதம் மறைந்து சமூக ஏற்றத்தாழ்வுகள் பெருமளவில் குறைந்ததற்குக் காமராஜின் கல்விக் கொள்கைதான் தலையாய காரணம்.

பள்ளிக் கல்வியை தனியாரிடமிருந்து அகற்றி அரசே ஏற்று நடத்துவது மட்டும்தான் இதற்கு ஒரே தீர்வு. அதைச் செய்யாத வரையில் சமூக நீதியும் சமச்சீர் கல்வியும், அனைவருக்கும் கல்வியும் உதட்டளவு உபந்நியாசமாகத்தான் தொடரும்!

How Will We Use Nanotechnology? -

For example: Your health will be dramatically improved when your immune system has assistance in the form of intelligent virus detection capability. A tiny robot the size of a blood cell can add tremendous detection capability to your existing body immune system.

In a larger context, nanotechnology will allow the creation of incredibly strong materials that allow you to build such things as a global warming moderation system, or an asteroid defense system. Whereas such systems could be built now to some degree, those systems become cheap and readily available with the advent of nanotechnology.

Whereas with nanotechnology - and specifically with Nanofactory manufacturing capability - you could:

• send a fifty pound package to the moon,
• have that package mine its own resources from the surface of the moon,
• build a launch capability,
• throw completed spacecraft subsystems into orbit around the moon,
• and send that spacecraft off to an asteroid where it would set up, build, and implement a thrusting device on the asteroid that would move it away from a collision course with Earth.

All this would occur without human intervention and without cost, other than the original package delivered to the moon.

"Our prospective students will have the opportunity to learn more about what makes Fisk special," said Fisk President Hazel R. O’Leary who will speak during the welcome luncheon. "We look forward to learning more about our prospective students as they prepare to begin their pursuit of academic excellence at Fisk."

Several students have received acceptance for the fall 2008 semester at Fisk University. Many will have the opportunity to win one of two scholarships worth $2,500 per semester for the 2008-9 academic year during Summer Open House. To be eligible for the scholarship, students in attendance must meet the following criteria:

- Possess an official acceptance letter indicating regular admission for fall 2008
- Submit the non-refundable enrollment deposit
- Complete the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA)

Eligibility for these scholarship awards will not be extended to students who have received their institutional awards for fall 2008, however, each student in attendance who has been accepted for fall 2008 regular admission to Fisk will receive a book voucher for $100.

Prospective and newly-accepted students will also receive a tour of Fisk’s historic campus during Summer Open House, attend a course offered by the university and will receive important information on scholarships and financial aid. Students who have submitted their enrollment deposit will be able to register for fall classes.

"Fisk continues to maintain an outstanding academic reputation and the summer seems a convenient time to showcase this to prospective students and families" said Dean of Admission Keith Chandler. "This event will provide an informative but relaxed atmosphere in which prospective students can sample one of our courses and get a preview of campus life."

Summer Open House begins at 8:00 am, Tuesday, July 8, 2008 on the historic campus of Fisk University. Admission is free. Interested students and families can get more information by contacting Mrs. Linda Campbell at 615.329.8665, 888.702.0022 (toll-free) or via email: lcampbell@fisk.edu. Registration begins immediately and continues through July 3, 2008. Click here to Register for Summer Open House 2008

While I had many different interviews (in many places, from coffee shops to offices), there are some rules that need to be followed for every college interview:

1. Show Up Early: Being 10 minutes early doesn't cost you anything, and remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, you don't want to be the guy that busts in 10 minutes late and mumbles something about traffic!

2. Dress Up!: I don't mean really really dress up, but business casual clothing is probably where you want to be at, a nice button down shirt (a tie might be a tad over, but better to be overly formal than not formal enough), and nice pants.

3. Be Prepared!: There is one question that I guarantee you will be asked in every interview. Well actually two, but they are very similar. The first is "why do you want to go to ______?" The second is "Do you have any questions about ______?" These are the two questions you want to have something prepared for. Luckily, if the school requires the "Why ____ University" essay, you should be set if you have done it. If it does not, it's a good idea to go through a brochure for the school. It may also be nice if you know people at the school, to ask them what makes the school special. Having visited the campus is a bonus as well, casually mentioning something that impressed you (and is unique about the school!) would help your cause. For the second question, it is a good time to get into specifics. Please PLEASE PUH-LEEZE don't ask something that can be easily found online: "What percent of students got in last year?" Ask something more specific: "I read that only 10% of students are in fraternities, how much of a role do you think they play in the social scene?"

4. Be prompt, polite, and courteous in response to communications before the interview. The interviewer will either call or email you in order to set up the interview. This is the first time you get to make an impression on him/her so make it count! Don't email them back a week after they email you with a "Hey dude watsup, just got your message..."

5. Expect the Unexpected, and Have fun!: Every interview has its own different tone to it, remember it is not a test. It's a conversation, and if you're too nervous and not really having any fun, chances are your interviewer isn't either! If you guys chat it up like old friends, chances are you will get a better report than if you answer questions with one word answers and there are long awkward pauses. If you're funny, be funny! If you're philosophical, be philosophical! This is another way for the college to get to know the real you, so be yourself!

The college interview is weighted differently for different colleges. Nobody knows for sure how much it is worth (though most agree it doesn't matter as much as the big stuff like essays, SATs, and GPA), it is something that should definitely be prepared for and could tip an application from the Rejected pile into the Accepted pile.

I've been to the International Gem Show in Seattle, and the official press release statement, "...the acclaimed International Gem & Jewelry Show presents the most dazzling display of gems, jewelry, beads, accessories, and minerals ever seen under one roof...." is no exaggeration. A king's ransom, and more. I saw the largest, most magnificent geodes I've ever seen, anywhere, at the IGJS.

• What: The show features hundreds of exhibitors from around the globe, including China, India, Africa, Australia, Russia, the American Southwest, and more. Colorful displays feature rare and exotic gems, unusual custom designed pieces, and special “theme” jewelry of interest to hobbyists. Visitors peruse precious and semi-precious gemstones, eye-catching beads, pearls, watches, antique and estate jewelry, accessories, and much more. Free jewelry cleaning and tips on proper maintenance and storage are provided. Tremendous selection and genuine savings are hallmarks of the shows’ success and popularity. From everyday-fashionable pieces, to the truly rare and exquisite, there is always something for everyone. [from the official press release]

• Where: Seattle Center Exhibition Hall [map directions to Seattle Center] [site-specific map - see #11].

• When:

Fri. June 27, 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Sat. June 28, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sun. June 29, 11:00 am - 5:00 pm

• Admission: Adults, $7.00, Youths and children 16 yrs. and under admitted free when accompanied by ticket holding adult. Tickets may be purchased online, or at the door. [downloadable $1.00 off-admission coupon].

• Special restrictions: No strollers or photograpy.

For more information, see the official website.

G.N.M. course is conducted by P.Geevarghese school of Nsg., which is a sister institution of this college.
No. of seats - 40
Duration of the course- 3½ yrs (w.e.f. 2005 admission)

Recognition / Approval
Recognised by Kerala Nurses' and Midwifes council.
Recognised by Indian Nursing Council

Eligibility for Application - a pass in higher secondary or equivalent examination 45% mark in optionals of Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Both Men and women can apply.

How to apply: -Application can be obtained from office of school on payment of fess Rs.100/-

Admission procedure
Based on marks obtained in the optional of higher secondary examinations and marks obtained in the interview for selection of candidates.

Fees. Rs. 25000/ per year.
Examination - yearly examination conducted by K N M C in addition to regular internal examinations.

More details

The way it appeared, however, was that the Pride Pass was actually more expensive than purchasing tickets to the same events separately. The $50 Pride Pass includes admission to the Bar Crawl, Pride in the Street, and the PrideFest Beer Garden. Advance admission to each of these events, however, is $15. So I was like, "Bonus!" I'd figured out how to save five bucks.

This seemed a little counterintuitive to me, though, so I ran it by Loni of the Delta Foundation. Sho nuff, the ticketing site didn't tell the whole story. So even though I could save five bucks, I'll be buying a Pride Pass. Here's why.

Admissions to single events include just that - one admission to one event. The Pride Pass is the hookup for the whole Pride Week event. It's the kind of thing you want to carry around with you. In addition to the three aforementioned admissions, the PridePass also gets you discounts on things you're very likely to buy at Pride anyway. These include a free admission to "Take Me Out" at the Three Rivers Arts Festival and discounts on drinks at participating bars. There's also crazy awesome stuff like $5 off Pride Week Kayaking and a free Tilden membership (which we all want, even if we don't want to admit it, since that whole annoying 'no guests' thing went into effect.)

I know I sound like a ginormous ad for the Pride Pass, but I want everyone to get the most bang for their buck and get the most out of Pride. Turns out you also get 2 Hours of free parking each day at the Station Square garage (redeemable at Guest Services). There's a free shot and free pizza at Lucky's. You get $10 off Panty Palooza. And you get a free month of premium membership at gay.com. These are just the deep discounts. Check the pride guide for redemption information and discounts at local vendors.

Bonus Key to Life: In addition to all this, I discovered that the Bar Crawl (Yay for not being responsible for your own transportation), which costs $15 in Advance, includes 13 different venues. That means you get 13 drinks for $15. Which is kind of ridiculous. Sure beats pretending you're not carrying around a gallon of vodka sunrise in a SunnyD bottle as you try to make it disappear before it gets too warm.

Long story short, the Pride Pass is the way to go unless you only want to take part in one or two events.

Get your Pittsburgh Pride Week tickets here >

Coming soon...The Weekend Roundup: Pittsburgh Pride Week edition

The worry about whether degree earned through online education can be widely accepted in the job market is not valid anymore since many job market survey reports have proved it's accepted by most employers. The only question is whether you can fully benefits from online education if you choose to pursue your MBA online.

If you are already in the workforce full-time, and the constraint of your commitments and obligations might keep you from earning your MBA in traditional way. Online MBA may be the best way to allow you to continue your job and earn the degree at the same time. Moreover, selecting an online option to pursue your MBA, you do not need to worry if you need to travel for job assignment, or can't finish your job on time for classes, because you can logon to online classes from anywhere and at any time, you plan for it.

Basically, you can benefit from the advantages of online MBA as most of online MBA programs do take into consideration factors that best fit the working adults. But, one downside of taking your MBA online is you will lose the interaction with professors and other students face-to-face. It's becomes more difficult to build a network with your colleagues which will be very helpful contacts throughout your career. However, if you can create relationship with your online instructors and online classmates in cyber-environment, you can make up for some of the loss interaction.

- Victor Hugo