Cyber-school students: Pentagon snubs our service

Cyber-school students: Pentagon snubs our service – Students graduating from the growing ranks of online high schools are running into a hurdle if their goal is to join the military: The Pentagon doesn't want many recruits with non-traditional diplomas.

Many would-be soldiers like Ryker Packard, 17, of Fassett, Pa., say they weren't aware the armed services have a policy of not taking more than 10 percent of recruits with a non-traditional high school diploma. Critics, including some in Congress, say the military is behind the times and point to the growth on online teaching and testing at all levels of education, including college degrees.

"It just grinds my gears," said Packard, who wants to become an Army diesel mechanic after graduating from Pennsylvania's Agora Cyber Charter School in June.

Packard said his conversation with an Army recruiter came to a brusque end after he told him he was due to graduate from a virtual school. "He just wouldn't talk to me," said Packard.

Packard's mom, Sherri, said her son switched to online classes after floundering in a geometry course at his brick-and-mortar school. Once he got the attention of online teachers, his grades improved, she said.

Packard said her son's school is fully accredited by the state of Pennsylvania, which requires students to pass the same tests and meet the same curriculum requirements as those in traditional schools.

Jarad Dennis, 18 - Jarad Dennis, 18 , logs onto his school website in his home in Lexington, S.C. Saturday, May 7, 2011. Dennis, who will graduate from the South Carolina Connections Academy virtual school this June, was told by an Air Force recruiter that he would need to complete one year of college-level classes before he could join. Students graduating from the growing ranks of online high schools are running into a hurdle if their goal is to join the military: The Pentagon doesn’t want many recruits from alternative or home schools.

"It's part of the public school system," said Sherri Packard, 43. "It's considered one of the best in the state."

Job prospects amid the rolling hills and farms of northern Pennsylvania are slim, Ryker said. "My options are to work for the gas company or on a pig farm," the dejected teen said in a telephone interview.

Ryker and his family unknowingly ran into a policy the Department of Defense has that ranks graduates of traditional high schools as "Tier 1" and those from alternatives as "Tier 2" status. Tier 1 graduates now make up 99 percent of all recruits for all military branches, according to Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez. The secondary status includes virtual and homeschoolers, as well as those who've left high school and earned a GED or General Education Development certificate.

Lainez said the Department of Defense limits all branches of the military to accepting no more than 10 percent of recruits with what is known as an "alternate high school credential."

Those who've opted out of the traditional educational system just don't stick with military service, she said. That includes students from what she called "any computer-based, virtual-learning program."

"Years of research and experience show recruits with a traditional high school diploma are more likely to complete their initial three years of service than their alternate credential-holding (Tier 2) piers," Lainez said. Data collected since 1988 shows only 28 percent of graduates with traditional diplomas leave military service before their first three years in uniform, while those with non-traditional backgrounds have a 39 percent attrition rate, she said.

It comes down to money because its costs $45,000 to replace someone who hasn't met their full term, she said.

But some members of Congress and supporters of online schools say the Pentagon should reconsider, in particular given the military's penchant for computerized weaponry and cyber warfare.

"We are dealing with new technology," said Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., head of the House Armed Services subcommittee on personnel. "We just need to keep adapting."

Former Marine and Rep. Duncan Hunter, Jr., R-Calif., who is the only member of Congress to have served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, said it's unbelievable that potential recruits are being turned away during wartime.

"Their level of education is often right on par with traditional public school graduates," said Hunter.

The congressman, who serves with Wilson on the Armed Services and Education Committees, said he doesn't want to tell the military whom to recruit, but he thinks it will have to broaden its thinking when an improved economy starts pulling applicants into the job market.

Their subcommittee has inserted language into its portion of the Pentagon fiscal year 2012 budget bill instructing the military to treat students from online high schools equally if the schools are in line with state education laws. The full committee is due to take action on the bill on May 11.

One of the main backers of virtual schools says it has been seeking a change in the military's policy because the number of students attending online is growing.

Peter Groff, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, said his organization estimates 168,310 students attended virtual schools in 2009-2010. They know of 219 charter schools that are purely online, and 134 that are a hybrid of bricks-and-mortar and virtual schooling, he said.

Projected enrollment is expected to increase next year by 7,000 students, Groff said.

States such as Minnesota have had programs for 20 years, while Utah, Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania also have seen strong growth, he said. In all, 40 states and the District of Columbia have some form of charter school program allowed, he said.

Jared Dennis, Lexington, S.C., said he was devastated when he sought out an Air Force recruiter, but was told he was in "Tier 2" status. He was told he could enlist only after he took about a year of college-level classes.

"It was heartbreaking to say the least," said the 18-year-old, who said he wants to follow a family tradition of joining the service and become a military policeman. He is set to graduate from the Connections Academy in Columbia in June, one of South Carolina's five virtual public charter schools.

Dennis's mother, Alice, said she sought out the virtual charter school after her son was barred from returning to his public school on a weapons violation. He left a pocket knife in his jacket, violating the school system's zero-tolerance policy. They sought an alternative where Jared could continue with honors-level classes, she said.

In California, 19-year-old Mandi Jenkins of Long Beach, said she gave up trying to join the military after graduating last year from Connections Academy in San Clemente. The message she got was the same as that given to Dennis: Go get some college credit.

Attending a virtual school fit Jenkins' schedule because she played competitive tennis. Now, she is thinking of becoming a professional tennis player instead of donning an Army uniform. Heeding her experience, Jenkins said her 17-year-old brother is staying in his local traditional high school because he wants to join the Marine Corps.

Jenkins said she's upset with the idea that students with a cyber-education are considered less capable of fitting in or following commands.

"You still have to get your work in, you have to turn it in on time," she said.

One student who was able to get the military's attention is 20-year-old Greg Bush, who is attending Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, on a four-year Army ROTC scholarship.

The Delaware, Ohio, native said he thinks attending Ohio's Virtual Academy was a plus, both academically and socially. He was able to take Advanced Placement courses in English and literature and was able to feed an interest in military history and earned a 3.7 grade point average.

"I was a very introverted person, and doing so much course work on line drove me to reach out" to make friendships, he said. "It really benefited me." ( Associated Press )

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Internet's effect on youth positive

Internet's effect on youth positive - It's a training ground for social skills, but there are drawbacks - Despite alarmist reports on cyberbullying, sexual misdeeds and real-life social isolation, the Internet is really an important training ground for adolescents to build their identities and learn crucial social skills that can strengthen their real-life relationships, according to a new review of the research to date.

After several years of intensive academic research on adolescents and electronic media, it's now possible to get a "metaview" of how the Internet shapes the self-identity, relationships and sexuality of young people, says Patti Valkenburg, a professor at the University of Amsterdam's Center for Research on Children, Adolescents and the Media.

After several years of intensive academic research on adolescents and electronic media, it's now possible to get a "metaview" of how the Internet shapes the self-identity, relationships and sexuality of young people, says Patti Valkenburg, a professor at the University of Amsterdam's Center for Research on Children, Adolescents and the Media.

The results are largely encouraging -- with a few caveats.

"With every new media, there's always panic," she said. "For most adolescents, it's still positive, but not when it's used too much. They can get easy access to everything, but there are dangers on the Internet, just like in our daily lives."

Two key social skills that develop in adolescence are self-presentation, selectively presenting aspects of yourself to others and selfdisclosure, or revealing elements of your true self, Valkenburg and co-author Jochen Peter wrote. Traditionally, teeens practised these skills in face-to-face relationships, but that's increasingly moving online.

One study found that about a third of the teenagers, particularly boys, preferred online compared to face-to-face conversations for intimate topics such as love, sex and things they're ashamed of, Valkenburg said. Technology could encourage them to share more and, in turn, foster stronger real-life friendships, she said.

There's also "consistent evidence" that compulsive Internet use -- the inability to curb the amount of time spent online, or tech-mediated activities replacing real-life ones -- is harmful to self-esteem, they wrote.

The research will be published in the February issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. ( Postmedia News )

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Privacy battle looms for Google and Facebook

Privacy battle looms for Google and Facebook You have been tagged in 12 photos — even if you're not signed up to the Web site.

European regulators are investigating whether the practice of posting photos, videos and other information about people on sites such as Facebook without their consent is a breach of privacy laws.

The Swiss and German probes go to the heart of a debate that has gained momentum in Europe amid high-profile privacy cases: To what extent are social networking platforms responsible for the content their members upload?

The actions set the stage for a fresh battle between American Web giants and European authorities a month after an Italian court held three Google executives criminally responsible for a user-posted video.

Any changes resulting from the investigation could drastically alter the way Facebook, Google's YouTube and others operate, shifting the responsibility for ensuring personal privacy from users to the company.

Swiss and German data protection commissioners are demanding that Facebook explain its practice of allowing users to upload e-mail addresses, photographs and other personal details about people who haven't signed up to the site.

"The way it's organised at the moment, they simply allow anyone who wants to use this service to say they have the consent of their friends or acquaintances," Swiss commissioner Hanspeter Thuer told The Associated Press.

To conform with Switzerland's strict privacy law, Facebook could be required to contact people whose information has been posted online and ask them whether they agree to its being stored there, he said.

Thilo Weichert, data protection commissioner in the northern German state of Schleswig Holstein, said in a telephone interview that Facebook's assertion that it gets necessary consent for the posting of personal information is "total nonsense."

"We've written to Facebook and told them they're not abiding by the law in Europe," he said.

The probes by the German and Swiss privacy watchdogs are still preliminary and would not have immediate consequences elsewhere. However, Weichert said the issue is being discussed with other data protection officials in the 27-nation European Union, which in 2000 declared privacy a fundamental right that companies and governments must respect.

The European stance differs strongly from the self-regulatory, free market approach favourite in the United States, where Web companies have flourished by offering users free services if they provide personal information to help advertising target them better, according to Columbia University law professor Eben Moglen.

"If the European regulators get serious, it will create a significant conflict," said Moglen, who has been examining online privacy issues since the early days of the Web.

Richard Allan, director of policy for Facebook Europe, said some of the functions being scrutinized — such as those allowing users to upload their friends' e-mail addresses to find them online — were common across the industry. The company has recently added a tool for nonusers to have their data removed, he said.

"As a global company what we're trying to do is to make sure that our systems meet the requirements of all the jurisdictions in which we operate," Allan said.

According to Joe McNamee of the Brussels-based advocacy group European Digital Rights, one of the most common complaints about Facebook is its habit of getting users to 'invite' their e-mail contacts to become members too.

"The receiver didn't want the messages, and the sender didn't realise they were going out," said McNamee. "You would have to search long and hard for someone who would see consent in there."

European Union privacy watchdogs showed their appetite for going after Google last month, when the 27-nation bloc told the search giant to warn people before it sends cameras into cities to take pictures for its Street View maps.

Google's data privacy chief Peter Fleischer said he is also "still reeling" from the Italian court decision that sentenced him and two other senior officials to six-month suspended sentences for violating an autistic teenager's right to privacy by allowing a video of him being bullied to be posted on the Net.

Vetting all user-generated content would be costly because of the vast amount of data involved, said Fleischer. It could also come close to censorship, because companies would be forced to draw the line between legitimate free speech and invasion of privacy, he said. Blogger, YouTube and other Google products have long been used by activists from Iceland to Iran to document government and corporate abuses.

But Fleischer acknowledged that users themselves should be more thoughtful about what they post, especially if it involves private material about others.

"Both as a matter of common sense and as a matter of common courtesy, users should not upload photos or videos of other people unless those other people consented," he said.

Privacy concerns prompted the California-based company last year to hold off including face recognition when it launched Google Goggles, a tool to identify and provide information about objects inside pictures. Another company, Face.com, has gone ahead with its own face-recognition tool, though CEO Gil Hirsch says there are built-in restrictions to ensure privacy.

While Facebook and Google say they are committed to working with European regulators, privacy campaigners say the companies move only as fast as absolutely necessary. Earlier this year Facebook agreed to raise the minimum age for users in Spain from 13 to 14, to conform with the country's privacy laws. It has no such age requirement for information users posts about others.

Moglen, of Columbia University, said even if European regulators rallied together they would find it difficult to force their rules upon U.S. companies, given the close relationship between Silicon Valley and the administration of President Barack Obama.

"If the Europeans want that fight, then surely the American government wants the other side." ( smh.com.au / AP )

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New internet game encourages children to make their characters wear sexy lingerie and buy 'trophy' orphans

New internet game encourages children to make their characters wear sexy lingerie and buy 'trophy' orphans. A new web craze where young girls make their virtual characters adopt children as fashion accessories has outraged parents' groups.

The controversial My Minx game also sees girls as young as seven giving their characters contraceptives and morning-after pills.

Players clothe their virtual minxes in sexy lingerie and other revealing outfits and buy 'trophy orphans' - named after children already adopted by celebrities.

My Minx - a new web game that allows you to dress your character in sexy lingerie and adopt trophy orphans

The adoption clinic in a virtual Style City features girls called Pax and Maddox and a boy named Zahara after Angelina Jolie's children.

The virtual youngsters have the same nationalities as Jolie's with Maddox, three, said to be Cambodian and a fan of eating cockroaches.

Similarly up for grabs are Vietnamese noodle-lover Pax, five, and Ethiopian lad Zahara, four, whose favourite food is said to be guinea pig.

The adoption centre also boasts a David Banda, four, and Mercy, five, of Malawi, clearly modelled on Madonna's adopted children.

And there is a Mongolian girl called Jamiyan - based on actor Ewan McGregor's Mongolian four-year-old daughter – who is said to enjoy eating rats.

In even worse taste, gamers can adopt children from earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The controversial game, by a North London firm, sees players take their minxes binge drinking and clubbing as they try to pull men

Once they have paid the adoption fees, players style their new children in over-the-top designer gear and can then try to sell image rights for them to celebrity magazines.

They are challenged to outdo rival minxes by amassing ever more adoptive children to ‘make their family more fashionable’.

The controversial game, by north London firm Blighty Arts, also sees players take their minxes binge drinking and clubbing as they try to pull men.

For minxes that succeed in one night stands, there are virtual condoms and morning after pills.

Gamers design their own saucy lingerie brands and handbag ranges as they compete to create the most stylish minx.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and their adopted children arrive at Narita airport, near Tokyo, a year ago. My Minx pokes fun at such celebrity families

They take on rival minxes in 'style-off competitions' to try and be crowned the 'minx of minxes' in the game, which is being marketed as 'Barbie meets Chanel'.

There are no age restrictions on the game and when players run out of virtual cash, they top up their accounts by sending text messages costing £1.50 each or use PayPal.

The website's creators also made Miss Bimbo, which has over two million members and was attacked for encouraging young girls to give their characters diet pills and 'boob jobs'.

My Minx was launched shortly before Christmas and has already attracted 20,000 members – with some as young as seven.

But parents' groups are horrified to see the game taking off and have accused the game's creators of ‘exploiting children for profit’.

Andy Hibberd, spokesman for parents' rights group Parentkind, said: ‘There are more than enough pressures on children to grow up already. We don't need any more.

‘Their parents will not have any idea that they are playing this game and the children will fail to appreciate its irony.

‘Having them getting virtual condoms or morning-after pills will not make them any less promiscuous.

‘As regards child adoption, this game encourages them to think that they don't need to worry about morals or ethics. It is all just a bit of fun.

‘It claims to be a microcosm of real life but you have to question whether it actually starts creating reality.

‘It is sending out all the wrong messages and the only reason its creators have made it is to make money.

‘They are exploiting children for profit. Children's innocence is very precious and should be protected for as long as possible.’

But the game's creator, Blighty Arts director Christopher Evans, insisted that the game was ‘harmless, tongue-in-cheek entertainment’.

Mr Evans, 30, said: ‘It is nonsense to suggest our game is a bad influence on young children.

‘We try to protect children too much from the real world for too long in this day and age. They cannot be wrapped up in cotton wool.

‘We should let them grow up making their own decisions about the games they play.

‘The game teaches children about the world while poking fun at celebrity adoptions.

‘Every time they turn on the TV they will see the likes of Madonna adopting African children anyway.

‘The contraceptives and morning after pills are only one part of the game and we are not encouraging young girls to take them, just reflecting real life.’ ( dailymail.co.uk )

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Black Friday shoppers tweet, friend and clip

Black Friday shoppers tweet, friend and clip - Before deciding where to buy a laptop for his daughter on Black Friday, Nate Bryan was scouring the web for deals. But he was not just looking at retailers' websites.

"I use Twitter and Facebook a lot for Black Friday," he said, referring to the day after Thanksgiving when retailers open their doors early and offer eye-popping deals. "People interested in computers post what they see online."

Bryan, who lined up on Thanksgiving Day outside of a Best Buy in Springfield, Pennsylvania so he could buy a $500 laptop when the store opened on Friday, said he was using sites like Facebook and Twitter to shop smarter.

"I spend more time online doing anything that will save me money," he said.

Before heading to stores this Thanksgiving weekend, many consumers scoured Facebook, Twitter and websites that track Black Friday sales to decide where they wanted to shop.

To win the business of these deal-driven consumers, an increasing number of retailers, including J.C. Penney Co Inc, Target Corp and Kohl's Corp are experimenting with social media this holiday.

Twitter feeds were clogged this week with retailers trying to drum up excitement for the Thanksgiving weekend, which is seen as the official kick-off of the holiday shopping season.

J.C. Penney tweeted about its 4 a.m. post-Thanksgiving day store openings, while Office Depot highlighted its Black Friday deals, including a Vivitar digital camera bundle, complete with a case and mini tripod, for $49.99.

Toys "R" Us gave its Facebook fans the first glimpse of its Black Friday deals, while Sears held a Facebook sweepstakes to win a $500 gift card and the chance to shop its Black Friday deals before Thanksgiving.

Marian Salzman, president of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, said social media is becoming an integral part of the shopping experience for consumers who want advice from others before making a potential purchase and spending limited cash. Once deals are posting on Facebook or Twitter, consumers often repost them and share them with friends.

"It's almost crowd sourcing for opinions," she said. "We increasingly need affirmation from our peers and our loved ones and the people that create our lifestyle to feel good about where we are buying things."

NOT ALL SHOPPERS ARE FACEBOOK FANS

Terry Xu was standing outside an OfficeMax in San Francisco on Friday morning, waiting to buy a printer and a monitor when the store opened at 7 a.m.

Before deciding where to go for the best prices, he checked TheBlackFriday.com, a website that posts retailers' Black Friday ads. TheBlackFriday.com also has a Twitter feed and a Facebook page, where it was blasting out deals to its followers and fans on Friday.

But social media has not yet caught on with everyone.

On Friday, shoppers at the Best Buy located across the street from OfficeMax were walking around holding the retailer's newspaper ad, which touted a 32-inch Dynex LCD TV for $299.99 and an Insignia digital camera for $49.99.

Senta Erbe was one shopper who said she preferred seeking deals in ads in her newspaper. Before heading to Best Buy, where she was buying DVDs and an external hard drive, she clipped coupons for stores like Target Corp and Macy's Inc that she intended to visit later in the day.

According to a pre-Thanksgiving survey by consulting firm Deloitte, 40 percent of consumers said they planned to obtain Black Friday sales information from newspapers, while 29 percent said they would look at mailers and flyers.

Twenty-seven percent said they would scan websites dedicated to featuring Black Friday deals, while 24 percent said they would look at retailers' websites.

While social media is still an emerging marketing tool, Kasey Lobaugh, a principal at Deloitte Retail, said many retailers like it because it gives them a way to track how many shoppers they are reaching.

"If you send out a URL via Twitter you know how many people clicked on that URL," he said. "When you put a newspaper tab out, you have no idea of the traffic in your stores, how much was influenced by seeing an ad in the newspaper that day."

But Salzman said social media has a ways to go in proving it can meaningfully drive retailers' sales.

While companies may attract shoppers by offering special deals -- like when Starbucks Corp allowed Facebook fans to print out an invitation to get a free pastry in its coffee outlets when they purchased a drink -- she said those offers do not necessarily create customer loyalty.

"Success lies in a repeat customer," she said.

(Reuters)

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NASA Predator Scans California Burn Areas

NASA Predator Scans California Burn Areas. An unmanned NASA Predator aircraft equipped with an infrared imaging sensor has flown over large areas burned by two California wildfires to help the Forest Service assess damage, the administration said Tuesday.

Operating from NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, the Predator flew over the 250 square miles burned by this summer's Station Fire in Angeles National Forest and the 57-square-mile area scorched by the 2008 Piute Fire in Sequoia National Forest and other federal land in Kern County.

The aircraft carried a scanner with filters to detect light in visible, infrared and thermal wavelengths.

The images were then sent by satellite to NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., and were superimposed over Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth maps before being sent to the Forest Service.

The images depict different levels of fire damage in varying hues of color.

The Predator, which NASA has given the Native American name Ikhana (ee-KAH'-nah), is part of a fleet of unmanned aircraft types developed for military purposes that Dryden is using for earth science research.

NASA said that the two burn areas were scanned Thursday in a seven-hour flight to the Piute burn area northwest of Edwards and then southeast to the Station Fire area.

The latter portion of the flight by the remotely piloted aircraft occurred in the national airspace system and required close coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration, NASA said.

The Station Fire was ignited by arson on Aug. 26 in the San Gabriel Mountains and grew into the largest fire in Los Angeles County history. Thousands of homes in suburbs on the perimeter were threatened and 89 were destroyed. Two firefighters died when their vehicle plunged off a road when flames overran a fire camp.

Authorities have warned that there could be more damage. Winter rains on the vast areas of steep slopes left bare by the fire could unleash huge flows of debris-laden water into foothill communities.

The Piute Fire in June and July 2008 destroyed or damaged six homes and 45 outbuildings.

The NASA Predator was also used to send fire commanders information on blazes burning throughout the West in 2007-08. It was ready for similar missions this fall but was not needed, said Beth Hagenauer, a Dryden spokeswoman. ( AP )

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Internet Addiction?

Internet Addiction?. As experts organize the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a debate has started on whether to include Internet addiction among our newest afflictions

A quiet restaurant. Good wine. An animated conversation. Then, mid-sentence, you catch him steal a quick sideways downward glance at his BlackBerry. And the nickname "CrackBerry" comes to mind. You might think: for some, the Internet is an addiction.

Well, as psychology experts ramp up to publish the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, a debate has begun on whether to include Internet addiction in the next big book of mental illness. This month the Canadian Medical Association Journal published an article weighing both sides.

Kimberly Young, director of The Center for Internet Addiction, says that while it might not be a well-defined illness, those who spend excessive amounts of time online suffer the same issues as other addicts, including lost jobs, broken marriages, or financial problems. Young says if it’s the cause of major issues in your life, then you have a problem.

But Vaughan Bell, at the department of neuroscience at King’s College London, says that the Internet is not an activity and so can’t be an addiction. He acknowledges that people can spend excessive time online, perhaps as an escape from depression or anxiety, but to label the use of the Web as the central problem or an addiction does a disservice. His concern is that the focus needs to be on the real illness, not on the “medium of communication.”

Of course, maybe some thought needs to be turned the many different activities one can do on the Web. Pornography and gambling, for instance, are well-known addictions.

In any event both Young and Bell admit that research on Internet addiction is limited and inconsistent, so far. And for that reason Bell says it will be tough to support its addition to the list of new afflictions. ( scientificamerican.com )

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