MLK Memorial, President Obama, Capture Twitter – #MLKMemorial

October 16, 2011 by admin
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President Obama has just, as of this writing, finished a rousing speech to officially dedicate the new MLK Memorial for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And between the President, the crowd, and the moment, the Twitter hashtag #MLKMemorial, “President Obama,” and “Dr. King” were all among the top 10 Twitter Topics for Sunday morning.

What this reflect is the number of people who were activity engaged in watching the event on live television, as well as the enduring message of Dr. King’s life and work, as reflected in the memorial, and in the President’s powerful words today. Words well received on Twitter. Here’s a sample…

ashleybelle_ Ashley Nicole ♥
President Obama gave a wonderful speech this afternoon…change depends persistence…the #MLKMemorial is beautiful
33 seconds ago

mandisajoy Sacha Taylor-Blades
YES!! RT @Spindeezy That’s my President ! I only wish they would untie his hands. #Obama
3 minutes ago

allisonradio akeyes
From jumbotron….president obama and his family tour the site before his speech…. #kingmemorialdedication twitpic.com/71bxne
7 minutes ago Favorite Retweet Reply

Now, the entire I Have A Dream Speech is being replayed on the National Mall. Here’s the speech, if you’ve never seen or listened to Dr. King give it before:

Lastly, Georgia Congressman John Lewis posted a great entry on The White House blog on the King Memorial. You can read it here: Lewis on The King Memorial.

Stay tuned.

Article source: http://blog.sfgate.com/abraham/2011/10/16/mlk-memorial-president-obama-capture-twitter-mlkmemorial/

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Online Dating Matures: 5 New Sites That Will Get You Lucky

October 16, 2011 by admin
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HowAboutWe/Meexo

New dating websites like HowAboutWe (left) and Meexo (right) promise to fix you up in Web 2.0 style — pictured here are the mobile apps from these sites.

Watch your back, Match.com!

The Internet has solved everything from dinner reservations to apartment hunting. Now a new wave of innovative companies promising to solve your dating 2.0 needs. And with packed schedules and never enough time, smart singles are embracing online dating, said Laurie Davis, Founder and CEO of eFlirtexpert, an online date coaching firm.

“Dating is evolving,” said Davis, who met her boyfriend on Twitter two years ago.

For decades, the online dating scene was limited to a handful of trusty incumbents: think Match.com, LavaLife, eHarmony. While such sites offer large pools of users and flashy statistics — Match.com claims 12 couples were married or engaged today thanks to the site — the experience can leave some users wanting.

“These big sites are necessary and they’re still great,” Davis told FoxNews.com. “But the niche sites that are popping up now are much more exciting because they’re giving you access to a much more select group of people.”

Some, like JDate and BlackSingles, have been around for years. But a bevy of new sites are looking to offer the granularity users are now craving.

Here are five sites offering a fresh approach to finding “the one” online.

1. Best Concept: HowAboutWe (400,000 dates posted. $28 per month)
Childhood friends and founders Brian Schechter and Aaron Schildkrout wanted to create a dating site that shifted the focus back to what’s really important — the date. The result is one of the fastest growing sites in the scene. Instead of worrying about fancy algorithms or flashy profiles, members make their mark by proposing dates starting with three simple words: “how about we…”

Davis calls it truly innovative. “Their new formula helps singles connect in a more natural way. Proposing a date gives singles an immediate topic of conversation for emails and way to connect, and it’s a simple transition to dating offline.”

2. Best Elite Site: Sparkology (Service has not opened to general public yet. Women: $15/month; Men: $15 for 5 women)
In Sparkology, founder Alex Furmansky looks to filter out many of the negative aspects of online dating — dead accounts, fake profiles, spam — by taking a more exclusive approach with a focus on service and quality. The community is invite-only and men must be verified grads of top universities.

“The opportunity lies in focusing on a specific demographic and offering them a superior experience that a middle-market behemoth could never match,” Furmansky told FoxNews.com.

Even the pricing structure encourages quality, Davis noted, with women buying monthly subscriptions while men buy “spark packs.” If a guy emails you first, Davis said, “he paid for that specific message, reducing the amount of copy-and-paste jobs that sometimes frequent online dating sites.”

3. Best Mainstream Site: OKCupid (7 million members. Basic service: Free; Premium: $9.95/month)
While OKCupid has been around since 2004, it’s begun to make more of a name for itself in recent years, most notably due to a series of viral blog posts both criticizing the big players like Match.com and illuminating dating trends by mining its vast amount of user data.

The site generates matches through users’ activity and answers to questions; it boasted 7 million users as of September 2010 and was eventually acquired by the operators of Match.com for $50 million.

“Part of what makes the site brilliant is the incorporation of social networking aspects and gaming schematics. But at the end of the day, it is still undeniably a site to meet your next date,” Davis told FoxNews.com.

4. Best Alternative: Ignighter (2 million members. $10 to $45/year)
Group activity takes the pressure off. That’s the idea behind Ignighter, which allows groups of friends to collaborate on a group profile. The site then suggests a list of possible matches and helps arrange group outings. Despite its U.S. roots, Ignighter has become a huge hit in India where cultural restrictions inhibit traditional one-on-one dates.

The focus on India has encouraged many U.S. entrepreneurs to explore the national territory by creating sites like DuoDater, FourTonight and DatingInGroups.

5. Most Buzzed About: Meexo (TBD)
Meexo isn’t out yet, but it’s an exciting look at what the future brings. The startup launched at the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in Sept. and is part of a new breed of mobile-centric dating apps.

“Meexo … is attempting to bridge the gap between location-based gaming and romance,” Davis said. “Armed with their research into ‘what women want,’ the app could be the next best thing.”

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Twitter Wrap-Up:Utah State at Fresno State – KSL

October 16, 2011 by admin
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FRESNO, Calif. — It was quite the online following on Saturday night for the Utah State Aggies football squad, both on Twitter and the online video streaming services that showed the game against Fresno State.

Eric Frandsen (@efrandsen) gave a prediction before the game that looked pretty accurate early on when he said, “USU 38, Fresno St. 31. It will be close, but the Aggies will finally secure a late-game victory.”

The ESPN commentators also gave a prediction at the beginning of the game, saying “This game between Utah State and Fresno State could help decide the conference title”.

Right off the bat, Utah State scored on a 47-yard screen play from Chuckie Keeton to Michael Smith and it already had one fan mad at himself.

Steve Chambers (@chamberssteve) tweeted, “I need to learn not to miss the first minutes of the USU game. Just like that Aggies up 7-0.”

Chuckie Keeton also did his best Tim Tebow jump-pass impression on the play, enabling Deseret News writer Kraig Williams (@Kraig) to say, “Keeton with a heck of a jump shot on that screen pass. #pagingStewMorrill.”

On Fresno’s first possession, David Carr fumbled the football and Utah State’s McKade Brady recovered. The Aggies wasted no time hitting the scoreboard once again and, in so doing, they riled up the Bulldog fans.

Tony Jones (@TonyAggieville) wrote, “Robert Turbin goes 59 yards for a touchdown. USU 14-0, and Fresno fans are already booing.”

While the fans in Fresno were unhappy, the students in Logan were living it up. J. Allred (@thedjshow) tweeted, “Touchdown! The student center is rockin’!”

Benji Hadfield (@DrHadfield) wrote, “Utah State is seriously so exciting to watch this year.”

With such a quick start, some were thinking that this was the Wyoming game part two. David James (@DavidDJJames) wrote, “Is Utah State about to give Fresno State a Wyoming?”

Immediately following that post, James wrote an interesting thought. He said, “Gary Andersen has to get the Arizona gig.” Remember that storyline; it may be something to watch for in the future.

The Aggies play-making ability was definitely a sight for sore eyes for Utah State alum Jordan Balmforth (@SaltLaker24). He wrote, “Aggies were hard to watch in early 2000′s when I went to school. Now, I can’t get enough of them. Love the swag that USU brings.”

Adding to the swagger was the fact that “Utah State is the only team in the FBS that hasn’t thrown an interception yet,” according to David James (@DavidDJJames) and that the “receivers are playing out of their minds tonight. Tons of great grabs already,” tweeted by Kraig Williams (@Kraig).

However, with the swagger that the Aggies’ offense was playing with, the defense surely lacked that same attitude.

Justin McKissick (@justin_sr) tweeted, “Apparently the Aggies didn’t do any tacking drills this week.”

J. Allred (@thedjshow) felt the same way when he said, “Our defense not wrapping up with be the death of us.”

Cache Sports Media (
As the game progressed to the second half, the offense for both teams became stagnant and the defense began to take over. Utah State had many chances to further advance the lead and would need every possession they could get.

T. Wade (
Even with the opportunities, the Utah State defense was plagued with penalties throughout the game, especially the secondary. The defense gave up several yards to the Fresno State offense because of pass interference which lead the Bulldogs to the red zone.

Tavin Stucki (@TavinStucki) made an interesting observation however. He said, “Even though Nevin Lawson had those PI’s (pass interference calls), he saved four points for the Aggies.”

The offense couldn’t get anything going throughout the second half it seemed and it kept the defense on the field. Eventually, things began to break down, and you could see on almost every Utah State related post a message that looked something like these quotes:

“Please don’t tell me this is the start of a classic USU fourth quarter meltdown” (Steve Chambers, @chamberssteve).

“Special teams just might cost the Aggies. Missed and blocked field goals will not win games” (Justin McKissick, @justin_sr).

“It wouldn’t quite feel like Saturday without USU blowing a 4th quarter lead” (Ben, @PortlandUte).

And just like that, the tables turned on the Aggies and Fresno State ran away with the 31-21 victory.

Marc Neilson (@Federal_Farmer) wrote, “I get so tired of these 4th quarter tragedies. USU needs to hold it together till the very end of the game.”

Aggies fan Kevin Hall (
ESPN’s College Football Now (@ESPNCFB) even recognized that Utah State has trouble finishing games when they said, “Oh Mercy! Looks like Utah State had blown another lead.”

This game could have been a statement game to the WAC, but alas, as Tyler Riggs (@TySpace) said, “The Aggies have arrived: back at mediocrity.”

From game to game, it’s tough to know what you are going to get from this Utah State team. Will they dominate or will they roll over in the 4th quarter?

Robb Louder (@rlouderaggies) made a comparison that has summed up this season’s events thus far when he tweeted, “USU is like energy drinks. They bring you up just so you can crash later.”

Email: onlinesports@ksl.com

Twitter: @matt_harris7

Article source: http://www.ksl.com/?sid=17690824&nid=858&title=twitter-wrap-uputah-state-at-fresno-state

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Facebook FAIL: Missteps and Shortcomings Revealed [INFOGRAPHIC]

October 16, 2011 by admin
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Facebook’s gone through some profound changes lately, which is exciting to us, but leaves others in a profound state of anger and frustration. Like it or not, all is not perfect with the world’s largest social network, and here’s an infographic by a company that’s more than happy to point out Facebook’s shortcomings.

This “Facebook Wall of Shame” was created by WordStream, Inc., a provider of search marketing software and services. Apparently Facebook‘s release of its iPad app left the company cold. For instance, WordStream points out how some critics who reviewed the Facebook iPad app called it “too little, too late.”

That iPad app’s release must have been the last straw for the company. The result? This hard-hitting infographic smackdown that reveals what WordStream calls “Facebook’s errors in judgment.” Take a look at this litany of complaints, and let us know in the comments which ones you think are justified or not.

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Article source: http://mashable.com/2011/10/15/facebook-fail-infographic/

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Jeremy Hollinger, Special Education Teacher, Allegedly Mocks His Students On …

October 16, 2011 by admin
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Jeremy Hollinger, a special education teacher in Mobile, Ala., is facing criticism after allegedly posting material on Facebook mocking special needs students, WALA-TV reports.

According to WALA-TV, one of the pictures posted on his Facebook page shows Hollinger, a teacher at Eichold-Mertz Elementary School, wearing a helmet that belongs to one of his second-grade students.

“My son wears a helmet for seizures during P.E.,” Celeste Dennis told WALA-TV. “He had a picture of himself with my son’s helmet on, making fun on him like that was some type of a joke.”

An official from the school told WALA-TV that “the appropriate measures were taken,” although Hollinger still works at Eichold-Mertz Elementary School.

Hollinger isn’t the only teacher to find himself in trouble over comments posted to Facebook.

Viki Knox, a special education teacher in New Jersey, is currently under investigation for posting anti-gay comments to Facebook.

And in March, Christine Rubino, a teacher in New York, found herself under fire after posting inflammatory comments about her students to Facebook. A day after a Harlem girl drowned at a New York area beach, Rubino suggested that her students should take a beach trip. “I hate their guts,” she wrote, according to the New York Post.

Watch the video at the top and click over to WALA-TV for the full story.

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Article source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/16/jeremy-hollinger-special-education-facebook_n_1014169.html

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Facebook campaign heralding change in Bhutan?

October 16, 2011 by admin
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THIMPHU — For a sign of things to come with isolated Bhutan’s young democracy, look no further than a draconian smoking law, some bar talk, and a Facebook page.

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For decades, Bhutan has been the world’s most reclusive kingdom, with conservative villagers living under an absolute monarch. The introduction of parliamentary democracy in 2008 by the then-king was forced on many reluctant subjects who still look to the monarch as the final arbiter of justice.

But earlier this year Kinley Tshering, then a media consultant in the capital, Thimphu, discussed with friends over drinks the jailing of a Buddhist monk for three years for possessing $3 worth of tobacco, one of the first to be prosecuted under a new law banning public smoking.

More than 50 people have been jailed over the law, which allows police with sniffer dogs to raid homes in search of illegally imported tobacco and makes holding as much as a carton of 200 cigarettes a jailable offence.

Angry, Tshering decided to form a Facebook page, a digital protest unheard of in this Himalayan kingdom of 700,000 people wedged in between India and China.

Within months, the page had several thousand followers and was the talk of the town, signaling how a younger generation is embracing social media and democratic rights, confidently challenging an established order of elderly and mostly conservative leaders.

“Facebook was important. It opened the floodgates for open criticism of the government,” said opposition leader Tshering Tobgay. “People feel the need to be more vocal. Only two years ago, criticism – constructive or not – was quite anonymous.”

It is not just social media but traditional newspapers – the first private ones appeared in 2006 – that are becoming increasingly aggressive in probes into the government.

No one expects any revolution in Bhutan, where the king is revered. There is broad support for the kingdom’s cautious embrace of globalization and its philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), the idea that personal well-being and the environment are as important as GDP.

Alienated younger generation

But, tentatively, Bhutan is becoming a country where its first-ever democratic government – elected in 2008 – may have to increasingly take into account its people, especially its younger and modern, urban and wired generation.

For decades, criticism and grievances were aired among families and close friends.

“There are a lot of speeches about GNH. It sounds like we are doing a lot,” said Tashi Choden, a senior researcher at the Centre for Bhutan Studies in Thimphu. “But there is a different reality on the ground. The youth are increasingly alienated. We could lose what we have if we are not careful.”

The predominantly Buddhist Bhutanese are mindful of the fate of other Himalayan kingdoms: the monarchy in Nepal was abolished after a civil war, Sikkim was absorbed by India and Tibet by China.

Story: Bhutan king and queen share first public kiss

The marriage of King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck on Oct. 13 to a young student may cement the future of the popular monarchy that acts as the checks and balances on an unsure democracy, funneling grievances through the ancient rights of subjects to appeal to the king.

But there is far more skepticism about its elected leaders.

“The next election (in 2013) will be fascinating,” said Francoise Pommaret, a French anthropologist and historian who has lived in Bhutan for three decades. “I have no idea what will happen, but there are profound social changes. Our leaders will have to listen to a new generation.”

Bhutan’s government faces a slew of challenges.

Most glaringly, there is a massive generation gap between an elderly conservative elite and young people who pose problems for the government that range from unemployment, urban gangs and drug abuse.

There is also a growing disparity in wealth. Bhutan is not one of the world’s poorest countries – its GDP per head puts it in the league of lower middle-income nations – and yet more than a fifth of the population lives on less than $0.70 a day.

Increasing expectations of better lives are fed by television, which was only introduced to the country in 1999, as well as the ever-more-frequent sight of expensive land cruisers plying Bhutan’s roads.

“Is there is one thing that keeps leaders awake at night, it’s the growing disparity between the haves and have-nots,” said one senior government official, who asked to remain anonymous.

Tide turning slowly

It is a change that goes to the far reaches of a kingdom roughly the size of Switzerland.

In the south, lower-caste villagers with historical Hindu roots are suing their upper-caste neighbors for discrimination, saying it is illegal under the new constitution. Pommaret calls it “a landmark in Bhutan’s history”.

In Thimphu, some 200 people carried out Bhutan’s first-ever street protest in 2009 against the slow official reaction to the drowning of seven youngsters in a monsoon-swollen river.

A highway through a national park connecting eastern Bhutan with the central part of the country has sparked national debate on television, and protests to the prime minister.

Article source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44919623/ns/today-today_news/t/facebook-campaign-heralding-change-bhutan/

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Sapolu threatens to quit

October 16, 2011 by admin
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Auckland – Samoa centre Eliota Fuimaono Sapolu has reportedly threatened to quit rugby after receiving a six-month suspended ban for accusing referee Nigel Owens of racism and bias following his team’s World Cup exit.

Fuimaono Sapolu made a number of controversial Twitter posts during the tournament including one following a 13-5 defeat by defending champions South Africa in which he slammed the performance of Owens, whose Facebook page was littered with abusive comments after the match.

“I can understand the hate!! Haha good luck u racist biased prick,” tweeted the 30-year-old Fuimaono Sapolu. “Get s.a (South Africa) into next round. The plan was obvious. Can’t wait 2 meet irb (International Rugby Board) members in public.”

A reconvened disciplinary hearing on Saturday, which earlier this month provisionally banned Fuimaono Sapolu from all rugby, dismissed the player’s accusations against Welsh official Owens.

It said the midfielder would have his six-month ban, which is suspended for two years, activated unless he offered a “full and unconditional apology to Nigel Owens and unconditional retraction of any criticism of him.”

He was also ordered to attend a minimum of 100 hours rugby community work in Samoa within the next 12 months and pass a recognised referee course within the next three months.

But Fuimaono Sapolu, who plays for English club side Gloucester, told New Zealand’s Sunday Star-Times: “I don’t want to play rugby any more.

“It is the most beautiful sport in the world… For me it’s a beautiful sport that unfortunately has so many issues to be sorted out for it to be truly a democratic sport. I don’t feel like playing rugby anymore.”

Independent judicial officer Jeff Blackett of England, who heard Sapolu’s case, ruled the comments about Owens “impugn his integrity and reputation both as a referee and as a man”.

And Blackett, who labelled the player’s behaviour towards Owens “offensive”, insisted there was “absolutely no evidence the referee was biased in the sense that he deliberately favoured one side or the other”.

“To suggest that Nigel Owens is racist against Samoans is also completely inappropriate,” Blackett said.

Earlier in the tournament, after Samoa’s defeat by Wales, Fuimaono Sapolu, who plays for English Premiership side Gloucester, took to Twitter to accuse World Cup organisers of “slavery” and a “holocaust” for the way teams such as his had to play twice in four days while the Welsh had a week off between matches.

He also slammed the IRB for a lack of a minute’s silence when Samoa played on the anniversary of its devastating 2009 tsunami while one was afforded to the United States when the Eagles played on the anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks.

“Minute of silence for USA for 9-11. Nothing for Samoa for tsunami. Both games played on anniversary days,” he tweeted. “Our dead not good enough?”

Article source: http://www.sport24.co.za/Rugby/RugbyWorldCup2011/Sapolu-threatens-to-quit-20111016

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Apple’s Siri and the Future of Artificial Intelligence

October 16, 2011 by admin
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Siri isn’t quite cyberpunk

Apple’s new iPhone 4S has met with record sales, topping the release of the iPhone 4 last year. The iPhone 4 debuted with 1.7 million units sold. The iPhone 4S is projected to sell anywhere between 2 and 4 million units by the end of this weekend.

With an improved camera and a faster chip, the iPhone 4S easily outpaces its predecessor as well as most of its competitors.

Even Samsung’s Galaxy SII can’t compete with the remarkable voice recognition software included on the new iPhone: Siri.

Siri is smart voice recognition software, capable of intuitively answering a wide array of questions from iPhone users. But Alexis Madrigal says it’s more than that:

The genius of Siri is to combine the new type of information bot with the old type of human-helper bot. Instead of patterning Siri on a humanoid body, Apple used a human archetype — the secretary or assistant. To do so, Apple gave Siri a voice and a set of skills that seem designed to make everyone feel like Don Draper. Siri listens to you and does what you say. “Take this down, Siri… Remind me to buy Helena flowers!” And if early reviews are any indication, the disembodied robot could be the next big thing in how we interact with our computers.

The way we interact with technology is changing rapidly. Recently, I.B.M. super-computer “Watson” beat its human competitors on Jeopardy. The intuitive way that Siri answers questions on the iPhone 4S is certainly reminiscent of Watson’s ability to quickly parse through enormous amounts of data on the quiz show. How long before Watson is in our pocket, and Siri is just a thing of the past?

Continue reading this post…

Article source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/10/15/apples-siri-and-the-future-of-artificial-intelligence/

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Facebook post gets Catawba Valley Community College student in trouble

October 16, 2011 by admin
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HICKORY –

What a student claims was a sarcastic remark posted on Facebook got him kicked out of Catawba Valley Community College for a year. That is until the college reconsidered its decision and readmitted him during a discipline hearing held Friday morning.

Marc Bechtol, 37, posted multiple comments on the school’s page taking issue with the school’s association with a financial services company that issues a student ID that doubles as a debit card.

The issue came to a head after Bechtol made a post on Sept. 28 that he says the college intentionally misinterpreted in an effort to quell his protest.

He wrote, “Did anyone else get a bunch of credit card spam in their CVCC inbox today? So, did CVCC sell our names to banks, or did Higher One? I think we should register CVCC’s address with every porn site known to man. Anyone know any good viruses to send them?” He then posted a second comment, “OK, maybe that would be a slight overreaction.”

Bechtol said he didn’t mean it.

“It was obvious hyperbole – obvious satire,” he said. “There’s no rational person in the world who could take a look at those statements in context and conclude that they’re an actual threat.”

On Tuesday, Oct. 4 CVCC’s Executive Director of Student Services Cindy Coulter escorted Bechtol from his business law class to her office where she told him he was banned from campus for two semesters.

Bechtol said the school used his sarcastic comment as an excuse to silence a dissenter. He appealed his suspension.

At his hearing on Friday, Oct. 7, he was told he’d be banned from campus, but might be able to continue his studies online.

On Wednesday, Oct. 12, he was told he could go back to class pending the school’s decision at its Friday meeting, when the school allowed him to resume his classes.

Because most of his expulsion coincided with the school’s fall break, Bechtol missed just three classes. He doesn’t think his absences will hurt his grades.

“It’s just the principle of the thing,” he said. “I’m ready for it to be over with, and I’m glad they reconsidered.”

CVCC President Dr. Garrett Hinshaw was tight lipped about the situation.

“We are not able to make a comment about an individual student’s educational situation,” he said.

HOW IT BEGAN

The core issue that frustrated Bechtol in the first place was the school’s new identification cards issued at the beginning of the fall semester.

The cards look like credit cards, and they’re issued by a financial services company called Higher One. They’re emblazoned with the school’s logo in the upper left corner and a Master Card logo in the bottom right. They don’t feature a student’s photo.

CVCC’s Vice President of Student and Technology Services Bill Dulin said the college decided to issue the new cards as a cost-saving measure that would be convenient for the students.

It’s common for students to have grants or loans in amounts higher than their tuition costs. The additional money can be used for textbooks and living expenses. In the past, CVCC did what most schools do. It issued checks to the students for the amount of their financial aid beyond tuition.

Now the school pays Higher One to handle the disbursements.

It does so in one of three ways:

1. Students can open an account with Higher One’s banking partner, The Bancorp Bank, and access their money using the new ID card as a debit card.

2. Students can instruct Higher One to wire the disbursements to the bank of their choice.

3. Students can request that Higher One issue them a paper check for their disbursement.

Having the card doesn’t obligate a student to open an account or activate it, Dulin said.

Bechtol’s problem with the cards is that many of his fellow students think they’re required to open an account with Higher One to get access to their disbursements. He also doesn’t like that Higher One charges a number of fees for using the card and most of his younger classmates wouldn’t be fiscally savvy enough to read the fine print then make an informed decision.

The company charges the students 50 cents for using the card and entering a pin number. There’s no charge if the student selects the credit option at the point of sale and signs for the purchase, according to Higher One’s website.

The company charges the students $19 per month if the account isn’t used for nine months. They call it the “Abandoned Account Fee.” No fees are collected on empty accounts

It’s free to use the Higher One ATM on CVCC’s campus, but that’s the only one of its type in Hickory. Using another bank’s ATM will incur a $2.50 charge from Higher One. There’s also a $20 card replacement fee.

Dulin said the fees are in line with what other banks are charging.

Bechtol said they’re extreme.

When Bechtol heard that the school was moving away from its traditional ID system to the new cards, he sent the CVCC business office an email in June telling them he didn’t want his Social Security Number given to any third parties. He said the school sent him an email agreeing to his request.

On Sept. 27, he got a CVCC branded debit card in the mail. Bechtol said the bank had his Social Security Number, his date of birth and asked that he confirm the information.

The next day, he had an Orchard Bank offer for a credit card in his email inbox.

“It was pretty obvious to me that, either the school or Higher One is selling our names and email addresses and maybe more to outside banks,” Bechtol said.

He also suspected that CVCC was profiting from its relationship with Higher One.

The school’s president said that’s not so.

“There is absolutely no financial benefit to CVCC from Higher One,” Hinshaw said. “The whole idea behind this was to provide a service to our students. They can have the old type of card if they want – this has not been forced on our students.”

Bechtol stood his ground.

“I took the position of doing an anti-marketing campaign,” he said. “Every time they would send an email about the cards, I would respond with a Facebook post.”

Bechtol estimates that he posted about 10 comments about the card since June. In one post, he called for the resignation of the person responsible for signing the agreement with the bank.

“I think it was pretty cowardly to roll this thing out and not attach anyone’s name to it,” he said.

Dulin said that early on, several CVCC students felt that the college was forcing a debit card on them or forcing them into a banking relationship. Now that the cards have been issued, the students understand their options.

“It really has gone well until this situation arose,” Dulin said. “We certainly haven’t gotten a lot of negative feedback.”

Bechtol is in his final semester at CVCC. He said he’s through with his pro-free speech, anti-Higher One campaign.

“My fight in this is over,” Bechtol said. “I think I’ve done my part.”

He has applied to a university in another state to continue to study international marketing. He hopes his troubles with his current college won’t follow him to the next level.

Article source: http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/news/2011/oct/14/facebook-post-gets-catawba-valley-community-colleg-ar-1501482/

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NJ teacher who made bigoted Facebook comments about gays must go – The Star-Ledger

October 16, 2011 by admin
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Star-Ledger file photoSchool officials are investigating allegations that a Union High School teacher criticized homosexuality on her Facebook page.

Viki Knox didn’t make her comments to her family at the dinner table, or to a small group of friends in the church parking lot after a Sunday service. Instead, she fired up a computer, identified herself as a Union High School teacher and posted bigoted remarks on Facebook — more than once.

She might as well have hopped on a soapbox across the street from the school and screamed her anti-gay rant into a bullhorn. Or stapled posters to telephone poles around town.

While we all should be allowed an inner circle with whom we can speak freely, Knox gave up those protections when she posted her comments on the most public forum there is — the internet. She created a fearful, hostile environment for students. That’s unacceptable.

Knox has the right to a hateful view, but once her beliefs are made public, she doesn’t have the right to a taxpayer-funded, $70,688-a-year job in which she is expected to treat all students equally and with respect. She should absorb the harshest action possible, suspension or firing.

Knox’s original rant was aimed at a display at the school, marking Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender History Month: “Why parade your unnatural immoral behaviors before the rest of us?” she wrote. “I DO NOT HAVE TO TOLERATE ANYTHING OTHERS WISH TO DO. I DO HAVE TO LOVE AND SPEAK AND DO WHAT’S RIGHT!”

FacebookA screenshot of Union Township High School teacher Viki Knox’s Facebook page. School district officials are investigating allegations that Knox criticized homosexuality on her Facebook page.

Knox is wrong. As a teacher, she must have tolerance. No student should be the target of prejudice by any school employees, especially teachers.

Later, Knox posted: “God cannot abide, tolerate, accept, go along with SIN.” She added: “Sin is sin. Wrong is wrong.”

A self-described “Jesus freak,” Knox wrote that she is compelled to “love” others and do what’s right, but then spouted hate speech, using God as her public defender.

Her choice of words is damning: She didn’t write that while she doesn’t condone a particular lifestyle, her beliefs won’t interfere with her job. She insists, in all caps, that she has zero tolerance for it.

So, she has to go.

School officials can’t police her heart, of course. But Knox brought her comments into the classroom via the internet, and she is responsible for the effect that speech could have on students.

School officials say they’re weighing their options, but we don’t see how Knox ever could be an effective, trusted teacher again.

Related coverage:

• Pastor sticks up for Union High School teacher who made anti-gay Facebook comments

• N.J. teacher’s Facebook comments about gays spark firestorm of controversy

• Union Township school officials investigate teacher who allegedly made anti-gay remarks on Facebook

Article source: http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2011/10/nj_teacher_who_made_bigoted_fa.html

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