Poison Ivy Assignment

In this blog we are going to continue with our study of poison ivy.
Although some people truly are immune to poison ivy, most people develop a rash after coming into contact with poison ivy or similar plants like poison sumac and poison oak. If you think you are immune because you have never developed a rash before, keep in mind that it can sometimes take multiple exposures or several years before you finally begin to develop an allergic response to urushiol, the chemical in poison ivy that triggers the rash that most people get.

You may think that you are immune to poison ivy but research has found that it takes multiple exposures and many years before a person can develop an allergic response to the oil in poison ivy. A few people are immune to poison ivy but they are rare. Poison ivy is a hazard to hikers, campers, gardeners, hunters, and anyone else who spends time outdoors.
Please click on this link to an article on poison ivy. Read about how to recognize the signs of poison ivy. It is possible for some people to develop this rash in the middle of winter. Please respond in the comment section of this blog of ways that you can treat poison ivy rash at home

Health Care for Teachers

One of the largest expenses that a Michigan public school district has is health expense. Must public school teachers seem to prefer the health insurance provided through the Michigan Education Special Services Association (Messa). This insurance is controlled by the Michigan Education Association.
Most school districts feel that this is too expensive of a plan. Most teacher bargaining gets bogged down when this issue is bargained in the teacher contract. Last week I received a school district newsletter called “Jay News” from the Shepherd School District. The Superintendent wants to get rid of Messa because it costs too much to provide for each teacher.
Today I got my copy of MEA Voice which is the magazine printed for Michigan school teachers. One article on the wellness page caught my eye. The article is “Pinckney Teachers return to MESSA after promised savings disappear”. The Pinckney teachers were asked to switch from MESSA three years ago because a different plan would save the district $600,000. Costs skyrocketed with the non-MESSA plan and rates rose 35%. The school board in Pinckney asked the teachers to return to MESSA because it would save $330,000 over the non-MESSA insurance plan.
Teachers will continue to be put on this merry-go-round of health benefits because of health costs. Everybody needs good health benefits but this issue will be in the spotlight until someone can come up with a better alternative. I think that one solution would be to put everybody on the Blue Cross program that the retired teachers have now. Yes, you pay a little for co-pays but it seems to work well.

Summer School

Detroit school administrators have decided to spend $52 million dollars this summer to allow nearly half of their students to attend summer school. What a wonderful idea! Schools sit empty during the summer and I always thought that schools should be available all year around for its students. There are teachers that would like to teach during the summer and pick up an extra income. There are always college students that would be willing to help tutor.
I think other schools could do the same thing. Many European and Asian schools at open 220 to 230 days a year. This compares to Michigan schools being open 180 days a year. Maybe summer school isn’t for every student but there are those students who truly love school and want to get ahead.

Brain research will help predict mistakes

There is new brain research that looked at a brain activity called alpha rhythms. A high state of alpha rhythms from a human’s brain indicates that a mistake might be made. These types of mistakes might be lack of attention during tasks that require attention.
A device that records these brain patterns could alert someone that they should pay attention. Truck driving or air traffic control, and even car driving might be made safer. Technology just might make our lives safer.

Higher Education and Stimulus Money

Higher education was going to take a 3% cut in the next school year but it looks like Federal Stimulus money is going to be used to bridge this funding gap. It’s just too bad that more money can’t be used to reduce the cost of college tuition. Michigan schools receive very little funding in comparison to many other states. This includes the universities. We have some of the highest in state tuition rates around in the public university system, because we fund them less than other states. My problem is we have a governor who emphasizes the importance of education, but education funds are the first to be cut every time budget cuts come up.
My main concern about using this so-called "stimulus money" for education, is what happens when it dries up? This solution just delays the tough choices, meaning future cuts will have to be even greater.
Also, I thought this "stimulus money" was meant for stimulating the economy, not for solving current budget woes.

Are You a Podcaster?

Why are podcasts becoming so popular? Where ever you are you can see people of all ages listening to podcasts. The reasons for this are many and varied.
MP3 players are quite inexpensive. I own two and I bought them at Kmart for under $20. They hold hours of music or in my case news, commentary, or talk shows. My MP3 players are very small, about the size of a pack of gum.
The software is very easy to use. I use Ziepod on my computer. I open up Ziepod and click update my subscriptions and hours of listening are downloaded to my MP3 player. All of this takes less than 10 minutes.
I believe that it is more natural for people to listen to a story than read a book. With my MP3 player I can work, exercise, or drive a car and constantly listen to information. It’s pretty hard to read a book while doing these things. Believe me, I’ve tried.

More On Education, Less On Prisons

It’s a shame that Michigan spends so much more on prisons than on higher education. Our state spends about $1.19 for every dollar it spends on higher education. This is according to a study by the Pew Charitable Trusts. This amounts to about 2 billion dollars on prisons and about 1.6 billion on higher education. About one out of every 100 people in our state is in prison.

Perhaps if we spent more money on schools, we could keep more people out of prison. I would like to see a study linking the people in prison to the type of schools they attended. I feel that good quality schools with quality teachers would go a long way in reducing our huge prison population.