MOUNT VERNON, IA (05/01/2012)(readMedia)-- Christine Nguyen of Davenport was one of 18 Cornell students inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the country's oldest and most prestigious academic honor society, on April 21.

These students will have their names added to the permanent plaque in Cole Library listing all members elected to Cornell's chapter.

Election is based upon good character and a distinguished record of performance in courses that demonstrate a broad exposure to the liberal arts, i.e., the fine arts, humanities, languages, natural sciences and mathematics, and social sciences, as well as substantive work in areas outside the major. Phi Beta Kappa considers members of the top 15 percent of the senior class and the top five percent of the junior class. You can learn more about the Cornell chapter of Phi Beta Kappa here.

One of the 40 "Colleges That Change Lives," Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, is a national liberal arts college with a distinctive One Course At A Time (OCAAT) academic calendar. The OCAAT schedule provides students with intellectual immersion, academic focus, and unique freedom to shed the confines of the traditional classroom to study off-campus, pursue research, or accept an internship-all without missing out on other classes. Founded in 1853, the college's entire hilltop campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Dear Rivermont Community, This week one of our Upper School students, sophomore Vania Sazonov has written a piece on a special guest who visited our campus.  The following is his re-telling of our visit with Holocaust survivor Agnes Schwartz.  Her visit was made possible by the Quad Cities Yom Hashoa Committee. Rick St. Laurent Headmaster   This past Monday Agnes Schwartz, a Holocaust survivor, came to visit Rivermont Collegiate and shared with the seventh through twelfth grade students her incredible, heart-wrenching story. She was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1933. When she was eleven years old Germany occupied her hometown. After having many of her rights taken away and being forced to wear a yellow star, her family was relocated to a Jewish designated building. She lived there with her father, mother, grandmother, grandfather, and aunt. Eventually, her mother was torn apart from her by the Nazis, never to see one another again. She was then sent by her family to live with her former housekeeper, Julia, under a new identity as Julia's Christian niece. She lived with her housekeeper in constant fear of being found out as a Jew. When the Allied Forces began their bombings, she was forced to live in the first floor of an apartment complex. There was no electricity and no sewage system, so they were forced to live with all the residents of the apartment complex by candlelight and use a bucket as a chamber pot, emptied only in the dead of night. She lived like this for three months until she was eventually liberated by the advancing Soviet Army. Once free, she immediately wanted to know what had become of her family and wondered if she was ever going to see them again. She found out that her father was alive and had been saved by Raoul Wallenberg, hiding in one of his safe houses. The rest of her family had suffered a different fate. With the Allied Forces near and in order to save ammunition, the Nazis had drowned her grandmother, grandfather, and aunt in the Danube River. She also found out that after being deported her mother had been sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp where she had passed away. Her father was the only one she had left. They decided that they would move to the United States where they had some relatives living in Chicago. Agnes was very eager to move to the United States because she had been told all sorts of wonderful stories about it. After some time had passed her father had decided that he could not assimilate into the American lifestyle and decided to move back to Hungary. Because of this, Agnes felt very abandoned for most of her youth but said she was grateful to live in such an amazing country. For Agnes there is one thing that she wanted us to take from her story, and that is that the Holocaust really did happen. She wanted us to never forget the terrible things that had occurred and to be grateful to live in a country where you are mostly free and do not have to worry about yourself or your loved ones being in constant danger. Most of all, she wanted us to never forget her story and make sure that the terrible truth about the Holocaust lives on forever so that the atrocities may never be repeated. Vania Sazonov, Class of 2014   KUDOS!   Rivermont Collegiate is proud to announce the winner of the 2012 Jane and Clem Werner Scholarship - senior Joann Weeks, daughter of Randy and Monica Weeks (our Middle and  Upper School Spanish teacher) The $5,000 scholarship is distributed through the Community Foundation of the Great River Bend . Joann will use the scholarship money to attend  Benedictine University, Lisle, Illinois.     "IT'S THE REAL THING!"  Coca Cola Scholarship Foundation picks one of our own as a National Scholar winner!  Pavane Gorrepati spent a few days last week in Atlanta, Georgia  interviewing as a finalist in the 2012 Coca Cola Scholarship Contest.  She is one of only 50 students selected in a national competition and wins a renewable $20,000 scholarship. Pavane will be using the award to attend Yale University.   Congratulations to the 8th Grade RAI team of Hannah Hansen, Nathan McVey, Bailey Mangan & Alex Skillin for their 2nd Place win during Wednesday's Rivermont Academic Invitational.  They were among 152 students form 15 area schools participating in RAI this year. Special thanks to invitational organizer Leigh Ann Schroeder!     Please Watch Your Speed!   Please watch your speed as you drive through the campus especially during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up.  Children (and parents) sometimes walk unexpectedly from between cars. ALSO, THERE IS A STOP SIGN AT THE END OF THE LOWER PARKING LOT..  PLEASE STOP!!! Bake Sale!   The Second Grade Class will be holding a bake sale on Wednesday, May 2 during snack time as part of their Service Day Project.  Proceeds from the sale will be used to purchase a brick at the historic Fulton Windmill in Fulton, IL Rivermont Collegiate presents... A  Middle School Production Looking Glass Land By James DeVita Saturday, April 28 Sunday, April 29 2:00 p.m.   Tickets: $5.00 at the door   Produced by special arrangement with Pioneer Drama Service, Inc., Englewood, Colorado Registration for summer camp is now open! Don't miss out on one of the best summer camps in the Quad Cities! Click the link above to download your brochure today. Space is limited and classes are filled on a first come, first served basis. These classes are open to the entire community, so invite a friend!   8 Full Weeks of Enrichment Classes! Thank You!  Thank You!  Thank You! The Golden Age of Hollywood Rivermont Dinner Auction at the Hotel Blackhawk was a great success! Thank you to Event Chair Kristine Teitle and the entire Auction Committee for making it a glamorous evening. Special thanks to our sponsors: Dr. & Mrs. Michal Porubcin Sears Manufacturing Company Drs. Rajesh & Bindu Alla Ed & Courtney Decker Muna Strasser, DDS Eye Surgeons Associates - Tina Eckhardt, MD Select Benefit Solutions - Michael White Lilac Hill Photography American Safety Training Solutions Davenport Printing Company Bullseye Direct Mail Special keepsake headshots of our students are on sale from the School if you were not able to attend the event.  Please contact Tammi or Linda.  $15 each

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Washington, DC - Congressman Bobby Schilling (IL-17) today voted in favor of a bill to prevent a scheduled July 1 hike in interest rates on Stafford student loans.  Under a 2007 law, the interest rate on these subsidized loans to undergraduate students was decreased from 6.8% to 3.4% through June 30, at which time under the law the interest rates will increase.  Without Congressional action, these interest rates will return to previous levels and double on July 1.

"As a parent, the increasing cost of tuition and students' mounting debt are serious problems to me," Schilling said.  "Also serious is the fact that once kids graduate from college, they enter a tough job market where about half of them are left jobless or are underemployed, in addition to starting out thousands of dollars in the hole.  Washington should work to ensure that all Americans, including these young men and women, have the opportunity to succeed, and that our economy is growing and creating new jobs for them to pursue."

To pay for the $6 billion, one-year extension, H.R. 4628, the Interest Rate Reduction Act, cuts from a program in the Administration's health care reform law that has been criticized as a 'slush fund' with little oversight or purpose.  Already signed into law is bipartisan legislation that takes money from the fund, and President Obama's Fiscal Year 2013 budget also proposed cutting it by more than $4 billion.  Schilling joined 214 Republicans and Democrats in supporting low interest rates for students.

"This bill will keep student loan rates low without raising taxes on the folks we are asking to lead us into economic recovery and give these kids jobs," Schilling said.  "I urge the Senate to act on this, and to move on the more than 25 House-passed jobs bills sitting in the Senate that will cut wasteful spending and help businesses grow and hire new employees, providing more hope for our unemployed friends, neighbors, and recent graduates."

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Obama will issue executive order tomorrow in Georgia

Washington, D.C. - Rep. Bruce Braley (IA-01) released the following statement in response to the White House's pending executive order that will target aggressive and deceptive targeting of service members, veterans, and their families by educational institutions that are abusing federal student loan programs:

"After fighting our nation's wars, our veterans shouldn't have to fight exploitative institutions looking to make a quick buck on the backs of taxpayers.  Cracking down on deceptive practices by these bad apple educational institutions is needed to stafeguard taxpayers' dollars and to keep our veterans from being taken advantage of."

More detail on the Obama administration announcement follows:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

April 26, 2012

We Can't Wait: President Obama Takes Action to Stop Deceptive and Misleading Practices by Educational Institutions that Target Veterans, Service Members and their Families

On Friday, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will visit Fort Stewart in Georgia where the President will sign an Executive Order to help ensure all of America's service members, veterans, spouses, and other family members have the information they need to make informed educational decisions and are protected from aggressive and deceptive targeting by educational institutions. We have a sacred trust with those who serve and protect our nation. It's a commitment that begins at enlistment, and it must never end.  That's why President Obama is committed to ensuring veterans and service members have the chance to get a college education and can find work when they return from service.

Since the Post-9/11 GI Bill became law, there have been reports of aggressive and deceptive targeting of service members, veterans, and their families by educational institutions, particularly for-profit career colleges. For example, some institutions have recruited veterans with serious brain injuries and emotional vulnerabilities without providing academic support and counseling; encouraged service members, veterans, and their families to take out costly institutional loans rather than encouraging them to apply for Federal student aid first; engaged in misleading recruiting practices on military installations; and have not disclosed meaningful information that allows potential students to determine whether the institution has a good record of graduating service members, veterans, and their families and positioning them for success in the workforce.

Members of Congress have introduced legislation to address these issues, but the Administration believes we must do all we can administratively to protect veterans from these deceptive practices by improving the quality of information and services that these schools must provide.  These steps will help ensure that Federal military and veteran education dollars are well spent. Today's Executive Order will apply to a variety of military and veteran education benefits, including the GI Bill, Tuition Assistance Program, and Military Spouse Career Advancement Account Program (MyCAA).

Today's Executive Order will:

• Help Ensure Military and Veteran Students Have the Information They Need: The Executive Order will require that colleges provide more transparent information about their outcomes and financial aid options for students, which will help ensure that students are aware of the true cost and likelihood of completion prior to enrolling. According to the Senate HELP Committee, of the ten educational institutions collecting the most Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits between 2009 and 2011, eight were for-profit schools. Six of these schools had bachelor student withdrawal rates above 50 percent.  The Executive Order will require that the Know Before You Owe financial aid form, developed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Department of Education (ED), is made available to every college student that participates in the Department of Defense's (DoD) Tuition Assistance program (nearly 2,000 schools). The Executive Order will also direct the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to encourage all schools?roughly 6,000 in total?participating in the GI Bill program to provide the Know Before You Owe form.  This form provides students with critical information on tuition and fees, the availability of federal financial aid, estimated student loan debt upon graduation, and information about student outcomes like graduation rates. Further, the Executive Order will require that students are provided additional critical information, including school performance information over time, consumer protection information, and key financial aid documents, prior to the use of their benefits through the eBenefits portal.  The VA will publically post on their website if schools who receive GI Bill benefits agree to adhere to the Executive Order.

• Keep Bad Actors Off of Military Installations: There have been numerous reports of some institutions of higher education aggressively and inappropriately targeting military students.  The Executive Order will require the Department of Defense to set forth rules for how educational institutions gain access to military installations in the first place, so that service members are not targeted by institutions known for a history of poor behavior in recruiting and marketing practices.

• Crack Down on Improper Online Recruiting Practices: The Executive Order will direct the VA to initiate a process to register the term "GI Bill," so that external websites and programs are not deceptively and fraudulently marketing educational services and benefits to program beneficiaries. For instance, some companies have set up websites that suggest that veterans' benefits are only available at a subset of schools.  The websites are also set up to resemble official government sites, and are marketed heavily at military installations and at separating service members.

• Provide Veterans with a Complaint System: The Executive Order will require VA, DoD, and ED, in consultation with the CFPB and Department of Justice, to create a centralized complaint system for students receiving military and veterans' educational benefits. Currently, when military and veteran students feel that their school has acted fraudulently, they have no centralized system to file complaints, and federal agencies often lack access to information that will allow for follow-up enforcement or regulatory actions.

• Improve Support Services for Service Members and Veterans: The Executive Order will require that colleges participating in the military and veterans education benefit programs do more to meet the needs of military and veteran students by providing clear educational plans for students, academic and financial aid counseling services with staff that are familiar with the VA and DoD programs, and the ability of service members to more easily re-enroll and/or receive a refund if they must leave school for service-related reasons.

• Provide Students with Better Data on Educational Institutions: The Executive Order will require DoD, VA, and Ed to develop improved student outcome measures, such as completion rates for veterans, and a plan for collecting this data, which will be made available on Ed's College Navigator website. Currently, retention and completion rates cannot be broken down by veteran or service member status.  Given the unique educational needs of veterans, active-duty service members, and their family members, it is important to provide them with a more accurate picture of what success looks like for students like them. The Executive Order will also require better reporting on the extent to which colleges rely on various types of federal benefits for operational support.

• Strengthen Enforcement of Student Protections: The Executive Order will require that VA and DoD strengthen the enforcement and compliance functions of the VA and DoD, so that, working in conjunction with the Department of Education, DOJ, and the CFPB, agencies (including law enforcement agencies with responsibility over fraud investigations) can effectively act on complaints of improper activity.