Senator wants to jump-start college for all

Senator John Edwards today will propose a government program to pay the first year's college tuition for a student who also works 10 hours a week at a job or community service. Edwards says offering a jump-start* would encourage more people to go to college. Once there, they would be better able to pursue financial aid and recognize the value of a college education.

In addition, he'll put forward plans to offer four-year, full-tuition scholarships to students who agree to teach in hard-pressed schools or work in homeland security for five years after graduation. Edwards' speech at the University of Maryland embraces an expanded federal role -and billions of dollars in new spending- in raising pay and standards for teachers, reducing the size of high schools and making college more affordable.

Edwards also urges colleges to end admissions practices that give a preference to alumni's children and that offers early decisions to students who apply early and agree to attend if accepted. Both policies tend to be used most by upper-income students. "Today, it's too hard for too many Americans to dim up the ladder of success," he says. "It is time for some reforms to get back to our democratic roots."

 *glossary: jump-start = ayuda inicial

Driving - PAU CyL 2006

Emboldened* by drink, many drivers become convinced they can do things they’d never dream of attempting sober. Some even boast they can handle a car better after a couple of drinks. But Ford has devised a test to prove them wrong – and I agreed to play guinea pig.
While gradually increasing my alcohol intake, I was asked to perform a series of manoeuvres with a Ford Focus to test my dexterity, reaction times and judgement behind the wheel. After just two pints of beer, the effect on my driving was obvious. It was five times less precise. I needed more corrections and hit more cones than before. After two more pints, I was close to the drink-driving limit. My performance continued to deteriorate. What was second nature while sober, required greater and greater concentration.
They stopped the test on safety grounds when I was approximately twice the limit. By this time I was driving the car wildly and erratically, sending half the cones flying. The one area where my performance improved was in braking: it showed that I was hitting the pedal faster and harder as the alcohol increased my self-confidence. Given the rest of the results, however, this offered little reassurance.

*Emboldened = envalentonados

The euro hits the streets

More than 300 million Europeans adopted the euro as their legal tender at midnight. In the midst of New Year's Eve revelries, people for the first time were able to hold the pastel-coloured banknotes that architects of the common currency believe will become compelling symbols of unity. Many on the Continent were tickled to be able to get their hands on it.

"This is great," said a grinning Christian Foulladosa as he rubbed a crisp note between his fingers and held it up to the light above the cash machine. "This is a big event. We will become a greater Europe with the euro," said this man as he made his first purchase with euros, buying flowers for his wife.

The European Central Bank and European Union hoped it would be, and the fact that the introduction of the notes and coins coincided with the start of a new year certainly helped. Cities throughout the euro zone ushered in both 2002 and the euro with special celebrations. There were fireworks in Frankfurt, home to the European Central Bank, and a laser-like show in Brussels, headquarters of the European Union.

Glossary:

• tender = moneda de curso legal
• be tickled = estar contento
• revelry = festejo, jolgorio

It's getting worse again

When you look at racial segregation in America's schools, another new study presents a bleaker picture. The Harvard report produces some discouraging figures from the country's  public -state-run- schools. After the schools began desegregating in the mid-1950s, they became steadily more integrated until the late 1980s; but then the trend slowed down, and went into reverse. On average, white children go to schools that are 80% white. 

Segregation is worst in the largest city school systems, where enrolment is now overwhelmingly non-white. Yet it is also a problem in the suburbs, where schools once largely white are now mostly black or brown. As the minorities move out from the city centres, whites move even farther out. As the report shows, schools now closely follow housing patterns; if these are heavily segregated, the schools will be too. 

The report's most striking finding, however, is the emergence of Latinos both as the fastest growing minority and the most segregated one. They are divided from whites and blacks not only by race but also by poverty and language. They also do worst at school, with the highest drop-out rates. Their presence now is worrying proof that racial segregation in the schools will get worse before it gets better.

Schools really are better, says Ofsted

Tony Blair has ordered Cabinet ministers to take lessons from education on improving public services as evidence is published today showing that schools are improving. The annual report of Ofsted will say that nine in ten schools have improved since its inspections started in 1992, and that classroom standards have never been higher.

A senior Whitehall figure said last night that Mr Blair considers Estelle Morris, the Education Secretary, and her immediate predecessor, David Blunkett, to be "model public service ministers." In spite of the successes that the Ofsted report will highlight, it will express concern that the gap between the best and worst performing schools is growing wider, while some groups of children, especially those from ethnic minorities continue to fall behind. Mike Tomlinson, the outgoing head of Ofsted, will say that progress has been made on literacy and numeracy in primary schools, but that this has caused a "narrowing" of the curriculum.

More attention needs to be paid to arts, creative and practical subjects, he will say. His report also praises head teachers for their leadership and management of schools, while adding that further measures need to be taken to encourage the vital support that parents can bring.

Climate shift in Europe

Europe must adapt to extremes of climate that will cause new deserts in the south and floods and wind storms in the north, according to a new report before fir European Commission. The report, compiled by climate scientists, warns that traditional holiday destinations on the Mediterranean will lose their beaches as sea levels rise, temperatures will become too hot for comfort, and many older people will die due to excessive heat. The Alps will lose most of their glaciers and uncertain snow patterns will lead to serious problems for the ski industry.

Agriculture in the south will suffer as underground water is exhausted and already sparse summer rain disappears. There will not be enough water to grow the fruit and vegetables that fill northern supermarkets. Hot summers will double in frequency by 2020 and forest fires will increase across the whole region. Dangers include more floods, storms and insects bringing new diseases.

The 350-page report is edited by Martin Parry of the Jackson Environment Institute at the University of East Anglia in Britain. It was released last weekend -two weeks before European Union governments meet in The Hague to discuss reducing carbon dioxide emissions to try to slow global warming.

Spain's water wars

“I will not send a single drop of water from the Ebro”, said Pasquall Maragall, before November´s Catalan elections. Now, Mr Maragall hopes to “paralyse” the Spanish government´s plan to move water from north to south.

The government has condemned Mr Maragall´s stance* as “unpatriotic”. Last month the Spanish government formally requested European Union finance to meet a third of the E15,000m cost of the whole project. It claimed a victory when the European Commission conditionally approved E80m to pay for a part of it. Mr Aznar has called the plan “an act of solidarity” between Spain´s regions.

The water balance between the wet north, where a third of Spain´s rain falls, and the dry south, where 60% of the land is semi-arid, continues to inflame passions. Critics say the entire plan is outmoded and designed to benefit the government´s business friends. They claim it will cost twice as much to transport the water as it would to produce more water through desalination. Greens say it will destroy the Ebro delta wetlands. The government of Aragon supports the Catalans, calling the project a “method to rob the poor to feed the rich”.

*Glossary: stance = postura

Unnatural disaster

The Philippines is accustomed to clearing up after the destruction caused by the dozen or more monsoons that hit the archipelago each summer and autumn. But the island of Luzon is unlikely to recover swiftly from the havoc of last week, when two storms slammed into the coastal areas of Quezon province. The disaster was only partly natural and largely the work of man. Normally, the roots of trees that cover the interior Sierra Madre mountains would absorb the rain. But four decades of logging – much of it illegal – has steadily denuded the island’s mountains of trees, so they no longer function as shield or sponge. Instead, they have become powerful delivery systems of floodwater and mud.

When Typhoon Winnie hit the coast last Monday, one resident said: “Houses have been completely swept away and cars and vans have been washed away too.” By the time Typhoon Nanmadol had moved away from the coast, at least 640 people were confirmed dead and nearly 400 were missing. Rescue efforts were made almost impossible by blocked roads, washed-out bridges and the storms that succeeded Winnie.

President Gloria Macapagal has suspended all logging and promised severe punishment for lawbreakers, in the face of another reminder of how hazardous it is to fool around with Mother Nature.

Changes in British family life

A period of unprecedented change in British family life, in which adults lead more isolated lives, bringing up children on their own or not having them at all, was described in a report last week. The report says it is still too early to talk of the death of the “traditional family”, because four-fifths of dependent children still live in a family with two parents, and nine in 10 of those parents are married. But other statistics included in the report demonstrate significant changes in family demographics with profound, if often unexplored, consequences. More than 6.5m people in Britain –about 28% of households- live on their own, three times as many as 40 years ago, the report says.

The report dispels* some common misconceptions: that people living alone are not part of a family, when in fact the family remains “the key social network and primary source of informal care and support”. The extended family continues to be important, although contact with relatives has lessened, and family members are the main providers of care for elderly relatives. Grandparents are still important in childcare.

Mr Straw, the Home Secretary, last week confirmed his commitment to promoting the family, but said he wanted to “develop policies that support people in families as they really are today, not according to some outdated ideal”.

Glossary:
*dispels= desmiente

A university challenge to racism

Thinking he was a thief, police shot a young black dentist who had just dropped his girlfriend off a Sao Paulo's international airport on February 3rd. That killing haunted a celebration which took place a week later, the opening of Brazil's first college catering mainly to blacks. It "shows the dimension" of the exclusion of black Brazilians from a society that until recently considered itself unusually tolerant, says José Vicente, president of Afrobras, a group that is the moving force behind the school.

Race and racism are both slippery ideas in Brazil. Nearly half the population is non-white if you count people who describe themselves as black or brown. Both groups are poorer than other Brazilians, less well-educated and paid less for the same work. The new school aims to fill the vacuum. Its 200 students are studying management, with a view to finding jobs in the growing markets. Mr Vicente sees them as the nucleus of a new élite that will encourage other blacks to study, earn and lead the struggle for equal rights.

Ignez Bacelar, one of the students, says that most universities are "for young whites with good incomes." She is happy to study with people who understand the obstacles. Just as important, the subsidised tuition will allow her to become the first graduate in her family.