Save KZEL from being nationally syndicated

Save KZEL.COM--
*update*
CONGRATS...YOU ALL SAVED KZEL!!!!
WHAT CAN WE SAY? YOU ALL ROSE TO THE OCCASSION, OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND IT BECAME REALITY @ 9:30AM, MONDAY MORNING. KZEL IS LIVE AND LOCAL, AND ROCKIN' 24-HOURS A DAY. BYE BYE TALK SHOW, AND HELLO AGAIN TO 36-YEARS OF ROCK AND ROLL!

MAY THANKS TO ALL WHO HELPED US IN OUR STORIED PAST, OUR RECENT STRUGGLES AND OUR LAST WEEK TURN AROUND. TOGETHER, FOR ONCE, WE MADE A DIFFERENCE AND THE HIGHER UPS WERE FORCED TO LISTEN AND EVENTUALLY AGREED...LIVE AND LOCAL ROCK, 24/7. NOW...LET'S KEEP IT UP...AND WE WILL.

Mark is lock in the control booth at the KZEL studios fighting to keep KZEL live and local.

"Disc jockey Mark Raney, the program director for KZEL-FM in Eugene had been on the air for just over 24-hours, attempting to stop his station from abandoning its local roots.

At last report, Raney was still barricaded; locked in the control room to make his protest on the air.

He says the station management’s plans to use nationally syndicated programming are absurd. So he's pitched a tent, and settled himself into the studio where he’s taking calls from listeners in hopes of keeping local talent on the air, playing classic rock music."

Raney says he's well aware this move could cost him his job.

"Whatever it takes,” says Raney. “I'm here for the long haul. If it takes a couple days, a couple of weeks, or a couple months, I’m here, and I’m going to stay here until every voice is heard."

Source KMTR



I think it is very noble for what Mark is trying to do.

KZEL is part of Eugene's history and it should stay local.
People listen to a radio station for 2 reasons in my opinion.
What the station offers and the personalities of the people behind the mic.
Keep KZEL Live and Local and Rockin’ like it should be!
Log onto SAVEKZEL.COM or call Mr. Big at 284-8556 and leave your comments

Truckers beware! If you're illegal...EPD and ODOT are looking for you

KVAL--

Eugene police teamed up with the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Lane County Sheriff's weighmasters at a site in West Eugene.

" patrol cars stopped truckers within a five-mile radius of the operation. David Gaffney, with ODOT's motor carrier enforcement said, "Eugene police department in the Lane County Sheriff's weighmasters are actively patrolling this area. When they see a truck that might have a safety war overweight problem. They bring them over here to do an inspection and weighing of the truck."

Officials issued plenty of citations and fines.

Arnold Schwarzenegger: Amnesty is "anarchy"

NewsMax--

The "first-order business" for the federal government in dealing with illegal immigration is to secure the nation's borders, declares Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The governor commented that what we learned on 9/11 is that not all of those who cross our borders want to share the American dream. Schwarzenegger goes on to say that criminalizing immigrants for crossing the border is not the answer.

" instead, I urge Congress to get tough on those illegal immigrants who are a danger to society. If that illegal immigrant commits a serious crime, he must leave the country. One strike and you're out. No excuses, no delays."

what is your definition of a serious crime? Isn't it crossing the border illegally a crime? Wouldn't that alone be considered a serious crime?

Schwarzenegger agrees that the US should pass a commonsense temporary worker program so that everyone crossing the border is documented and that we can embrace the immigrant without endorsing the legal immigration.

" granting citizenship to people who are here illegally is not just amnesty, it's anarchy. We are a country of immigrants, yes. But we are also a nation of laws.
We should assimilate immigrants into the mainstream. We want immigrants to not just live in America but to live as Americans. Said Schwarzenegger "

Schwarzenegger, himself an immigrant to this country should more than understand the difference between immigration and illegal immigration.

It is not a matter of how serious the crime is, it is simply a matter of law.

25 Charged with 23 counts of human smuggling

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement--
-- News Release --


Cleveland – March 23, 2006 -- The US attorney for Northern District of Ohio announced that ICE and several law enforcement agencies are charging 25 defendants with 23 counts of human smuggling.

" This morning arrest warrants were executed in: Phoenix, Ariz.; Painesville, Ohio; and Grand Rapids, Mich. A total of 21 individuals were arrested. Other items seized include: $100,000 U.S. currency, two assault rifles with drum magazines, nine handguns, thousands of rounds of ammunition, numerous fraudulent documents along with the take down of two-drop houses with 20 illegal aliens inside. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of $1,109,305 in wired cash transfers and seven properties exceeding $1 million in value."

Illegal aliens would be smuggled across the border from Mexico to Nogales Arizona for fees ranging from $1800-$2000 each.

Once across the border, hundreds of illegal aliens would utilize a network of safe houses and motor vehicle to transport the aliens first to Phoenix, Arizona, then to various interior states.

" part of the conspiracy supporting the alien smuggling operation provided the illegal aliens with fraudulent alien registration cards, Social Security cards and other identification documents, for an additional fee above the fee that they were paying to be smuggled into United States."

Cell Phone Tax ... Portland started it, next Corvallis, then Eugene, then Medford, then...

The Statesman Journal--
Corvallis considers cell phone tax


The Corvallis city Council is considering a business tax for telecommunication companies to do business in the town. The tax would generate an estimated $696,737 per year in which the city would use initially to purchase new fire vehicles and replace the city's 40-year-old fire training tower.

The council has scheduled three hearings on the proposal in April and May in a council decision on May 15. The proposed tax would take effect January 1.

If you do not think this is a big deal... take a close look at your wired phone bill.
Here is a little assignment for you.

Take your total phone bill minus your long-distance charges.

Next deduct the actual cost the phone & any other goodies that you are paying for such as call waiting, call forwarding, etc.

What should be left is all the taxes and fees that you are paying for your phone.

It might just surprise you. It shocked me!

Currently, there are less fees involved with cell phones, but once these taxes and fees get started, you can bet it would not be too long before your cell phone bill starts looking like your wired phone bill.

spammers are contributing to a pay per e-mail rule with AOL and Yahoo

Fox news--

" Grassroots organizations are fired up over America Online and Yahoo's decisions to place a fee on groups that send e-mails to large number of users without first being sorted through junk mail filters "

my heart really bleeds for them as I just deleted my 15th junk mail today
William Greene, president of RightMarch.com commented that it would hamper their ability to get information to their members so that they are able to contact their congressman or senator. RightMarch.com sends out about 3 million e-mail messages per week [for free]. "The new fees are going to put a real damper on anticipation in the democratic process." Greene said. I don't see why Greene is so worried, spam is unwanted mail. if his members want the mail, then it is not spam.

Yahoo also contends that it will be applying these charges to transaction mail such as bank account statements or purchase receipts. Political and nonprofit groups will not be charged. thanks to the spammers, you know that this will soon lead into a per-mail charge that will affect all of us.

I agree, that something has to be done about the excessive number of spam mail, charging the spammers seems to be one step towards a solution. Unfortunately, finding the spammers is another issue.

Charging legitimate e-mailers is something that I do not agree with.

One suggestion that I would like to offer is to make it a felony to use somebody else's e-mail address to send spam.

Of course again the issue remains, #1 finding the spammer #2 a lot of spammers are outside of the United States making it difficult to enforce.

Do you think your tax returns are private? Think again!

The Philadelphia Inquirer--
IRS plans to allow prepares to sell YOUR tax return!

Under the proposed ruling, your wages, assets, expenses and personal data which are normally shared between you, your tax preparer and the government may be shared or sold to consumer information groups such as third-party data brokers.

"The IRS is quietly moving to loosen the once-inviolable privacy of federal income-tax returns. If it succeeds, accountants and other tax-return preparers will be able to sell information from individual returns - or even entire returns - to marketers and data brokers.
The change is raising alarm among consumer and privacy-rights advocates. It was included in a set of proposed rules that the Treasury Department and the IRS published in the Dec. 8 Federal Register, where the official notice labeled them "not a significant regulatory action."

"The normal interaction is that the taxpayer just signs what the tax preparer puts in front of them," said Jean Ann Fox of the Consumer Federation of America, one of several groups fighting the changes. "They think, 'This person is a tax professional, and I'm going to rely on them.' "

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SIGN!
I am also one of those that trust my CPA in preparation of my taxes. In fact, I just picked up my taxes on Friday and after receiving the summary of which way my money will flow, I signed the appropriate documents, wrote a check and left.


December 2005, the IRS announced it was planning to update section 7216 of the tax code which governs the usage and disclosure of information gathered by tax preparers. The regulation was rewritten to reflect the increasing reliance on electronic preparation of tax forms such as TurboTax. {source}
for further information
Department of treasury published December 8, 2005

Internal Revenue Bulletin 2006-3, published January 17, 2006

THE CONSUMERS SPEAK!
If I even hear a rumor that my CPA who I paid good money towards to properly prepare my taxes is selling my information to anybody... I'm going to find a new tax preparer. I encourage others to send a message to their tax preparer that this is not acceptable nor is it good client relations.

Although this has rather slipped underneath the radar so to speak, it is very important to still write a letter to the IRS and to our officials informing them that this kind of invasion of privacy will not be tolerated by our government.

CC:PA:LPD:PR (REG-137243-02)
Room 5203
Internal Revenue Service, Box 7604
Ben Franklin Station, Washington, D.C. 20044

Our government officials are sometimes puzzled why we do not trust the government. Excellent example.

Hat tip to Jeanne E. Trudeau for bringing this to our attention.

Buck Owens Passes Away at 77

Buck Owens Crystal Palace--
Quoting from the Crystal Palace web site...

"03-25-2006 KUZZ Radio owner and Country Music Hall of Fame musician Alvis E. "Buck" Owens died early Saturday morning at his Bakersfield, CA home. His family says Buck died in his sleep and the cause of death is not yet known. Buck was born on August 12, 1929 in Sherman, Texas. The son of a sharecropper, Buck traveled with his family to the Phoenix, Arizona area in 1937 as they searched for a better life. Eventually, they traveled to California's San Joaquin Valley, doing farm work. At a young age Buck vowed that when he grew up, he would not be poor. He found a way out of his family's poverty through his musical talent.

That talent blossomed after Buck moved to Bakersfield in 1951. Within months he was a member of the hottest honky-tonk band in town, Bill Woods & The Orange Blossom Playboys, who held forth at the legendary Blackboard night club. He began playing a Fender Telecaster guitar, which provided a unique new sound in country music. Soon he was playing for recording sessions at Capitol Records. His first session as a leader came in 1957, but the session produced no hits
Shortly thereafter, Buck began his other career, as a broadcaster. He moved to the Tacoma, Washington suburb of Puyallup and bought part-interest in a radio station, where he worked as a DJ and ad salesman as well as playing gigs in the area. He also had a live TV show in Tacoma.

Buck's first Top 10 record, "Under Your Spell Again," was released in 1959. In 1960, he sold his interests in Washington state and returned to Bakersfield, which was his home until he died. From 1962 to 1968 Buck released a series of #1 records that established him as one of the greatest country entertainers of all time. "

Upcoming Candidate Forum

Candidate Forum
Dorena Grange
Saturday, April 1st
12:00 to 2:00

Press Release

Rural areas matter to the candidates for Governor in this election year. And so do the rural voters. That’s shown by the candidates’ willingness to participate in a Candidate Forum at the Dorena Grange in Cottage Grove on April 1st from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. Dorena Grange is located at 34360 Row River Road (MP 4) in Cottage Grove. Here are directions to Dorena Grange: from I-5 take exit #174; cloverleaf ends at a stop light, turn Left; stay on the Row River Road until you reach MP 4; entrance to Grange parking lot is on the right a few feet after MP 4.

Grange is an agriculturally-based fraternal organization with an emphasis on community service. And Grange has long taken pride in their grass-roots involvement in legislative issues. For instance, Grange members in Lane County wrote a Resolution spearheading the effort to bring about newborn hearing tests in Oregon. After which the State Grange lobbyists worked with Legislators to get a bill written; and at a State Convention members from all over the state wrote postcards to their Legislators urging passage of that law. It’s now an accomplished fact; all newborns in the State of Oregon are hearing tested…all because the Grange started the legislative ball rolling.

Dorena Grange wanted to give rural voters from south Lane County and north Douglas County an opportunity to hear the candidates for Governor. It’s important to know how the various candidates stand on important issues prior to the May 16th election. Each of the candidates has been asked to address the following issues:

1. Oregon has been listed as 1 of only 2 states that issue driver’s licenses to “illegal” aliens. What is your position regarding having DMV require “Proof of Citizenship” before issuing a Driver’s License.

2. Since 1979 population in Oregon has increased 30% and Oregon State Police (OSP) patrols have decreased 49.5%. Given that fact, what is your position regarding returning OSP to a “Dedicated Funding” source similar to funding during and before the 1977-1979 biennium?

3. What is your position regarding amending the Constitution for the State of Oregon to preclude private land being condemned and transferred to another private party, which is allowed in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Kelo –vs- Connecticut Eminent Domain case?

4. What is your position regarding stabilizing school funding?

5. What is your position regarding changing election procedures to have an Open primary?

Each candidate will also have time to address other issues important to his campaign. Following that audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions to be answered by one or more of the candidates. So far four of the gubernatorial candidates have confirmed their plans to participate in this Candidate Forum; Kevin Mannix, Pete Sorenson, W. Ames Curtright and Gordon Leitch. As additional candidates confirm their plans to attend we’ll update this press release.


Jeanne E. Trudeau
Dorena Grange
Phone: (541) 942-2498
FAX: (541) 942-9854
E-mail: trudeau@highstream.net

"I think this is an outstanding opportunity for voters in both south Lane and north Douglas county to become informed about what these candidates for Governor think on various issues and how they would plan to govern the State of Oregon." Said Jeanne Trudeau.


Candidates that have responded positively to this invitation so for all are Aims Curtright, Gordon Leitch, Jim Hill, Kevin Mannix, Pete Sorenson and Tony Corcoran of the governor's office.
Bill Spidal, Jason Atkinson and Ron Sexton all had scheduling conflicts.

This event will be covered by the local media KEZI, KVAL, KMTR, The Register-Guard, Cottage Grove Sentinel and The Springfield News.

finals week

no postings for this week.

Finals are over... I am exhausted.

so for the rest the week, I get to spend time fixing all the things that were neglected.

postings will begin again on Monday unless something really urgent comes up.

thanks for visiting

Judge tells Department of Justice "No" on search queries

Google Blog--

"Google will not have to hand over any user's search queries to the government. That's what a federal judge ruled today when he decided to drastically limit a subpoena issued to Google by the Department of Justice."

The federal Government demanded billions of URL's and two months worth of users search engine queries and plans use the data for a study in another case in Pennsylvania, worked the Bush administration is trying to revive a law meant to shield children from online photography.

In a 21-page ruling, Judge James Ware of the US District Court Northern District of California said the privacy considerations of Google users leading to deny part of the justice department request.

link to entire ruling
link to governments original subpoena

Gov. Rod Blagojevich :immigrants aren't criminals, they're workers

NBC5--

Rep. Luis Gutierrez told the crowd [of nearly 100,000 demonstrators] that immigrants are here to stay. And the Illinois Democrat pledged to work to block a controversial bill that would drastically strengthen immigration laws. [Referring to HR 4437]

"Shut the Senate down until you get the voice of immigrants who work so hard," said Rep. Luis Gutierrez.

Hat Tip to Daniel for bringing this to our attention.


As a rule, I don't normally repeat blog entries, however, when I saw this one, it made me furious.

When a representatives start promoting illegal aliens, it really says that we have a larger problem than we realize. People in high places that are aiding and abetting illegals should be removed from office because it is obvious where their loyalties are.

Provisions of HR 4437 unlawful presence in the US would be considered a felony, with undocumented immigrants facing potential jail time.

Lighting up the crosswalks... an interesting idea

Light Guard Systems--
The Smart Crosswalk

"The LightGuard System utilizes a series of signal heads with light emitting diodes (LED) in a durable housing which is embedded in the roadway. The LED's flash, in a unidirectional manner, a warning to approaching motiorists that a pedestrian is in, or entering, the crosswalk.

A pedestrian can activate the System by pushing a button, or the system can be automatically activated when the pedestrian passes through an activation zone breaking an optical beam. The LightGuard System can be a stand-alone, solar-powered system or a conventional AC powered system (AC to DC) with battery back-up. "


Cottage Grove is investing in one of the systems which on the surface I think is a very good idea after seeing a demonstrated on the company's web site.

The thing that was a shocker to me is when I heard about the $80,000 price tag. KVAL

The city of Cottage Grove plans to pay for the project mostly from the local gas taxes.

Sleepy Ted: Did Anybody Miss Me?

OPB--

I'm sorry, was there a debate? Dang! Missed another one.

Sleepy Ted Kulongoski who is famous for not doing anything in Oregon and publicly commenting that he does not have time for debates held true to his word on March 13, 2006 when six of the seven major candidates for governor met Monday to debate in Salem without the governor.

The debate, sponsored by the Associated Press Newspaper Executives at Willamette University

Oregonian reporter Harry Esteve read a question from the audience...

" Should we as a community provide education to the children of illegal immigrants?"
The response from the candidates were…


Ben Westlund: "Absolutely. I'm trying to save time there. No ifs, no ands, no discussion. Without question."

Pete Sorenson: "Oregon's constitution provides for free public education [with our tax dollars] for anyone in our state. I favor that and beyond that I also favor a ballot measure that would make health care an equal right."

Ron Saxton: "This is about meeting the needs of our citizens. This is about honoring and respecting those who are here legally. When we have a society that draws no distinctions between people who are here legally and people who are here illegally, we make a mockery of those who have complied with the law, those who have come into the system legally."

Kevin Mannix: "This question was about children. This wasn't about adults. As adults we don't want to give taxpayer subsidy and encouragement to folks to be here illegally. But do you say that to a child? Where do we draw the line? If you saw someone bleeding in the center of the road, would you run out there and say show me you identity card before I render assistance." that is a cold heartless comparison. The point is about illegal immigration, not being a cold heartless person. (See my comment below about children)

Jim Hill: "It's wrong and immoral to talk about not giving children services. When people are born in this country, I think they're Americans and they have all the rights that Americans should have and all the privileges that Americans should have."

Jason Atkinson: "The problem is that children who are here, whose parents were illegal immigrants, are typically citizens of the United States of America. And so are we going to deny someone and education because of the color of their skin? The answer certainly is not."


Jason Atkinson makes an excellent point.

One of the claims for people coming here illegally is to make a better lives for themselves... but what about their children?

I recall a story where this young girl tried to enter college after high school and the college asked her for her immigration papers and when she asked her parents for the documents, is when she found out that her parents entered the country illegally when she was very young.

Imagine the dilemma that this child has been placed into. If I was in a similar situation, I would be devastated.

So the debate is, did the parents actually do the child a favor by bringing her over here illegally or were the motives totally selfish?

As far as Jason Atkinson statement, "... are we going to deny someone education because of the color of their skin?"

I agree with Jason that the color of one's skin should not be a factor for education, however, I do feel that legality should be a factor on who PAYS for that child's education.

It is not uncommon for other countries to send their children to the United States for education. However, they are normally picking up the tab for that education, not the taxpayers.

Rhetorical Graduation Question

I've never earned a degree before, so the procedures are fairly new to me.
Lane community college has already announced [and changed] the date for students to "walk" to receive their degree.

So far, I have not heard any requirements for attending this event other than paying your $25 for your certificate.

So one question comes to mind... it is ASSUMED that students will be required to wear the traditional Cap and gown.

so being the type of person over analyzes everything... I'm just curious if you showed up in normal street clothes if you would still be allowed to participate?

admittedly, I have not done any real research on this question other than the fact that they tell you where you can purchase graduation supplies LCC bookstore


Now before you lecture me on the traditional roles etc. etc., I just asked the question out of mere curiosity.

by the way,
graduation ceremonies will take place the Saturday following finals week on 4 p.m. Saturday June 10, 2006 at the Lane County Fairgrounds in Downtown Eugene

I have already heard grumblings from students that they are doing this DURING finals week. I will agree it is kind of stupid!

slow blogging time again

with finals just weeks away, my new internship[it is nice to be working again], working on the CGTV channel 14 studios, taxes, etc....obviously blogging time has to take a backseat to the other activities.

however, keep checking back, the delays are only temporary.

Jason Atkinson interview on KNND

Senator Jason Atkinson with Mayor Gary Williams




We at KNND1400AM were very glad to have Senator Jason Atkinson on the Beeper today and really appreciate him coming by to answer questions and take phone calls.
If you don't have Quick TIme Player, click the Audio link


I want to thank They call me Vonski who has graciously offered to host the audio for me.

Jason Atkinson -- upcoming interview

Jason Atkinson will be interviewing with station owner Paul Schwartzberg this Thursday March 9 at 9 a.m. on Cottage Grove's KNND 1400 AM.
you can call in with your questions and comments at 541-942-5548

Pell Grants for low-income students

MSNBC--

Starting July 1, something more will be added: up to $750 extra for those who complete a "rigorous" high-school curriculum; up to $1,300 for second-year Pell students who earn a 3.0 average, and up to $4,000 for juniors and seniors, if they major in math, science, technology, engineering or certain foreign languages and keep their 3.0. The Feds are scrambling to write the program's rules. No one knows how many students will qualify.

Laura- guest commentator

open letter to LCC's CIT management

currently being circulated around the CIT department is an open letter to the CIT department head at Lane community college.

this is not a petition!

the sole intent of this letter is to bring to management's attention about the students [customers] dissatisfaction regarding the program curriculum specifically CS 288 and the fact that we are being required to complete a 10 week program within four weeks after they switch curriculum at midterm.

To be fair to management, I will post the letter publicly here sometime later this week AFTER the letter has been delivered to the department head, and depending on the outcome.

I feel it is only fair to give him an opportunity to address this issue first but at the same time making others aware of this letter if they wish to add their signatures and comments to it.

Future guest-worker program doesn't have a handle on fraud

The Washington Times--

A copy of a draft government report shows that the agency that would oversee any future guest worker program doesn't have a handle on fraud, and won't have a fraud management system in place until 2011 -- years after its proponents want to start the program.

"a copy of the draft, obtained by the Washington Times, says US citizens immigration services (USCIS) has looked at the prevalence of fraud in just a feud types of visas it now issues and doesn't give adjudicators the time or the tools to detect fraud or refer it to authorities for prosecution."

The General Accounting Office (GAO) got a 30% fraud rate among religious worker applications, and in one case law, enforcement had identified an applicant as a suspected terrorist.

" Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican and one of those who requested the report, wouldn't talk about specifics until it is released, but he told a Judiciary Committee meeting last week that senators would "be shocked if you learned about the internal fraud and abuse at the Citizenship and Immigration Service."
Mr. Grassley said from what he's seen, it's "unrealistic" to expect USCIS to administer a guest-worker program properly.
"Officials are being bribed. Visas are being given away. Green cards are being sold," he said."

Surprised?

Rosemary Jenks, director of government affairs at Numbers USA, which wants strict immigration limits, said, "as long as there's no prosecution or penalty, the alien is free to apply again and again and again until he gets what he's looking for, [referring to fraudulent applications] so there's no reason not to play the odds or the odds are so tiny that he's going to get in trouble."

President Bush requested $247 million in his budget this year to began planning for a guest worker program

I have to ask the question again, why do we keep bowing down and playing stupid.
why are we not investing this money into helping US citizens?

On one hand, the government is complaining that it does not have enough qualified educated workers in the United States so we look elsewhere, while at the same time, reducing resources for our students to go to college to become educated.

One of my frustrations is as we suffer economically, I get so tired of us trying to save the world in sending billions of dollars overseas at our expense.

As the old saying goes... follow the money. With the big push for a guest worker program, government refusing to prosecute illegal aliens and repeatedly turning their back on the problem... I still believe that there is more here than what meets the eye.

Running for Governor If I Can Pencil into in My Schedule

the Oregonian--

Kulongoski says he's duties keep him from debating

Governor Ted Kulongoski, the Democratic incumbent who has not accepted one single debate claims that his avoidance is because the campaign conflicts with his schedule.

"At this point all campaign events have to come in second to his job as governor," Johnson said. "Making progress on the issues that are of high concern to voters is the best case he can make for his re-election." said campaign manager Cameron Johnson

wouldn't want to interfere with his nap time.

Special Segment regarding Colleges and Universities

I want to thank those who have contributed to the roundtable discussion regarding local colleges and universities.

Although the number of posts was few, there were numerous non-blogging discussions regarding the current issues.

I think we need to keep the discussion about the quality of our college universities alive.

I also believe that we should start making them accountable for failure to provide the services advertised, which I think it's called fraud.

However, the problem is not solely the college's fault. State requirements come into play as the institutions try their best to balance state requirements for PE, health and the colleges requirement for courses directed at the major itself.

This forces the institutions to cram more information into shorter classes, which in turn forces a student to cut corners in their studies to try and keep up with a multitude of assignments.

One of my classes in the CIT program is doing just that.

CS 288, network monitoring, is normally a 10 week course. This term for the first time, they've decided to split the course into two 5-week sessions. Network monitoring & network security.

The reasoning for doing this is the excuse I hear all the time, " this is what the business community is asking for."

Suddenly, the students are asking, "what happened?"

We were just getting into the good stuff with networking and now suddenly it's over, and we find ourselves scrambling to fit a 10 week course into the remaining five weeks, with a completely new teacher, new teaching methods, and a ton of work to do which forces us to scramble to get the assignments done without having the time to really get to own the knowledge.

And they wonder why I complain.
I've always taken school very seriously especially since I'm spending a lot of money for my education[$21,000 to date], and when I make inquiries about these changes, I am treated like a student that complains too much.

Whether they like or not, I don't care, I am a consumer who contracted to them for service that is not being fulfilled. And currently, there is no accountability.

While there are rumors of a class-action lawsuit in the works by the students, I think the solution can be a lot simpler than going to court.

I will post a link to the round table discussions within a couple of days.

* the security class will be offered next year as a full 10 week course.

ICE--
[announcer's voice over]

"Among the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) law enforcement agencies, ICE has the most expansive investigative authority and largest force of investigators. Our mission is to protect the American people by combating terrorists and other criminals who cross the Nation’s borders and threaten us here at home. The men and women of ICE accomplish this by investigating and enforcing the Nation’s immigration and customs laws. Working overseas, along the Nation’s borders, and throughout the Nation’s interior, ICE agents and officers are demonstrating that the newly merged customs and immigration authorities constitute an effective mechanism to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal organizations that violate the Nation’s borders and the Nation’s customs and immigration laws. By leveraging the full enforcement potential provided by the new and unique blend of customs and immigration authorities, ICE agents and officers—together with our DHS and other federal counterparts and with the assistance of tribal, state and local law enforcement entities—are making it more difficult for potential terrorists and transnational criminal groups to move themselves, their supporters, or their weapons across the Nation’s borders through traditional human, drug, contraband, or financial smuggling networks, routes, and methods. Specifically, this work serves to dismantle the criminal business networks that seek to exploit the Nation’s borders. Moreover, our presence extends from the border well into the interior of the United States and deters illegal immigration by making clear, that it is not acceptable to fail to fully comply with the Nation’s immigration laws. These efforts implement the Nation’s critical homeland security priorities and strengthen respect for the Nation’s laws."

Coming to Fox this fall

By the way...
just in case anybody was wondering, it is actually the Department of Detention and Removal(DRO) who is the primary enforcement arm within ICE for the detention, apprehension and removal of the legal aliens from the United States.

their mission statement although not as elaborate is, "DRO promotes public safety and national security by ensuring the departure from the United States of all removable aliens through the fair and effective enforcement of the nation's immigration laws."
their 10-year vision to meet all the mandates will require

*visionary leadership at all levels of the organization
*an effectively trained and educated professional workforce
*the right levels of critical resources, e.g. professional facilities and infrastructure and
*effective, responses, and acrid command-and-control communication computer intelligence (C41) systems that advance the DRO mission

there you have it from the horses mouth what they need to go after illegal aliens.