Military officials claim that they are able to be more selective, largely because the high youth unemployment rate and the drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan have prompted more people to apply.“There’s a lot more competition,” Sergeant First Class Israel Herrera told CNN. “There are not many opportunities out there, but the Army provides employment and stability, and that makes it an attractive option.”But for the overwhelming majority of US citizens, joining the military has become difficult – especially amid continuously rising obesity rates and high unemployment.More than 20 percent of high school students drop out before their graduation, 35 percent of Americans are obese or medically disqualified, 19 percent are drug or heavy alcohol users, and 5 percent have criminal records. These factors bar Americans from joining the military, and only one quarter of today’s youth are fit to join, the Pentagon estimates.“Before 2009, we would probably be able to give you an example of a young man or young woman who got in with a simple possession of marijuana charge,” Herrera said. “They would not get a waiver these days.”Six years ago, only 86 percent of new military recruits had a high school diploma, but today 99 percent of all new recruits have one. In 2005, the military suffered a shortage of new enlistees, while in recent years it has always had a surplus.The trend has caused some to wonder if an improved economy would lower recruiting standards, since the poor economy has allowed the military to be selective.“As we see signs of economic improvement, we must remain vigilant and continue to monitor impacts on our recruiting efforts,” Acting Under Secretary of Defense Jessica Wright told the Senate Armed Forces Committee last month.But even if the military accepts less qualified Americans, the Pentagon estimates shed an alarming light on the numbers of people who are too overweight or uneducated to serve the country even if they wanted to. With many Americans ineligible to join the military due to obesity, some members of Congress are trying to address the problem. Sens. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Thursday introduced the Fit to Serve Act, which will provide support for military leaders who want to provide their base’s sports fields and gyms to youth who need a place to exercise.The US military discharges more than 1,200 first-time enlistees every year due to weight gain, and nearly one in 20 current service members are clinically overweight, the senators wrote in a press release.“Obesity is the single greatest non-criminal hindrance for our young people seeking to enlist in the armed forces,” Sen. Murkowski said. “We want our young women and men to seek to serve their country to have basic information on what healthy weight means.” … Read More
Broke school district ends year early, offers ‘skills camp’ instead
Hundreds of students served by the Buena Vista district will not finish the academic year in mid-June as planned, as the state is withholding school aid for three months after accepting money for a program it was not providing.According to an investigation by the Huffington Post, the already struggling district of some 400 mostly black and poor students began a downward spiral after the state of Michigan froze school funding to recover $402,000 that was supposed to be spent running the Wolverine Secure Treatment Center, an alternative school.As of last week, representatives for the Michigan Department of Education stated that they were in touch with the broke district to come up with an alternative plan, though they emphasized that the issue was a local responsibility and that they could not legally assist Buena Vista if the district owed the state money. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has thus far not commented on the issue.For a time it was thought that students would be able to transfer to neighboring districts to finish out the year, though that plan appears to have reached an impasse.Richard Syrek, superintendent of Saginaw County Intermediate School District (which oversees Buena Vista), said it would too expensive for other districts to accept Buena Vista students, citing legal issues.”The legal parts have kept us from doing some of the things we wanted to do,” Syrek told the Huffington Post.”We’ve hit a dead end,” he added.Michigan officials say they’re hesitant to bail out school districts and set a bad precedent, though Representative Dan Kildee, the US congressman who represents Buena Vista, thought that worry was overplayed.“Governor Snyder can – and should – immediately act to keep these kids in their classrooms for the remainder of the schoolyear,” said Kildee.Kildee also noted that Michigan had bailed out at least one school district in the past, making the notion of ‘setting a precedent’ invalid. In February of 2012, the state legislature responded with $4 million in emergency funding when schools in Highland Park, a city bordering Detroit, faced a similar situation.”It’s tragic,” said Rae’Onna Barabino, 17, Buena Vista High School’s valedictorian.”We have to worry about prom and graduation and ending our year. It’s very confusing, upsetting. It’s heartbreaking,” Barabino told the Huffington Post.Buena Vista teachers had offered to work without pay for a week, but that was not enough to keep the district’s schools open. Instead, the district may offer a “skills camp,” a voluntary substitute paid for by federal Title I and Title 31 A grants, and run six hours per day for up to six weeks.That potential solution has not sat well with Representative Stacey Erwin Oakes, a Democratic state legislator who also represents Buena Vista.”I just don’t understand why anyone would suggest anything other than open the doors of the schools for the last few weeks,” Oakes told Huffington Post.”We know from past history that students have been treated differently, going back to Brown v. Board of Education,” she added.Beatrice Avery, the parent of a Buena Vista high school senior, says she has been witness to the district’s decline.”Buena Vista has been a failing district for the last five years. We’ve always been on the watch. Our kids ain’t really learning like they used to,” said Avery.”When they go to college, it’s hard. The math, they don’t get. Their reading levels are low. They’re just passing them along. Them being out of school this early is going to hurt them a lot,” she added. … Read More
Chilean students clash with police in protest for free education
The march in the capital Santiago was mainly peaceful, but police used water cannons and tear gas to break up one group of demonstrators when they were attacked by petrol bombs.Organizers reported that 80,000 people took to the streets of Santiago, but police estimated the number was closer to 37,000.There were also major protests in the cities of Valparaiso, Concepcion, Temuco and Valdivia.Students have resumed their two-year-long protest for free education, staging marches in several major cities.Chilean students have been staging marches for free, high-quality education since 2011, and demonstrations continued throughout 2012. More than 100,000 people participated in the first such marches of 2013 in April.While Chile’s education system is regarded as among the best in Latin America, students say it is extremely unfair.They argue that middle class children from rich families have access to some of the best schools, while the poor have to make do with underfunded state schools. All universities in Chile are fee-paying.The campaign for educational reform has seen the biggest protests in Chile since the country became democratic in 1990 after voting to oust the military junta of General Augusto Pinochet. … Read More
The home school subculture creates soldiers for America’s culture war
Katherine Stewart: The Christian home school subculture isn’t a children-first movement. Some former students are bravely speaking out Several decades ago, political activists on the religious right began to put together an “ideology machine”. Home schooling was a big part of the…
Mississippi Supreme Court grants stay of execution for Willie Jerome Manning
The Mississippi Supreme Court voted 8-1 on Tuesday to delay the execution of a man convicted of murdering two college students in 1992. Willie Jerome Manning was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. CT, but the court decided to put the execution on hold while it considered the case,…
‘Missing’ rune stone turns up near Stockholm
A Viking-era rune stone has been “rediscovered” near Vaxholm in the Stockholm archipelago after a group of university students stumbled across the historic rock that had been hiding in plain sight for nearly 300 years. … Read More
Twerking Video Gets 33 Students Suspended
http://www.youtube.com/v/dPJrA4vBQo0?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Original link: Twerking Video Gets 33 Students Suspended
