The problem of the study was to determine college freshmen's financial knowledge. The entire freshman English 101, College Reading and Writing class at Texas A&M University--Commerce was surveyed. There were a total of 407 students enrolled in these classes. There were 20 multiple choice questions dealing with basic knowledge of financial issues, which should be understood in order to function in everyday life. Each question was valued at 5 points resulting in a total of 100 possible points for all 20 questions. The highest test score was 80 percent achieved only by one student and lowest was 0 achieved by six students. The average score was 34.8 percent for all students and the median score was 32.5 percent. The results on the test indeed validate the fact that recent high school graduates are not knowledgeable about everyday financial matters. It would seem that the appropriate place to resolve this issue would be at the high school level. Or perhaps since this subject matter is so important to a college graduate, perhaps universities should regard financial knowledge as being a component to their general education program and require a course in personal finance of all its students.

Byline: Michelle Singletary

Columnist Michelle Singletary was online to field questions about everything from retirement planning to protecting your credit rating.

A transcript follows.

Read Michelle's latest columns .

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washingtonpost.com: Michelle will be online soon. In the meantime, you can read today's column: Benefits of Consolidation Aren't Available to All

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Michelle Singletary: Well hello everyone. Lots of questions today so let's get started.

I am nearing retirement from the government, and will have a pension. I have no mortgage on my home which is worth about a million dollars. I already have a $ 200, 000 home equity line of credit now (which I have not used). Should I increase it to a higher amount in case I should ever need the funds? If I do, does having a higher limit affect my credit score or my ability to finance a car in the future?

Michelle Singletary: Wow you are in really good shape. If it will make you feel more financially secure, sure up the line of credit because you probably won't be able to do so after you retire. Many people don't realize that you get a home equity line of credit or loan based not just on your home's value but your income. If you don't have any income or a high enough income you can't get the line of credit or loan. In addition you may look into a "reverse mortgage." It allows you to borrow against your house but you don't have to pay back the money until you either sell or die. It's a product that allows people who are house rich but cash poor to get to their equity without moving.

Haymarket, VA: I love your columns and chats! Between auto loans and credit cards we have approximately $40k in consumer debt all with interest rates under 4%. We expect this to be paid off within 4 years. We also have another $60k in student loans with a rate of 3.5%. On the asset side we have 100k equity in the house and about 2 months worth of expenses in savings. Since our interest rates are so small, should we be in a major hurry to pay off any of these debts or are we better off putting any excess money into investments and savings? Thanks for the advice!

Michelle Singletary: I would say for you stay the course. Don't tap into your emergency money. But you are right to be a little concerned about all that unsecured consumer debt. While you have a job and things are going well $40,000 may not seem like a lot but if anything happens you could be in trouble. So keep saving but aggressively try to pay down that consumer debt, especially the credit card debt!

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Arlington, VA: Ms. Singletary, I think I'm a bit younger than your usual reader (16) but I am having a financial dilemma that I hope you can help with. My mother (my father passed away when I was very young) has always taught me that in order to have nice things, we have to save/plan for them. We can't have everything we want when we want it. A couple years ago, when I started studying French in high school, I became interested in traveling to Europe. My mother and I made a deal that if I met certain criteria (3.5 GPA or above, no grades below B, all A's in French, no behavioral problems) and also saved $1500 of my own money from my allowance, extra chores, and gifts, that I could go on a youth tour when I was 16. I met all the criteria, and was supposed to be able to go this summer. However, my mother got remarried a few months ago and my new stepfather nixed the Europe tour because he thought it would be "spoiling" me to let me go. I don't really think that is a fair assessment - I worked very hard for two years and made a lot of sacrifices (including skipping this year's homecoming dance and my junior prom) in order to save the money. My question is, do you think it is fair for my mom to go back on her word? I would certainly understand if they were having financial problems, but they just bought a $50,000 luxury car! I'm asking you because I know from your columns that you have children and am wondering what might cause a parent to break a promise like this.

Michelle Singletary: My, my what an honor to have a question from an obviously bright 16-year old. First, I can't tell you to go against your mom and step-dad because they are your parents after all. BUT you tell them for me (actually print the transcript out when we are done) that they are SO VERY WRONG. You are completely right to ge upset. Your mom made a promise. You fulfilled your end. Going back on her word sends such a wrong message. Look, I'm all about saving and making sure you don't "spoil" children but in this case you showed an amazing amount of financial responsibility (givig up your junior prom) and you should be rewarded for that. The goal of working and saving and sacrificing is to get the things we want sometimes. Sure a trip to Europe is a luxury but it's one you can afford and deserve. Shame on your mom and step-dad for not recognizing that.

In the past three years, 4,653,000 former students consolidated their federal student loans through the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), according to NextStudent, the Phoenix-based premier education funding company. This happened largely because of the sizable discounts given to borrowers such as a 1 percent interest rate reduction due to on-time payments.

However, these discounts, representing literally thousands of dollars in potential savings to students and their parents, may be eliminated if such current legislation as the Student Relief Act (H.R. 5) and Sunshine Act become law. The legislation proposes to double the fees the government charges FFELP lenders. This would result in a large number of lenders competing for a smaller share of the market at a higher cost, most likely leading to a reduction in customer service, the inability to offer discounts to students, and the disappearance of many lenders.

The elimination of such a seemingly small 1 percent discount could have detrimental effects over time on a borrower's student loan portfolio and savings. For example, an individual who consolidated $30,000 in federal student loans last year through a FFELP lender such as NextStudent would save $3,513 over a borrower who consolidated through the government's Federal Direct Lending Program. Unfortunately, borrowers no longer would have the option to choose a FFELP lender and thus save thousands if the new legislation goes through.

With the Student Relief Act and the Sunshine Act, colleges are given incentives to use the government's Federal Direct Lending Program over the Federal Family Education Loan Program, which has provided such student loans as the Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS) and Graduate PLUS loans, Subsidized and Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, and Federal Student Loan Consolidation for years. If these bills are passed, FFELP lenders likely would disappear and the 40-year track record of providing excellent service and secured low-interest student loans would go with them.

It is a wise decision for borrowers to consolidate their federal student loans now, while they still can take advantage of savings that may not be available in the near future. NextStudent offers one of the most aggressive incentives in the industry: a 1 percent LOCKED discount for THE ENTIRE TERM of the loan, after 36 consecutive on-time payments. This incentive remains in place until the balance is paid. This discount, which may not be available for much longer if the new legislation is successful, amounts to thousands of dollars in savings for borrowers.

About NextStudent

NextStudent, federal lender code 834051, is dedicated to helping students and their families find affordable ways to pay for college. NextStudent offers one-on-one education finance counseling and has a portfolio of highly competitive education finance products and services including a free online scholarship search engine, federally guaranteed parent and student loans, private student loans, both federal and private student loan consolidation programs, and college savings plans.

The NextStudent Scholarship Search Engine, one of the nation's oldest and largest scholarship search engines, is updated daily, available free of charge, completely private -- and represents 2.4 million scholarships worth $3.4 billion.

Why not slip into your favorite terry-towel housecoat and fuzzy slippers, grab the bonbons and make yourself comfy on the sofa for the next installment of the printing industry's longest running soap opera, As The Prepress World Turns. Follow the dramatic antics of some of your favorite prepress characters: Kodak, Creo and Heidelberg.

Everyone loves a wedding and almost realized it was only a matter of time before those crazy, love-struck kids Creo and Kodak made eye contact and started dating. The relationship progressed more rapidly than expected, however, and now the prepress community is anxiously anticipating the biggest wedding of the year.

How did this union come to be? Last October, a group of shareholders led by Toronto-based hedge fund Goodwood Inc. launched a proxy battle with the intention of unseating Creo's board of directors. The shareholders, unsatisfied with the current Board's performance, had nominated turnaround specialist Robert Burton, head of Burton Capital Management, to replace Creo's embattled CEO Amos Michelson. Burton was also part of the shareholder coalition. After months of infighting between Creo's board of directors and these dissident shareholders, the board recommended shareholder acceptance of an acquisition offer from Kodak.

The past couple of years have not been easy for Kodak the one-time imaging/film giant. The explosive digital photography market has been a source of continuous erosion of analogue film sales, which would naturally have an impact on Kodak's bottom line. Kodak seemed slow to acknowledge this trend and was soon outpaced by other more aggressive players in the digital photography area.

Likewise, Kodak's dominance of the prepress film market was challenged by rapid printing industry-wide acceptance of computer-to-plate technology. When Kodak eventually decided to cater to the growing CTP client base, they chose to enter the market with a thermal plate. While the thermal plate initially seemed like a good move for Kodak, it was not long before Agfa and Fuji scooped the up-and-coming violet-laser plate business.

Meanwhile Creo attained market dominance of the rapidly evolving computer-toplate output sector with its innovative imaging devices. While Creo's affection for thermal CTP technology has done well for the company so far, they also have done nothing to address the burgeoning visible light/photo-polymer plate market. At the same time Creo's Prinergy workflow continued to evolve into a stable and mature PDF-based prepress workflow able to drive multiple CTP devices besides its own Trendsetter line.

Mail the invitations

So what is next? Well, with Creo shareholders not meeting until March 29, even the certainty of the Kodak acquisition is suspect. However, the proposed merger raises some interesting questions. The bundling of consumables and CTP devices is logical and inevitable, but what about variable data printing (VDP)? Creo has been collaborating with Xerox in the field of VDP and digital printing for nearly 10 years now. The result of their efforts includes the creation of Creo's Spire Color Server RIPs for Xerox's iGen3 digital presses, as well as Creo's Darwin VDP tools for Quark and InDesign users.

Kodak on the other hand, has acquired and re-branded Heidelberg's NexPress digital press technology and produced its own PDF-based, VDP workflow technology. So will Creo now suddenly admit that NexPress is a better technology? Will Kodak abandon its NexStation in favour of Creo's Darwin VDP tools and Spire Color Server RIPs? There is no doubt that a consolidation of products are inevitable with Kodak's direct competition with Xerox for the VDP/digital printing crown.

Dots or not

Creo's inkjet-based proof offerings utilizing its proprietary Epson and Iris solutions compete directly with Kodak's high-end Approval proofing system. Many prepress departments have been slow to adopt Approval, largely due to the sizable capital investment required to implement the system. At the same time, many printers have been quite successful in educating their client-base to accept cost-effective, albeit lower-quality, contract proof options.

Instead of wrestling with the dot-accurate proofing beast, Creo's approach to contract proofing has been to sell the "dotless proof and stochastic screening" combo. When the wedding reception is over and all the guests have gone home will Creo be lovingly coerced to do an about face and start pushing the dot-accurate Approval proof or will Kodak suddenly become enamored with stochastic screening?

And what of Kodak's rumoured research into a photo-polymer plate, which some say is already in beta-test phase - will that be abandoned? On the other side of the same coin, Creo acquired a thermal plate manufacturing facility in South Africa late in 2003 with the intention of adding plates to its product line. Will Creo's own branded thermal plates be dropped in favour of a Kodak product?

The jilted lover

And while we are asking questions, will Heidelberg assume the role of the jilted lover? The hardware manufacturing giant was at one time partners with Creo in their Prinergy workflow and marketed the Trendsetter as though it were its own CTP device. Heidelberg's sales reps claimed to be selling more of the popular Trendsetter units than Creo.

Big, publicly traded companies have been likened to sharks, which have to keep swimming to start sinking. Competing in areas where margins are thin but needing to show shareholders they are moving forward, they are logical candidates for acquisitions and mergers. In the banking sector, which has had its share of such consolidations, there is the further impetus that bigger corporations have bigger capital needs. Needs that only banks with serious financial expertise and clout can serve.

M&A activity is not always evident. Recessionary times tighten appetites along with belts. But merger fever sometimes gets a grip when economic activity picks back up again, as now.

Recently, two very, very large banks have made bids to enter Vermont: Toronto Dominion, which seems likely to acquire a 51 percent share of Banknorth; and Citizens, which was assisted by its parent company the Royal Bank of Scotland in buying Charter One. The tectonic plate movement for the deals may have originated elsewhere, but the banking industry is watching for tsunamis.

So far, Vermont has managed to retain a significant number of community-scale banks, whose customers appreciate personal service and whose shareholders prefer steady to perhaps spectacular returns. But even these institutions may feel the effects of the Citizens deal, not least because Vermont president Jim Keyes has extensive experience here, and is determined to remain and make his company live up to its name by providing locally oriented and socially responsible service.

Big And Bigger

The Federal Reserve gave its approval January 18 for TD Bank Financial Group (NYSE: TD), headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, to purchase 51 percent of the stock of Portland, Maine-based Banknorth Group, Inc. (NYSE: BNK). A stockholders' meeting February 18 approved the deal, for which the bank had prepared by removing debt from its balance sheet and spending money on M&A costs, causing their 2004 profits to drop 14 percent from 2003 despite record Q3 earnings. Without those costs there would have been an 11 percent increase in earnings, with 2004 loans and leases up 13 percent to $17.7 billion.

Also in 2004, Banknorth completed Massachusetts acquisitions of the Foxborough Savings Bank and the CCBT Financial Companies, the holding company for the Cape Cod Bank &Trust Co. They also agreed to buy BostonFed Bancorp, Inc. in 2005. At year's end, Banknorth had $28.7 billion in assets, from operations in Maine (Peoples Heritage Bank), New York (Evergreen Bank), and the Banknorths of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Toronto-Dominion, with a market cap of about $26 billion, increased its branches to 230 in 2004 by acquiring 57 from the Laurentian Bank, and bought the Liberty Mutual Group insurance business (total employees as of early February: 42,843). Toronto-Dominion is the TD in the global investment firm TD Waterhouse. At the close of their fiscal year on October 31, net income applicable to shares of common stock totaled $2.23 billion Canadian dollars, up from $989 million.

But the impacts of this cross-border alliance may not be immediate and obvious. "We're stiff a company that operates on its own," said Philip Daniels, president and CEO of Banknorth Vermont. "Their interest and their policy is to allow us to run our bank as we have in the past," he said, meaning there won't be a wave of consolidation-related job losses. No change in the operating system, no change in the management team.

"It gives our banking organization the capital that is needed to go out and do other acquisitions," Daniels said. But in Vermont, Banknorth is already number two in market share, and attempts to grow larger by purchasing other Vermont banks could easily bump into limits set by regulators, he observed.

On the commercial side, however, it will make a difference that they are allied with Canada's third largest bank, Daniels said. "They have a lot of investment in international banking," he said, and "we see that as a really great benefit for Vermonters trying to attract business from Canada."

Another thing they bring, Daniels said, is "they can help us in doing very, very big deals." Banknorth has been able to handle transactions up to $40 million, but if something on a bigger scale came along - such as a very large company wanting to set up a Vermont operation they will have the resources to help.

Toronto Dominion is one of the most technologically advanced institutions in its banking system, Daniels said. This will be "an opportunity to look at how they do certain things," he said.

Toronto Dominion has looked at Banknorth's employees, and they liked what they saw, Daniels said. One of the greatest benefits of the merger is that "our staff didn't want to have to wake up every day wondering if we would be bought by a big bank and lose a quarter of our jobs. Our staff is our most important asset. We think it's important that they have that peace of mind."

In introducing his fiscal year 2006 budget last month, President George W. Bush announced the elimination of a popular federal student loan--the Perkins loan--and the proposal has received negative reviews from THE administrators, education organizations and tending industry advocates. The proposed budget will not only stash capital contributions to IHEs, but also withdraw any federal monies contributed to them starting from the very installment of the program in 1958.

But, this leaves IHEs with a tough decision to make: either continue distributing the institution's funds as loans, but face administrative costs that the federal government previously handled, or completely avoid disbursing the money as loans altogether.

"It basically means the dissolution of the Perkins program," says Dominic Yoia, senior director of financial aid at Quinnipiac University (Conn.).

And the real losers will be students, Yoia says. Of Quinnipiac's 5,200 students, approximately 10 percent receive Perkins loans, and the loan has always been considered a "very important part of the financial aid package."

Lenders face a dilemma as well since they would be loaning funds at much higher interest rates, but at a greater risk for defaults, according to the Consumer Bankers Association. The result, according to CBA, will be more loans for "higher quality borrowers," leaving needy students with less-than-stellar credit histories in the dust.

The Bush proposal comes at a time when Congress just last year approved a spending bill that did not adequately accommodate students' needs. With 37 percent more students receiving the Pell Grant than in the last decade, the program has a $3.6 billion shortfall. And this shortfall is the reason for eliminating the Perkins loan, according to the federal government, and transferring the balance to the Pell Grant.

Students will also be unable to consolidate loans since Bush is proposing cutting the federal consolidation programs. These programs offer students repayment options with tow interest rates that stay put after consolidation for up to 30 years after the grace period.

But Harrison Wadsworth, executive director of the Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organizations (www.coheao.org), which launched a major grassroots campaign asking Congress to reject the proposal said "Half the people who apply (for private loans) are turned down."

Students "would just not go to school" he said, or not go to the school of their choice. Wadsworth predicted students would pay tuition with credit cards, "and wind up in a much worse debt problem."

Although government regulation of the Internet has been decried as undercutting free speech, the control of Internet content through capitalist gateways--namely, profit-driven software companies--has gone largely uncriticized. The author argues that this discursive trend manufactures consent through a hegemonic force neglecting to confront the invasion of online advertising or marketing strategies directed at children. This study suggests that "inappropriate content" (that is, nudity, pornography, obscenities) constitutes a cultural currency through which concerns and responses to the Internet have been articulated within the mainstream. By examining the rhetorical and financial investments of the telecommunications business sector, the author contends that the rhetorical elements creating "cyber-safety" concerns within the mainstream attempt to reach the consent of parents and educators by asking them to see some Internet content as value laden (sexuality, trigger words, or adult content), while disguising the interests and authority of profitable computer software and hardware industries (advertising and marketing). Although most online "safety measures" neglect to confront the emerging invasion of advertising/marketing directed at children and youth, the author argues that media literacy in cyberspace demands such scrutiny. Unlike measures to block or filter online information, students need an empowerment approach that will enable them to analyze, evaluate, and judge the information they receive.

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According to figures provided by the U.S. Census Bureau (2001), more than half of school-age children (6 to 17 years) had access to computers both in school and at home in the year 2000 (57 percent). With some 17 million children using the Internet in some capacity, including email, the Web, chat rooms, and instant messaging (Silver and Garland, 2004, p. 158), the Census Bureau estimates that 21 percent use the Internet to perform school-related tasks, such as research for assignments or taking courses online.

While these statistics underscore the growth and popularity of the Internet, particularly in schools and educational institutions, concerns have grown about the "safety" of using computer-mediated communication technology. Since the Internet became a mass medium in 1995, parents and schools have approached online content with reservation. As such, politicians, educators, child advocacy groups, and, most importantly, the computer industry, have been vocal advocates for patrolling the Internet and censoring certain kinds of illicit or objectionable content. Beginning in the late 1990s, Federal Trade Commission member Christine Varney summarized the emerging concerns about online safety:

All of us agree that children's online safety concerns are real and
pressing and that we must support the involvement of parents
raising children in this new, digital age. We understand that we
must all work together--industry, law enforcement, educators,
advocates--if American families are to realize the potential of this
new medium for enriching the lives of our children and fostering
their future success. (Rubin and Lamb, 1997)

Starting in 1997, an Internet/Online Summit was held in Washington, D.C., to enhance the safety and benefits of cyberspace for children and families. Key political figures, such as former vice president Al Gore and former attorney general Janet Reno, joined parents, as well as politicians, law enforcement officials, and educational administrators, to launch a national public education campaign, "America Links Up: An Internet Teach-In," designed to help Americans understand how to guide kids online (Rubin & Lamb, 1997).

On October 21, 1998, former president Bill Clinton signed into law the "Children's Online Privacy Protection Act" (COPPA). This measure was enacted by Congress on April 21, 2000, to "prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or practices in connection with the collection, use, or disclosure of personally identifiable information from and about children on the Internet" under the age of thirteen (Grossman, 2000). Along this trajectory, Congress passed the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and the Neighborhood Internet Protection Act (NCIPA) in December 2000, which required schools and libraries that receive federal money for Internet connections to adopt Internet safety policies in 2001. The proposed safety measures include usage agreements for proper student use of this medium, audit-tracking devices to supervise student Internet perusal, and software filtration devices designed to block inappropriate sites in schools (Trotter, 2001).

Beware: reauthorization approaches. Institutions have heard this repeatedly for the past couple of years, but major systemic changes have yet to take place in higher education. What exactly is the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act? When will it really take place? And what will this mean for the financial aid programs that help your institution's students attend college?

Federal Law requires that the act be renewed--or "reauthorized"--every six years. The most recent reauthorization cycle was supposed to culminate in 2004, but Congress failed to pass legislation before it adjourned.
"Since we did not pass a bill last year, we had to start all over again. That means everything has to be " reintroduced and re-passed," said National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators President Dallas Martin in March at NASFAA's annual Leadership Conference. House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio) has promised completion by the end of the current 109th Congress in 2006.

GOP LAWMAKERS SUPPORT "REVENUE NEUTRAL" MEASURES

The Republican majority of the House education committee introduced in February the College Access and Opportunity Act (H.R. 609), a reauthorization bill intended to expand college access for low- and middle-income students. A similar bill was introduced last year; hearings were held, but it never came to a vote in the House.

A review of business programs having entrepreneurial studies found that institutions of higher education could play a limited, yet important, role in developing student entrepreneurship spirit. We surveyed University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources undergraduates to ascertain their interest and level of knowledge about entrepreneurship. Student survey respondents indicated a strong interest in entrepreneurship, a lack of business knowledge in key areas, a desire for out-of-the-classroom training, and a mixed desire to return to a rural setting.
We define an agri-entrepreneur as one who organizes, manages and assumes the risks of an agribusiness or agri-enterprise. According to a 2000 Kauffman Foundation report on global entrepreneurship, 9.8% of the U.S. adult population is attempting to start a new business at any one time (Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, 2000). An assessment of entrepreneurial activities indicates 80% of business start-ups fail (Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, 2000). However, research analyzing higher education entrepreneurship curricula indicates that graduates of these programs are more likely to start new businesses and be self-employed. They tend to have higher annual incomes, greater levels of assets and greater job
Charney and Libecap (2003) found over 1,500 colleges and universities offered some form of entrepreneurship training in 2000 compared to 400 in 1995; today nearly 50 schools offer an entrepreneurship degree (Solomon et al. 2002). However, these programs are primarily concentrated in traditional business programs that do not focus on the unique challenges of the agri-food sector and the rural economy. An unanswered question is whether this lack of agri-entrepreneurship curricula is a supply-side or a demand-side phenomenon.

The agricultural industry and the rural community is undergoing significant changes as agri-food system consolidation occurs, and rural communities search for their niche. Much of the economic activity in rural communities has been historically based on agriculture. As rural communities undergo economic, sociological, and geo-political changes, and the agricultural industry becomes more technologically and business-focused, agri-entrepreneurship may play a key role in reshaping and revitalizing rural America. Entrepreneurship has been cited as a critical component for economic development in rural communities (Sexton and Kasarda, 1992). Macke and Kayne (2001) believe rural-based entrepreneurs face challenges beyond those of traditional entrepreneurs. These challenges include an older, poorer, conservative population; greater distance from substantial markets; depopulation; increased subsidies to maintain resources; and less dynamic economies. Yet, Smilor (1997) stated, "It does confer identity, a sense of belonging, a measure of security" (p. 11) in referring to not only entrepreneurs, but also the impact they can have on community.

Adequately preparing students for entrepreneurial careers in this environment may require changes in curricula. Can agricultural colleges implement an agri-entrepreneurship curriculum to improve the success rate of new agricultural business start-ups? Before colleges begin investing in new curriculum development, it is important to determine the level and nature of student interest in this type of curriculum. We present the results of a survey, focused on entrepreneurship, administered to undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (CAFNR) at the University of Missouri-Columbia. We found student interest in owning their own businesses to not be significantly different among students with farming, rural, or urban backgrounds, nor across academic disciplines. The primary factor in predicting an entrepreneurial interest is personal knowledge of an entrepreneur. We also found students, even seniors, feel ill-prepared for starting their own business and believe hands-on learning opportunities, whether on the job or through internships, would increase their preparedness. Finally, we find specific areas of study and related opportunities that students identify as shortcomings in their entrepreneurial knowledge base.

Literature Review

In a Winter 2001 assessment of the state of entrepreneurship training in higher education, the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurship Leadership (hereafter, the Kauffman Report) reports on the innovative programs in the areas of student learning, faculty development, administrative support and entrepreneurial involvement. For student learning, it points to experiential learning, such as internships and business plan competitions, as the element that differentiates entrepreneurial programs. Developing student leadership through entrepreneurial clubs and/or associations is also shown to have tremendous impact on clustering entrepreneurs. Prior to the slowdown in the economy, many schools provided assistance for students launching start-up businesses.

The histopathologic pattern provides the most important prognostic marker for idiopathic interstitial pneumonia; however, studies have suggested that short-term changes in lung function may be more important. We investigated the prognostic factors for fibrotic interstitial pneumonia. The clinical features and follow-up course of 179 patients (131 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and 48 with nonspecific interstitial pneumonia; 41 fibrotic types and 7 cellular) were analyzed retrospectively. The lung function indices improved or stabilized in most patients with fibrotic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia in contrast to the deterioration or stable condition of most patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The 5-year survival of patients with fibrotic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (76.2%) was better than for those with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (43.8%) (p = 0.007). Multivariate analysis at the time of presentation revealed that pathologic pattern, age, and diffusion capacity had important prognostic implications. However, after 6 months of follow-up, changes in FVC, initial diffusion capacity, and sex were the only independent prognostic factors, with no additional prognostic information conferred by the histologic diagnosis. Our data confirmed the importance of physiological parameters including short-term change in FVC. However, at the time of diagnosis, histopathology was important for the prediction of prognosis and future change in lung function.
Keywords: fibrotic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia; idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; prognostic factor; pulmonary function; surgical lung biopsy

In 1994, Katzenstein and Fiorelli proposed the term "nonspecific interstitial pneumonia" (NSIP) to describe a subset of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) that could
not be classified into any of the other types of interstitial pneumonia. They subcategorized the disease into three subgroups depending on the relative amounts of interstitial fibrosis and inflammation (1). Subsequently a number of other studies showed that an NSIP pattern in a surgical lung biopsy provided important prognostic information compared with other IIPs (2-7). However, there was considerable overlap in outcome, especially between patients with fibrotic NSIP and those with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) (2, 3, 8). Nicholson and coworkers showed that the prognosis of patients with fibrotic NSIP was less favorable than previously thought (3). They reported that the 5-year survival rate of patients with fibrotic NSIP was about 45%, which was worse than that reported by Travis and coworkers (2), although it was better than IPF (3). Therefore, Latsi and coworkers combined the fibrotic type NSIP and usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) into fibrotic IIP (8). Several reports, including that of Latsi and co-workers, suggested that physiological parameters, especially short-term changes, were important in determining the prognosis for patients with IIP (8-12). These data may raise questions about the necessity for a pathologic diagnosis by surgical lung biopsy in the case of fibrotic IIP. However, accurate clinico-radiologic-pathologic diagnosis is crucial, especially at the time of diagnosis for initial management of patients with IIP. We therefore compared the importance of pathologic patterns in the prognosis for patients with fibrotic IIP (fibrotic NSIP pattern and UIP pattern) with physiological parameters including short-term change of lung function. We also compared the prognosis for those patients with IIP, especially fibrotic NSIP, with those for patients with IPF. Some of the results of this study have been previously reported in the form of an abstract (13).

METHODS

Subjects

Subjects included 179 patients with idiopathic NSIP or IPF diagnosed by surgical lung biopsy from January 1990 to September 2002 at Asan Medical Center, a 2,000-bed university-affiliated tertiary referral center in Seoul, South Korea. Two lung pathologists (M.K. and T.V.C.) reviewed the specimens independently. If the opinions of the two pathologists were different (coefficient of agreement k = 0.59), a third opinion was sought and the final diagnosis was made in the context of clinicoradiologic findings. There were 207 patients with IIP who had had surgical lung biopsies. Twenty-eight cases were excluded because of a failure to obtain consensus between the pathologists (9 cases) or because the patients were diagnosed as having other diseases (19 cases). NSIP was subclassified into cellular and fibrotic types, according to the level of fibrosis and inflammation (1).

Methods Used

Clinical data were obtained from medical records and survival status was obtained from telephone interviews and/or medical records. The minimal amount of smoking for a smoker was 1 pack-year, and an exsmoker was defined as a subject who had not smoked for at least 3 months (3). Patients were excluded if they had taken drugs, experienced occupational or other environmental exposures, or presented evidence of collagen vascular diseases on the basis of a thorough history, physical examination, and serologic tests.

The histopathologic pattern provides the most important prognostic marker for idiopathic interstitial pneumonia; however, studies have suggested that short-term changes in lung function may be more important. We investigated the prognostic factors for fibrotic interstitial pneumonia. The clinical features and follow-up course of 179 patients (131 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and 48 with nonspecific interstitial pneumonia; 41 fibrotic types and 7 cellular) were analyzed retrospectively. The lung function indices improved or stabilized in most patients with fibrotic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia in contrast to the deterioration or stable condition of most patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The 5-year survival of patients with fibrotic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia (76.2%) was better than for those with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (43.8%) (p = 0.007). Multivariate analysis at the time of presentation revealed that pathologic pattern, age, and diffusion capacity had important prognostic implications. However, after 6 months of follow-up, changes in FVC, initial diffusion capacity, and sex were the only independent prognostic factors, with no additional prognostic information conferred by the histologic diagnosis. Our data confirmed the importance of physiological parameters including short-term change in FVC. However, at the time of diagnosis, histopathology was important for the prediction of prognosis and future change in lung function.


ibrotic nonspecific interstitial pneumonia; idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; prognostic factor; pulmonary function; surgical lung biopsy

In 1994, Katzenstein and Fiorelli proposed the term "nonspecific interstitial pneumonia" (NSIP) to describe a subset of idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP) that could not be classified into any of the other types of interstitial pneumonia. They subcategorized the disease into three subgroups depending on the relative amounts of interstitial fibrosis and inflammation (1). Subsequently a number of other studies showed that an NSIP pattern in a surgical lung biopsy provided important prognostic information compared with other IIPs (2-7). However, there was considerable overlap in outcome, especially between patients with fibrotic NSIP and those with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) (2, 3, 8). Nicholson and coworkers showed that the prognosis of patients with fibrotic NSIP was less favorable than previously thought (3). They reported that the 5-year survival rate of patients with fibrotic NSIP was about 45%, which was worse than that reported by Travis and coworkers (2), although it was better than IPF (3). Therefore, Latsi and coworkers combined the fibrotic type NSIP and usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) into fibrotic IIP (8). Several reports, including that of Latsi and co-workers, suggested that physiological parameters, especially short-term changes, were important in determining the prognosis for patients with IIP (8-12). These data may raise questions about the necessity for a pathologic diagnosis by surgical lung biopsy in the case of fibrotic IIP. However, accurate clinico-radiologic-pathologic diagnosis is crucial, especially at the time of diagnosis for initial management of patients with IIP. We therefore compared the importance of pathologic patterns in the prognosis for patients with fibrotic IIP (fibrotic NSIP pattern and UIP pattern) with physiological parameters including short-term change of lung function. We also compared the prognosis for those patients with IIP, especially fibrotic NSIP, with those for patients with IPF. Some of the results of this study have been previously reported in the form of an abstract (13).

METHODS

Subjects

Subjects included 179 patients with idiopathic NSIP or IPF diagnosed by surgical lung biopsy from January 1990 to September 2002 at Asan Medical Center, a 2,000-bed university-affiliated tertiary referral center in Seoul, South Korea. Two lung pathologists (M.K. and T.V.C.) reviewed the specimens independently. If the opinions of the two pathologists were different (coefficient of agreement k = 0.59), a third opinion was sought and the final diagnosis was made in the context of clinicoradiologic findings. There were 207 patients with IIP who had had surgical lung biopsies. Twenty-eight cases were excluded because of a failure to obtain consensus between the pathologists (9 cases) or because the patients were diagnosed as having other diseases (19 cases). NSIP was subclassified into cellular and fibrotic types, according to the level of fibrosis and inflammation (1).

Methods Used

Clinical data were obtained from medical records and survival status was obtained from telephone interviews and/or medical records. The minimal amount of smoking for a smoker was 1 pack-year, and an exsmoker was defined as a subject who had not smoked for at least 3 months (3). Patients were excluded if they had taken drugs, experienced occupational or other environmental exposures, or presented evidence of collagen vascular diseases on the basis of a thorough history, physical examination, and serologic tests.

Although government regulation of the Internet has been decried as undercutting free speech, the control of Internet content through capitalist gateways--namely, profit-driven software companies--has gone largely uncriticized. The author argues that this discursive trend manufactures consent through a hegemonic force neglecting to confront the invasion of online advertising or marketing strategies directed at children. This study suggests that "inappropriate content" (that is, nudity, pornography, obscenities) constitutes a cultural currency through which concerns and responses to the Internet have been articulated within the mainstream. By examining the rhetorical and financial investments of the telecommunications business sector, the author contends that the rhetorical elements creating "cyber-safety" concerns within the mainstream attempt to reach the consent of parents and educators by asking them to see some Internet content as value laden (sexuality, trigger words, or adult content), while disguising the interests and authority of profitable computer software and hardware industries (advertising and marketing). Although most online "safety measures" neglect to confront the emerging invasion of advertising/marketing directed at children and youth, the author argues that media literacy in cyberspace demands such scrutiny. Unlike measures to block or filter online information, students need an empowerment approach that will enable them to analyze, evaluate, and judge the information they receive.

**********

According to figures provided by the U.S. Census Bureau (2001), more than half of school-age children (6 to 17 years) had access to computers both in school and at home in the year 2000 (57 percent). With some 17 million children using the Internet in some capacity, including email, the Web, chat rooms, and instant messaging (Silver and Garland, 2004, p. 158), the Census Bureau estimates that 21 percent use the Internet to perform school-related tasks, such as research for assignments or taking courses online.

While these statistics underscore the growth and popularity of the Internet, particularly in schools and educational institutions, concerns have grown about the "safety" of using computer-mediated communication technology. Since the Internet became a mass medium in 1995, parents and schools have approached online content with reservation. As such, politicians, educators, child advocacy groups, and, most importantly, the computer industry, have been vocal advocates for patrolling the Internet and censoring certain kinds of illicit or objectionable content. Beginning in the late 1990s, Federal Trade Commission member Christine Varney summarized the emerging concerns about online safety:

All of us agree that children's online safety concerns are real and
pressing and that we must support the involvement of parents
raising children in this new, digital age. We understand that we
must all work together--industry, law enforcement, educators,
advocates--if American families are to realize the potential of this
new medium for enriching the lives of our children and fostering
their future success. (Rubin and Lamb, 1997)

Starting in 1997, an Internet/Online Summit was held in Washington, D.C., to enhance the safety and benefits of cyberspace for children and families. Key political figures, such as former vice president Al Gore and former attorney general Janet Reno, joined parents, as well as politicians, law enforcement officials, and educational administrators, to launch a national public education campaign, "America Links Up: An Internet Teach-In," designed to help Americans understand how to guide kids online (Rubin & Lamb, 1997).

On October 21, 1998, former president Bill Clinton signed into law the "Children's Online Privacy Protection Act" (COPPA). This measure was enacted by Congress on April 21, 2000, to "prohibit unfair or deceptive acts or practices in connection with the collection, use, or disclosure of personally identifiable information from and about children on the Internet" under the age of thirteen (Grossman, 2000). Along this trajectory, Congress passed the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and the Neighborhood Internet Protection Act (NCIPA) in December 2000, which required schools and libraries that receive federal money for Internet connections to adopt Internet safety policies in 2001. The proposed safety measures include usage agreements for proper student use of this medium, audit-tracking devices to supervise student Internet perusal, and software filtration devices designed to block inappropriate sites in schools (Trotter, 2001).

In 2002 the Bush administration proposed a "National Strategy to Secure Cyber Space," offering security recommendations for U.S. citizens, businesses, and organizations using computers (Carlson, 2002). Since then the Federal Trade Commission has offered testimony before special committees and the House of Representatives about online pornography through a series of "law enforcement actions against fraud artists whose deceptive or unfair practices involve exposing consumers, including children, to unwanted pornography on the Internet" (Federal Trade Commission, 2004, p. 1).

Beware: reauthorization approaches. Institutions have heard this repeatedly for the past couple of years, but major systemic changes have yet to take place in higher education. What exactly is the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act? When will it really take place? And what will this mean for the financial aid programs that help your institution's students attend college?

Federal Law requires that the act be renewed--or "reauthorized"--every six years. The most recent reauthorization cycle was supposed to culminate in 2004, but Congress failed to pass legislation before it adjourned.

"Since we did not pass a bill last year, we had to start all over again. That means everything has to be " reintroduced and re-passed," said National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators President Dallas Martin in March at NASFAA's annual Leadership Conference. House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio) has promised completion by the end of the current 109th Congress in 2006.

GOP LAWMAKERS SUPPORT "REVENUE NEUTRAL" MEASURES

The Republican majority of the House education committee introduced in February the College Access and Opportunity Act (H.R. 609), a reauthorization bill intended to expand college access for low- and middle-income students. A similar bill was introduced last year; hearings were held, but it never came to a vote in the House.

This time around, Congress is focusing on several issues, including college costs and prices, access and affordability, and accountability. Changes proposed by Republicans include expanding Federal Pelt Grants for high-achieving, low-income first- and second-year students; providing year-round Pell Grant aid; and removing an incentive for colleges to raise tuition by repeating a federal rule that limits the amount of Pelt Grant aid low-cost institutions can receive.

However, Chairman Boehner has stated repeatedly that the committee intends to pass "revenue-neutral" legislation, with strategic, if small, program increases that are paid for through cuts to other programs, restructuring, and reforms. "Essentially there is no flexibility, and they will pay for any increases by cannibalizing good programs," Martin said.

The bill would also ease several restrictions currently placed on for-profit institutions. Specifically, it would eliminate both the 90/10 rule (which requires that institutions derive at least 10 percent of their revenue from funds other than Title IV aid), and the 50 percent rule (which mandates that schools deliver 50 percent of their instruction through non-distance learning methods). It also would allow for-profit institutions to compete with traditional institutions for campus-based aid, and specify that transfer-of-credit not be denied solely based on a school's accreditation.

The proposed GOP measure would permanently end a statutory provision under which nonprofit lenders that finance their loans using tax-exempt bonds receive a guaranteed return rate of 9.5 percent, although the bill does not totally close that loophole.

Moreover, it would also expand student loan relief for K-12 teachers of key subjects such as math, science, and special education, and expand opportunities for graduate study in these subjects.

NASFAA's Martin noted that this bill is essentially the same as the GOP-backed measure introduced in the House last year. "Looking at this bill, the same concerns we had last year are stilt there," Martin commented. "We in higher education are not looking for a Christmas tree to hang things on, but we do need legislation that meets the educational needs of students and the long-term needs of our country."

PRESIDENT'S BUDGET WOULD INCREASE PELL, SCUTTLE PERKINS

President Bush unveiled in February his discretionary budget request for fiscal year 2006, which would cut several longstanding aid programs in order to reallocate funds elsewhere in higher education.

The most controversial is a proposal to help pay for an increase to the need-based Federal Pelt Grant program by recalling the revolving loan funds used to finance the Federal Perkins loan program, essentially terminating the program.

The President's proposed fiscal year 2006 budget would also:

* Retire the $4.3 billion Pell shortfall, increase the Pell maximum by $100 annually over five years to $4,550, and add funding for minority-serving institutions.

* Create a $50 million Presidential Math and Science Scholars program, a $33 million enhanced Pell Grants for State Scholars program, and a $125 million Community College Access Grants program to foster dual enrollment for low-income and minority high schoolers who wish to take college courses.

* Provide funding at the current levels for Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), and Federal Work-Study.

* Terminate funding for Byrd Honors Scholarships, the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) program, GEAR UP early awareness programs, and portions of TRIO.

The problem:

'I am frightened by how much I owe'

Although she is now 29, Ailsa Macfarlane still carries a hefty financial burden from her long-gone student days: debts of nearly pounds 30,000.

On top of undergraduate debts of around pounds 9,000, Ailsa, who lives in south London, ran up pounds 7,000 on a credit card, pounds 1,500 on an overdraft and took out a pounds 10,000 bank loan.

'I'm deeply in debt: as a student in London, the capital was very expensive to live in.'

But Ailsa, who earns pounds 25,000 a year as a business account manager, is trying to get a grip on her finances. Three months, ago, she consolidated her credit card debt, overdraft and bank loan into one larger pounds 19,500 loan with Lloyds TSB " repayable over eight years with an annual percentage rate (APR) of 7.5.

Ailsa pays back pounds 250 a month on her bank loan. Add to this the pounds 180 a month for her student loans, and she spends pounds 430 a month servicing her debt.

'I am frightened by how much money I owe to Lloyds TSB,' she says. 'Over eight years, I know I have to pay pounds 7,000 in interest alone " but this loan seems to be the only way I can manage my debts and still be able to afford to live and pay my bills each month.'

Her debt mountain has made it impossible for Ailsa to build up any savings or make any investments. She has no pension savings either, and her employer, a small firm, doesn't offer an occupational scheme.

Since moving to London as a student nine years ago, Ailsa has rented accommodation. For the past nine months, she has been living with her boyfriend, Alistair. They rent a flat, each paying pounds 475 a month plus bills.

'We've discussed buying together in the next couple of years, but I'm not sure how feasible this is,' says Ailsa.

She has no protection policies.

The cure:

Try to shorten the life of your loan

Ailsa's finances are ruled by her debt, says Philippa Gee of independent financial adviser (IFA) Torquil Clark. 'All [her] spare resources need to be ploughed into repaying this, especially as she has so many plans such as buying a house and starting a pension.'

Despite her position, Ailsa should try to find cash to fund a personal pension, says Ben Yearsley from IFA Hargreaves Lansdown. 'Even if it's only pounds 50 a month, the sooner she starts this, the sooner she can get tax relief and build a pension pot.'

DEBTS

Eight years is too long, and expensive, a repayment plan on the consolidation loan, says Ms Gee. She suggests that Ailsa think about repaying these debts more quickly.

To do this would involve trying to renegotiate her loan " shortening its life and paying higher premiums " either with Lloyds TSB or another lender.

But there are caveats, warns Simon Webster from IFA Facts & Figures.

Ailsa could make enquiries at other lenders and find a better APR " some internet deals offer rates as low as 5.6 " and cheaper monthly repayments, he explains. But before transferring the debt, she would need to check the size of the penalty at Lloyds TSB for repaying her loan ahead of schedule.

Mr Webster also warns her to watch out for offers of payment- protection insurance from the lender. This can add thousands of pounds to the cost of a new loan " as well as carrying exclusions that may leave Ailsa unprotected.

Since her pounds 9,000 student loans are not too expensive " with interest charged at 3.2 per cent - she doesn't need to worry much about these for now, he adds.

PROPERTY

Ailsa should forget about buying a home for the moment, says Mr Yearsley. 'As she has large debts and no savings, I think it would be a struggle.'

Ms Gee feels the same, although she suggests one option could be to go for a cheaper property outside London.

However, Mr Webster is more upbeat about the couple buying their own home " especially if family members can help with cash, a loan or a guarantee.

If they could afford pounds 1,000 a month " roughly what Ailsa and Alistair are paying in rent today " that would cover the interest on a loan of more than pounds 200,000, explains Mr Webster.

Several factors need to be considered first, though, he adds. 'Whether Ailsa would be allowed to borrow that much " and whether it would be a good idea " would depend on their joint credit rating, how stable she feels her relationship is, her boyfriend's earnings and her own attitude to risk.'

SAVINGS

Mr Webster says that while Ailsa needs to concentrate on getting rid of her debts, a small 'emergency fund' in a mini cash individual savings account (ISA) would be a 'wise move'.

He recommends she pay pounds 50 a month into a Halifax ISA paying 5 per cent.

RETIREMENT

Pension provision should be one of Ailsa's priorities, urges Mr Yearsley. 'As a rule of thumb, you should put half your age in as a percentage of your salary.'

He continues: 'At the present time I don't think she could afford this, as that would be almost pounds 300 a month. But she should look at putting something in " even if it is only pounds 50 or pounds 100 a month.'

The AOA can ease your transition from student to practicing O.D. Be sure to get your member rewards.

Graduation is Just arour|d tne corner for the class of 2005. No more lectures, tests or late nights in preclinic labs preparing for practical examinations. But it's also time to start taking control of your finances for this next stage of your life, which may include repaying student loans. How could you possibly have enough money left to join the American Optometric Association (AOA)? My answer is: You can't afford not to.

When you join the AOA, you're contributing to the advancement of optometry in a tangible way. The dollars you invest support optometric advocacy at the federal and state levels. Legislators willingly listen to - and act on the recommendations of - the practicing O.D.s who make up the majority of the AOA. Whether it's lobbying for expanded prescribing authority in a single state or promoting the optometrist as the primary eyecare provider to consumers, industry and the media, the AOA is your voice to the government and the public.

MEMBERSHIP PERKS

You may be thinking, "What can AOA membership do for me?"

When you join the AOA1 you'll have access to Optometrys Career Center, an online matching service with detailed information about practice opportunities. You'll also be eligible for the AOAAdvantage student debt consolidation program, which allows you, your spouse and employees to lock in fixed interest rates and take advantage of attractive borrower benefit programs.

As a member, you'll receive free registration to Optometry's Meeting, the joint AOA Congress and American Optometric Student Association (AOSA) Conference. While there, you'll have the opportunity to attend continuing education courses, visit the expansive exhibit hall and network with O.D.s from around the country.

MAKE YOUR MOVE

How do you join the AOA? As an AOSA member, you receive complimentary AOA membership until the end of the calendar year in which you're licensed, not to exceed 18 months after graduation. Include your home and business addresses and indicate the state in which you're practicing. The AOA will notify your state association, which will send you a membership packet. As a recent graduate, you qualify for reduced dues, but submit your information quickly to change your status from new graduate member to licensed O.D.

SAFE INVESTMENT

Becoming an AOA member is like starting an investment plan. The most difficult part is getting started. However, once you begin, you'll realize the true value of an AOA membership. You're not only helping advance the profession - you're also gaining access to a wealth of resources that can help your career grow and prosper. Good luck in your career... and join the AOA today!

'I am frightened by how much I owe'

Although she is now 29, Ailsa Macfarlane still carries a hefty financial burden from her long-gone student days: debts of nearly pounds 30,000.

On top of undergraduate debts of around pounds 9,000, Ailsa, who lives in south London, ran up pounds 7,000 on a credit card, pounds 1,500 on an overdraft and took out a pounds 10,000 bank loan.

'I'm deeply in debt: as a student in London, the capital was very expensive to live in.'

But Ailsa, who earns pounds 25,000 a year as a business account manager, is trying to get a grip on her finances. Three months, ago, she consolidated her credit card debt, overdraft and bank loan into one larger pounds 19,500 loan with Lloyds TSB " repayable over eight years with an annual percentage rate (APR) of 7.5.

Ailsa pays back pounds 250 a month on her bank loan. Add to this the pounds 180 a month for her student loans, and she spends pounds 430 a month servicing her debt.

'I am frightened by how much money I owe to Lloyds TSB,' she says. 'Over eight years, I know I have to pay pounds 7,000 in interest alone " but this loan seems to be the only way I can manage my debts and still be able to afford to live and pay my bills each month.'

Her debt mountain has made it impossible for Ailsa to build up any savings or make any investments. She has no pension savings either, and her employer, a small firm, doesn't offer an occupational scheme.

Walter Ulbricht

The East German leader Walter Ulbricht (1893-1973) succeeded in placing his country in a fairly strong economic position and weathered more political storms than most Soviet and East European Communist leaders.

Born into a poor working-class family in Leipzig on June 30, 1893, Walter Ulbricht learned carpentry and joined the Socialist party (SPD) in 1912. A solid if uninspired student, he early showed a tendency to cling to the simple Marxist ideology of the party. Like many other young Socialists, he was increasingly alienated by SPD support of the imperial German government in World War I. It was thus not surprising that Ulbricht joined a left-wing splinter group, the "League of Spartacus." After the failure of its coup against the new SPD government (which was regarded as too conservative) in January 1919, "Spartacus" broke up. Ulbricht and others formed a new left-wing party, the German Communist party (KPD). After an unsuccessful beginning as an agitator, Ulbricht found his niche as an organizer, first in "Red Saxony" and later in Berlin. He was subsequently trained in Moscow in tactics and administration.

As a member of the German Reichstag from 1928, Ulbricht helped formulate the misguided KPD tactic of attacking the Socialists, who supported the democratic Weimar Republic, instead of the real enemies of democracy, the Nazis. The revolution which the KPD expected as a result of the Nazi consolidation of power in 1933 failed to materialize, and the KPD was ruined. Ulbricht fled, moving to the Soviet Union in 1938 after serving on the Loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War.

Chosen by Stalin to return to Germany in 1945, Ulbricht organized support for the Soviet occupation. In 1946 he helped merge the old SPD and KPD in the Soviet zone into the Socialist Unity party (SED). Despite initial appeals to all "antifascist elements, " the SED drifted under the control of the old Communists. At the same time, Ulbricht's star rose in the German Democratic Republic (GDR), or the former East Germany, the successor to the Soviet Occupation Zone. Elected general secretary of the SED in 1950 and the equivalent of head of state in 1960, Ulbricht came to be the strongest East German leader.

Ulbricht gained international prominence for his increasingly forceful collectivization of the East German economy and the virtual imprisonment of his people. His high voice and his goatee figured in many caricatures. Defenders of Ulbricht pointed out that he, unlike Stalin, refrained from murdering his enemies and that East Germany had finally begun to achieve a limited prosperity under his rule. Ulbricht was, however, perhaps the most unpopular Communist leader of the century because of his inflexible policies, including the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 to prevent East Germans from fleeing the country. He resigned in May 1971 and was succeeded by Erich Honecker.

Of course, there are many reasons why neoliberal ideology would flourish within the context of charter school reform. Jt is, after all, a reform movement with deep andstrong neoliberal politicalroots. (Wells, A. S., Slayton, J., & Scott, J., 2002)

Introduction

When analyzed within the frameworks of Postmodern Theory, Wells, López, Scott, and Holme (1999) state that "charter schools embody many of the contradictions of the so-called postmodern paradox" (pg. 174). Similarly highlighted are the contradictions and paradoxes of Post-Fordist society, the Network society, neoliberalism, and the market principles being introduced into the realm of educational accountability, education policy, and educational reform. Charter school "reform"1 is not an exception, but perhaps a great example of all these contradictions.

This article attempts to enter the charter school dialogue by looking at the charter school movement through an anti-essentialist social movement and new social movement lens. In the anti-Western new social movement conception there are no set patterns to how movements manifest themselves, or how they were intended to manifest themselves, and local context and activism defined as the agency to act through contentious daily practice is paramount (Holland & Lave, 2001). This article then, theoretically places the intended macro-charter school vision as an essentialist, Western social reform movement in education, but one that has not followed a uniform, easily understood, projected, and coherent model. Its manifestation then, has been that of a new social movement without definite and set patterns of generalizability, focusing on local contexts of activism as daily practice, and exhibiting an abundance of contradictions and paradoxes. Principal amongst the contradictions is that reform is intended to level the playing field, to allow for access, and to ultimately equalize. Although superficially, and in the spirit of postmodern simulacra, charter schools have done that, deeper contextual analysis and case studies of charter schools, especially of predominantly White charter schools, reveal differing results.

The rush to open charter schools, especially by minority groups, is out of dissatisfaction with public school education (Fuller, 2000). This can be seen as a move in the tradition of civil rights and social justice movements of decades past. Afro-centric, Latino centric, women centered, etc. charters have been established in this spirit of opportunity and reform ( Wexler & Huerta, 2000). However, not just officially declared identity politics interest groups have joined the bandwagon of the charter school movement. Predominantly White groups and wealthy communities have also appropriated the rhetoric of charter school reform using "community," "heritage," or "academy" as proxies for race and or class. Nevertheless, predominantly White charter schools display characteristics that are revealing of a systemically racist and classist society. The White Eurocentric cultural capital imposed as the "standard" or "mainstream" in U.S. society allows these schools greater access to resources, both economic and otherwise that allow for their existence and success (Wells, Holme, Lopez, & Cooper, 2000).

This article focuses on the case of Heritage Charter School (HCS), a predominantly White, rural community charter school. Using the "community school" and "school of choice" rhetoric, members of the Heritage community have managed to keep a predominantly White elementary school open for over one hundred years, even when the Local Education Agency (LEA) closed down their redbrick school building in an effort to consolidate. In effect through the postmodern lens, HCS is and is not a converter charter school. A converter charter school is usually allowed to continue using the old school building by the new charter school. In that sense HCS is not a converter charter school because the LEA refused to let the new school use the old buildings; community members, however, use the rhetoric of heritage to say it is still the same school. I would say that both claims are true. Local community activism through contentious daily practices created a new site for the school using the new charter school reform and the claim to "community" school identity.

Today, HCS has established a good reputation for itself academically and socially as a "community school," although the meaning of community may have shifted now that the school population is almost as large as the predominantly White retirement community itself, and projected to continue growing. Through private/ public partnerships and free market principles, HCS now has an over 2 million-dollar budget. HCS is currently led by a set of community "heroes" that have an abundance of access and knowledge in curriculum, school administration, and political and business connections at all levels of government to make HCS a success. There are, however, several contradictions. HCS does not reflect the racial demographics that it should according to charter school laws; it lost half of its African-American student population in the transition from the old Heritage Elementary to HCS and the current African-American student recruitment efforts are problematic.

Joseph Francis Fletcher (1905-1991) was a philosopher widely recognized for his work in moral theory and applied ethics. Best known for the method of consequentialist moral reasoning espoused in his book Situation Ethics, Fletcher was also acknowledged as the father of modern biomedical ethics.

Joseph Francis Fletcher was born in East Orange, New Jersey, on April 10, 1905. His parents separated when he was nine, after which his mother returned to her family home in Fairmont, West Virginia, to raise her two children. His experiences working for the Consolidation Coal Company and the Monongahela Coal Mine led to his lifelong sympathy for the working conditions of coal miners and set the stage for a life of social activism.

He entered West Virginia University at Morgantown when he was 17. Already a member of the education staff of the United Mine Worker's Association, Fletcher was jailed during his first college year for defying an injunction against speaking in public for the miner's union. A self-proclaimed democratic socialist, his interests in philosophy and history led him to study the utilitarians Bentham and Mill and the pragmatists Peirce, Dewey, and James.

Two significant things happened during his second year in college: he met his future wife, fellow student and poet Forrest Hatfield (of the famous feuding Hatfields), and he became an active Christian in the Episcopal Church. Fletcher embraced Christianity because of his social ideals. Through his work in the church he hoped to further the cause of social justice, especially economic democracy for workers.

An outstanding student, Fletcher was denied a degree by the university because he refused to participate in compulsory military training. Such training was required of male students in land-grant universities by federal law. However, an honorary doctorate was conferred on him by West Virginia University in 1984.

In 1922, after only three years of college, Fletcher entered Berkeley Divinity School. Working the summer of his first year in a program called "Seminarians in Industry," he was assigned to the Plymouth Cordage Company factory where he discovered and exposed a blacklist of union sympathizers that included Bart Vanzetti, the Italian anarchist. During his second summer he volunteered for the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee in Boston. His last year at seminary was spent collaborating on a book with Spencer Miller, education adviser of the American Federation of Labor, titled The Church and Industry (1931).

After completing divinity school in 1928, Fletcher pursued graduate studies in economic history at Yale. There he won the John Henry Watson fellowship and in 1930 went to London to study under R. H. Tawney at the London School of Economics. During this period he formulated the tenets of his theology of social redemption. He was heavily influenced by theologians Walter Rauschenbusch, Washington Gladden, and William Temple.

On his return to America during the era of the Great Depression, Fletcher continued his union activism and teaching. In 1936 he became dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in Cincinnati, where he developed a school of social training for seminarians. He taught courses in labor history and New Testament at the University of Cincinnati and social ethics at Hebrew Union College. He also raised support for and taught volunteer courses in a labor education night school supported by local unions.

In 1944 Fletcher accepted the Robert Treat Paine Chair in Social Ethics at the Episcopal Theological School of Harvard University, where he taught Christian social ethics. For several years he also taught business ethics in the Musser Seminar at the Harvard School of Business Administration. He continued his social activist teachings for union organizations and was twice attacked and beaten unconscious by anti-union thugs while lecturing in the deep South. Along with two fellow Harvard professors, Fletcher was redbaited and subpoenaed by Senator Joseph McCarthy, who charged the professors with being Communists or at least Communist sympathizers.

The Lowell Lectures given by Fletcher at Harvard in 1949 were precursors of his treatise on ethical issues in medicine, Morals and Medicine (1954). This book gave a biological direction to his social ethic and was the first nonCatholic treatment of medical ethics. It is considered the pioneering work of a new discipline—biomedical ethics— and subsequently established Fletcher as the "father of modern biomedical ethics."

His basic bioethical premise is that humans should control and improve their natural condition by reasoned choice rather than by leaving things to chance. Natural biological processes (for example, methods of fertilization) are not inherently better than artificial (man-made) processes. The development and use of technology is a supremely human enterprise. However, the implications of new technologies should be considered prior to and during their development, not simply afterwards. An important influence on his thinking during this period was Garrett Hardin, the social biologist. Fletcher first coined the term "clinical ethics" in 1976 to reflect the specific nature of bioethics applied in clinical or patient-centered situations.

SYRACUSE - Galaxy Communications, LP covers the airwaves from Syracuse to Albany. The radio company owns 12 stations in the Syracuse and Utica-Rome markets, and two in the Albany market.

The company's CEO Ed Levine has been in the radio business for more than three decades and has worked his way from college disc jockey to station owner.

Born in Westchester County, Levine came to Syracuse in the 1970s to attend Syracuse University. He began his radio career at WAER, the college's student-run IM station. After college, Levine helped launch WAQX-95X in 1978. The IM rock station has be a Syracuse fixture ever since.

As radio enters the satellite era, Levine recalls that FM wasn't the dominant band when he started his career in commercial radio. In the late 1970s, Syracuse and many other radio markets across the U.S. were dominated by AM rock channels. FM was a place for jazz, classical, and "easy listening," Levine recalls.

A news report from 1978 took note that "WAQX will broadcast commercials."

At 95X, Levine moved from disc jockey into the role of program director. He had previously held the program director's post at WAER. Being a program director, Levine explains, gave him a chance to influence what songs made it on the air.

"In radio, one person can make all the difference," he says.

From 95X, Levine went on to work as a program director at stations in Albany, Washington, D.C., and Houston. In the mid-1980s," Levine decided to apply for his own radio license in the Utica market. By 1989, with backing from business partner Robert Raide, Levine put station WKLL on the air in Utica. The station cost approximately $170,000 to start, Levine recalls.

During the 1990s, Levine completed his transition from employee to owner, acquiring stations in Albany and Syracuse. He later added new partners and created Galaxy Communications, LP.

In the fall of 2001, the company moved from offices on Route 31 on the Madison County side of Bridgeport into a newly built studio building at 235 Walton St. in Syracuse's Armory Square. Levine keeps a "before-and-after" photo comparison on the wall of his office to show how far the business has come. The new building features multiple street-level studios where fans can see the radio hosts at work. Outdoor speakers play Galaxy radio stations for passers by.

In the 1990s, federal deregulation allowed companies to expand their station ownership, leading to mass consolidation. Galaxy Communications stations now compete against large, national companies such as Citadel Broadcasting and Clear Channel Communications. Levine is well known in the radio business for his criticism of Clear Channel as the epitome of "corporate" radio. He believes Galaxy's local ownership and management better serve the community. In December, radio-ratings service Arbitron elected Levine to its Radio Advisory Council.

"We live here," Levine explains, "Syracuse or Utica are never going to be as important to some far-off corporate headquarters as they are to us."

In addition to his rivalry with Clear Channel, Levine has had some public run-ins

with Howard Stern. In the early 1990s, Levine operated a consulting firm called "Sternbusters" that helped radio stations counter-program against the syndicated morning show. Levine's Albany station had maintained its ratings against Stem after his show began airing in the Albany market.

Last year, WAQX owners Citadel Broadcasting dumped Stern from the Syracuse market after he repeatedly discussed his impending move to satellite radio. Citadel had previously imposed a delay on the show and edited references to Sirius satellite radio where Stern will air next year. Ratings for 95X's replacement morning show have fallen below the numbers Stern used to bring in, and angry fans have protested the change. One fan has started the www.95xsucks.com protest Web site.

Media outlets are asking Levine's opinion of Stern's feud with Citadel. Levine recites some advice he received long ago.

"When the competition is self-destructing," says Levine, "just get out of the way."

Ed Levine Chief Executive Officer Galaxy Communications, LP

* Age: 48

* Residence: Manlius

* Education: Attended Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

* Family: Wife Pam, to whom he's been married for 24 years; daughter: Lauren, age 16

* Favorite Part Of Job: "The wide diversity ... watching one of our morning shows make national news on Monday, meeting with brokers about potential deals on Tuesday, and making sales calls on Wednesday. Totally different experiences ... combining business with the art of radio."

* Favorite Movie: "The Aviator"

* Favorite TV Shows: ESPN's "Pardon The Interruption" and HBO's "Deadwood"

The historian and professor Garrett Mattingly (1900-1962) was a student of 16th-century Europe who wrote the novel-like histories Catherine of Aragon and The Armada.

Born on May 6, 1900, in Washington, D.C., Garrett Mattingly was the son of Ida Garrett and Leonard Mattingly, a civil servant and industrialist. Young Mattingly attended elementary school in Washington until 1913, when his family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan. Here he enrolled as a student at the local public high school and graduated in 1918.

After graduation he enlisted in the Army and served with the 43d Infantry Division until 1919. In that year he entered Harvard University, where he majored in 16th-century literature and history and from which he received all three of his degrees: a B.A. in 1923, an M.A. in 1926, and a Ph.D. in 1935. At Harvard he studied European diplomatic history under the direction of the distinguished historian of 16th-and 17th-century Spain, Roger Bigelow Merriman, who, Mattingly once said, "taught me whatever I know of my craft." Mattingly was an outstanding student who published an article on Shakespeare, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and, in 1922, while still an undergraduate, received a Sheldon Travelling Fellowship which enabled him to spend a year studying in France and Italy. Even at this stage of his life Mattingly's interests were eclectic—in addition to his historical studies he wrote poetry, began a novel, and served as a stringer for several French and Italian newspapers.

The justification behind the uses of servers on college and university campuses is as simple as "more is never enough."

Servers--the software and hardware that store data and handle its processing--are often known by their end users mainly as the sources of blame for various computing failures. "The server's gone down" may be the single best-known phrase in information technology (IT). But schools are relying on their servers to do more than in the past, especially in the area of storage, which they look to as a path to the paperless office they've been promised for more then a decade by the apostles of high technology (see sidebar).


At the University of Houston's Advanced Computing Research Laboratory in Texas, a variety of academic units at the university are able to get resources for computer and computational science research. It uses 60 HP zx6000 workstations with dual 900 MHz Itanium 2 processors and an HP rx5670 Itanium 2 four-way server with 1 GHz processors, all running the Linux operating system. With this setup, the center achieved new heights of performance speed, all in a setup that allows it to be flexible to serve its diverse and changing user needs.

Princeton University (N.J.) took a different route to outfit ting one of its own research centers. The Center for the Study of Brain, Mind and Behavior (CSBMB) uses a 64-node G5 Xserve duster from Apple to handle its image analysis and simulation modeling. Though it is housed in the psychology department of the university, it is an interdisciplinary facility that touches on many academic areas, including chemistry, computer science, applied math, and more. "We are really an imaging facility," says Randee Tengi, CSBMB system administrator. "People collect huge amounts of data, then they go back to the lab and analyze it."

To store the vast quantities of images needed for work in simulation and analysis of neuroimaging data, CSBMB uses an 11-terabyte Silicon-Server from BlueArc Corporation. (A terabyte measures the storage volume; one terabyte is 2 to the 40th power, or about 1,000 gigabytes.)

When the center opened six years ago, every user (there are now about 100) used the same machine that ran the imaging software. "We still wanted a central processor for parallel jobs, so we needed a cluster machine," says Tengi. "We wanted all of the data on one file server so users could also access it from their desktops."

As a result, the centers technology lets them use their own desktop computers (whether they run Mac OS X, Windows, or Linux operating systems) to access the image data from the central file sewer.

Though server power is the name of the game at CSBMB, manageability is near the top of Tengi's list of benefits she's derived from the new system. The center has limited resources for administering its technology, so she appreciates having a system that is easy for her to maintain and easy for the end users to operate.

Austin Community College (Texas) worked with IBM in an effort to better serve its growing student enrollment, up more than 19 percent since 1993, which has increased the amount of data that the IT department must manage and support. The school specifically wanted to increase the speed of its web-based and campus-based services around the clock.

The school implemented an enterprise sewer consolidation project that combined several applications from four independent computer servers to only one IBM server, the eServer pSeries 670 running AIX 5L. The switch is expected to save the school approximately $50,000 a year, especially in the area of student grading. In addition, faster online processing has allowed faculty to submit end-of-semester grades via the web, rather than on optical scan sheets.

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The Student Loan Corporation (NYSE:STU) today reported net income of $46.1 million ($2.31 basic earnings per share) for the first quarter of 2006, a decrease of $20.0 million (30%), compared to net income of $66.1 million ($3.31 basic earnings per share) for the same period of 2005. The decrease in net income was primarily attributable to reduced floor income of $12.4 million (after tax) and the impact of the Deficit Reduction Act of $3.4 million (after tax) which reduced revenue by $1.9 million (after tax) and increased the provision for loan losses by $1.5 million (after tax). Net income was also reduced by an increase in operating expenses of $4.5 million (after tax) and by a higher effective tax rate compared to the prior year. The operating expense increase was primarily due to the $3.8 million (after tax) impact from the favorable settlement of certain state sales and use taxes in the first quarter of 2005 that did not reoccur in 2006. These impacts were partially offset by 13% growth in the average managed loan portfolio over the previous twelve months.

During the twelve month period ending March 31, 2006, the Company's managed loan assets grew by $3.3 billion (12%) to $31.5 billion. Combined Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) Stafford and PLUS loan disbursements and new CitiAssist Loan commitments totaling $1,895 million for the first quarter of 2006 increased $166 million (10%) compared to the same period of 2005. FFELP Stafford and PLUS loan disbursements of $1,276 million increased $95 million (8%), and new CitiAssist Loan commitments of $619 million increased $71 million (13%), compared to the same period last year. In addition, secondary market and other loan procurement activities added approximately $993 million of loans to the Company's student loan portfolio during the first quarter of 2006, representing an increase of $112 million (13%), compared to the same quarter of 2005. Approximately 91% of the 2006 secondary market and other loan procurement volume was composed of FFELP Consolidation Loans.

The Company's total revenue of $112.9 million for the first three months of 2006 was $14.7 million (11%) lower than total revenue of $127.5 million for the same period of 2005. Net interest income of $107.1 million for the first quarter of 2006 was $21.8 million (17%) lower than net interest income of $128.9 million for the same period of 2005. The decrease in net interest income was primarily attributable to an $18.3 million decrease in floor income for 2006. Floor income, as defined by management, is the amount of additional interest income generated when interest margin exceeds the minimum expected spreads. Floor income is described in greater detail in the Company's 2005 Form 10-K. In addition, net interest income was impacted by a $7.8 million net spread reduction in customer assets. The net interest margin for the first quarter of 2006 was 1.68%, a decrease of 35 basis points from 2.03% for the first quarter of 2005.

For the first quarter of 2006, gains on loan sales increased $6.7 million due to the sale of $214 million in assets. Fees and other income increased $6.0 million, primarily due to higher securitization related servicing fees.

Total operating expenses of $37.6 million for the first quarter of 2006 increased $9.6 million (34%) from the same period of 2005, primarily due to the impact from the favorable settlement of certain state sales and use taxes totaling $5.8 million in the first quarter of 2005, which did not reoccur in 2006. The remaining increase primarily reflects the incremental costs to originate, service and administer the larger managed loan portfolio. The Company's operating expense ratio (total operating expenses as a percentage of average managed student loans) for the first quarter of 2006 was 0.49%, eight basis points higher than the same quarter of 2005 primarily due to the tax settlement noted.

The Company's provision for loan losses for the first quarter of 2006 was $6.1 million, $5.5 million higher than the provision for the same period of 2005. Approximately $3.0 million of the increase was primarily attributable to an increase in the CitiAssist Loan portfolio in repayment. The remaining $2.5 million increase was attributable to the impact of the risk-sharing provisions of the recently enacted Deficit Reduction Act. The Deficit Reduction Act imposes a 1% risk-sharing deductible on FFELP default claims submitted after June 30, 2006 by loan servicers that have been designated as Exceptional Performers. (A 3% risk sharing deductible applies to loan servicers not so designated.) The Exceptional Performer designation is granted by the Department of Education in recognition of an exceptional level of performance in servicing federally guaranteed student loans. Currently, a recipient of this designation receives 100% reimbursement on all eligible FFELP claims as long as the recipient continues to meet eligibility standards. See the Company's 2005 Annual Report and Form 10-K for further information.

Your Inside Report From Capitol Hill

Few of us would refuse free money. But when it comes to federal education funds, states are doing just that-and, in the process, providing an interesting context for President Bush's latest budget.

His budget would cut more 'than $4 billion from 48 ineffective federal education programs and reallocate most of it to several new Bush initiatives focused on high school and college students. Overall, the president is recommending a $530-million cut in the Department of Education's $56-billion annual budget.

Bush's budget request coincides with the release of an explosive new study by the House Education and Workforce Committee that shows states are incapable of spending all the federal education dollars sent their way. The committee found that the states "returned more than $66 million in unused federal education funds to the U.S. Treasury in 2004."

Democrats, inexplicably, ignored these findings and lambasted Bush. Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy characterized the President's budget as "the most anti-student education budget since [President Reagan] tried to eliminate the Department of Education." Where is the Democratic line in the sand?

Reconciliation Important

"A word that people are going to have to become familiar with," House Budget Chairman Jim Nussle announced at his committee's first healing on President Bush's fiscal 2006 budget, "is reconciliation." "Reconciliation" is Washington-ese for the hodgepodge of legislative proposals required to squeeze savings (in amounts set forth by the House and Senate in the annual budget resolution) from exploding entitlement programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and farm subsidies.

The new chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, New Hampshire's Judd Gregg, echoed Nussle's blunt assessment. Gregg fingered Medicaid and Medicare as the programs most in need of Congress's attention.

In his budget, the President proposed several tweaks to Medicaid that would yield a 10-year savings of $60 billion and recommended about $6 billion in reforms to corral runaway farm subsidies.

The willingness of lawmakers to acknowledge the inevitability of the first budget reconciliation process that would force Congress to look at mandatory-spending reductions since 1997, combined with Bush's willingness to confront controversial areas of federal largesse, suggests that the political battle lines in 2005 will resemble those that prevailed during the days of the Republican-controlled Congresses of the mid-1990s.

Expect congressional Democrats to wage relentless battles against every Republican proposal to reduce spending, even as they decry Republican deficits and profligacy. But congressional Republicans should welcome the return of this brand of warfare, which will help them re-establish a reputation for spending restraint with their frustrated conservative base. This would be no small political feat, given that the 2006 mid term election qualifies as a "six-year itch" election (where voters historically turn out members of the president's party during his sixth year in office). Enthusiasm among core Republican supporters will be crucial for Republicans to retain control of Congress.

To earn this enthusiasm, Republican leaders will have to deliver on the high expectations established in the President's budget-a 1% reduction in non-security spending, some restraint in federal entitlement programs, and the enactment of promising budgetary reforms, such as the President's proposal to require Congress to vote in an expedited manner on the elimination and consolidation of wasteful federal programs.

A Taxing Debate

Every legislative debate requires a right and left wall-parameters within which the real debate takes place. Liberals and conservatives define their dream scenarios, and the outcome winds up somewhere in the middle.

During the struggle to enact President Bush's $1.6-trillion tax cut in 2001, for example, House conservatives rallied around an even larger $2.3-trillion tax reduction plan designed by former Rep. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. Their insistence on the largest possible tax cut created a necessary context for the President's plan, as did liberal proposals to move the other way and increase taxes on the "rich."

The current confrontation over Social Security is no exception. At a recent gathering, more than 50 House conservatives agreed to several debate-defining markers. Among them:

* Workers should be able to deposit all of the employee's share of the payroll tax, about 6% percent of every dollar earned up to $90,000, into a personal account, not the President's recommended level of 4% (with an initial cap of $1,000).

* The accounts should not be delayed until 2009, as the President proposes.

* No tax increase can be part of the final deal, whether that hike comes in the form of an increase in the amount of wages subject to the payroll tax, an increase in the payroll tax itself, or the introduction of a new tax to offset the costs. Indiana Rep. Mike Pence, chairman of the Republican Study Committee, described the opposition to new or increased taxes as "deafening."

This past year witnessed the growing acceptance and credibility of iSCSI, the new storage networking protocol that promised affordable storage area networks (SANs) for small and medium-size businesses (SMBs). But iSCSI surprised everyone by finding its way into the enterprise. While the year 2002 hyped iSCSI and 2003 ratified the standard and ushered in the first pure-iSCSI product offerings, 2004 was the year Fortune 500 customers gave the new SAN a resounding vote of confidence. The best of the iSCSI-based systems available in 2004 gave weary storage managers something they have needed for a long time. As a result, iSCSI storage systems joined Fibre Channel solutions for primary storage applications, spreading beyond the original SMB market into larger enterprises, serving up data to business-critical applications such as email, ERP, CRM, student information systems, digital media archives and online transaction processing systems.

In 2004, innovative storage-savvy startups led the iSCSI charge, and, as the market developed, established vendors weighed in with their own iSCSI offerings. In addition, the iSCSI ecosystem matured rapidly. In just a year we've seen complete support for all of the major operating systems, a variety of iSCSI host bus adapter (HBA) offerings, multi-pathing solutions, cluster support, SAN boot, enterprise backup integration and next-generation data services. Storage system vendors took years to evolve these capabilities with Fibre Channel. Clearly iSCSI has not only leveraged IP networking but has also built upon its storage heritage to achieve parity with its Fibre Channel cousin so quickly.

As a result, serious storage deployments were built with iSCSI this past year, and the word has spread. This points to the fact that established storage vendors don't want to talk about the huge dissatisfaction with monolithic, expensive, difficult-to-manage Fibre Channel SAN systems. It is this dissatisfaction that has driven iSCSI's success, revealing what customers want and need most: a modular, enterprise-ready storage system that will provide the reliability, performance, and features of Fibre Channel systems--but without the complexity and high cost of ownership.

Jockeying for Position

Tremendous interest in iSCSI-based storage solutions created a tide that floated all boats. Vendors with all manner of iSCSI targets with a spectrum of functionality emerged and found someone interested in buying it. When you add to this burgeoning new market the campaign of fear, uncertainty and doubt projected onto iSCSI by the large Fibre Channel vendors, you begin to understand the confusion around iSCSI that appeared this past year. A lot of new products shipped with a wide range of capabilities--and it became clear that not all iSCSI storage systems are created equal.

The low-end became crowded with a variety of low-cost disk enclosures with iSCSI connectivity. Many vendors in an effort to capitalize on the iSCSI trend quickly packaged up 1U and 2U servers with an embedded operating system, some iSCSI software and lots of ATA disk drives. More personal computer than storage system, these systems, while offering SAN solutions at a price point never dreamed of before, lacked any semblance of enterprise functionality and reliability--critical components in networked storage.

The mid-range was much more interesting with systems approaching enterprise capacity and functionality. The most successful of the mid-range are systems that eschew the "iSCSI is for secondary storage" positioning of the large Fibre Channel vendors and offer a robust, enterprise-ready SAN solution that uses the iSCSI protocol to make storage simpler, more scalable and more easily integrated into the enterprise.

So, two distinct iSCSI product categories have emerged: cheap SAN systems for the masses and robust alternatives to Fibre Channel SANs for the enterprise.

It is the latter category that will carry the day next year in a market hungry for standards-based, plug-and-play storage products that can fill the desperate need in the mid-range for reliable, easy-to-deploy and easy-to-manage primary storage.

Established Storage Vendors Respond

The common theme for most vendors in this space is that "iSCSI is good," and everyone wants a ray of the limelight. Some older proprietary IP SAN solutions remain on the market, but they are not getting much air time--in fact, the vendors are retrofitting them with iSCSI and are eagerly claiming those installations as iSCSI market share, downplaying the original proprietary protocol.

Established vendors are playing a similar game. Most are eager to claim iSCSI leadership while being careful to position the new technology as decidedly inferior to their bread-and-butter Fibre Channel systems for enterprise-level primary storage. Network Appliance (NetApp) and EMC both have enabled their current Fibre Channel systems with iSCSI connectivity, allowing them to claim inflated iSCSI market penetration--leading to the most recent IDC Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker to rank them as the top two iSCSI market leaders with 43% and 22% of the market respectively.