Free Republic

A California college student is conducting a social experiment where he’s trying to get his peers to sign a petition in favor of distributing grade point averages to show how the federal government distributes wealth. Oliver Darcy, a recent college graduate, proposes that students with good grades contribute their GPA to their academically sluggish friends. He argues that this is how the federal government takes wealth from the country’s high wage earners and distributes it to the low income earners.

Just as students head back to college and families finish summer vacations comes the latest bad news from pest control companies: Bedbug infestations are getting worse and becoming more common in some places, including dorms, hotels, nursing homes, hospitals, office buildings, and schools and day-care centers. According to a survey released Wednesday by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky, pest control companies say there has been double-digit growth in infestations in the past year. About 54 percent of pest companies reported treating bedbugs in college dorms, compared with 35 percent in 2010; 80 percent reported treating...

For those of your who haven't found out yet, American students don't know basic history of their own country. I can't say I find this surprising because no one in my school is really that excited about history, let alone American history. I think this is a major problem with our schools and one that we must fix! The National Assessment of Educational Progress tests students every couple years to see if our education system is headed in the right direction. If we dive into the stats, it's clear to see that students have horrendous history test scores. Only 12...

The gifted and talented go to Delamere and wear purple ties and purple badges. The rest go to Ashwood, which wears blue, or Sherwood, which wears red. These two schools are more mixed ability but are still streamed into three tiers. Michael Murphy said he took the decision to impose streaming to attract high-ability children to the school Critics yesterday warned the move is demoralising for pupils and would merely increase competition and animosity between them rather than raise standards. But headteacher Michael Murphy insists the measure is the only way to attract pupils of well-off parents. Mr Murphy is...

Thirty-four schools in New Jersey are being investigated for possible cheating after an examination of standardized test data revealed irregularities and raised questions, the state Department of Education said. State education officials said some schools showed especially high deviations from the normal amount of wrong test answers being erased and a right one marked. In numerous U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, accusations and findings of test cheating being condoned and organized by teachers to make their schools look better have put the issue in the national spotlight, and prompted education officials across the country to re-examine testing procedures...

Undocumented students arrested during protestBy ALEJANDRO CANO Published: Sunday, July 17, 2011 3:03 PM PDT Several undocumented students were arrested on Tuesday for blocking traffic and disobeying police orders during a demonstration against immigration policies in front of San Bernardino Valley College. Jesus Barrios, Martha Vasquez, Isaac Barrera, Jonathan Perez, Jorge Herrera, David Lemus, Ju Hong, Alma de Jesus and Estefania Lopez were arrested and charged with unlawful assembly and failure to disperse after defying authorities during a protest against San Bernardino County’s 287 (g) program, which cracks down on illegal immigrants. The students also were speaking out against the...

Not many people locally know that one of Southern Illinois' most recognizable geological landmarks is the "classroom" of a world-renowned technical rescue school. Draper's Bluff can be seen for miles in Johnson and Union counties. The bluff is partly owned by private landowners and the state as a satellite of Ferne Clyffe State Park. About a quarter-mile section is owned by Eric and Kathy Ulner of rural Buncombe in Johnson County. The Ulners are owners of Vertical Heartland, a rock-climbing school. Eric Ulner is also an instructor with Ropes That Rescue, Ltd., an innovative technical rescue school that is known...

Once again, a study has show that American students are woefully ignorant of history. Test scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress demonstrate, writes the Wall Street Journal, that only “20% of U.S. fourth-graders and 17% of eighth-graders who took the 2010 history exam were ‘proficient’ or ‘advanced’…” and only 12 percent of 12th-graders were so. In fact, their knowledge is so lacking that fewer than “a quarter of American 12th-graders knew China was North Korea's ally during the Korean War, and only 35% of fourth-graders knew the purpose of the Declaration of Independence,” the paper continued. Other studies...

As the grandfather of a recent Fort Benning graduate now at Fort Gordon for advanced training this really sticks in my craw.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Instead of feeling stressed by the money they owe, many young adults actually feel empowered by their credit card and education debts, according to a new nationwide study. Researchers found that the more credit card and college loan debt held by young adults aged 18 to 27, the higher their self-esteem and the more they felt like they were in control of their lives. The effect was strongest among those in the lowest economic class. Only the oldest of those studied – those aged 28 to 34 – began showing signs of stress about the money they...

Forget term papers and roommate conflicts. For many students, the biggest college stress comes after they leave school. Six months after graduation, those first student loan bills start arriving and for a Florida student in 2009, the average amount owed was about $21,000, according to the California-based Institute for College Access & Success. In this market, many graduates are unable to get the high-paying jobs needed to pay that debt. Student loan debt nationwide now tops $913 billion and surpassed credit card debt for the first time last year, a study from college financial aid website FinAid has found. The...

Educators say about 2,000 Libyan students who attend college in the United States are losing financial support from their home government. The Spokesman-Review reports the Libyan government stopped funding the Libyan-North American Scholarship Program after the U.S. froze about $30 billion of its assets. Nearly 40 Libyan students at Washington State University are among an estimated 2,000 nationwide who no longer will receive money for education and living expenses from the Libyan government at the end of the month.

Teachers at a Scottish high school have staged a flashdance in the middle of the canteen. It was to say goodbye to students leaving Bell Baxter High School in Cupar, Fife.

Last night I saw the future of education in Britain – and it worked. The occasion was the launch of Katharine Birbalsingh’s free school in Lambeth, South London. As a local parent I was naturally very interested in this because at the moment round these parts you have two options when your kids turn 11: either you consign them to the dustbin of whichever failing state school you’re unlucky enough to get them into. Or you consign yourself to an old age of misery and penury by forking out for one of the many excellent local private schools. Having just...

Five of the six teenagers charged with driving a 15-year-old Irish girl to suicide after an unrelenting bullying campaign have struck a plea deal agreement with prosecutors. Despite denying the original charges of stalking, harassment and civil rights violations causing bodily injury they have now agreed to admit to a misdemeanour charge of harassment, and in exchange prosecutors will drop the more serious charges against them. Kayla Narey, Sharon Chanon Velázquez, Ashley Longe, Sean Mulveyhill, and Flannery Mullins, all of South Hadley High School, faced felony and misdemeanour charges.

Students face a £50,000 bill for a three-year degree from next year because of increased tuition fees and the rising cost of living. Current undergraduates pay £31,373 at an elite Russell Group university, which will increase by 55 per cent to an average £48,503 in 2012. The most expensive courses – because of costly university accommodation – are those in London.

Earlier in the week, I posted a video of reactions from students when asking them to sign a petition calling for the redistribution of GPAs. I thought I would also upload some of the raw, unedited conversations I had with the students and post them here for you guys to see. Enjoy. Original Video - http://youtu.be/lOyaJ2UI7SsRaw Clip 1 - http://youtu.be/vE600I1Js78Raw Clip 2 - http://youtu.be/dLTh7EI6rzgRaw Clip 3 - http://youtu.be/1iW5b2li1Yw

SALT LAKE CITY — Fifty-five years after it created its first student wards and stakes at BYU, the LDS Church is doing away with its "student" unit designation. And in its place are newly formed "young single adult" wards and stakes throughout Utah as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reorganizes, realigns and renames its congregational units for Mormons ages 18 to 30. * The reorganization: Gone are the single student wards and stakes and the designated young single adult wards and branches in the conventional home stakes, being replaced by general, all-encompassing young single adult wards and...

“By ignorance we mistake, and by mistakes we learn” -Unknown So what happens when open minded progressive students get a chance to put their mouth where other people's money is? (See the video embedded at the original post here or at YouTube.)To a person every student opposes the idea, and thinks redistributing GPA is different from income. Why is it different? These girly boys are not man enough to admit their hypocrisy, that's why.The "progressive" tax comes knocking on their academic door and their "intellect" can't handle the confrontation. It's so simple, if a high GPA is the key...

Many students believe that it is moral to confiscate money from hard-working Americans and entrepreneurs and give it to those who didn't earn it, yet don't support the same philosophy when it is applied to their GPA scores. Here are some of the responses we got when asking students to sign a petition call for GPA redistribution: http://youtu.be/lOyaJ2UI7Ss