The overall objective was implementation of a fully integrated and functional CORE laboratory. The "CORE laboratory" is a model of a fully integrated and functional, multifaceted, clinical laboratory. Delineation of the process is to enable clinical laboratory managers, in the government or civilian sectors, to make sound decisions about formulating and implementing the CORE laboratory concept. The defining and comprehensive decisions should be based on concept requirements, advantages, disadvantages, and employee core competency assessments. Operationally, the organizational change resulted in well-rounded, multidisciplinary, multiskilled laboratorians and instructors/mentors for the Phase II military medical laboratory technician (91K student) training program. As of this time, our laboratory is the only Department of the Army medical center that operates a fully integrated and functional CORE laboratory.

The Department of Pathology and Area Laboratory Services of Dwight David Elsenhower Army Medical Center (DDEAMC) has undergone a reengineering of its physical layout to create a better, more effective, clinical laboratory. Before full implementation of the CORE laboratory concept at our facility, the automated stat chemistry, hematology, and urinalysis sections were structured as three separate entities, staffed with respective supervisors and uniquely trained and highly skilled laboratorians who were specialists in their particular disciplines. For example, the hematology section was staffed with personnel knowledgeable and technically proficient in hematology only, and likewise for the automated stat chemistry and urinalysis sections. This form of organizational structure not only created sectional experts but also fostered great limitations in personnel utilization. In addition, it lacked the flexibility to cross-level staff during shortages, created divisiveness, and diminished crosstalk between peers concerning commonly noted problems and technical knowledge. Similarly, it increased the cost of doing business because of lack of consolidation of analytical platforms, which sometimes contributed to delays in analyzing emergency samples for critical patients. Typically, in other medical centers within the Department of the Army and probably in the Department of Defense medical centers, the areas that are colocated include portions of the chemistry subspecialty such as automated routine chemistry profile testing, immunoassay testing of hormones, therapeutic drug monitoring, blood gases/ osmolality/ionized calcium testing, urine screening for drugs of abuse, and urinalysis. The hematology component usually includes automated complete blood counts and coagulation analysis.1,2 Although their laboratorians might have been crosstrained, their utilization has been contrary to the CORE laboratory concept that is exhibited by DDEAMC. Our laboratory is designed around a CORE laboratory concept, in which high-volume automated routine chemistry, urinalysis, hematology, coagulation, and flow cytometry testing are colocated in a large open-bay laboratory. Our laboratorians are cross-trained and, as a result, they become generalists who are able to rotate through all of the workstations in the CORE laboratory.

Why CORE Laboratory?

Clinical laboratory medicine is becoming highly automated and costs necessitate more streamlined processes. This is especially true for federally financed Army medical center laboratories. Similarly, the force projection for the 21st century reveals that the most severe dilemma that faces military laboratory medicine is outsourcing. Except for military readiness issues, all other military laboratory medicine aspects could be outsourced to the civilian sectors. This outsourcing could be controlled effectively if military laboratorians fostered innovative ways of doing laboratory medicine business that are more costeffective and enhance productivity and efficiency. Another aspect of this equation is the dwindling enlisted military personnel workforce coupled with an aging civilian laboratorian population. Of equal importance is the civilian sector's mantra for the 21st century that alludes to the outsourcing issue, cost cutting, competitiveness, and the right to claim "center of excellence" status.2 A graphical representation of these concerns is illustrated in Figure 1.

Planning and Construction Phases

Discussions regarding this re-engineering began in earnest in early June 1998 and are just now coming to fruition. Several preconstruction meetings were held between management and the laboratory staff members. The premise behind these meetings was to get their collective input regarding the process and to solicit their expertise on the physical configuration of the laboratory, thus creating better workstations and a more cohesive workflow. The goal was to have the laboratorians participate in the decision-making process, which fosters claims of ownership of the concept that will influence their work environment.3 Serious consideration was given to ergonomics, platform placement, and workstation layout, to include specimen-receiving and specimen-processing workstations. Similar preconstruction meetings were held between management and the contracted construction company. The focus of these meetings was to discuss and set construction milestones and major objectives for each construction phase. Other major facets of preconstruction concerns were also discussed, and provisions for the following were addressed: (1) space options outside the pathology department to accommodate operations during renovations; (2) constraints for renovation (e.g., break room and restrooms); (3) other laboratories that recently underwent renovation/major construction; (4) a checklist to help organize planning and preparation; (5) working relationships and expectations (pathology, health care facility planners, contractors, and management); and (6) agendas for discussion for the follow-up, preconstruction, management meeting.

The book on how one optometrist got to the closing table for $750 or less... twice!

DOTS owning your own private practice seem like a dream that's out of reach? Considering the expense and risk of purchasing a practice, it's not surprising that a large percentage of new grads opt for commercial practice or employment.

Yet at age 31,1 own two private practices with my wife, Dr. Annamarie Milburn. She is 30. We have one practice in Medina, Ohio and another in Wooster, Ohio. Let me assure you, if we can do it - you can, too!

At times, it was a struggle to get our businesses running as smoothly as they should. Everyday presents a new challenge, but the benefits of owning our practices are huge. The tax breaks, the freedom to work and vacation when we like, the equity that we will build in the businesses and the real estate, the ability to practice as we choose - these are just a few of the benefits.

In this article, I'll share how we made it to the closing table on a shoestring budget - twice in the first five years of our careers. We relied on creativity, determination, and a little bit of luck to structure the deals, which in no way stressed our personal finances. We did not incur costs above and beyond $750 until after we signed on the dotted line, and those costs were immediately repaid by our new practice. Hopefully, this story will spark ideas, inspire grads and motivate colleagues to find and purchase the practice of their dreams.

Soon after graduation, at age 26,1 stumbled on to our first practice opportunity - a senior doc who was ready to retire and willing to finance. I located this practice through a classified ad placed with the Ohio Optometric Association. The seller was semi-retired and working only oneand-a-half days per week. The practice was barely making any money, but the location was outstanding.

The practice was a small, but modern, well-equipped office located in an area with healthy growth. Annamarie and I decided to go against conventional wisdom. We bought a dying practice, but we did so in a calculated fashion. The price was right and the financing was in place. It was a classic diamond in the rough scenario.

The new practice was on life-support, so we had no choice but to moonlight for another doctor while we attempted to turn things around. The new practice grew steadily and doubled in size after about four years. Still, the practice could not support two doctors full-time. We became impatient having to work part-time outside our practice. We decided last year that the next logical evolution for our practice was a satellite office.

We looked for a strong, healthy practice. With four years of business experience, we felt confident that we could handle a busier office this time around, but the search proved challenging. It's easy to find a dying practice. It's much tougher to find a doctor who is willing to part with a healthy, profitable private practice.

We searched for about six months and had no luck with classified ads, placement services or practice brokers. Our criteria were too specific: a busy, modern private practice within 45 minutes of our first location. It seemed we might have to wait years.

Finally, I tried a Hail Mary pass. During the first week of December 2004,1 mailed a letter to every optometrist in Northeast Ohio asking if they might be ready to sell. Out of more than 200 inquiries, I received 13 replies. Three were contenders, but only one deserved serious attention. We signed a contract on February 15th, and took control of our second practice on April 1st, 2005.

If you think there are no practices for sale in your area, then I strongly recommend a mailing. State your intentions in a letter to every doctor within 30 miles of your home. Often times, a doctor may consider selling, but would never place a classified ad in a publication. Your letter may convert a hesitant seller into a new retiree!

Negotiating price

Once negotiations started in earnest, talk with the seller quickly turned to the most sensitive issue, price. The seller has poured his heart and soul into a practice and there is a lot of pride at stake. A seller could be greatly offended by a young doctor offering a low-ball price. Not to mention that many sellers expect the sale to fund a large chunk of their retirement.

On the other hand, sellers seldom consider the younger doctor's problems, such as the enormous debt burden that graduates face. The ensuing tug-ofwar will usually determine a fair price. If not, you must be prepared to walk away. Do not get emotionally attached during the early stages of a negotiation.

Some words of advice: the purchase price is not the most important part of a deal. You must consider the big picture. Will the senior doc stay involved in the practice? Will the senior doc sign a work agreement? Will the non-compete clause be tough enough? Is the senior doc going to finance? How much are the down payment, monthly payments and rent? Can you purchase the building, or at least get a purchase option on the building?

With spyware threatening corporate networks, whether it be adware hogging bandwidth or malicious code logging personal data, network executives are being forced to define their defensive strategies.

Lots of tools and software have hit the market recently, and network executives are left to decide which weapon works best - typically less-expensive gateway-based filters or more-expensive but possibly more-effective desktop software or, even more costly a combination of the two.

The Network World Clear Choice Test of enterprise spyware (page 52) suggests the gateway approach might be the best starting point for IT managers wanting to shore up defense quickly.

A gateway can filter out spyware at least as well as desktop software, based on the test of 18 products. Tester Barry Nance found gateways easier to administer than desktop machines. Plus, "users can't fool with it," as they might with their desktop software, Nance says.

Analysts weighing the pros and cons of the basic strategies also point out that the cost to install a gateway in many instances is going to be low in comparison with installing anti-spyware software on the desktop.

"The cateway alternative works reasonably well to reduce the impact of spyware, is less expensive to operate and maintain than desktop mitigation, consumes fewer overall resources and is readily controlled," says a security report titled "Enterprise Strategies for Defending Against Spyware" from Burton Group.

But Burton Group's stance toward anti-spyware gateways comes with several provisos. One is that organizations might want to deploy anti-spyware software on desktops if they have a substantial number of mobile desktops that can become infected. Burton Group urges IT managers buying for desktops to make sure anti-spyware products integrate with other technologies, such as network admission controls and anti-virus defense.

Using both gateway and desktop software anti-spyware will increase protection but clearly adds costs that could be hard to justify under a tight budget, a Burton Group report notes. "The added cost and inconvenience of running redundant systems may not be justifiable for the low-risk systems associated with spyware," the report says.

In all, Burton Group says any organization that considers its network environment "low-risk" may want to forgo buying anti-spyware protection at all (see graphic). That's because the anti-spyware market is still young. Industry consolidation is expected to occur quickly

There are an estimated 35,000 species of spyware, with more spawned every day But security vendors don't have the same name or classification systems. At Symantec, whose traditional strength has been anti-virus, the Trojans, bots and worms are classified as "malicious code." But "spyware" is simply "any program you probably don't want on your machine," whether it be dialers or adware, says Symantec's director of security response, David Cole.

He notes this definition is different from that accepted by the "pure play" anti-spyware product vendors without the antivirus background, which classify bots, Trojans and keyloggers as spyware.

In any case, detection mechanisms for these thousands of disputed spyware types can be expected to improve. The Network World test, for example, found a top detection and eradication rate to be at 90%, achieved by the McAfee Secure Web Gateway

Few expect demand for spyware products to stay small for long. Radicati Group, a consultancy estimates the market is at about $100 million today and will rise to more than $1 billion in the next four years.

Users agree they'll be spending more whatever strategy they choose. Although his budget is strained by other IT expenditures, including an e-commerce overhaul, Erik Goldof, IT systems manager at HoneyBaked Ham, says the spyware threat is big enough that he's trying to determine which protection would be best for his company

"Spyware steals CPU, and multiple adware products on the desktop bring it to a halt," at the specialty foods supplier in Norcross, Ga., Goldof says. "What gives them the right to do this!"

Even public schools now feel an urgency about combating spyware.

The Northern Buckeye Educational Council, in Archbold, Ohio, provides technology support and Internet services to 37 K-12 public-school districts in the state. Duane Baker, CTO for the group, says IT administrators found it appalling to discover that schoolchildren's laptops were infested with spyware, which relayed children's Web activity to unknown sources. "These kids click on things and they get it," Baker says.

Student laptops were becoming so clogged with spyware they downloaded - Claria's adware Gator is well-known to Ohio officials - the state's network saw bandwidth congestion, while officials felt growing concern that children's personal data might be stolen by some spyware code.

"We just don't think this is even legal under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act," Baker says. Because students are minors, it's doubtful the law would recognize a legal right to consent to download adware anyway, he says.

Cable diversity is not where it should be, but it's getting better. That's the consensus we got from cable executives when we asked them about workplace diversity.

That viewpoint is reflected in our Top 50 Most Influential Minorities in Cable list, which is dominated by programming executives. By all accounts, programmers have more people of color in higher positions than operators. Take a look at the top 10, and you'll see people of color who run companies (Dick Parsons and Al Liggins), networks (Christina Norman, Johnathan Rodgers, Debra Lee, Laureen Ong and Ray Rodriguez) and head up important divisions (Manish Jha, Herb Scannell and Albert Cheng).

Still, judging by the high quality of MSO executives in the top 20, senior operator ranks are becoming more diverse, as well.

We've done a few things differently with this list. For the first time, we ranked the executives, from 1 to 50. We also included an unranked list of 50 more executives who are knocking at the door.

1. Richard Parsons

chairman and CEO, Time Warner

Earlier this year Institutional Investor magazine named Parsons the top CEO in the entertainment industry, and for good reason. The jazz-loving, vineyard-owning Parsons is a highly regarded consensus builder who has streamlined and revived Time Warner.

2. Christina Norman

president, MTV

The top programmer on our list, Norman was promoted in May to president of the most powerful youth-oriented brand on the planet. This followed her stellar run overseeing VH1. She's also increasing diversity by spearheading MTV World's stable of ethnic-targeted networks.

3. Manish Jha

SVP, ESPN Mobile, president, NAMIC

Jha's soft-spoken demeanor belies a razor-sharp business acumen. He'll rely on both as he leads NAMIC and the content and operations sides of Bristol's worldwide wireless business, which next year plans to launch the first U.S. wireless phone service targeted at sports fans.

4. Johnathan Rodgers

president/CEO,TV One

Al Liggins

chairman, TV One

One of the most respected executives in cable, Rodgers' long track record is a key reason this duo is so high on the list. Add in that TV One gained so many subs this year (it's in 21-plus million homes) and its deals with Time Warner Cable and DirecTV, and you see why these two will remain on the list for years to come.

5. Debra Lee

president/COO, BET

As BET marks 25 years, the channel's leadership is passing from founder/chairman Bob Johnson to Lee, who recruited highly regarded filmmaker Reginald Hudlin to be programming chief last month. Now the network is ready to produce more ambitious content and generate a higher industry profile.

6. Laureen Ong

president, National Geographic Channel

One of cable's funniest execs, the indefatigable Ong is leading a ratings and growth success story. National Geographic's reach is 55 million homes as it readies an HD launch on its fifth birthday in January. Its reputation for hard- hitting storytelling was enhanced by its four-part review of 9/11 in August.

7. Herb Scannell

president, MTV Networks Group

Scannell broke a racial barrier years ago--not just at Viacom but within cable when he took the helm of Nickelodeon in 1996. Diversity on camera and behind the scenes has increased at MTVN on his watch, during which the Hispanic- themed Dora the Explorer cartoon became a household name.

8. Albert Cheng

SVP, bus. strategy and devel., ESPN

Disney doesn't just value ESPN Networks Affiliate Sales and Marketing's Cheng as its highest ranked minority (which he is) but also for his "televisionary" insights into the direction of its content across platforms and emerging media. As such, he has the ear (and respect) of Anne Sweeney and George Bodenheimer.

9. Ray Rodriguez

president/COO, Univision Comm.

With more contenders than ever in the Spanish-language-channel universe, Univision remains the medium's kingpin under Rodriguez. Galavision, which turned 25 last year, continues to be the top-rated Spanish cable net, and is bringing back domestically produced programming this fall, led by interactive hour Access Maximo (All Access).

10. Henry Ahn

SVP, affiliate sales, NBC Universal Cable

A few years back, then-NBC Cable chief and grad school professor David Zaslav was so impressed with student Henry Ahn that he offered him a job. Good choice. Recently promoted, Ahn's one of Zaslav's top lieutenants, overseeing the field sales team and handling Olympics distribution deals, among other things.

11. Doug Gaston

SVP/general counsel, Comcast

Called the "cream of the minorities in the cable legal brain trust" by D.C. cable veteran Frank Lloyd, Gaston has become known mostly for his behind- the-scenes work. As the principal legal counsel to Comcast's senior management (and the only African-American general counsel at an MSO), he has emerged as one of the highest-ranked minorities among all the MSOs.

Have you ever considered how much interest you are paying every month for all your loans? Moreover at times it becomes impossible to keep track of all the monthly payments you are suppose to make. The result is accumulation of further charges and interest on the already high rate of interest. You credit score also keep reducing in the market in the process. This is all the more true for people, who are having multiple debts, in the market from credit cards, banks, other financial lending companies and private lenders. If this is the case with you as well, a debt consolidation program of any trustworthy debt consolidation company can be your savior.

To benefit significantly from the debt consolidation, you need to find out a professional debt consolidation company who offers the service at lower interest and in easy terms and conditions. There are so many debt management companies operating in the market and you need to choose one according to your convenience. There are basically two common practices in the debt consolidating market. You can opt service that basically a loan that let’s you recover all your previous loans and pay for the single debt. But the rate of interest in these type of loans can be more than hat you are paying at present. So be sure to check for the details of the rate of interest as well as the terms and conditions.

There is another type of debt consolidating process in which the debt consolidation company pays all your existing loans and you have to pay for the single loan of that company. This is basically a debt consolidation and management solution in which you gain in the long run. This type of debt management provides you with accountability as well as you need to pay less interest if compared with all other loans that you are having. Moreover most of these debt consolidation companies provide you with debt management counseling that will help you to compare between different possibilities and determine the best option for you. With this type of consolidation service your credit score also increases in the market.

All said and done, the basic question remains. You have to select the best possible debt consolidation company to benefit from all these options. It is better to select a company based on recommendation of someone who have dealt with a debt consolidation company.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Arvind_Singh

Getting into debt is easy. In fact, sometimes it's even enjoyable. It's paying off your debts that is very hard -- and not a pleasant thing to do. For this reason, some people choose extreme measures -- including bankruptcy -- to ease their financial worries. Before you seriously consider doing something this drastic, consider all your options.

Non-Profit Credit Card Debt Consolidation Agencies

These companies offer free help to anyone who has an unusual amount of credit card debt. And although their services are free, you do get a lot of value in return for working with them. In short, you can reduce and eliminate your debts while restoring your credit rating.

Why Consolidate Debts?

You gain several things when you consolidate your debts:

* Lower payments

* Reduced balances

* Lower interest rates

* One payment per month instead of many

* No more phone calls at home

How it works

Unlike when you secure a home mortgage refinancing, a home equity loan and/or a personal loan, debt consolidation agencies will not give you any money in return for collateral. Instead, the agency will negotiate on your behalf with creditors for lower interest rates, payments, and/or balances on your debt. For this reason alone, these agencies are a good option for non-homeowners.

Benefits of Using a Non-Profit Debt Consolidation Agency

In general, non-profit debt consolidation agencies will not charge you any kind of enrollment fee upfront. They may charge you a monthly service fee but it is usually pretty small. They can do this because they do not have to show a fat bottom line to their shareholders. In fact there are no shareholders -- that is what is meant by "non-profit." As a result, they pass the savings on to you, their client.

This means that all (or nearly all) the money you give them goes toward paying off your credit card balances as quickly as possible. On average, repayment plans for debt consolidation last two to seven years. However, larger debt amounts may require a longer payoff period.

How Do You Choose a Debt Consolidation Agency?

There are lots of different kinds of agencies. So do your research before contacting them. Each non-profit debt consolidation agency has its own requirements. For example, some prefer clients with larger debts, whereas others will accept persons with debts under $2,000.

The best way to make an informed decision is to talk to a counselor, either on the phone or in person. You'll be asked to provide the agency with accurate information about your income, expenses and the level of your debt. After that, a credit counselor will work up a realistic and affordable payment plan.

Conclusion

Don't wait until your debts are handed over to a collection agency. Once that happens you have very few options. Instead, contact a non-profit credit card debt consolidation agency today. You'll be glad you did.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ara_Rubyan

MERICANS HAVE TO CHANGE THEIR ATTITUDES ABOUT retirement planning. Many think they can take their time, but that kind of thinking will not leave much of a nest egg. In years past, Americans would hold one for 25 years then retire with a pension that could carry them through their golden years. That rarely happens these days. The rules of retirement planning have changed.

* RULE NO. 1: You Must Start Now. The earlier you begin planning for your retirement the better off you'll be. If you consistently save and invest, over the 40 years most of us can expect to work, the results can be tremendously favorable. The small sums you save in your early 20s will have the full 40 years to work for you in the stock market. Remember, if you invested $1,000 in Microsoft stock in January 1985, with stock splits and dividends, your money would have grown to more than $334,000 by August 2005. That is after the big 1987 crash and the tech wreck of 2000. The key is finding companies you can grow with over 20 years.

* RULE NO. 2: We're Living Longer, So You'll Need More Money When You Retire. People are living beyond 80 and 90, and chances are, you'll be one of them. Living longer means dealing with an increasing cost of living after you stop working. This means that your retirement planning must ensure that you don't run out of money in your golden years.

* RULE NO. 3: Don't Count On Social Security. With all the talk about privatizing Social Security, it's almost certain that there will be some changes to the system before you are ready to retire. Whatever you receive from Social Security will most likely not be enough to pay your expenses. Your retirement planning must ensure that you are not dependent on it for survival.

* RULE NO. 4: Manage Your Retirement Like You Manage Your Career. Without a career, where would you be? Without retirement savings, where will you be 20 or 30 years from now? Just as you must invest in your career and make the right moves daily to keep it on track, you must do the same with your retirement planning.

The following package is designed to help you start planning for your retirement, no matter what stage of life you are in. No one else will take on this responsibility for you. Turn the page and commit to taking action today. You owe it to yourself, your family, and your future.

20s

Budgeting Is Everything

SAVING FOR RETIREMENT STARTS WITH STRICT SPENDING IN YOUR YOUTH

KIYON SPENCER IS WIDE-EYED AND ready to take on life. The 22-year-old, who received his bachelor's in entertainment production through an individualized study program at New York University last year, has been working at Fox cable television network. As a sales assistant in the advertising sales department, Spencer earns a base salary of $30,000 and lives in New York City with two roommates. He contributes 8% of his base pay to his 401(k) and his employer matches 50 cents of each dollar up to 6%.

Spencer got a good start, but his college years came with a price. He owes about $19,000 in student loans and, after consolidating them, he's paying them back at the rate of about $108 a month. He didn't work while he was in NYU and relied on credit cards to cover some of his school expenses. Consequently, he has about $4,000 in credit card debt. Spencer also admits to having a "bad shopping habit." He's got a thing for clothes but says he's a smart shopper. "I know quality and I get good deals," says Spencer. His other fetish is movies--he has more than 200 DVDs and his collection is growing.

Spencer the Spender will have to turn into Spencer the Saver if he is to reach his goals. He would like to go to graduate school in a couple of years and, in the not-too-distant future, explore job opportunities in film or television. He will likely take a pay cut if he gets a more creative job, and he will need to be sure he can afford to do that and keep his debt under control.

He's already looking down the line to the day he can kiss the 9-to-5 goodbye. "I don't know that I would want to ever fully retire, but I would like to be financially secure by age 55," says Spencer, who defines financial security as having the ability to travel and not worry about how to pay the bills. "Right now, I wonder if the dollars I'm saving will go far enough in the future. My grandparents saved and made good decisions about money so they are alright in retirement. My room is approaching retirement age and, while she has some things in place on her own, she may be looking to me to help take care of her. It's tough because when you think you're somewhat prepared, there's always the unexpected." He adds, "I think retirement is harder than it appears. I want to be in good shape when I get there."

Question: I'm still in college and have about two years to go. Should I refinance the student loans I already have even though I will be getting other loans to finish school?

Answer: Yes, by all means consolidate your loans right away.

Interest rates on outstanding Stafford loans will rise substantially on July 1. Start the consolidation process before then so that you can lock in the current rate -- 4.7 percent for students who are still in school or for new grads who are in the six-month post-graduation grace period, and 5.3 percent for borrowers already in repayment.

If all your loans are held by a single lender, contact that lender to get information about consolidating. If your loans are held by a number of lenders, go to ConsolidationComparison.com or FinAid.com for information and help in choosing a lender.

Question: I'm 21 and will soon be graduating from nursing school. I want to buy a car, but I don't have any credit. Will I be able to finance a car, or should I keep saving my money to pay for one in full?

Answer: Even if you had a credit record, it could be tough for you to finance a car. Whether justified or not, dealers often assume that young, first-time car buyers are a flighty bunch. "They change jobs, move around and have no history for lenders to gauge how they'll repay," says one dealer.

Even using a credit card responsibly for a few years may not be enough. If you've never had a car loan, a dealer might still turn you down.

Check into special programs offered by automakers to help recent or soon-to-be graduates purchase a new or used car. Or check with your own bank or credit union (or your parents') to see if you can arrange financing before you hit the dealerships. Then you can compare rates.

As a last resort, you could ask a parent to co-sign a loan with you. That's something the two of you should negotiate, but it's not my favorite option. I don't like the idea of parents and kids mixing credit histories, and your parents would be on the hook if you were late making payments or defaulted on the loan.

As forecast in my April 15 column, student loan rates will increase dramatically on July 1. Based on the May auction of Treasury bills, rates on Stafford Loans for those in school, in grace or in deferment will jump to 6.54 percent a year from 4.7 percent. Stafford Loans already in repayment will jump to 7.14 percent from 5.3 percent. And rates on PLUS loans (for parents) will jump to 7.94 percent from 6.1 percent.

Let me put my advice in bold type: If you have a student loan and have not consolidated and locked in current low rates, you must do it now -- today. This advice applies to graduates and current students, even though you may take out other loans in the future.

In order to lock in the current lower rates, you must have a "substantially completed" loan consolidation application on file by midnight, June 30.

When you consolidate your loan, the rate will be a weighted average of your existing loans. Current students could potentially lock in a consolidation rate as low as 4.75 percent, compared with a rate of 6.625 percent after July 1. Older loans might result in a higher consolidated rate.

A special note for student borrowers who are still in school: This will be the last opportunity to consolidate existing loans while you're in school. Changes in the law mean that all future consolidations must be done after graduation.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Where do I consolidate? If you have only one lender, you must consolidate with that lender. If you have loans from different lenders, you can consolidate with any lender approved by the Department of Education.

uHow do I compare? By law, all lenders and consolidators must charge the same rate, and may not charge additional fees. But many lenders do offer additional special deals.

For example, Sallie Mae, a private company that is the largest lender and consolidator, will shave one-quarter of a percent off your loan rate if you agree to have your monthly payments directly debited from your checking account. Many other lenders offer this same deal.

And many lenders offer a full percentage point drop in your interest rate after you've paid your loan on time for 36 months. You'll want to find a lender that offers these benefits.

uIs there anything to watch out for? Yes, you need to watch out for several key points when choosing a place to consolidate your loan.

Make sure your loan is eligible. Some lenders will not consolidate loans of less than $5,000 and others have maximum consolidation limits. Find out before you apply, since the deadline is fast approaching.

Make sure the lender is eligible. The lender must be approved by the Department of Education, and before applying, confirm that it can consolidate loans from all of your original lenders.

Ask about minimums or caps on the discount deals. A typical requirement is at least a $7,500 loan balance for automatic debit, and a $10,000 original loan balance to qualify for the prompt payment discount after 36 months.

uWhat if I have both subsidized and unsubsidized federal student loans? You can, and should, consolidate both types of loans. In fact, you can consolidate them into one loan without losing the benefit of the federal subsidy that not only defers interest while you are in school, but actually pays your interest for that period.

uWhat if I have private student loans? Private student loans can also be consolidated. These loans must be consolidated separately, and the rate will be variable and based on the student or co- signer's credit.

uWhat if my parents have PLUS loans? Parents can consolidate PLUS loans and lock in current rates of 6.125 percent for as long as 30 years. The same rules apply regarding where you can consolidate.

uWhich lender should I choose? Student loan consolidation has become a big business, with billions in loans outstanding. Since the loans are federally guaranteed to the lender, it is also a profitable, low-risk business. That's why you're seeing

so many advertisements, and e-mails on the subject.

With time running short, you want a company that will let you apply online and efficiently to make sure you beat the deadline.

As long as you follow the guidelines above, and don't procrastinate, you'll save a small fortune in interest over the life of your loan. And that's The Savage Truth.

Collegiate Funding Services is a leading education finance company dedicated to providing students and their families with the practical advice and loan solutions they need to help pay for and manage the cost of higher education. Collegiate Funding Services also offers a comprehensive portfolio of education loan products and services--including loan origination, loan servicing and campus-based scholarship and affinity marketing tools-to the higher education community. Since 1998, Collegiate Funding Services has facilitated the origination of over $20 billion in education loans and currently manages $12 billion in student loans for more than 460,000 borrowers.

We offer STAFFORD and PLUS loan programs that reward borrowers for automatic withdrawals and consecutive on-time payments. Our PLUS loan programs also offer parents the option to delay payments for up to 48 months while their son or daughter is attending school. CERTIFIED and NON-CERTIFIED PRIVATE EDUCATION loan programs are available to finance up to 100% of a student's higher education. Our beneficial programs are for undergraduates, graduate students, continuing education students, and K-12 students. For online entrance and exit counseling, COLLEGEXIT is an easy way for students to complete required counseling sessions and for campus professionals, it cuts down on the paperwork and increases counseling completion rates. Registered students are also entered to win monthly $1,000 scholarship drawings. Visit www.collegexit.com or ask for details.

Our FEDERAL CONSOLIDATION loan program is one of the nation's leading student loan refinance products, offering graduates the ability to lock in the lowest rates in the history of the student loan program. Graduates may also qualify for additional money-saving interest rate discounts of up to 1.25% *. We offer our graduates the benefit of combining multiple loans into a single monthly payment and bill, repayment flexibility, and no application fees or charges. Graduates can apply easily over the telephone or online, and pay no prepayment penalties.

Our PRIVATE CONSOLIDATION loan program is one of the few consolidation products available to the growing number of graduates with privately insured student loans. Graduates will benefit from refinancing their multiple privately insured student loans into one refinanced loan with lower monthly payments and one simple billing statement. Graduates can apply easily over the telephone or online and there are no out-of-pocket expenses.

Nearly every college student has loans taken out to cover their tuition and expenses. It is a great investment to make and can be expensive. As soon as college is over, it takes a couple of months for repayment bills to come in the mail. Don’t be caught off guard when the high payments, rising interests, and multiple bills start cramming into your mailbox.

With student loan consolidation you will get your interest rates fixed for the entire duration of the loan payback period. Never worry about your loan amount getting out of control, be able to make long term plans on how to pay your loans back and get to plan your life’s expenses with the confidence that your loan payments will be at the same amount.

Also when you enroll with a student loan consolidation program you will be able to lower your monthly payments significantly. Your lender will work with your loan officials to spread out your loan period so that your monthly payments are lower. You could possibly get your payments down considerably to where you won’t even blink to pay them. Sometimes a monthly payment can be less than your monthly cable or satellite bill.

Your student loans usually come from different lending institutions. Each of them will send you their own bills separately at their own interest rates and required monthly payments. When you choose to consolidate your student loans, the consolidation loan lender will contact all of your lending institutions for management access, put all of your payments into one easy to pay bill and send it to you monthly. It is that simple and convenient for you to pay your loan back. No stacks of loan bills that you can you have to go through and no chance of you forgetting to pay a bill that you misplaced from the pile with our one simple payment per month.

There are more benefits for you including everything just mentioned when you consolidate your student loans. One of the best things that you best is an improvement on your credit score. For those that don’t know about credit scores you need to have a good balanced credit score in order to qualify for purchases like cars, homes, boats and other things. Think of it like this, a financial institution wants to give you money but wants to make sure that you are a good person to investment their time and money with, so they check your credit score which measures how good you are with managing the money you get and need to pay back. Your financial decisions are directly reflected in your credit score, and nothing makes a greater statement than keeping your debts organized and payed on time.

As part of any research when looking at your student loan consolidation information alternatives you need to examine where you are able to research information, despite the high education costs and the cost of borrowing to meet these, students and parents have some advantages today that did not exist even ten years ago, the Internet has changed in many ways for ever the way financial aid is researched and granted.

Today it is a simple task to be able to quickly access and review an enormous amount of information, qualifying criteria, rates, loan limits and much more is easily available, however that also suggests one of the difficulties of easy facts, the possibility of too much data, the old saying in the information technology industry sums it up best, it is like a person drinking from a fire hose, having so much information flooding into their head, especially given the variety and complexity of loan schemes today, this can make examining the information all that much harder, to overcome this difficulty, one element of the old-fashioned methods is still very useful, that is looking for personal advice and guidance.

For many students still in high school, planning a college education and looking at ways to pay for it starts with their school counselor these counselors are there to assist students analyze through the bewildering array of choices, and to point out many of the potential rewards or pitfalls of different options, but alas the quality of that instruction can vary quite considerably.

Professional loan counselors as well as being up on the latest information are required to attend regular courses each year to keep up-to-date and maintain his or her qualified standing, however the downside is that they commonly charge for their services, a few minutes of advice on the telephone or in person is usually free, however any detailed advice or program is always at a cost, this is understandable since that is how they make a living.

The online variants of qualified loan counselors additionally have similar good points and bad points, since there is so much variety on the web today, finding a trustworthy source can be hard, the advantage of a personal strategy, which enables judging their reliability through hearing their voice or viewing their face is missing, nonetheless with social networks and blogs growing in recent years that drawback has largely been outweighed.

It is possible today to view hundreds of reliable recommendations from people you interact with consistently online, when reading comments posted by new forum members it is often hard to judge the potential worth of his or her opinion, nonetheless over a period of time, you can recognize who is providing objective and meaningful information and before long you are able to locate professionals to get more in-depth guidance.

Be certain to allocate at least one year to examine the available options, two years or more would be better, saving for and planning your education should start much earlier, nevertheless getting information that is likely to be effective requires not putting too much weight on situations that will exist a number years from now, interest rates, qualifying criteria and available programs do change over time and who knows, the Internet innovators might come up with something even better in the future, it is essential to keep this information at hand when looking at any student loan consolidation information.

Ever wonder what you are going to do with all of the student loans after you are finished with college? You have to pay $30,000-$70,000 or even more depending on which Colleges/Universities you went to. Knowing that you could be paying back these debt for decades to come is enough to make your skin crawl. But if you find the right student loan consolidation program, getting through those payments could be a lot easier, and faster, than you ever thought possible.

The greatest part about student loan consolidation is getting all of your bills and payment bundled up into one easy, low interest payment. You won’t have to re-order new checks every couple of months and you won’t go blind from reading all the bills in the mail. However, don’t think that because your bills are now all in one payment a month, that it will be one enormous bill. With a student loan consolidation service, your can make that one monthly payment into something you can manage to pay. Your payments will turn into a regular expense that is easy to pay each month, like an internet or cable bill.

There are tons of different plans available to students and grads, you have the option for low monthly payments each month or quick repayment of your loan so you can get into using your money for different things. Either way both plans will be significantly lower and easier to pay that without student loan consolidation.

Don’t forget that you also get your interest rates locked in place with some student consolidation loans. By doing this you can actually calculate the exact amount you need to fully re-pay towards your student loan each month. This is great if you are a long time goal planner and want to know exactly what your payment amount will be in the future. You credit score also benefits from a student loan consolidation service because it show that you are making smart financial decisions.

There are so many reasons to get your student loans consolidated. Have your payments down to a manageable amount each month, it could be even lower than your monthly cell phone bill, imagine that!

Recognizing and addressing the dangers of the casual nature of electronic messaging will minimize organizational risk. Putting an electronic communications plan in place is vital to protecting a company's reputation, its business interests, and its compliance success.

In any single day, millions of e-mail messages are sent and received by organizations - and nearly every day the media breaks the details about the latest scandal to be uncovered through evidence in those messages.

Protecting the organization by ensuring regulatory compliance is paramount in today's business environment, and many organizations start by securing e-mail. This is a necessary step - but a tactical one - that pursues only the "e-mail-as-evidence" pain point. Forward-thinking organizations are only at the cusp of realizing the magnitude of this quandary. The risks are not married solely to business regulations or to e-mail as a messaging medium.

Compliance

Stringent securities and Exchange Commission and National Association of Securities Dealers regulations on managing e-mail and instant messages have forced U.S. financial service providers to the forefront of adopting compliance practices. Other vertical industries have been equally affected. For example, within the U.S. healthcare community, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act set the standards for securing the privacy of patient information.

A dynamic influx of U.S. and non-U.S. regulations and legislation - vertical and horizontal - has paralyzed business activities. For example, according to a June 16, 2005, Wall Street Journal article, the cost of complying with the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was then ranging from $1.6 million to $4.4 million per company each year. As a graduate student at the University of Rochester in 2005, Ivy Xiying Zhang gained global media coverage of her event analysis of the July 2002 House and Senate debates over competing versions of the bill. Zhang postulated that the debates led to investor uncertainty resulting in falling stock prices and market losses of $1.4 trillion.

However, the total cost of compliance for any mandate will differ wildly based on the type of analysis used. Undisputable, though, is the potential financial drain to become compliant, as well as the financial drain should an audit reveal areas of noncompliance.

Many argue that although the cost of becoming compliant is high, the upside is well-structured accountability, improved organizational creditability, and customer protection. Capitalizing on that premise, vendors across-the-board have declared that they have the solution. In the case of e-mail and instant messaging management, the solution may take the form of policy-based filtering, categorizing, indexing, archiving, document management, or record management software - which turns the unstructured message body into a "record." Outsourcers can host all or part of the solution. Professional services firms can design the implementation of the technical and business processes. The e-mail and instant messaging compliance market is undergoing tremendous consolidation; however, no vendor today can provide a holistic, integrated solution.

Privacy

Federal and regional privacy legislation dictates the degree of privacy required for customer- and employee-sensitive information. For example, student-record information is protected in many school districts. Communications held between an attorney and a client are protected as privileged information. Federal and local Freedom of Information Acts control the processes by which citizens can obtain government-held information about themselves. Organizations that wish to do business globally must understand how to get through the maze of complex and changing privacy mandates.

Civil Actions

Amid confusion about best practices to manage messaging for compliance, organizations must also mitigate the risks of civil lawsuits and corporate embarrassment - often initiated by employees exhibiting poor judgment. The following examples indicate the types of risk e-mail can pose to an individual or business.

Love on the Internet. In December 2000, Claire Swire sent a sexually explicit e-mail message to her boyfriend, Bradley Chait. Chait, a lawyer with the London-based law firm Norton Rose, forwarded the e-mail message to several friends, who forwarded it to several of their friends, and so on. What Swire intended as a private message found its way, according to the media, to 10 million mailboxes across the Internet. Swire suffered personal embarrassment, to be sure, but beyond that, Norton Rose's reputation was victimized by global ridicule because Chait forwarded the original message from his Norton Rose e-mail account. (Chait was suspended temporarily and his year-end bonus, along with those of nine of his friends, was revoked.)

Love Leads to Federal Indictment. The case of the United States v. Kammersell, 196 F.3d 1137 (10th Cir. 1999) examines an incorrect method for dating. Utah resident Matthew Kammersell wanted to spend some time with his girlfriend, who also lived in Utah. So Kammersell used America Online (AOL) Instant Messenger (AIM) to send a bogus bomb threat to his girlfriend's AIM account. His goal was to cause her office to close for the day so they could enjoy some time together. Kammersell never imagined that he would be in violation of U.S. Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) regulations, but his instant message traveled the Internet through AOL's servers in Virginia. Kammersell was indicted and found guilty of violating of ICC 18 U.S.C. § 875(c), which makes it a crime to transmit a threatening communication through interstate commerce.

As small schools across the Northern Plains consolidate, a town fights to preserve its rural, two-room schoolhouse.

The spelling and grammar lesson in Steven Podoll's classroom is a little like the changing of the guard. "Fifth-graders, please come up," Podoll calls. Two students push back their chairs and rise to meet him at a table in the front of the room, passing two fourth-graders on their way back to their seats with their assignment. Half an hour later, two sixthgraders replace the fifth-graders. Finally, the seventh-grader is called up. And so it goes for math, science, reading, and the rest of the subjects the fourth- through eighth-graders in Podoll's class study at this two-classroom rural school in Baldwin, North Dakota.
The Baldwin School sits on a small hill in the center of "town"-just behind the hand-printed "Welcome to Baldwin" sign and across the railroad tracks from a white clapboard post office the size of a toolshed. It overlooks the wide northern plains that roll on for miles before meeting the sky.

The town itself lies on a country road east of Highway 83, about 15 miles into the sloping grasslands of the open prairie north of Bismarck. The population hovers around 54 or 55, according to the local postmaster. A community of farmers and ranchers, the people of Baldwin have for generations worked the land through storms, drought, grassfires, and blizzards. Like fluctuating crops of grain, the town has grown and flourished, withered and shrunk. But it's always endured, thanks in large part to the town school that first opened its doors in 1908.

For those who live in Baldwin and other small towns across the country's Great Plains, the prairie isn't just a place, it's a way of life-and one that may be drawing to a close as farmers sell off land and livestock, urban areas sprawl, and small towns dwindle. With them go the country schoolhouses that once dotted the landscape. North Dakota alone had more than 4,700 one-room schools in the early 1900s. Now only a handful remain, and as is the case elsewhere in the Midwest, state laws and declining populations are prompting many small schools to either consolidate or close.

Often, a town's school is its last foothold. When the school closes, the town dies. And that's exactly what the people of Baldwin hope to prevent. "If the school closed, it would be as if Baldwin suffered a stroke," says Podoll. "It might survive, but barely."

THIS YEAR, THERE ARE NO EIGHTH-GRADERS IN Podoll's class, which has just seven students-two each in the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, and one seventh-grader, a tall, blonde girl named Tori, who often helps the younger students, including her sixth-grade brother, Travis. Next door in the K-3 classroom, fellow teacher Beth Duey has eight students-a few of them with siblings in Podoll's class.

Over the years, the population of the school has reflected the prosperity of the town. When it first opened in 1908, eight years after Baldwin was founded, teacher W.E. Yeater (gender not recorded) had 26 students and earned $50 a month. The population held steady through the teens and twenties, growing to 37 students in 1934-a class that, according to the records, included six "farm boys," six "farm girls," 12 "town boys," and 13 "town girls." Then the Dust Bowl spread northward and depression gripped the country. By 1937, just 11 students were enrolled in the Baldwin School.

Slowly, the town population rebounded. By the 1950s school enrollment was back in the 30s and 40s, but Baldwin was never the same. In its heyday, the town boomed with banks, hotels, grain elevators, a lumber yard, newspaper, train depot-even a dance hall. A series of fires razed many businesses, others simply closed their doors. Today, the center of town consists of a post office, a railroad track crossing, a handful of houses, and the Baldwin School.

That list might get shorter if North Dakota's state legislature passes a bill that would retire elementary schools with fewer than 100 students to consolidate with a district that has a high school. After the eighth grade, Baldwin students currently have a choice between high schools in Bismarck to the south or the "bigger small town" of Wilton to the north.

Although the Baldwin school wouldn't immediately close-the town must vote whether to keep it open-residents feel the passage of S.B. 2333 would make it inevitable. "It's taxation without representation," says Podoll. "It would take local control of the school away from Baldwin, and it would divert property taxes to the [consolidated] district. Nobody in Baldwin wants this to happen. Everyone realizes that when you stop funding schools, towns suffer."

According to Marty Strange, policy director at the Rural Schools and Community Trust, a national nonprofit addressing the relationship between schools and communities, consolidation is "hot in areas with depressed rural economies and where urban areas are growing fast." Both descriptions fit Baldwin. A prolonged three-year drought has sapped local farmers, and the edge of Bismarck is creeping closer, with Baldwin sitting in the shadow of Bismarck's new Super Wal-Mart, a short 15-minute drive down the highway.

The argument for consolidation. Strange says, is that it lowers taxes for the citizens of rural towns and provides children with access to a wider array of classes and services. "But people know their local schools work," he says. "And rural America has paid through the nose for the privilege of having good schools in their communities. They've shown time and again that they're willing to sacrifice to keep them."

That's been the case in Baldwin, where town residents have repeatedly voted to raise their mill levies to keep the school open, according to Gerry Ann Small, an aide at the Baldwin School. Her husband and three children attended the school, and she's quick to point out that all of her kids remained on the honor roll in high school after graduating from Baldwin. "Our kids get a solid education here," she says. "A Bismarck teacher once told me she could always pick out the country kids-they were ready to study, polite, and always willing to help their neighbor," she says.

The legislation is coming up for a vote again this year, and "they're in for another fight," says Small. "This school is the heart and soul of our community."

On the first day of school, the local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter visits the Baldwin School for the first flag-raising of the year (the flag pole was donated by the VFW in honor of five Baldwin soldiers killed in the Vietnam War). In December, the town gathers at the school for its holiday program, and the students go caroling from farmhouse to farmhouse, where they're greeted with warm cookies or cider. For Valentine's Day, grandparents are invited to school for breakfast. The students even organized a Youth Citizen's League so they could volunteer within the community. They raised money to help a newlywed couple whose home burned down, for a local firefighter badly injured on the job, and to buy clothing and winter gear for needy children.

And then there are the basketball games. Two coed teams-fourth through eighth grade, and second through third, compete against four other rural schools in Burleigh County. The first-graders are the cheerleaders, complete with uniforms and pom-poms. "When the Baldwin Bullets play, that gym is plum full with folks from town," Small says.

One of their most loyal fans is the postmaster, Gail Gordon, who was born in Baldwin in 1942 and has lived there ever since. Gordon believes the school, like the post office, is central to Baldwin's small-town character. "When a small town loses its school or its post office, it loses its identity," she says.

Gordon's father was the postmaster when she started out as a clerk in 1958. Before the building was converted into a post office, it was St. John's Lutheran Church (the pulpit is still intact). Before it became a church, it was a "rolling schoolhouse" that sat perched atop timbers and was pulled by horses from field to field where farm children could take a break for their lessons. When Gordon stands at her counter, she looks out at the present-day school yard, where she can watch the kids play during recess. "I went to school there, my dad went to school there, and my daughter went to school there," she says. "It's always been a fine school."

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a comprehensive guide to federal student aid for students and their families looking to fund a college education.

Published by the Department's Office of Federal Student Aid, Funding Education Beyond High School provides an overview of the process for applying for federal student aid as well as detailed steps for taking action during each phase. With illustrative charts, the 41-page guide addresses such topics as:

* Basic eligibility requirements

* Three types of federal student aid--grants, work-study and loans--and other student aid resources

* Completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for new and renewal applicants

* Grace period and payment schedule for repaying loans

* Options for postponement: deferment and forbearance

* Loan consolidation and cancellation

The guide concludes with a glossary clarifying financial aid terminology and a complete list of state higher education agencies.

Last year, federal student aid helped approximately 10 million students meet the cost of higher education.