Author: Max Erksnie | Total views: 137 Comments: 1 Word Count: 834 Date:
Considering beginning your very own internet site? Here are some essential elements to think of before you start
1. DIY or Web Designer
First of all, you should decide how you wish to develop your site - do you want to do it yourself, or work with a web design agency.
For Do It Yourself, there are lots of choices on the net nowadays. Practically anybody can introduce their own free of cost blog sites and upload simple images to going a blogshop. You may even know a bit more on html yourself to be able to do a little more challenging things. Because case if you're trying to find a small start-up site, doing the website yourself may be the most inexpensive choice on the budget.
Nonetheless if web design sounds out of this world to you, or if you're searching for a really expert site design, then employing a web designer may be a better choice for you.
Obviously for selection of web designers, there are web design business, in addition to freelance web designers. The previous are developed, experienced business and you can be reasonably ensured of quality and support. Not to state that freelance web designers are not reputable, however perhaps there is a larger array and you should seek the seasoned ones.
In terms of pricing, there will be a variety for both. There is also a distinction in pricing and requirements for web designers and web design companies from various countries. You might wish to pick someone from your very own locale, or aim to overseas for a more affordable alternative.
2. Ecommerce or CMS
Following you have to decide on what platform you desire your website to be based on. Do you desire an E-commerce platform that permits you to handle your item and stock, or a simpler CMS platform that concentrates on pictures and descriptions. Smaller sized companies with just a few unchanging items could choose a CMS or static website with some check out button links to display and sell their items. They pick then to focus especially on the presentation of these couple of products with the static or CMS website.
Business taking care of a large number of products and which are regularly adding brand-new items will need an E-commerce platform.
3. Web Design and Design
This is something that needs to be linked directly to your branding style and image. Really importantly your brand name and design has to appeal to your target audience. Are your prospective consumers, for instance young females for an on-line female clothing shop? Then you could be looking at pink styles or various other womanly appearances. Or are you a company that services businesses? Then sturdy and professional colors like blue and gray may appear more expert. Discuss this with your partners, web designer, as well as look for feedback from your current/potential clients. (You may also want to look into your competitors!).
4. Domain and Hosting.
We ought to probably have actually discussed this earlier, however if you don't already have one, you should sign up a domain name. Preferably this should contain your company name. Or it must relate carefully to the product/services you are offering. It should likewise be simple to remember so that your consumers can remember it and quickly type it and reach your site. Some domain with primary keywords will even serve in SEO.
You likewise have to find a webhosting - do you wish to establish your own server, or sign up for a web hosting service. Then, do you desire a shared hosting service or committed hosting? These plans will differ in terms of rates and speed and other features. Once again, discuss your needs with your web designer.
5. Getting Traffic.
After the effort of setting up your wonderful brand-new site, now you're entrusted with the following essential task of getting traffic, and ultimately customers, to your website. How do you prepare to market your site? For on-line advertising there are primarily two methods - natural traffic and paid traffic. The previous involves Online search engine Optimization where you try to optimize your site and develop page rank so that you rank normally on top of specific keywords in the significant search devices. In the latter, you essentially utilize offered paid marketing channels to promote your site. You can pay in regards to clicks to your site, or impressions of your advertisements.
Setting up a website and an online business is no small accomplishment and it will take proper planning. Hopefully the above list will get you started on your plan to going a site, and be valuable in your planning. Whatever the case, we wish you all the very best and success in your online undertaking and a big welcome to the web!
Max is a leading writer for this website and writes articles about ecommerce web design and gives advice on selecting the best web design agency
Related to: ecommerce web design - Web design agency
1: Article Marketing Strategy: Putting Together a "Class Schedule" For Your Article Topics
Businesses go to so much trouble when there is one sure-fire, simple, very inexpensive way to attract new clients to a business: Teach a free class. That is what article marketing is like. Your articles are just like free classes. You teach your target readers something helpful in your article. Your resource box then says, "If you enjoyed this article you can visit my website and apply what you have learned."
2: Why You Need To Build Multiple Streams of Income For Yourself
Being an entrepreneur and earning multiple streams of income is a dream that many have, but in reality it does take some initial hard work to achieve this. Earning multiple streams of income is the wave of the future, and here are some tips and advice for you when you are looking for ways in which to do this for yourself.
3: Understanding Online Business Success
Starting a home based business to earn income online takes a significant amount of time and energy upfront to get things going. Not seeing results immediately can be discouraging and cause people to give up too early. In this article, we look at the process of starting a home based business and working through the frustrations to be there when the sales come flowing in.
4: What is Cyber Marketing And Why It Is So Important For The Success Of Your Website
Cyber marketing has now become an indispensable segment of e-commerce as well as the internet and World Wide Web related topics. Cyber marketing simply refers to a technique of attracting potential customers by advertising your products or services through such means as websites, emails, and banners.
5: The Best Way To Optimise Your Website SEO For Google Panda
If you want your SEO to work you now need to concentrate on appeasing Google Panda, and to do this you need to know what Google Panda's spiders/bots will be looking for. Find out here how to search engine optimise your website for the latest Google Panda algorithm, and achieve the success you deserve.
Spring is in the air, layers are being shed and it's time to get wet. And I need a new pair of boardies, so why not go with the proven winner when it comes to both comfort and functionality? There isn't because Hurley has what I need and desire. More »
Effectively selling personal training is one of the most common things that separate a financially successful fitness business from an unsuccessful one.
The good news is that selling is more in lie with everything else that you do as a trainer or a coach than you probably think.
And, in fact, the best way to sell more personal training is to make the sales process more about the prospective client and less about ?closing the sale.?
The way that selling personal training was taught for a long time and is still taught by some is that closing a sale is an adversarial interaction where either you win or the prospect wins.
What a horrible way to look at it.
Selling starts with having a truly valuable solution that the prospective client will benefit from and it?s really just the process of finding the right mutually beneficial relationship where you can help them achieve their goals and in exchange you get compensated for your help.
So let?s look at the best way to sell more personal training through the prospective client?s eyes:
Step 1: I Need To Know Who You And Your Business Are.
Purchasing obviously starts with awareness.? Someone can?t become your client if they don?t know who you are.?
Step 2: I Need To Connect With What You Offer.
What you have to offer needs to speak directly to that person.? If they?re looking for fat loss and you?re talking about corrective exercise, they don?t connect.? That doesn?t mean they don?t need it, but they don?t connect with it.?
Step 3: I Need To Trust You Can Deliver What I Specifically Want.
No one makes a purchase unless they believe that what they?re buying will deliver the outcome they?re looking for.?
These first three steps are where so many fitness pros miss the boat.? They think they?re selling what they want to sell rather than what a specific person wants.? Or they don?t recognize that they need to have the prospect personally connect with them and what they offer.
That?s the beauty of referral marketing.?
It takes care of all three of these steps at once.?
Your happy client makes people aware of who you are and really facilitates the connection and trust in a way that you can?t because they?re talking to someone who already knows, likes and trusts them.
Step 4: I Need To Experience What You Have To Offer.
Most people want to try before they buy.? This can mean something as simple as a Success Session with you to make sure you?re able to provide what they need, or it could be a couple of free sessions or a paid 21 day or month long program.
Step 5: I?m Ready To Become A Client.
This is where most fitness pros think everything happens.? They?re wrong.? This is just a natural step in the progression if you?ve done what you?re supposed to do up to this point.? It?s actually easier to lose people in the first couple of steps than it is this one.? You just don?t know you?ve lost them because they?re not sitting in front of you.
Step 6: I WANT To Become A Fan.
No one goes into a business hoping for an ordinary experience.? They want to be WOWed.? They want to fall in love with the business.? The fact that most businesses don?t inspire that type of feeling is a shame for them, but it?s an opportunity for you.
If you can create fans at this stage it makes everything else you do SO much easier.?
Step 7: I?m Eager To Share my Experience With Others.
This is the pinnacle.? If someone has made it through all 6 previous steps, then they?re primed to go out and be an advocate for what you do.? That may mean referring in the traditional sense.? It may mean talking about their experience on Facebook every day.? It could mean becoming a connector for you with people they know.
This process is a little different than what most people think of as sales, but it?s hands down the best way to sell more personal training.? So let?s take a quick look at how you can dial your training sales process in:
Step 1: Making Sure The Right People Know About You.
Is your business and your unique message getting in front of the type of prospects you want on a consistent basis?
Do you have multiple strategies in place that are making sure this happens?
Step 2: Do Your Ideal Prospects Connect With What You?re Saying.
Is your message or your Big Idea clear enough that it stands out from the competition?
Does it speak to the people you want to have as clients so specifically that they feel like you?re speaking directly to them?
Step 3: Are You Creating Enough Trust?
Do you have testimonials and success stories that speak to how effectively you deliver what you say you do?
Is everything that someone can see about you congruent?
Step 4: Do You Have A Great Try Before You Buy Experience?
Do you have a strong Front End Offer in place?
Does it WOW the prospect or is it just like everyone else?s?
Step 5: How Do You Transition People To Become Clients?
Do you have a Win / Win Closing Process?
Are you focusing on selling what?s best for the client or what?s the most expensive?
Step 6: Do You Have A WOW Experience?
Is it clear to your clients that what they get from you is very different from what the competition offers?
Do you actively educate your clients?
Do you have WOW touchpoints with every client?
Step 7: Do You Make It Easy For Your Clients To Connect You With Others?
Do you have a variety of ways for clients to introduce you to their network?
Do you connect with your clients through social media?
Do you get testimonials from your clients?
Do you provide sharable education?
So hopefully you see why the best way to sell personal training isn?t the traditional way to sell personal training.? Your fitness sales process is really the cultivation of a relationship with your ideal prospect to the point that they become a fan that eagerly spreads the word about your business.
So use the questions that I shared toward the end to optimize your approach to selling and before long you can be reaping the rewards of the best way to sell more personal training.
Bowdoin College, an elite university located in Maine, has recently found itself the nexus of a massive influx of controversy.
?And it?s all because its president talked down the wrong person.
Bowdoin College (Photo Credit: AP)
Bowdoin President Barry Mills reportedly engaged in a golf game during the summer of last year with philanthropist and investor Thomas Klingenstein who, while not being a graduate of Bowdoin, was himself interested in the college?s approach to education. The result was an apparently awkward conversation during which Klingenstein complained of Bowdoin?s excessive celebration of ?racial and ethnic difference,? in his words, rather than of ?common American identity.?
It is unclear precisely how sharp the conversation got, but it evidently distressed Mills enough that he decided to mention Klingenstein (albeit not by name) in his subsequent commencement address as a particularly unpleasant golfing partner who?d interrupted his backswing to spout racist platitudes.
Bowdoin College President Barry Mills (Photo Credit: Centre College)
Needless to say, Klingenstein found this response galling. What he decided to do about it, however, is almost certainly unprecedented: Klingenstein decided to commission researchers to do an academic report on Bowdoin?s culture, both academically and outside the classroom, to see just what the college was teaching its students. The result was a 355 page report by the conservative National Association of Scholars that systematically broke down Bowdoin?s entire culture and worldview with extreme frankness. TheBlaze took a look at this report, and spoke to one of its authors, and you may be alarmed at the results.
What did that report find? That Bowdoin College, and indeed most of its peers in the elite liberal arts college community, is in fact:
A) Obsessed with identity politics to the point of using them as an excuse to teach irrelevant and/or trivial courses, and to admit underqualified and undereducated students
B) At once entirely unconcerned with fostering healthy sexual behavior in students and consumed with making sure they follow inconsistent and ideologically motivated norms; and
C) Disingenuous in their purported support for critical thinking, which only extends as far as thinking critically about topics which the college finds institutionally inconvenient
The report, which runs 355 pages, is split into two sections ? first, there is the preface, which assesses the facts regarding Bowdoin and makes specific value judgments regarding those facts. Second, there is the report itself, which only explains the college?s behavior without passing judgment on it. The evidence for each of the above conclusions is too ample to rehearse in full, but a few highlights can be offered as examples to illustrate just what Bowdoin teaches.
A) Identity Politics
National Review?s Eliana Johnson, another reader of the report, summarized a few of its highlights on this point in an article last week:
The report documents an increasingly fractured academy that has no common curriculum and in which so-called identity studies take priority over a study of the West. It highlights, for example, the 36 freshmen seminars offered at Bowdoin in the fall of 2012. They are designed to teach writing and critical-thinking skills and to introduce students to the various academic departments. Some of the subjects are unsurprising: The Korean War, Great Issues in Science, Political Leadership. Others seem less conducive to critical thinking and fruitful classroom discussion: Queer Gardens, Beyond Pocahontas: Native American Stereotypes; Sexual Life of Colonialism; Modern Western Prostitutes.
Queer Gardens, an exploration of the work of gay and lesbian gardeners and of ?the link between gardens and transgression,? simply ?does not teach critical thinking as well as Plato?s?Republic,? the report notes; nor does any subject that has ?no canon of works that embody exemplary achievement in the difficult dialogic task of critical thinking.?
To many observers, such information might itself seem demonstrative. Yet the evidence goes beyond even these scattered examples. For example, in the section of the report that deals with distributional requirements, the authors observe (emphasis added):
When Bowdoin adopted the 2004 version of its distribution requirements, it took care to also provide a fuller rationalization for them than had been the case in previous iterations. In the new redaction the requirements were linked to a programmatic commitment to the ideal of ?diversity,? which was in turn given a prominent place in the college?s new statement, ?A Liberal Education at Bowdoin College.? Diversity serves an interesting function in the search for an underlying principle to give ?coherence? to both the requirements and cohesion to the larger curriculum. It gives a warrant for politicization while at the same time frees faculty members, departments, and students to go their own ways. In effect, the elevation of diversity to the level of governing principle institutionalizes the incoherence that it ostensibly corrects. As far as divergent departmental interests go, it is an agree-to-disagree arrangement that demands very little of anyone other than deference to one of the shibboleths of the Left.
Double standards also abound. For instance, while students who choose to major in history are given the option to major in US history or European history, all history majors are?required to take at least four courses that teach about history unrelated to either the US or Europe. In other words, history majors can leave Bowdoin with absolutely no instruction in the history of their own country, but cannot leave with no instruction in the history of non-Western cultures. The ideological bias is fairly obvious.
Nor does this concern with presumptively underrepresented subject material or peoples stop in the classroom. The report?s section on Academic Preparedness recounts several faculty members agonizing over how affirmative action admits are academically ill-prepared for the university?s rigor, in spite of their professed commitment to ?diversity.? In fact, the college apparently provides surreptitious extra help to these students to prop them up through their tenure at Bowdoin, in spite of their publicly professed belief that diversity and academic standards are not at odds. The report notes:
In the Minutes of the Faculty, the ?underpreparedness? of students is most emphatically linked with the college?s pursuit of racial diversity. This probably reflects a genuine gap in the level of academic performance of black students and members of other racially-defined segments of the student population. That is not something, however, that we can document, and even if true it might disguise a larger problem. ?Majority? students may generally perform better than black students, but majority students may also be ?underprepared? in significant ways. Indeed, that?s what the data nationwide attests, and there is small reason to think that Bowdoin is an exception.
This part is important to note, if only because it gives needed context to one of the report?s recommendations ? namely, that more
Protestors at Bowdoin place a sign in the hand of a statue of Civil War soldier Joshua Chamberlain (Photo Credit: Space4Peace)
introductory and/or survey courses in American history and other core topics be offered. While Bowdoin only admits 1 in 6 of the students who apply, and thus should presumptively count on those students having a superior grasp of such topics already, its extensive diversity programs make such a hope illusory. Reached by phone, Peter Wood, President of the National Association of Scholars, and one of the authors of the report, was devastatingly frank on this point.
?Courses that were truly taught at the introductory level might be below some of the students? ability,? Wood told TheBlaze, ?but then again, Bowdoin has a policy of admitting quite a few students either for athletic reasons or for diversity who don?t come anywhere near the academic attainment of the usual students. Those students may not need remedial courses, but they do need something. And Bowdoin has nothing to offer them.?
And if students want to avoid learning these basic concepts, but instead just imbibe politicized opinions without ice or water? The school?s so-called ?studies? departments are happy to provide that as well. For just a sample:
Africana Studies today offers courses such as ?Affirmative Action and United States Society,? ?Black Women, Politics, Music, and the Divine,? ?Transnational Africa and Globalization,? ?History of African and African Diasporic Political Thought,? ?The African ?American Experience in Europe,? ?Protest Music,? ?Global History of the Ghetto,? ?A History of the Global AIDS Epidemic,? ?Martin, Malcolm and America,? ?Spirit Come Down: Black Women and Religion,? and ?Race and Sexuality in Modern America.? This seems a scattered miscellany of topics, perhaps representing the scattered miscellany of the academic specializations of the faculty. It doesn?t, in any case, add up to a coherent curriculum. It is something of a model of the entropy?pedagogical, intellectual, and curricular?that is characteristic of the college. It does convey the ?intersectionality? of the various identity-based programs. Africana Studies is plainly allied with Gender and Women?s Studies and with Gay and Lesbian Studies.
B) Inconsistent attitudes toward sex
One of the elements of the report that may draw some derision both from liberals and from more libertarian readers is the implicit urging by the authors that universities like Bowdoin act?in loco parentis to their students, IE in the place of parents. The meaning of this suggestion is, quite plainly, that the university should attempt to inculcate moral norms in their students, especially with regard to sex.
In contrast, the authors argue that Bowdoin not only does not build character where sex is concerned, but actively encourages libertinism and dysfunctional attitudes among students by handing out condoms like candy and offering free coverage for venereal disease. It?s a moralistic position that some readers may find to be at odds with the report?s twin insistence that universities should promote openness of all kinds, even to conservative ideas, but Wood insists there?s no tension between the two.
?We are, and we say we are, operating from the premises of a classical liberal education, which is meant to shape mind and character, and both issues are in play at Bowdoin,? Wood told TheBlaze. ?They have an idea of what the student?s mind should be like. They have an idea of what the student?s character should be like. Are they teaching different ethics? For sure they are. Is teaching ethics a bad thing? Not at all. But once you say you?re teaching ethics, it seems to me to be fair play to question what ethics you are teaching. And in this case, much of what they are teaching is open to a meaningful critique as destructive of the lives that are employing those values. I don?t see anything from Bowdoin that defends promiscuity as a good, but they promote it anyway.?
?Are we being judgmental about that?? Wood continued. ?To a certain degree, we are, and there?s plenty of evidence in the psychological literature and the sociological literature that the lifestyle being promoted has negative long-term consequences on people hooking up, with multiple sexual partners, etc, have less stable marriages, have much higher divorce rates. The psychological consequences of this behavior pattern appear to set in and have long-term damage. Those are things that Bowdoin could at least consider or talk about to students in the same context of telling them they have sexual freedom.?
Yet even this license-focused approach has its limits, as for all its claims not to be morally invested in sex, Bowdoin is very much interested in promoting specifically ideological ideas about one particular facet of sex ? namely, consent. Indeed, an entire play is put on at the beginning of the school year for freshmen intended to drill the importance of this concept into their heads. And while the concept of consent to sex is itself completely noncontroversial, Wood says the way Bowdoin understands it is inconsistent and difficult to parse.
?Bowdoin has not only an explicit set of rules about consent, but the rules being somewhat difficult to envisage, they also follow their rules with a bunch of hypothetical scenarios in which you can test yourself as to whether you?ve adequately internalized the rules,? Wood explained. ?We do have a section in the report about that. It?s not intuitive to me. For example, one of the scenarios involves two young men. One of them invites the other to his dorm room to watch videos, and while watching videos, tries to take the hand of the other boy, and he refuses, and tries a second time, and is refused a second time, and at that point, the guest leaves. Is that a case of sexual harassment? Their answer is ?Yes, it is.? On the other hand, a male having sex with an intoxicated female who indicates willingness is perfectly okay under Bowdoin?s rules, so we?re in the realm here where the definitions are slippery, but since they?re promoting such an act of an adventurous approach to sexuality, there?s bound to be misunderstandings.?
Moreover, according to Wood, when Bowdoin does try to instruct its students about sex, it uses ideologically motivated, junk information.
?One of the things we looked at was the feminists on campus are quite worried about the low rate of reported cases of sexual assault and rape,? Wood explained, ?and they have gone back repeatedly to both broaden the definitions and to find other ways to try to increase the rate of reporting, under the supposition that the assaults and rapes must be happening, but aren?t being pursued through the legal channels. They?ve been frustrated in this quest that even after lowering the definitions and putting many forms of encouragement in place, the rate of harassment claims is very low?They?re also fond of citing and continue to cite, despite its being an utterly discredited statistic, that something like one in four undergraduates in college will be raped. It?s made out of whole cloth. There?s nothing to substantiate that level of rape anywhere in America, let alone on college campuses.?
In other words, Bowdoin doesn?t teach its students to follow any set of sexual norms at all?unless those norms happen to be the ones advanced by the same identity groups who dominate the rest of the conversation on-campus.
C) Lack of critical thinking
Bowdoin professes to support ?critical thinking? in classroom discussions, and to encourage ideological diversity in order to speed this process. In fact, given that President Mills? speeches apparently make reference to a relativistic conception of ?the common good? with fair frequency, some might even argue the school?s commitment to ?critical thinking? and independent-decision making could err too far in one direction. Fortunately, in practice, this philosophical problem is avoided. Unfortunately, it is avoided in a way that the report?s authors suggest hamstrings critical thought far more than it ought:
Official Bowdoin projects two broad purposes: it aims to teach students to think critically and it aims to help them to develop into good citizens. Our claim that critical thinking is a Bowdoin goal is not likely to be contested by either the Bowdoin community or outside observers. Bowdoin is explicit and emphatic in its promotion of this goal. The first requirement for critical thinking is a genuinely open mind. ?Openness? and ?critical thinking? aren?t quite the same thing, of course. The first is really a precondition of the second. But for the moment we will treat them as near synonyms and bring in other requirements of critical thinking only as needed.[...]
The two Bowdoin goals?global citizenship and openness?actually push against each other. Openness requires skepticism and a sincere willingness to look for hidden assumptions, but Bowdoin?s understanding of global citizenship requires that some very large questions be settled in advance. A commitment to global citizenship requires a commitment to diversity (in its current understanding, the notion that each of us is defined in the most meaningful ways by the group to which we belong) and to the racial preferences that follow from diversity; to multiculturalism (all cultures are equal); to the idea that gender and social norms are all simply social constructs (an assumption that justifies virtually unlimited government intervention necessary to achieve the global citizen?s understanding of sexual justice); and to ?sustainability? (which assumes that free market economic systems, and the materialistic, bourgeois values that drive them, are destroying the planet). These are notions that are not meaningfully ?open to ?debate? at Bowdoin; indeed, a commitment to global citizenship requires that they not be open to debate. Students are encouraged to ?think critically? about anything that threatens the college?s dogmas on diversity, multiculturalism, gender, and sustainability, etc., but, for the most part, not to think critically about those dogmas themselves.
This problem is so pervasive, the report alleges, that not only is there an absence of openness to conservative ideas, but the campus actively stereotypes them as ?boorish,? and many classes treat liberal dogma as settled truth in their own syllabi. For instance, the ?women?s studies? department describes itself as follows:
Courses in Gender and Women?s Studies investigate the experience of women and men in light of the social construction of gender and its meaning across cultures and historic periods. Gender construction is explored as an institutionalized means of structuring inequality and dominance.
Whatever one thinks of these ideas, they are hardly settled truth. The idea that gender is socially constructed, let alone that such a hypothetical construct would function to preserve dominance, is debatable even within academic culture. Yet the college simply defers to the department in allowing this apparent politicized reading of controversial concepts to continue.
Conclusion
These three problems barely scratch the surface of the full report, which also points out problems with Bowdoin?s uncritical attitude toward environmentalism, its ambivalence about the free market, the persistently opinionated stances of its President despite his apparent role as a neutral arbiter, or the uniformly Democratic voting habits of its professoriate. The report?s impact on Bowdoin as yet is unknown, but as criticisms go, it is quite possibly the most harsh analysis of a college?s culture since William F. Buckley?s book ?God and Man at Yale? in the early 20th century.
Editor?s note ? We?ll be discussing this story and all the day?s news during our live BlazeCast from 12pm-1pm ET?including your questions, comments & live chat:
Related: What?s happening to First Amendment freedoms on campus?
The Army base in?Fort Bliss, Texas has?a goal of getting to net-zero energy, and as part of that, they are about to build a 20 megawatt solar farm,?the biggest for the military to date.
It will power?all?the division headquarters and most of the eastern sector of the sprawling complex, and is the first partnership between the military and?a?major local utility on a renewable energy project of this scale.
El Paso Electric is building the plant, which will come online in 2015. They are also planning another 20 MW solar plant and pursuing wind and geothermal projects.
Fort Bliss already has a 1.4 MW solar?solar array, the Army's second-largest, and?13.4 MW of solar PV on?post rooftops, maintained by SolarCity as part of Project SolarStrong.?
Other measures toward net-zero energy are making life better at the Army base - they've?planted 14,700 trees and created biking and walking paths that wind through the complex.
The Army's goal is for renewables to supply 25% of energy?by 2015.
In 2011,?the US?Army announced that?six bases would target?net- zero energy, another six?net-zero water and another six net-zero waste.
Fort Bliss was one of several basis that chose to target all three ...?by 2020.
Recycling has also gotten a lot more attention on base, raising $1 million last year for projects such as?skating parks and spinning bicycles. There's?also been a dramatic drop in electricity use in post housing, says Major General?Dana?Pittard.
"Changing behavior and promoting a culture that encourages energy conservation are keys to achieving Net Zero,"?he explains.?"And that is what we hope our soldiers will then take with them when they go on to other installations and move into society throughout the county."
"The solar farm, along with our environment campaign plan, are both part of a larger effort to make Fort Bliss the most fit, most healthy, most resilient community in America that is environmentally sound and is best at preparing soldiers and units for combat," he says.
Soldiers feel much more part of a community when they get outdoors.?It's "no accident" that Fort Bliss has the Army's lowest suicide rate in the US, he says.
"We feel that the fitness, the resiliency and the Net Zero is interrelated," Pittard says. "For us here, it has been a no-brainer. Now what we hope is that the rest of the Army sees that and will replicate it."
Apr. 9, 2013 ? Researchers have identified a new genus of bat after discovering a rare specimen in South Sudan.
With wildlife personnel under the South Sudanese Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, Bucknell Associate Professor of Biology DeeAnn Reeder and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) Programme Officer Adrian Garside were leading a team conducting field research and pursuing conservation efforts when Reeder spotted the animal in Bangangai Game Reserve.
"My attention was immediately drawn to the bat's strikingly beautiful and distinct pattern of spots and stripes. It was clearly a very extraordinary animal, one that I had never seen before," recalled Reeder. "I knew the second I saw it that it was the find of a lifetime."
After returning to the United States, Reeder determined the bat was the same as one originally captured in nearby Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1939 and named Glauconycterissuperba, but she and colleagues did not believe that it fit with other bats in the genus Glauconycteris.
"After careful analysis, it is clear that it doesn't belong in the genus that it's in right now," Reeder said. "Its cranial characters, its wing characters, its size, the ears -- literally everything you look at doesn't fit. It's so unique that we need to create a new genus."
In the paper, "A new genus for a rare African vespertilionid bat: insights from South Sudan" just published by the journal ZooKeys, Reeder, along with co-authors from the Smithsonian Institution and the Islamic University in Uganda, placed this bat into a new genus -- Niumbaha. The word means "rare" or "unusual" in Zande, the language of the Azande people in Western Equatoria State, where the bat was captured. The bat is just the fifth specimen of its kind ever collected, and the first in South Sudan, which gained its independence in 2011.
"To me, this discovery is significant because it highlights the biological importance of South Sudan and hints that this new nation has many natural wonders yet to be discovered. South Sudan is a country with much to offer and much to protect," said Matt Rice, FFI's South Sudan country director. FFI is using its extensive experience of working in conflict and post-conflict countries to assist the South Sudanese government as it re-establishes the country's wildlife conservation sector and is also helping to rehabilitate selected protected areas through training and development of park staff and wildlife service personnel, road and infrastructure development, equipment provision, and supporting research work. || Read more about FFI's conservation efforts in South Sudan here.
The team's research in South Sudan was made possible by a $100,000 grant that Reeder received from the Woodtiger Fund. The private research foundation recently awarded Reeder another $100,000 dollar grant to continue her research this May and to support FFI's conservation programs.
"Our discovery of this new genus of bat is an indicator of how diverse the area is and how much work remains," Reeder added. "Understanding and conserving biodiversity is critical in many ways. Knowing what species are present in an area allows for better management. When species are lost, ecosystem-level changes ensue. I'm convinced this area is one in which we need to continue to work."
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Pensoft Publishers. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
ATHENS (Reuters) - National Bank's plan to absorb Eurobank to form Greece's biggest banking group will be suspended until both are recapitalised, and a state bank support fund will decide if the they should merge, a Finance Ministry official said on Sunday.
National acquired 84.3 percent of Eurobank via a share swap in February with a view to absorbing it as part of broader consolidation in the banking industry to cope with fallout from Greece's debt crisis and deep recession.
But the plan raised concerns at the lenders' "troika" - European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - that a merger would form a bank too big relative to Greece's gross domestic product.
"The final decision on the merger will be taken by the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF)," the official, who declined to be named, told reporters.
Together, the two banks need 15.6 billion euros in fresh capital to shore up their solvency ratios to levels set by the central bank after incurring losses from a sovereign debt writedown and impaired loans.
Under a recapitalisation scheme agreed with Greece's international lenders, most of the fresh capital will be provided by the HFSF, a state bank support fund, in exchange for new shares and contingent convertible bonds.
To stay private, banks must ensure that at least 10 percent of their share offerings is taken up by private investors.
"The two banks sent letters to the central bank saying it is unlikely they will be able to raise the 10 percent from the market," the official said.
This means that both banks will fall under the full control of the HFSF bailout fund.
The official also confirmed what two bankers had earlier told Reuters: that the two banks would be recapitalised separately.
After their recapitalisation, the HFSF will decide whether they will go ahead and integrate.
"I do not want to prejudge the HFSF's decision," the official said.
National's current stake in Eurobank will be severely diluted as a result of the recapitalisation and analysts expect the banks' shares to come under heavy selling pressure on Monday.
"The market was partly discounting such an outcome but did not expect decisions like the suspension of the merger to be taken so fast. I expect their shares to plunge on Monday," said Takis Zamanis, a chief trader at Athens-based Beta Securities.
(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew smiles at journalists prior to a meeting with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, not shown, at EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, April 8, 2013. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is starting a series of meetings with key European Union leaders during his first official visit to the region. Lew is expected to urge the European officials to promote more growth-friendly policies to counter the debt crisis that has for three years engulfed the 27-nation bloc, which together forms the world's largest economy. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew smiles at journalists prior to a meeting with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, not shown, at EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, April 8, 2013. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is starting a series of meetings with key European Union leaders during his first official visit to the region. Lew is expected to urge the European officials to promote more growth-friendly policies to counter the debt crisis that has for three years engulfed the 27-nation bloc, which together forms the world's largest economy. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, left, shakes hands with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy at EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, April 8, 2013. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is starting a series of meetings with key European Union leaders during his first official visit to the region. Lew is expected to urge the European officials to promote more growth-friendly policies to counter the debt crisis that has for three years engulfed the 27-nation bloc, which together forms the world's largest economy. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, right, is greeted by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso during a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, April 8, 2013. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is starting a series of meetings with key European Union leaders during his first official visit to the region. Lew is expected to urge the European officials to promote more growth-friendly policies to counter the debt crisis that has for three years engulfed the 27-nation bloc, which together forms the world's largest economy. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, right, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso meet at EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, April 8, 2013. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is starting a series of meetings with key European Union leaders during his first official visit to the region. Lew is expected to urge the European officials to promote more growth-friendly policies to counter the debt crisis that has for three years engulfed the 27-nation bloc, which together forms the world's largest economy. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew, left, speaks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso during a meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday, April 8, 2013. U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew is starting a series of meetings with key European Union leaders during his first official visit to the region. Lew is expected to urge the European officials to promote more growth-friendly policies to counter the debt crisis that has for three years engulfed the 27-nation bloc, which together forms the world's largest economy. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
BRUSSELS (AP) ? European countries should ease off their austerity and adopt more growth-friendly policies, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said Monday as he kicked off a series of meetings with the region's top leaders.
America's biggest trading partner and the world's largest economic bloc has entered the fourth year of a debt crisis, which has plunged many of the 27 EU nations into recession. The U.S. administration hopes Europe will relent in its focus on debt reduction, which has been hurting growth through spending cuts and tax increases.
"Our economy's strength remains sensitive to events beyond our shores and we have an immense stake in Europe's health and stability," Lew said in Brussels. "The Unites States has no bigger, no more important economic relationship that it does with Europe."
Lew, who became treasury secretary in February, started his first official trip to Europe with a meeting with EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. He also met the EU's top economic and monetary official, Commissioner Olli Rehn, and EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
"I was particularly interested in our European partners' plans to strengthen sources of demand at a time of rising unemployment," he said, speaking alongside Van Rompuy.
Van Rompuy, who chairs the meetings of the EU's 27 heads of state and government, acknowledged "there is a vivid debate about fiscal policy and the pace of fiscal consolidation" but defended the bloc's economic policy as a necessity.
"The European economies face a high level of debt, deep structural medium-term challenges and short-term economic headwinds that we need to confront," he said. "There is no room for complacency."
The bloc's strategy of debt reduction has become increasingly controversial also within Europe, as many nations experience rising unemployment and falling economic output ? which in turn increases their debt load measured relative to annual gross domestic product.
Van Rompuy hinted, however, that the EU is willing to grant its member states some more leeway. It has, for example, given some countries more time to reach their deficit targets.
Later Monday, Lew's focus will turn to the key officials in charge of the euro currency, shared by 17 of the EU's 27 nations. In Frankfurt, continental Europe's biggest financial hub, he is set to meet European Central Bank President Mario Draghi.
On Tuesday, he is due to meet German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble in Berlin, followed by talks with France's Pierre Moscovici in Paris. Germany and France combined make up almost half of the eurozone's annual economic output of about 10 trillion euros ($13 trillion).
The two-day trip through some of Europe's capitals was Lew's second tour abroad after visiting China last month.
Lew said he and the EU officials also discussed the planned free trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU, saying it "reflects our strong belief that our economic relationship can be even more productive as a source of trade, jobs and growth."
That deal would foster growth by lowering tariffs and removing other trade barriers for most industries between the two giants, that together account for more than half of the world economy. The project has strong support on both sides of the Atlantic, with President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel amid its prime advocates, but the negotiations are expected to be arduous and a deal won't be reached fast.
Lew also encouraged the EU leaders to push ahead with introducing a "common supervision for Europe's largest banks."
The so-called banking union is one of the bloc's major projects to overcome its debt crisis. Under that plan, the oversight of the bloc's banks will be centralized starting next year, eventually followed by a bailout fund with the power to solve banking failures. The goal is to prevent the cost of rescuing a bank from overwhelming the finances of a single member state.
Van Rompuy voiced confidence that European officials will be able to reach an agreement on the significant outstanding details for the plan's legal framework by this summer.
"If anything, this crisis and recent events in Cyprus, have showed the absolute need to anchor once and for all a coherent scheme that would allow resolving failing financial institutions in an effective, predictable and consistent manner across the union," he said.
Cyprus, a tiny eastern Mediterranean island nation of about 1 million people, had to seek a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund last month after a banking crisis brought it to the brink of bankruptcy.
Despite comparable pre-surgery risk scores, patients with radiation heart disease found to be at much greater risk years after surgery
Monday, April 8, 2013, Cleveland: Patients who have open heart surgery for heart disease caused by radiation cancer treatment are nearly twice as likely to die in the years following their surgery compared to similar patients who did not undergo radiation treatment, according to new research from Cleveland Clinic published today in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
The team of researchers, led by Milind Desai, M.D., a cardiologist in the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic, examined 173 patients who underwent heart surgery an average of 18 years after receiving chest radiation for cancer and compared the mortality rates to 305 similar heart surgery patients who did not undergo prior radiation. After an average follow-up of 7.6 years, 55 percent of the patients in the radiation group had died, compared to 28 percent in the non-radiation group. Short-term mortality (including 30-day mortality) were not significantly different. In the cases where cause of death could be ascertained, the vast majority died as a result of heart or lung disease and not from recurring cancer.
"Even with low-risk scores and procedural success, chest radiation years or even decades prior to heart surgery puts patients at a much higher risk for long-term events," said Dr. Desai. "Further research needs to be done to understand this patient population and to better stratify their risk so that we can identify the most effective ways to treat their complex disease."
Radiation therapy is often the most effective way to treat cancers that affect the chest, including cancers of the breast and lung, and Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But radiation can cause problems for the heart and its surrounding structure that often manifest themselves years, even decades, later. Long term, chest radiation can cause coronary artery disease, valve disease, cardiomyopathy -- or weakening of the heart muscle -- and problems with the electronic signals that make the heart beat.
"In radiation heart disease patients, we often see a very peculiar presentation of cardiac disease," Dr. Desai said. "These are often younger patients than typically present with advanced heart disease, and they often have aggressive coronary artery blockages, valve narrowing or leakage -- in many cases involving multiple valves -- and thickening of the sac around the heart."
The researchers say that it's important for physicians to recognize when the heart disease is caused by radiation and then decide on the best strategy to treat these patients.
"Not all of these patients are at the same level of risk there is a spectrum of risk," Dr. Desai said. "We need to develop ways to identify the risks and better determine which patients would benefit from surgery versus other treatments, like percutaneous interventions, for example."
Dr. Desai said it's important for cancer patients who receive chest radiation to know the risks to their hearts and be aware that they could encounter heart disease down the road.
"If you have had prior chest radiation and you are now experiencing heart problems, the two could be linked," he said. "It's vital that you discuss it with your doctor and find a treatment center experienced in treating patients with radiation heart disease one that has doctors who understand the disease and have the expertise to diagnose and effectively treat it."
###
About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S.News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. More than 3,000 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic health system includes a main campus near downtown Cleveland, more than 75 Northern Ohio outpatient locations, including 16 full-service Family Health Centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and, currently under construction, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. In 2012, there were 5.1 million outpatient visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 157,000 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 130 countries. Visit us at http://www.clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.
Contact:
Wyatt DuBois, 216.445.9946, duboisw@ccf.org
Tora Vinci, 216.444.2412, vinciv@ccf.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Cleveland Clinic research: Prior chest radiation grows risk of death after heart surgeryPublic release date: 8-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Despite comparable pre-surgery risk scores, patients with radiation heart disease found to be at much greater risk years after surgery
Monday, April 8, 2013, Cleveland: Patients who have open heart surgery for heart disease caused by radiation cancer treatment are nearly twice as likely to die in the years following their surgery compared to similar patients who did not undergo radiation treatment, according to new research from Cleveland Clinic published today in the American Heart Association journal Circulation.
The team of researchers, led by Milind Desai, M.D., a cardiologist in the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart & Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic, examined 173 patients who underwent heart surgery an average of 18 years after receiving chest radiation for cancer and compared the mortality rates to 305 similar heart surgery patients who did not undergo prior radiation. After an average follow-up of 7.6 years, 55 percent of the patients in the radiation group had died, compared to 28 percent in the non-radiation group. Short-term mortality (including 30-day mortality) were not significantly different. In the cases where cause of death could be ascertained, the vast majority died as a result of heart or lung disease and not from recurring cancer.
"Even with low-risk scores and procedural success, chest radiation years or even decades prior to heart surgery puts patients at a much higher risk for long-term events," said Dr. Desai. "Further research needs to be done to understand this patient population and to better stratify their risk so that we can identify the most effective ways to treat their complex disease."
Radiation therapy is often the most effective way to treat cancers that affect the chest, including cancers of the breast and lung, and Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But radiation can cause problems for the heart and its surrounding structure that often manifest themselves years, even decades, later. Long term, chest radiation can cause coronary artery disease, valve disease, cardiomyopathy -- or weakening of the heart muscle -- and problems with the electronic signals that make the heart beat.
"In radiation heart disease patients, we often see a very peculiar presentation of cardiac disease," Dr. Desai said. "These are often younger patients than typically present with advanced heart disease, and they often have aggressive coronary artery blockages, valve narrowing or leakage -- in many cases involving multiple valves -- and thickening of the sac around the heart."
The researchers say that it's important for physicians to recognize when the heart disease is caused by radiation and then decide on the best strategy to treat these patients.
"Not all of these patients are at the same level of risk there is a spectrum of risk," Dr. Desai said. "We need to develop ways to identify the risks and better determine which patients would benefit from surgery versus other treatments, like percutaneous interventions, for example."
Dr. Desai said it's important for cancer patients who receive chest radiation to know the risks to their hearts and be aware that they could encounter heart disease down the road.
"If you have had prior chest radiation and you are now experiencing heart problems, the two could be linked," he said. "It's vital that you discuss it with your doctor and find a treatment center experienced in treating patients with radiation heart disease one that has doctors who understand the disease and have the expertise to diagnose and effectively treat it."
###
About Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S.News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation's best hospitals in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" survey. More than 3,000 full-time salaried physicians and researchers and 11,000 nurses represent 120 medical specialties and subspecialties. The Cleveland Clinic health system includes a main campus near downtown Cleveland, more than 75 Northern Ohio outpatient locations, including 16 full-service Family Health Centers, Cleveland Clinic Florida, the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas, Cleveland Clinic Canada, and, currently under construction, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi. In 2012, there were 5.1 million outpatient visits throughout the Cleveland Clinic health system and 157,000 hospital admissions. Patients came for treatment from every state and from more than 130 countries. Visit us at http://www.clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at http://www.twitter.com/ClevelandClinic.
Contact:
Wyatt DuBois, 216.445.9946, duboisw@ccf.org
Tora Vinci, 216.444.2412, vinciv@ccf.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
MANAMA: Hackers have threatened to disrupt internet operations in Israel in a major cyberattack.
As a part of operation code named OpIsrael, notorious hacking group Anonymous and similar collectives have in recent days been exchanging information, via social media and other websites, on Israeli the government and corporate websites they plan to target.
On Thursday, Anonymous warned that it was poised to launch "the largest internet battle in the history of mankind," Gulf News reports.
"We will once again be fighting for freedom. Freedom from tyranny, oppression, persecution, and from annihilation," the group warned in a Facebook posting.
According to the report, in a YouTube video, Anonymous said that Israel had "crossed a line in the sand" by threatening to sever all Internet and telecommunications links out of the Gaza Strip.
Israeli radio reported that a number of large organisations had closed their websites to prevent hackers from sabotaging them.
The radio programme reported that organisations involved in the attack would make public information they collect from websites that "will cause Israel embarrassment".
?We are super excited to be a part of Operation Write Home?s Spring Training Bloghop! Operation Write Home is committed to supporting our armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on.
For our submission, Patti Behan created this ?World?s Greatest Dad? card, which is perfect for Father?s Day! To see how to make this thoughtful card, head on over to the project page for a complete list of materials, instructions, and step out photos.
Next, head on over to the next blog in the bloghop ? Club Scrap?or head back to Operation Write Home to see all of the participants!
College loan debt isn't easing up, and students are struggling to navigate a plethora of obligations.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
College loan debt isn't easing up, and students are struggling to navigate a plethora of obligations.
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
For students now sprinting toward the end of their college days, the finish line may not be much of a relief. More than ever, their gait is slowed by the weight of impending debt.
Thirty-seven million Americans share about $1 trillion in student loans, according to Federal Reserve data. It's the biggest consumer debt besides mortgages, eclipsing both auto loans and credit cards. And on it grows, an appetite undiminished by the recession.
Learning What To Ask
There are signs that students are catching on to the dangers, however. Dawit Lemma learned his own lessons about loans and is now passing them on to others. He's the associate director of operations at the University of Maryland's Office of Student Financial Aid.
He graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, in 2004, years before the recession hit. At the time, Lemma says, he considered student loans another form of financial aid.
Now, he says, students are starting to ask questions he had never considered when he took out loans.
"They know more about the loan process. So they want to know about not just [the] interest rate, they want to know about repayment options, consolidations, forgiveness options," Lemma tells Jacki Lyden, guest host of weekends on All Things Considered.
'I Was Very Naive'
Emmanuel Tellez wishes he had been more inquisitive. Tellez graduated from Northeastern University in Boston in 2008. He majored in English, and on graduation day, he owed about $50,000. That debt has ballooned to more than $70,000 with interest and collection fees.
He says it wasn't a responsibility he was ready for when he applied for school.
"When I signed my promissory note, I was 17-and-a-half. I was very naive with regard to my expectations," he says. "I knew early on I wouldn't be living high off the hog being an English major. I didn't know the explicit terms."
Tellez says he would have been more wary of the kinds of loans he took on if he had known, for example, that he would not be able to discharge the debt in bankruptcy or that the federal government could garnish his wages if he defaulted.
What Can Congress Do?
There is a legislative effort to ease some of the potential burdens, as the interest rate for some federal student loans is set to jump to 6.8 percent from 3.4 percent in July.
Congresswoman Karen Bass is proposing to cap student loan interest rates at 3.4 percent. A bill the California Democrat has introduced, The Student Loan Fairness Act, would also require the federal government to forgive loans up to $45,000 if the borrower has been paying back loans consistently for 10 years.
Bass says the bill is not an overall fix, but it's a necessary step.
"There are a lot of problems that we're facing in our country. We really need to rethink how higher education is paid for ? period. But until then, we really shouldn't pass this debt on to future generations," she says.
Moreover, she says, investing in education is essential for staying competitive with other countries.
A Bit Of Advice
Meanwhile, five years after graduating, Tellez is just trying to keep up. He has hired a lawyer to help him navigate what he calls the "labyrinth" of his private loans and has successfully consolidated his federal loans. Now he's chipping away at the total, paying about $500 a month.
Tellez, now a legal assistant/administrative assistant at a Boston law school, hopes future students can learn from his struggles.
"I tell my sister, who's now at [University of California, Berkeley], to be far more frugal than she imagines she has to be," he says. "One thing that I kind of had to learn the hard way is to scan all the documents you get and make sure that you have electronic copies because ... young people move a lot."
Today, Tellez is back in school part-time, pursuing a master's in public administration. This time, he says, he's learned his lesson: He's not borrowing. Instead, his employer is picking up the tab.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 8-Apr-2013
Share ] 
