10 Jan 2012

Obama administration backtracks on student loan announcement

By Sen Chuck Grassley

Last year, Senator Grassley asked President Obama for clarification on the legal authority to implement the components of the President's announcement that he was taking unilateral action to reduce select borrower's student loan obligations.  Click here for Senator Grassley's letter.  The inquiry was based on the implication in the President's comments that he intended to go beyond the laws passed by Congress.

The subsequent response from the Secretary of Education indicated that, while the White House announcement had referred to changes to the Income Based Repayment (IBR) plan that go beyond a law passed by Congress in 2010, the Department of Education was actually beginning the process to change the regulations governing the Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan, an older program with a more flexible authorizing statute that gives greater discretion to the Secretary of Education.  Moreover, while the White House's October announcement stated that this was part of a "series of executive actions" he was implementing and provided specific details about how the initiative would work, the Secretary of Education's response to Senator Grassley explained that the Department of Education was actually initiating a negotiated rulemaking process by which various stakeholders will meet to negotiate the final details of the new regulations.  Click here to read Secretary Duncan's letter.  In other words, the President's announcement is just an initial proposal and the actual details have yet to be determined.

Here's a comment from Senator Grassley about this revelation:

"I am glad to know that the Department of Education may not be flagrantly ignoring the law after all as President Obama's announcement initially implied.  However, the misinformation in the White House announcement that erroneously steers interested students to the IBR plan is still a potential source of confusion for students and financial aid advisors.  I hope the White House will issue a correction.  I also continue to have concerns about the potential costs of this initiative given the Secretary's refusal to answer my detailed questions about how the Administration's cost estimate was calculated."

For additional background, the October 25, 2011, press release issued by the White House cited the fact that, "Current law allows borrowers to limit their loan payments to 15 percent of their discretionary income and forgives all remaining debt after 25 years" and gives a website for more information about the Income Based Repayment (IBR) plan before going on to point out that, "...Congress enacted, a plan to further ease student loan debt payment by lowering the IBR loan payment to 10 percent of income, and the forgiveness timeline to 20 years. This change is set to go into effect for all new borrowers after 2014?mostly impacting future college students."  The White House announcement then states, "Today, the Administration is proposing to offer even more immediate relief to many current college students by giving them the chance to limit loan payments to 10 percent of their discretionary income starting in 2012."  Or, as the President said in his remarks at the University of Colorado the following day, "So today, I'm here to announce that we're going to speed things up.  We're going to make these changes work for students who are in college right now."

10 Jan 2012

ASCENTRA CREDIT UNION IS AWARDED TWO GRANTS TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL EDUCATION FOR AREA SCHOOLS

By Alvaro Macias

BETTENDORF, Iowa -Ascentra Credit Union was recently awarded $10,000 through two grants to help the organization's financial education efforts in our community in 2012.  The funds will be used for real-world financial literacy programs like "Banzai!"  The grants were provided by the National Credit Union Foundation and the Iowa Credit Union Foundation.

"When 18 to 24 year olds are the fastest growing demographic declaring bankruptcy, it's clear that there is a need for young people to be more financially savvy," Ascentra Credit Union's Community Development Coordinator Alvaro Macias said.  "For that reason financial education for young people is now more important than ever."

Ascentra realizes teachers need resources for an often mandated, but also often underfunded curriculum of financial literacy.  As a not-for-profit financial institution that promotes financial education to its members, teachers can count on an organization that shares the same values to provide a free, comprehensive, quality financial education program.

Banzai has been requested by 19 in 2011 area teachers and Ascentra plans to at least double that to 35-42 teachers.  If you are a teacher, and interested in Banazai please visit http://ascentra.teachbanzai.com to learn more and sign up to receive free materials for your classes.  You can even see how your state's financial literacy standards align with Banzai.

Some of the schools that have used Banzai include Davenport North High School, Assumption High School, Williams Intermediate School, Rock Island High School, Moline High School, Prince of Peace High School and many more.

"By preparing students with a solid understanding of how to manage their money, they will be better prepared when starting out in life and stepping out into the real world," Macias added.

For more information about Ascentra Credit Union please visit www.ascentra.org.  To learn more about the National Credit Union Foundation visit www.ncuf.coop.  To learn more about the Iowa Credit Union Foundation visit www.iowacreditunions.com.
10 Jan 2012

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to Host Conference Call on USDA's New Blueprint for Stronger Service to Increase Efficiency in Operations

By Rick Martin

WASHINGTON, Jan. 10, 2012 - TODAY, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will hold a media conference call to discuss USDA's Blueprint for Stronger Service (Hyperlink release), which was announced by Secretary Vilsack yesterday at the American Farm Bureau Federation's annual meeting. USDA's Blueprint for Stronger Service is a plan to help producers continue to drive America's economy by streamlining operations and cutting costs.

The Blueprint for Stronger Service is based on a Department-wide review of operations conducted as part of the Administration's Campaign to Cut Waste, launched by President Obama and Vice President Biden to make government work better and more efficiently for the American people. The agency took a hard look at all USDA operations, from headquarters to field offices. The end result is a plan that will create optimal use of USDA people, better results for USDA customers and greater efficiencies for American taxpayers.
10 Jan 2012

RIVERSIDE THEATRE ANNOUNCES AUDITIONS/INTERVIEWS FOR 2012 SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL APPRENTICE COMPANY

By Sarah Burnett

Iowa City, IA - January 10, 2012 -

Riverside Theatre announces auditions and interviews for its 2012 Shakespeare Festival Apprentice Company on Saturday, February 4.  Full-time apprenticeships are open to undergraduate, graduate students or others seeking a professional experience in the areas of acting, directing and stage management.  Interested applicants should schedule an audition (actors) or interview (directing and stage management positions) at Riverside Theatre on Saturday, February 4, 2012 by calling 319-338-7672.  Complete information on the Apprentice program and application requirements is available at www.riversidetheatre.org.

The Riverside Theatre Shakespeare Festival hires a company of 14 professional actors as well as a 10-member Apprentice Company to produce two classical plays which run in repertory.  2012 will mark the Festival's 13th season in Lower City Park, and will feature productions of Shakespeare's As You Like It and The Merchant of Venice.  The 8-week apprentice contract period is May 15- July 9.  All apprentices receive $75/week as well as housing for non-local interns.  Training includes weekly master classes with company members and guest artists.

For more information, please refer to www.riversidetheatre.org or e-mail Jody Hovland, artistic director, at artistic@riversidetheatre.org.

###
10 Jan 2012

Understanding Internet Speeds

By John Ogren

By John Ogren, President, SpeedConnect, www.speedconnect.com

--- On the Internet, speed means everything. It is the time it takes to receive and send data. Speed on the Internet is measured in terms of bits. Bits is the electronic time it takes to go from zeros to ones in the computer world we live in.

When a connection is advertised as being a 10 megabit or a five megabit or a three megabit service, that turns into the millions of bits--or the millions of times that the switch rate from on to off on a data transmission is changed. Bits are captured or consolidated into bites. There are eight bits in a bite, and actual data throughput is measured in bites. For example, a simple e-mail that someone might send might be as little as 20 bites, whereas a full feature-length movie might be as much as three gigabytes. When you are looking at the speed of your Internet connection, what speed gives you is a lot of bits transmitted very fast, and those bits are assembled into bites, and the bites are the amount of information that you are downloading from your connection.

Generally speaking, speed is better because, of course, you want a very fast connection to be able to watch a movie live without buffering, or to put a Web page up very quickly. But at the same time, it is very important that the connection that you have be able to maintain or sustain your speed. A flash or a quick splash of data is relatively easy for an Internet provider, but to keep that speed up over a long time, like what it takes to watch a movie on-line, is much more difficult. You need to look for the rate that the information comes up and then the sustained rate, the steady rate, that your Internet service provider provides.

Upload and download.

That's the time it takes for the data to leave your computer and get to someone else's server. Most of the time, we are concerned about download speeds because these days you are either downloading a movie or downloading a file that someone has sent you, so downloads are typically advertised. You will hear Internet service providers advertise three or four or five, or maybe as many as 20 megabit speeds. They are usually talking about download speeds.

Few of us talk about uploads, which are typically, in residential services, quite a bit slower. Very often, you might have speeds that are as much as 10 megabits download, and only maybe one or two megabits upload. In slower connections, you may see one megabit as a download and as little as 128 kilobits as your upload speed.

The reason is that the networks are typically built to provide a high download, and that is at the sacrifice or compromise of upload. Upload speeds become important when you have a bunch of pictures that you have taken and they are now on your computer, and you want to send them to a relative. That's where upload would become important. You might notice that it would take a lot longer for your pictures to upload than the pictures that had been sent to you to download.

More bandwidth, please.

With more of us grabbing increasing amounts of data from the Internet, Internet service provider (ISP) speeds will determine whether your browser responds quickly or sluggishly. Again, speed is important. The ability of your ISP to sustain speeds, or provide steady speeds, is even more important. But, the fact of the matter is, as more and more people are using a connection simultaneously for more and more of the same high-demand multimedia--applications like video, music, gaming and others--the pressure on us as ISPs to increase our capacity is great. And that, of course, means money.

The more robust--the more capacity that the network has--the greater ability it has to support multiple uses at the same time. That's the challenge: To provide our customers with a very fast experience, but also an experience that has enough capacity to meet all their needs at the same time.

I think that anyone that has been a consumer in the modern information world that we live in knows that, where once upon a time a dial connection seemed like more than enough, that isn't even broadband today. In order to raise a family and put kids through school and do a little work at home, you need a very high-speed connection. Even what you might have needed a couple years ago, maybe a 1.5 megabit service, would have seemed fine because most of what you did was e-mail and some Web surfing. Today that doesn't begin to be enough. You're looking for three, five or seven megabits of information so that you can do the multimedia stuff that we all want the Internet for.

Of course, that isn't going to stop. Everyday there are more and more new high tech multimedia applications that become available to us. Just the download of applications to our multiple devices takes a lot of bandwidth. Those applications, once they are downloaded, take bandwidth. Our software is constantly being upgraded by the manufactures that sold it to us and, of course, there is the endless multimedia that we are shooting from videos to still pictures. All of that means more and more bandwidth.

I don't know what the future holds, but I would not be surprised if someday we all wake up and think that 50 megabit service is just enough to get by.

10 Jan 2012

Make a Muscle for Madi

By Megan Ramirez

I'm participating in the MDA Muscle Walk and I need your help!

I'm walking in the MDA Muscle Walk this year because I want to do something meaningful this year and I hope to have your support. I chose MDA because of all the incredible things they do for my family and those they serve in our community. If you didn't hear, Madison was chosen as our local Goodwill Ambassador for MDA. The people in this organization go above and beyond any job calls for. We have developed such close relationships.

I am super excited to tell all of you that Madi may be attending the MDA camp this summer for the first time. It looks and sounds amazing. Kids get to do courageous and astounding adventures that "normal" kids do every summer. She will get to swim, climb trees, ride horses, and so much more. I am anticipating this event incredibly. I know Madison will only grow from this experience. Wanna know the best part? It is of no cost to every participant. That is only possible through so many contributors and donors like you. Please help me reach my goal of $1000 to help send Madi and other kids to camp.

I truly believe that some of the reasons Madi is as strong as she is today are because she has so many things to look forward to, odds to beat, the support around her, and the boosts of confidence that family, friends, and our MDA provide for her. She is walking a lot. A dream I didn't think that would ever come true! She does a forward roll on her own, she lowers herself onto the potty, has many self help skills, and LOVES to perform. The smile on her face as she accomplishes new things everyday is priceless! The fear still lives within me that she will soon lose some of these new found independent skills. I can only dream of a world with no SMA right now. But with your help and contributions, that dream is one step closer. A portion of proceeds goes directly to research her disease.

Make your muscles work for something good. Please sponsor my effort with a donation.

Make a Muscle. Make a Difference.

Click here to visit my personal page.
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://www2.mda.org/site/TR?px=1062917&pg=personal&fr_id=1381&et=YNoklakugjzGVEEPR64l2A&s_tafId=2965

Click here to view the team page for Madi's Miracle Mob
If the text above does not appear as a clickable link, you can visit the web address:
http://www2.mda.org/site/TR?team_id=7105&pg=team&fr_id=1381&et=c9NL2jhBoK8KDgKMgFHOWw&s_tafId=2965

10 Jan 2012

Immigration Services has Work to do in Changing "Get to Yes" Culture

By Grassley Press

Monday, January 9, 2012

Senator Chuck Grassley today said that a report he requested from the Department of Homeland Security Inspector General's office confirmed the accounts he heard from whistleblowers about the undue pressure placed on Immigration Service Officers to approve immigration benefits.  The report was released today, and a copy of the report can be found here.

Today's statement below is followed by a comment Grassley released on Friday in response to a draft copy of the report.  Grassley's request to the Inspector General, as well as letters to Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Alejandro Mayorkas and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano can be found here.

"The report clearly shows that the immigration service has a lot of work to do to get rid of the 'Get to yes' culture that has pervaded the agency in recent years. The fact that a quarter of the immigration service officers felt pressure to approve questionable applications, and 90 percent of respondents felt they didn't have sufficient time to complete interviews of those who seek benefits, certainly warrants significant changes be made immediately.

"What's most disappointing in this final report is the agency's decision to turn a blind eye to several very good recommendations from the Inspector General.  For example, it only makes sense that policies be established to make sure there is a legitimate and fair process when a manager intervenes in a benefits case.  Director Mayorkas should reconsider the department's initial response to some of the recommendations and create an environment that ensures a thorough and complete analysis of all applications."

Here's Grassley's statement from Friday.

"Whistleblowers have been complaining for several years that leadership in Washington, D.C. and immediate supervisors were placing inappropriate pressure on immigration adjudicators to simply find a way to approve benefits.  This 'Get to yes' attitude doesn't serve the American people who expect a thorough and complete analysis.  When a quarter of the immigration service officers felt pressure to approve questionable applications, and 90 percent of respondents felt they didn't have sufficient time to complete interviews of those who seek benefits, there are serious and widespread problems that need to be addressed by the department.  This comes down to the safety and security of the American people, which should not be compromised by any means.

"The Inspector General took to heart the concerns he heard from Immigration Service Officers, and he made some serious and thoughtful recommendations.  I'm particularly interested in the implementation of recommendations by the Inspector General to develop standards to permit more time for an adjudicator's review of case files, develop a policy to establish limitations for managers and attorneys when they intervene in the adjudication of specific cases, and issue policy that ends any informal appeals process and the special review of denied cases.  These get at the heart of the whistleblowers' allegations, and would go a long way to changing the 'Get to yes' culture that prevails at the agency."
10 Jan 2012

Quinn and Durbin Announce $7.7 Million Investment to Help Illinois Communities Recover From Storms

By Nafia Khan

CHICAGO - January 9, 2012. Governor Pat Quinn and U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and today announced a more than $7.7 million investment in Illinois communities to help cover the costs of repairing roads and bridges damaged by storms last year. Today's funding is provided through the Department of Transportation's Emergency Relief program which funds the repair and reconstruction of federal highways and roads that have suffered serious damage as a result of natural disasters and other outside factors.

The Illinois Department of Transportation will receive a total of $7,718,612 in funding to be distributed in the following areas:

  • Northwest Illinois: $4,756,819 in funding to help Northwest Illinois communities cover the cost of damage caused by high wind and torrential rainfall exceeding 12 inches on July 27, 2011.  Types of damage included drainage and roadway washouts and slope failures.
  • Southern Illinois: $2,961,793 in funding to help Southern Illinois communities cover the cost of damage caused by widespread heavy rain and flooding - mainly along the Ohio and Mississippi River basins - on April 19, 2011.  Types of damage included drainage and roadway system washouts and slope failures.
###
10 Jan 2012

Murder Rides Again opens at the Ox Yoke Inn Feb. 3rd

By Shelley Klimes

Amana - Saddle on up for a wild ride and get some mighty fine grub while you visit the Old West during The Old Creamery Theatre's production of Murder Rides Again.

The Old Creamery Theatre and the Ox Yoke Inn will once again partner to bring you a comic murder mystery that will leave you laughing till the cows come home. Complete with a saloon girl, school marm, card shark, the Marshall and his deputy and one mean outlaw with an itchy trigger finger, Murder Rides Again opens on Friday, Feb. 3, 2012 at the Ox Yoke, Amana.

Written by James Daab, Murder Rides Again runs through March 3 and features some of your favorite Old Creamery folk including Ian Zahren, Sean McCall, Amber Snyder, Deborah Kennedy, Nicholas Hodge and Jackie McCall. Show dates are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays Feb. 3 through 19; Tuesday, Feb. 14; Saturday, Feb. 25 and Saturday, March 3. All shows begin at 6 p.m. with seating opening at 5:30 p.m.

Tickets are $45 per person for dinner and the show. The special menu for Murder Rides Again comes with soup, salad, your choice of entrée, beverage, and dessert. Call the Ox Yoke, Amana for reservations 800-233-3441.

The media sponsor for Murder Rides Again is City Revealed Dining Guide.

The Old Creamery Theatre Company is a not-for-profit professional theatre founded in 1971 in Garrison, Iowa. The company is celebrating 41 years of bringing live, professional theatre to the people of Iowa and the Midwest.

 

 

10 Jan 2012

Q&A on Admission to the U.S. Service Academies

By Grassley Press

with U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley

 

Q:        How do young Americans get a place at the U.S. service academies?

A:         Starting more than 200 years ago, the U.S. service academies have educated and trained the best and the brightest to lead and command the Armed Forces in service to the nation.  The young Americans who want to serve our country and win places at the service academies are remarkable for their accomplishments and leadership.  A rigorous selection process ensures that candidates for officers' training arrive with superior scholastic, athletic and leadership skills that will help preserve freedom and secure our American way of life for generations to come.

 

Admissions are highly competitive to the Military Academy in West Point, NY; the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD; the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO; the Coast Guard Academy in New London, CT; and the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY.  Applicants to all of these service academies except the Coast Guard require a nomination to the school, and those can be made by U.S. senators, representatives, the President and the Vice President.  Coast Guard applicants compete without by-state quotas.

 

Q:        How does your nomination process work?

A:         As a U.S. senator representing Iowa, I select ten Iowa students to nominate for each vacancy at the Military, Naval and Air Force academies, in accordance with the number of vacancies made available each year.  I'm also able to nominate ten Iowans each year to the Merchant Marine Academy.  Appointments to this academy are allocated in proportion to the state's representation in Congress.  Iowa currently has access to four vacancies each year for the Merchant Marine Academy.

 

I encourage students to begin the process of applying for a congressional nomination in the spring of their junior year of high school and to consider applying to all of the service academies.  Applicants also should apply directly to the academy and ask that a pre-candidate file be opened on their behalf.

 

Iowans can take pride in the 57 nominees whom I recommended at the end of last year for consideration of appointments to the U.S. service academies.  Their collective attributes and achievements are an impressive reflection on the state of Iowa.  Already, from this group, a Coralville student has been offered an appointment to West Point and a Boone student has earned a place at the Naval Academy.

 

The Army, Naval and Air Force academies are part of the Department of Defense.  The Merchant Marine Academy is part of the Department of Transportation.  And the Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security.  Students at the academies are on active duty in the armed services from the day they enter and are commissioned as officers upon graduation.  Graduates of the Merchant Marine Academy hold Coast Guard licenses for six years and are commissioned into the Navy Reserve.  They also may cross commission into any other branch of the service.

 

Q:        What are the basic criteria?

A:         Candidates should rank in the top half of their high school class in a college preparatory curriculum.  Candidates should have ACT scores of 25-36 in math and science and 22-36 in English.  They should have demonstrated leadership in and outside of school, with outstanding records of extracurricular activities and/or job experience.  Candidates need to have completed the physical requirements described by the academies.  Those seeking my support must be legal residents of Iowa or dependents of members of the military who are Iowa residents.  Applicants must be U.S. citizens, unmarried with no children or legal obligation for a child, and at least age 17 but not older than 23 years.  Go to the link posted in Info for Iowans at http://www.grassley.senate.gov and send a copy of the completed material to:  The Office of Senator Chuck Grassley, 150 1st Avenue NE, Suite 325, Cedar Rapids, Iowa  52401.  Questions can be answered at (319) 363-6832.

 

Monday, January 9, 2012

Pages

more

Subscribe & Listen to Reader Podcasts

On Stands Now

 

Tagged Content

Two Ways to Subscribe

1. Subscribe to free weekly e-mail content updates.

You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?) 

Subscribe!

* indicates required

2. Get 12 monthly issues mailed first class for $48

Get 12 issues mailed monthly for $48 per year.

Get the printed Reader edition mailed to you (or anyone you want) first-class for 12 months for $48.
$24 goes to postage and handling, $24 goes to keeping the doors open!

Click this link to Subscribe now.

 
 

Meetings Calendar

Kids Calendar

Eat & Drink Calendar