DOLLAR-WI$E DIVAS: SAVE UP TO 90% ON COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS
Printer-friendly version By Nancy Clement & Dawn Clement September 8, 2009 (San Diego’s East County)–Any college student will tell you that textbooks are expensive, and the cost is continuing to rise each year. According to the PIRG Higher Education Project (www.pirg.org/highered), college students spend an average of $900 on textbooks each year. In today’s economy, the cost of textbooks is a severe burden on students who are already struggling financially. It is estimated that 23% of students don’t purchase required books due to the costs, which hampers the learning process and is not a good solution to the problem. Fortunately, there are other solutions to this problem. Buying used books is a good start, but many textbooks are not available used. New editions of most textbooks are published approximately every three years, and students are often told to buy the most recent edition, which means buying new books. Before you spend the extra cash for the latest edition, do a little research and find out what changes have been made since the previous edition. If the changes are minor, you may be able to use the older edition and save some money. Check with your instructor to make sure that it is okay with them. If you find yourself in a situation where you are assigned a new edition, don’t panic! Believe it or not, the best price may not be found at the campus book store. Do a little research online to find the best price on a specific textbook. Just be sure to factor in the shipping costs – some sites offer free shipping, but most do not, and shipping charges can be very high. There are numerous web sites whose sole purpose is to help you find the best deal on textbooks. Some are commercial sites, such as eCampus (www.ecampus.com) and Amazon (www.amazon.com). Amazon has a special section just for textbooks and up to 90% savings on used textbooks! Other sites, such as Campus Books (www.campusbooks.com) and BigWords (www.bigwords.com) are actually elaborate search engines that compare prices at other Web Sites. Both of these sites will also assist students in selling their textbooks at the end of the semester by using the search engine to find the best prices. Commercial web sites usually include a section for students to buy and sell textbooks directly to each other. This process is referred to as “book swapping.” In addition to the book-swapping sections of the commercial web sites (eCampus has a book swap section), there are also non-commercial sites that offer free book-swap services. Worth checking out is Campus Book Swap www.campusbookswap.com), which is sponsored by PIRG. College students, and their parents, have enough to worry about, without adding the stress of wondering how they are going to pay for their textbooks. Invest a little time in shopping around, and it can really pay off for you and your wallet! Mission Statement: Share creative ideas to assist people of all ages on tips to save money and improve their lifestyle. Nancy Clement is an east county Realtor®, mortgage broker and freelance writer. Dawn Clement is a stay-at-home mother of three, freelance writer, and creative shopper. Printer-friendly version
LA MESA-SPRING VALLEY BOARD NIXES AIRING OBAMA’S LIVE NATIONAL ADDRESS TO SCHOOLS; CENSORSHIP SPARKS OUTRAGE, CALL TO REPLACE BOARD MEMBERS
Printer-friendly version As Controversy Grows, Ex-First Lady Laura Bush Defends Presidential Address to Students by Gayle Early A special Board meeting convened on Labor Day to debate airing the President’s live broadcast. In a 3-2 vote, the majority voted to censor today’s speech, citing concerns that it was “unconstitutional,” “indoctrination,” and “inappropriate.” The move sparked outrage and a call to oust school board members from some parents and students, who interrupted their holiday weekend to urge that the Board air the President’s speech, which they they view as inspirational to students across America. WATCH LIVE HERE at 9 a.m. or READ THE FULL TEXT: La Mesa (September 8, 2009)—President Obama, in a live broadcast, will address school children across America today at 9:00 a.m. about the importance of working hard, setting goals, and taking responsibility for their learning. In the words of Dr. Cyndi Sutton, Principal of Parkway Middle School in a letter sent to parents Friday, September 4th, “He will also call for a shared responsibility and commitment on the part of students, parents, and educators to ensure that every child in every school receives the best education possible, so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens.” Obama’s “back-to-school” pep talk encourages kids to persist and succeed in school, but students at Parkway Middle and many other local schools will not get the message, at least today. On the eve of the address, the La Mesa-Spring Valley Board of Education decided in a special meeting convened on Labor Day, that none of the children in its 21 elementary and middle schools will hear the live broadcast at school Tuesday with students in the rest of the country. Board President Penny Halgren motioned, instead, that the District record the speech, and teachers, in consultation with their principals, may show the recording on September 9 or later, according to their discretion, in classrooms as appropriate. Parents who do not want their children to view the President’s address at any time may opt out. Members Rick Winet and Bob Duff voted for the Board President’s motion. Dr. Emma Turner and Bill Baber dissented, each having suggested in separate and highly contested motions to air the President’s speech live. Approximately a dozen teachers and parents testified in favor of airing the speech. None testified against showing it, though Board members said they received numerous e-mails opposed to airing the video. “It doesn’t need to be shown live on September 8,” Halgren said. When, then? “What about the last day of school, is this what we’re going for?” Turner asked. “We have families with strong opinions on both sides of the issue,” Marshall cautioned. “I think it’s difficult to leave it so loose that it can be shown any time in the next month, and leave families hanging in the balance.” The Board left it that parents will be sending in opt-out notices on Tuesday, September 8, and will continue to have the opportunity to do so, admitting that logistics of showing the President’s address at school in the future are vague. Several parents and one student had dropped their holiday celebrations to come speak before the Board. Bri Coston, a junior from Steele Canyon and graduate of La Mesa Dale Elementary and Spring Valley Middle, stated in her public comment that “some kids just need that inspirational boost to do well in school.” The President’s speech shows, Coston said, just how much America has changed over 250 years, “when women and African Americans had no freedoms. They were not allowed to vote and they would not have been allowed to sit in a meeting such as this one.” Now, she said, we’ve had two women running for the highest offices and an African American President wanting to speak to schools on the importance of education. Bri said that a hundred years ago, only the wealthy could afford an education, and now there were opportunities for everyone to get a good education. “Unfortunately,” the Steele Canyon student continued, “many of our students will not obtain this, because they do not have the access to someone in their lives telling them they are worth it and they can do something. And succeed. This speech emphasizes that in order to succeed in life, one must get a good education, and this is something that anyone can do if they push themselves to do well. There is no good reason not to show this speech in our schools and provide an opportunity for kids to get inspired.” Halgren took issue with the age range of school children intended for Obama’s address (pre-Kindergarten through high school). She said the speech, “at 18 minutes long, in the life of a 7-year-old is an eternity.” Halgren said some kids may or may not understand words or concepts in the President’s speech. Given the number of kids listening who may not understand the address, she said, “I am not sure the return that our children are going to be getting from having 100% of them listen to the speech live, at that moment in time, with whatever teacher happens to be there, with whatever social studies-type perspective that teacher may not have, is really a wise investment of our children’s time.” “I’m thinking about my specific children listening to his speech,” Halgren shared, in a somewhat broken, emotional statement. “Children at seven or eight years old—they had no clue that was going on in the world. I consider myself very fortunate…to have an intact family, we had enough, we had parental support, we had everything we needed to raise our children, children from a very good family. But now you’re putting them in a room where there are words they don’t understand, stories they’re being told are about children that they don’t understand, that they can’t relate to.” Turner countered, “I don’t think it would be detrimental to our children in this district to sit though a 15-18 minute
BRUSH FIRE HALTED IN FALLBROOK
Printer-friendly version September 7, 2009 (Fallbrook) A brush fire in Fallbrook burning in heavy brush has been extinguished at less than an acre, Cal Fire spokesman Darrell Pena has informed East County Magazine at 4:50 p.m. today. The fire, initially reported shortly before 4 p.m., put up heavy smoke and was visible throughout the Fallbrook area, said Pena. The fire occurred in the vicinity of Sandi Creek and Rock Mountain along the Riverside/San Diego County border. An initial report indicated the blaze could reach 10-20 acres, however a rapid response from CAL-Fire, North County Fire Protection District and the Riverside Fire Department swiftly doused the blaze. “There were a lot of engines on this fire,” Pena confirmed. Printer-friendly version
GAME OF THE WEEK: FALCONS SLOW DOWN NORSEMEN IN 28-16 WIN
Printer-friendly versionby Christopher Mohr (EL CAJON) – Friday night’s football game at Valhalla High School between the host Norsemen and the visiting Falcons from Our Lady of Good Counsel of Olney, MD drew a lot of interest from local fans. Good Counsel was ranked sixth in the state of Maryland while Valhalla has a good shot at a return visit to the sectional championship at Qualcomm Stadium in December. This game was the season opener for both teams. In spite of their collective talent, both teams made plenty of errors by committing penalties and surrendering turnovers. Unfortunately for Valhalla, their mistakes proved to be more costly, enabling Good Counsel to take the lead late in the game and return home with a 28-16 win. The prevailing observation from the home stands before the game was about how big the Good Counsel players were. Although the Falcons have excellent team speed with players like E.J. Scott and Stefon Diggs, the look and feel of their offense was more like the grinding, run-it-down-your-throat style of the Pittsburgh Steelers than the St. Louis Rams’ aerial show of a decade ago. Wary of the skill of Valhalla quarterback Peter Thomas, the Falcons sought to keep him on the sideline as much as possible. Their grinding offense served them well in this regard on their opening drive in the first quarter. Good Counsel ate almost half a quarter off the clock with an 11 play, 5:59 drive that covered 61 yards and culminated with a two-yard touchdown run by Zach Dancel to give the Falcons a 7-0 lead. Valhalla got on the board midway in the second quarter on a one-yard run by Thomas. The drive was set up by excellent field position as the Norsemen took over at Good Counsel’s 33-yard line. Michael Bazzi caught passes of 18 and 12 yards to set up Thomas’ scoring play, and the game was tied at seven. In the third quarter, the Norsemen took a 10-7 lead on a 36-yard, line drive field goal by Nicholas Giandoni. The drive covered 65 yards in 14 plays, duplicating the ball control approach Good Counsel displayed earlier. The coaching staffs will not be pleased with the penalty totals from their respective teams. Good Counsel committed 10 penalties for a total of 83 yards. In the span of only a few minutes, they committed three 15-yard penalties, including two on the same play. Valhalla, although penalized less often, likely committed too many penalties for their coaches’ liking with a total of eight penalties for 70 yards. Included in the penalty totals for both teams were the kinds of penalties you might expect to see more often this early in the season: false starts, delay of game, illegal substitution and encroachment. The turning point in this game may have been set up by a combination of a strategy that backfired and an ill-advised penalty by Valhalla. On the kickoff after his field goal, Giandoni kicked the ball out of bounds on an onside kick attempt at Good Counsel’s 40-yard line. Good Counsel chose to take the ball at that spot, starting their next drive with excellent field position. The Falcons’ momentum was further fueled by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty committed by Valhalla, moving the ball from the Norsemen’s 45-yard line, 15 yards closer to the 30-yard line. Two plays later, Michael Nittoli scored on a 24-yard run. The point-after attempt failed, but Good Counsel took the lead at 13-10. Valhalla’s luck quickly became a case study on Murphy’s Law. Louis Young intercepted a pass from Thomas on the ensuing drive. After catching the ball, Young lateraled the ball to Al Thompson, who returned it to the Norsemen’s 10-yard line. On the following play, it looked like Valhalla caught a break when Good Counsel’s Wes Brown fumbled and the Norsemen recovered. However, this break was short-lived when just two plays later, Joe Rosenblatt intercepted a pass from Thomas and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown. Michael Jefferson caught a pass from Dancel for the two-point conversion extending the Falcons’ lead to 20-10. "I just was in the right place at the right time," said Rosenblatt, when asked about his interception. "I had good coaching, I was told to read the screen; I read the screen." Reading the screen and taking a stay-at-home approach was a critical part of the success of Good Counsel’s defensive line. In addition to Rosenblatt’s ‘pick six’, Thomas Kokolas batted down two passes and and sacked Thomas for a nine-yard loss. "I just took off, outside on the edge and just got to the quarterback and brought him down. I got a good takeoff," Kokolas said about the sack. "In practice, we worked a lot on the screen plays, you know, staying at home, not getting up the field." The Falcon defense had impressive tallies for the game: three interceptions and five sacks for a total of 34 yards. Adding further to the troubles of the Norsemen was losing standout defensive lineman Shane Pennix to injury in the second half. Brown scored on a 24-yard touchdown run to close out the scoring for Good Counsel while Valhalla added a late touchdown on a pass from Thomas to Andy Lopez as time expired, to make the final score 28-16. Next week, Good Counsel faces Mt. St. Joseph in Baltimore, while the Norsemen play another home game against Grossmont, which won their season opener against Otay Ranch, 16-14. Scoring Summary ____________________________ OLGC 7 0 6 15 – 28 Valhalla 0 7 3 6 – 16 ____________________________ First Quarter OLGC – Dancel 2 run (Hamby kick) Second Quarter VAL – Thomas 1 run (Giandoni kick) Third Quarter VAL – Giandoni 36 FG OLGC – Nittoli 24 run (kick failed) Fourth Quarter OLGC – Rosenblatt 12 interception return (Jefferson pass from Dancel) OLGC – Brown 29 run (Hamby kick)