The relative benefit of one particular grade configuration over another has been the subject of debate for years. Which configuration for a school is most cost effective? Which yields higher student achievement? How does grade configuration affect the community?

There are no easy answers to these questions nor is there any conclusive evidence that one grade configuration is better than another. School districts poised on the brink of making these decisions must take into account factors beyond simply what is best for the students. They also must consider projected enrollments, transportation costs, number of transitions to be made by students, size of the school and overall school goals.

These discussions and their ultimate outcomes are not without controversy, especially in rural areas where reconfiguration is often the first step toward closing small schools. This can have farreaching effects on not only the staff and students but on the community itself.

School Consolidation

Prior to 1948, the majority of schools in the United States were one-teacher schools typically serving a small rural community and enrolling about 30 children in the elementary grades. However, beginning in 1915, when Teachers College professor Ellwood Cubberley proposed that large schools in central locations could provide more and better education and resources, administrators accelerated the merging of one-teacher schools into larger graded schools. As a result, the K-8 configuration became a popular plan.

As roads improved after World War I to accommodate automobiles, better transportation, rural economic decline and a focus on efficiency of educational management drove consolidation across larger geographic areas. As a result, smaller schools closed and many K-12 schools began to close as well. The result was districts and schools that had larger enrollments than ever before.

One result of today's schools' narrower grade-span configuration is that the number of students per grade is higher than it has ever been. A K-2 school enrolling 360 students doesn't seem large compared to all those hefty suburban high schools enrolling 2,000 or more students, but with 120 5- to 8-year-olds per grade it's a very large school (and that's become our standard). K-2 schools are among the largest schools in the nation with regard to enrollment and, surprisingly, they are most common in rural areas and small towns.

The popularity of K-2 schools might be the result of excessive concern with developmentally appropriate expertise for early childhood instruction. Large size is the price of expertise. In rural areas, this price might be higher because of centralized school locations and poor funding for capital outlay.

We've addressed the consolidation of schools, especially in rural areas, based on suggestions that larger, more centrally located schools provide more and better services to students. What direct effect, if any, does grade-span configuration have on student achievement, our ultimate outcome?

At the ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, we are often asked questions like "What research shows that K-2 schools are superior to K-3 schools?" The answer is easy: none. Research surrounding the benefits of specific grade-span configurations is seriously wanting. On the other hand, a large amount of prescriptive literature exists around that particular topic, especially with regard to middle schools.

Six recent studies, however, have addressed the issue of configuration and student achievement, and their conclusions, combined with the research on school size, suggest the need to re-examine the popular notion that fewer grades per school is better.

This study of the debates in Canada about a national education bureau offers an opportunity to explore how various participants grounded their position in constitutional, regional, and cultural identities to construct a definition of citizenship, and to align new or existing educational institutions in such a way as to configure "schooled subjectivities." Parliamentary members and educational and public associations relied heavily on notions of patriotism, progress, and nationalism to legitimize claims for national educational objectives, while opponents frequently cited constitutional, cultural, and regional differences in rebutting their arguments. How these reformers cast the role of education in society, and, more precisely, the role of the state in shaping national identity/identities through education underpins the central analysis of this study. Moreover, this study offers insights into why Canada is one of only two western industrial countries that do not have either a national ministry of education or a federal office of education.

L'étude des débats au Canada sur un bureau national de l'éducation permet d'examiner comment les divers participants ont basé leur position sur des identités constitutionnelles, régionales et culturelles pour formuler une définition de la citoyenneté et pour aligner les établissements d'enseignement nouveaux ou existants de façon à obtenir des « subjectivités scolarisées ». Les membres parlementaires ainsi que les associations du milieu de l'éducation et du milieu public ont compté énormément sur les notions de patriotisme, de progrès et de nationalisme pour sanctionner les demandes d'objectifs éducatifs nationaux tandis que les opposants ont cité fréquemment les différences constitutionnelles, culturelles et régionales pour critiquer leurs arguments. Cette étude porte sur la façon dont ces réformeurs ont établi le rôle de l'éducation dans la société et, plus précisément, le rôle de l'État pour former l'identité ou les identités nationale(s) par l'éducation. De plus, cette étude aide à comprendre pourquoi le Canada est un des deux seuls pays industrialisés de l'ouest à ne pas avoir un ministère national de l'éducation ou un bureau fédéral de l'éducation.

In 1919, the Ontario minister of Education boldly asserted that "the world today looks to the schools more than any other agency to heal and guard the past and to direct and stabilize progress in the future" (cited in Stamp 1982, 97). One year later, a member of the Canadian federal government declared in the House of Commons, "The task of Canadianizing the foreign-born is fundamentally and solely a question of education" (Meighen 1920). Given that, under the Canadian constitution, education falls within provincial jurisdiction, we might have expected the provincial minister of Education to trumpet calls for educational reform, but the second quotation-the ringing endorsement of the role of education in the "Canadianizing" of citizens, by a federal cabinet minister-signals a salient moment in Canadian educational, political, and cultural history.

This study of the debates in Canada about a national education bureau1 offers an opportunity to explore how various participants grounded their position in constitutional, regional, and cultural identities to construct a definition of what education was and to align new or existing institutions in such a way as to configure "schooled subjectivities."2 As we shall see, parliamentary members and educational and public associations relied heavily on notions of patriotism, progress, and nationalism to legitimize claims for national educational objectives; opponents frequently cited constitutional, cultural, and regional differences in rebutting their arguments. How these reformers cast the role of education in society, and, more precisely, the role of the state in shaping national identity/identities through education, underpins the central analysis of this study. Moreover, this study offers insights into why Canada is one of only two western industrial countries that do not have either a national ministry of education or a federal office of education.

By analyzing the debates over education, we can observe how political structures were subject to contestation and held multiple meanings. As American historian Carroll Smith-Rosenberg has claimed in her study of post-revolutionary debates over citizenship, to understand the links between politics and culture, scholars need to study not only the formal constitutions, but also "the constitution of new political subjects"; they "must move from political theory to cultural theory, from the history of political ideas to the history of political rhetoric" (1992, 848). As we shall see, a particular conflation of interests came together in the early twentieth century to promote a national identity in citizenship education programs across the country through the establishment of a National Bureau of Education.

Senator Rufus Pope, a Conservative, Protestant member of Parliament who represented the rural riding of Compton, Quebec (Parliamentary Guide 1919), set the tone of the debate when he introduced the first resolution on 30 April 1919, proposing "That there should be established in Canada a National Free Compulsory School System." Anticipating an adverse response, Pope attempted to mediate any counterattacks by issuing the proviso that he did not intend to trample "upon or affect the sensibilities of any particular people, class, nationality, religion or minority," despite the fact that he was "absolutely opposed to the recognition of minorities in any shape or form." Instead, in his prolonged speech, he explicitly claimed authority to speak for the entire nation. He characterized the lack of unity in the country by barkening to the divisive effect of the war when Quebec opposed the conscription of soldiers: "No man can travel throughout Canada without realizing that, in the first fifty years of our confederated life, we have failed to a great degree in creating that strong unanimity of sentiment which is so essential to the development of a country...." After 50 years, he declared, a great national cleavage existed and it was time to "consider the reasons why we have not succeeded in creating a more united Canada than we have at the present moment." In advancing his argument-which amounted to a blistering critique of education in Quebec-Pope sought to counteract his opponents' arguments by restructuring for himself a subject position as a native of Quebec, which he claimed allowed him the right to view things "without narrowness or prejudice one way or the other".

Not surprisingly Pope's nation-building enthusiasm was seen by French-Canadian members from Quebec as a ruse for anglophone Canadians to use schools to build a Canadian nation that threatened Quebec's distinctiveness. As Marcel Martel asserts in his study of French Canada, "A whole series of events caused the defining elites to question the foundations of the constitutional compromise that underlay the birth of the country." In Manitoba, for example, political authorities had ceased supporting denominational schools, and in 1890, discontinued the use of French in the courts and the legislature. As well, in 1905, the federal government did little to guarantee the rights of the Catholic minority in the constitutions of the newly created provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Outsourcing student transportation can be successful when the relationship between the school district and contractor is given sufficient attention and understanding.

The shortage of qualified school bus drivers has strained contractual relationships, and has forced school administrators to spend more time actively involved in the transportation system. In addition, consolidation in the student transportation industry has fueled the perception that school districts have fewer contracting options.

The terms and conditions of a contract determine the level, style and quality of service. Transportation contracts should be based on thorough specifications, detailing expectations and needs.

When a school district becomes frustrated by the level of service, often the contractor is simply providing the services spelled out contractually. If necessary, contract terms can be modified through negotiation or rebidding. Any changes must be documented as an addendum to the agreement and consistently enforced.

Reporting Requirements

No one likes surprises in a contract. School districts should require ongoing communication through a combination of monthly written reports and periodic meetings between school district staff and company representatives.

Written reports should not substitute for personal contact. Periodic meetings should be used to discuss performance issues, future requirements and contract issues. The contractor should be required to make an annual presentation to the school board to provide an update on transportation issues, identify planned changes in operations and answer questions.

Although multiyear contracts between bus contractors and school systems are preferable for several reasons, both parties should look at the contract as being only one year in duration. This elevates the level of service and keeps all parties focused on ensuring that contract performance warrants a recommitment.

Ever-changing program demands, fluid demographics, modified regulations and cost pressures make transportation a dynamic function. Both parties must communicate their needs and interests and work cooperatively.

When relationships deteriorate to a point of bitter frustration, it typically results from unrealistic and unexplained expectations or insufficient or nonexistent communications.

Administrators have many other demands, meaning student transportation typically is out of sight and out of mind. The bus terminal is probably located elsewhere in the district, the employees work for someone else, and an existing contract is supposed to cover all events. The district's transportation operation may be the largest in the community, and the yellow buses are rolling billboards for the educational system. When problems arise, the administrator assumes the contractor can and will fix the problem.

Unfortunately, not all problems are easily solved. Nationally, a shortage of qualified bus drivers challenges almost every transportation system. Contractors have tried creative approaches to find and train drivers, but the supply of drivers does not meet the demand. As in any basic economic model, the equilibrium point between supply and demand is determined by price--or, in this case, the cost of labor.

As contractors run short of drivers, districts continue to demand a consistent level of service. However, unless the wage and benefit levels can increase to the point of bringing the supply and demand into balance, the contractor will not be able to continue to meet the district's expectations. To provide required services, contractors will incur labor cost increases that may exceed the amount of the contract with the district.

These issues do not develop overnight, but the effects can be surprising if the level of service is not discussed between the parties and if both parties do not attempt to understand the other's requirements.

The first day of school should not start with the contractor missing runs due to a "surprise" driver shortage, while service interruptions should not occur due to a labor stoppage that was unforeseen by the district.

At times, changes must be made in student transportation. This could be precipitated by the district determining that a new bid is required or by the contractor deciding that a new contract is necessary to meet operating or financial needs.

Regardless of the reasons, the key element to the decision process is a timely determination that a bid is necessary. To generate effective competition and to allow firms to properly begin a new contract, a bid must be issued five to seven months prior to the expiration of the contract, depending on the size of the transportation program.

Sometimes situations arise that significantly affect the ability of the school to offer and operate the programs they desire. For example, a driver shortage may mean that the contractor cannot offer extracurricular buses during the afternoon school-to-home runs. On a more severe note, a labor stoppage by the contractor s employees could have an impact on the operation of the entire school program.

Waiting tables and working summers for a surveying firm gave David Hilmer a nice nest egg for college at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Although the money he saved was a good start, it was not enough. "After about a year and a half, I was scrambling--thinking how I was going to cover my dorm expenses and tuition," he recalls. Now working as the director of business development at Little Tornadoes, an Internet consulting firm in New York City, Hilmer looks back and says that student loans (a federal Perkins, Stafford, and a university loan) enabled him to graduate.

With the high cost of a college education today, it is no wonder students are relying more on loans than ever before to help them make ends meet, according to the College Board. The good news is that interest rates are currently at record lows of less than 3 percent on the Stafford.

To make smart decisions about borrowing, you still need to plan ahead now and understand your options when it comes time for repayment. Here are some simple guidelines that apply to the major federal loan programs--the Perkins, the Stafford, the PLUS--as well as independent bank loans.

Keep in mind that every dollar you borrow must be repaid, with interest, which can really add up over a 10-year (or longer) repayment term.

"It's easy to think a $200-a-month payment is not a big deal, says Hilmer "but those payments can take a big chunk out of your monthly income, and you're going to need to pay your bills."

To get some idea of how much is too much, you need to estimate how much you'll be able to pay back once you graduate. That involves estimating your future salary and expenses.

If you do wind up borrowing more than you can afford, you run the risk of defaulting, or failing to pay back your loan according to agreed-upon terms. These terms are specified in a promissory note, a legal document that binds you to make regular payments.

Default usually results after you miss payments for 180 days. Many defaulted loans are sent to collection agencies that may charge costly late fees and take money from your wages. Worst of all, a defaulted loan can haunt you later because it will be recorded as part of your credit history for seven years. Lenders refer to your credit history when you apply for any major loan.

"Credit bureaus keep close tabs on delinquencies," says Tom Lustig, vice president and director of marketing at PNC Bank. If lenders see you have a defaulted loan, they may deny you a mortgage, car loan, credit card, or personal loan, or charge a higher interest rate.

Most lenders provide students with charts to help track repayments. Keep in mind: If you can't make a monthly installment, immediately contact your lender or servicer (the company that owns your loan) to discuss the problem. Plus paying on time has further advantages--many lenders will give about a 1 percent discount to students who make.

Knowing the terms of your loan--the conditions by which you have borrowed and are obligated to repay the money--can help you avoid default. But first you should start by understanding some basic loan terms:

Grace period. A period of time--usually lasting six months after you leave college--when many student loans don't require repayment. After the grace period, a deferment or forbearance can temporarily suspend repayment.

Deferment. A period when a borrower who meets certain criteria may temporarily stop loan payments. Depending on your type of loan, the federal government may pay the interest on it during your deferment period. New borrowers might be eligible for a deferment if they are still enrolled in school half-time or full-time; unemployed; studying in an approved graduate fellowship or rehabilitation program for the disabled; or experiencing economic hardship.

Forbearance. The temporary suspension of repayment in cases of hardship. Anyone with student loans may claim forbearance for six months at a time, for up to a total of three years, but interest still accrues.

Loan consolidation. Combining several loans into one bigger loan from a single lender, which is then used to pay off the balances on the other loans. Consolidation can lower the monthly payments and extend the repayment period to a max of 30 years, but you'll pay more interest.

A few weeks ago, a radio-talk show host contacted me with a request to book a couple of student writers on his show, which often addresses issues related to colleges and universities. He hoped to interview students who had written controversial articles for my website, BlackCollegeWire.org. We complied eagerly. There was just one catch: The program isn't broadcast on terrestrial radio" as we know it, or even on satellite radio. It's broadcast online at PSiradio.com or downloaded via podcast.

This is just one example of how "new media" technologies, such as the Internet and portable digital or wireless devices, have changed the landscape of mass media and the field of mass communications as a whole.

A Google search turns up eight distinct definitions for "new media," ranging from "artworks that use multimedia... and computer technology," to "emerging digital/electronic communications forms." In any case, today's students preparing for any career in media should assume they will be working in a multimedia environment - and a rapidly changing one at that.

Remember when you purchased your first laptop with all latest bells and whistles only to find, a year or so later, that it was obsolete? Similarly, if you entered journalism or media programs four years ago, you may have thought you wanted to be a TV reporter or producer, or perhaps a newspaper or magazine editor or columnist, or a radio announcer. Maybe you were interested in graphic design, illustration, photography or video engineering for a mass medium. Four years later, those professions have metamorphosed into new forms, and you need to be educated and trained as a multimedia communicator.

"What happens," asks the website for the New Media Program at the University of California at Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, "when distinctions between print and broadcast media fade away and a single reporter must combine video, audio, text and images to tell the story?"

TV reporters and newspaper columnists are now more likely to have blogs on their employers' websites, complete with video and audio clips. Print communicators also blog and now often carry digital cameras that shoot still and video images. Their stories are posted online within hours (or sometimes minutes) of being produced along with photos and video clips. Content may be produced, edited, distributed and "consumed" simultaneously in multiple formats as varied as audio podcasts, email or newsreader feeds, interactive forums, and live or on-demand streams delivered to computers, PDAs or even cellphones, as well as in newsprint and broadcast.

This doesn't mean that the bedrock skills imparted by traditional journalism and communications training are out of date. A strong command of language both spoken and written, the ability to research, digest and communicate information clearly and economically on a fast turn-around, and a familiarity with principles of publishing ethics and copyright may all be more relevant and in-demand than ever. However, finding gainful employment in media increasingly demands that candidates be able to marry traditional skills with some cross-disciplinary training and multimedia work experience.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the overall employment outlook for media-related occupations is a good news-bad news story. Consolidation and convergence among the large and more traditional organizations in the media and publishing industry has slowed job growth for such occupations as news analysts, reporters, and correspondents, and caused a decline for some, such as non-online broadcast announcers.

Nonetheless, for most media and mass communications majors armed with good training and updated skills needed for the shifting media landscape and its new digital tools, the underlying picture is less bleak.

If your goal was to become a graphic designer four years ago, you are now headed for a field that has become wholly digitized, so that designers with website design and digital animation experience will have the best opportunities and likely the highest salaries in the profession, according to the 2004 BLS analysis.

For print communicators, the BLS offered a similar outlook: "Online publications and services are growing in number and sophistication, spurring the demand for writers and editors, especially those with Web experience" and backgrounds in specialized areas such as science or business. Also proliferating are corporate and nonprofit vehicles outside the "traditional media" industries where communications majors can use their skills. Nearly every major corporation, for example, from pharmaceuticals to automotive, maintains a newsletter, brochures and annual reports, multimedia web channels, and online PR campaigns - often produced in-house and more or less professionally. Similarly, easier, cheaper publishing technologies have allowed small, highly targeted niche publications to flower, from multicultural and non-English outlets, to trade and hobby magazines, to "alternative" newswire and syndication services. Even as representation of African Americans has been spotty or sparse in mainstream news and entertainment media - in employment and community coverage - Black-owned and Blackoriented media companies have grown in number in recent years, with new media players like Black Planet and BlackAmericaWeb joining the more traditional BETs, Ebonys, or Black Collegians of the world.

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.

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.

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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).

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).

ScholarshipPoints.com, a free service from the Student Loan Network, announces changes to the Scholarship program. ScholarshipPoints.com will continue to award a $1,000 scholarship every quarter -- but has replaced quarterly second and third place scholarships with a new monthly drawing for a $250 scholarship.

Students who sign up at ScholarshipPoints.com can start earning points toward the scholarship drawings. "Each month we offer opportunities to keep earning points -- through refer-a-friend programs, surveys and other promotions," said Joe Cronin, president of the Student Loan Network. "And, we've gotten such positive feedback from students and financial aid offices alike. It made sense to start doing monthly drawings in addition to a quarterly drawing."

In mid-July, ScholarshipPoints.com awarded the quarterly $1,000 scholarship to Brianna Morris, who is attending Community College of Beaver County. The scholarship will help her in reaching her goal of completing the Professional Pilot Program. July's scholarship winner will be announced later this month.

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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.