Free Vision Program Reaches Chicago’s West Side
Dr. Tamara R. Fountain
West Side residents will receive free eye screenings on June 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church at 4301 W. Washington Blvd.
Dr. Tamara R. Fountain, an ophthalmologist at Rush University Medical Center, and seven of her colleagues will conduct the screen that is part of a new initiative from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Illinois Association of Ophthalmology (IAO), EyeSmart EyeCheck, a program created to combat undetected eye impairments among at-risk populations in the United States.
Our goal is to raise awareness and understanding of the impact of eye disease and visual impairment, particularly among Chicago’s minority populations who disproportionately lack access to care,” said Fountain, a past president of the IAO.
Fountain, two other Rush ophthalmologists and five Rush residents are among 33 physicians slated to provide screenings at the event. Overall, 44 volunteers will be at the event.
A Place for Two-Letter State Abbreviations
While reading an inflight travel magazine on my vacation, I came across an ad for a resort in Traverse City, MI. Do you recognize the abbreviation MI?
Is it Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, or Missouri? I am not familiar with Traverse City, so the ad kept me guessing. It wasnt until I had Internet access afterthe flight that I found the location of the resort.
The full-page ad had plenty of room to spell outMichiganon the same line with Traverse City.Why use MI and confuse potential customers?
See if you know which states in the U.S. these two-letter abbreviations represent:
NE AL CO IA MA
You may have recognized them instantly, but many adults have spent more time reading email and text messagesthan noticing state abbreviations on envelopes. Like them,your international business readers may not easily recognize on that list Nebraska (not Nevada), Alabama (not Alaska), Colorado (not Connecticut), Iowa (not Indiana), and Massachusetts (not Maine or Maryland).
Customers seeking arestaurant, hotel, or businessin Nevada dont want one in Nebraska, so be sure tomake your location clear to potential customers and visitors by spelling out the state name.
The place for two-letter state abbreviations is on envelopes between the city and the zip code. They were created to fill that spot, and that is where they belong.
Guideline: In business writing and journalism, when you refer to a state in text (rather thana chart), always spell it out. That way, your reader will recognize Virginia right away rather than having to translate VA.
Guideline: In business writing, when you refer in text to a city-state combination, such as Orlando, Florida,spell out the state name if you follow the guidelines of The Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago) or The Gregg Reference Manual (Gregg). I strongly prefer the spelled-out style because it eliminates confusion about the name of the state.
However, if you are a journalist or business writer who follows The Associated Press Stylebook (AP), you will abbreviate the state usingthe traditional state abbreviations below. Some of them are the same as the two-letter postal abbreviations. However, notice that these abbreviations have periods, andin some the second letter of a two-letter abbreviation is lower case.
Ala. AlabamaAriz. ArizonaArk. ArkansasCalif. CaliforniaColo. ColoradoConn.ConnecticutDel. DelawareFla. FloridaGa. Georgia Ill. IllinoisInd. IndianaKan. KansasKy. KentuckyLa. LouisianaMd. MarylandMass.MassachusettsMich. Michigan Minn. MinnesotaMiss.MississippiMo.MissouriMont.MontanaNeb. NebraskaN.H. New HampshireN.J. New JerseyN.M. New MexicoN.Y. New YorkN.C. North CarolinaN.D. North DakotaOkla. OklahomaOre. OregonPa. PennsylvaniaR.I. Rhode IslandS.C. South CarolinaS.D. South DakotaTenn.TennesseeVt. VermontVa. Virginia Wash. WashingtonW. Va. West Virginia Wis. WisconsinWyo. WyomingDid you notice the absence of a few states? Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho,Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas, and Utah are not abbreviated in AP style. Neither is the District of Columbia.Chicago abbreviates Texas as Tex.
I bet you are wondering which style is preferred for slides, tables, and other places with limited space.Chicago prefersthe two-letter postal abbreviations. AP and Gregg prefer the abbreviations listed above, but Gregg acknowledges the growing popularity of the two-letter postal versions. My Microsoft spelling and grammar checker flagged the abbreviations above, suggesting the two-letter postal versions.
When you need to abbreviate the names of Canadian provincesand territories, use the two-letter abbreviations of theCanada Post,which are appropriate in both English and French:
AB AlbertaBC British ColumbiaMB ManitobaNBNew BrunswickNL Newfoundland and LabradorNS Nova ScotiaNT Northwest TerritoriesNU NunavutON OntarioPE Prince Edward IslandQC QuebecSK SaskatchewanYT Yukon
To my mind, the only place for two-letter abbreviations of states, provinces, and territories is in addresses. I follow that principle so my readers will not beconfused for amoment by MA,MO,CO, ON, OR or AK.
What rules do you follow for rendering the names of states, provinces, and territories?
Memphis City Schools teachers rewarded for successes
“Instead of staying and dealing with things that are problematic, people transfer to other schools where they don’t have to deal with the extra scrutiny,” she said. “For most people, the incentive was great, but people stayed because they felt it was their duty to bring about change in problem schools.”
Memphis City Schools administrators set aside $2.2 million in federal Race to the Top money for incentives this year, rewarding 1,378 teachers, principals and assistant principals in 27 of the lowest performing schools with the onetime recruitment and retention bonuses.
The first payout was in December. Teachers will get the second installment June 15.
Principals get $4,000 in two installments and, if the money holds out, will be eligible for another $4,000 if their schools make academic goals set by the state.
Teachers could get another $2,500 for student test scores.
Memphis actually has twice as many failing schools; the half that were added to the list this year were not included in the incentive grant.
Payouts are not new in public education, especially for staffs that bring home strong test scores.
Memphis and Nashville are the first cities in Tennessee to pay retention premiums to attract and keep high-quality teachers and leaders in hardscrabble schools that often are not appealing workplaces.
“I think it makes a difference,” said Roderick Richmond, chief of school operations for MCS. “It lets people know you appreciate them.
“When you are doing a good job, you should be rewarded.”
Keith Williams, president of the Memphis Education Association, says incentives are the first step toward a merit pay system that will reward teachers for results.
“It’s how they plan to lead into the master teacher concept,” he said, “connecting students with the greatest need to the teacher with the most successful data.
“They have to provide some incentive to get people to go there. It’s going to be financial, I am sure, and they will use data.”
Teachers often are suspicious of how the data will be used, saying that a onetime test is not a fair measure of a teacher’s worth.
What no one knows, Williams said, is if high-rated teachers will get the same results in different schools.
“Will the data transfer to those schools with those teachers or will results be the same regardless of who is there,” he asks.
In a three-year study that concluded in 2009 in Metro Nashville, the National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University found pay incentives had little effect on middle school math scores.
“The treatment group was eligible for bonuses of $5,000, $10,000 and $15,000, depending on gains in test scores,” said Susan Burns, program manager.
“At the end of the study, the finding was there was no significant difference in the achievement gains between the two (control and noncontrol) groups,” she said.
“The students gained equally.”
But she cautions that the center “exists to study the impact of performance incentives, not to make determination of their effectiveness,” she said.
“There is a lot more that needs to be examined in this area.”
Teachers strike: NUT chief expains anger
Almost every state school in England and Wales is likely to close on Thursday, June 30, after unions unanimously backed a national walk-out in a row over pensions. Further action is expected to be taken in the autumn.
Members of two of the biggest classroom unions – the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers – voted in favour of the strike following proposed changes to their retirement fund.
Some 92 per cent of NUT members and 83 per cent of those in the ATL who took part voted for the walk-out.
NUT’s General Secretary Christine Blower said the ballot result showed “exactly how angry people are about these pension changes”.
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Letter from Louisiana Tech University President Dan Reneau – Louisiana Tech to LSU System
Dear Louisiana Tech Faculty and Staff,
Over the past few weeks, quite a bit of media attention has been given to discussions in Baton Rouge about moving Louisiana Tech University from the University of Louisiana System (ULS) to the LSU System. Although this is not a new idea, it has resulted in a number of questions from faculty, staff and supporters as to what it means for the future of Louisiana Tech. To that end, I wanted to provide you with my perspective and position on this matter.
First, it is important to understand that, at this point in time, these are nothing more than informal discussions. We are very happy as a member of the University of Louisiana System and have grown and prospered as a result of that membership. Our affiliation with the ULS and the leadership it has provided has helped us to become one of the best performing and most respected universities in the state.
As it pertains to any talk of a move to the LSU System, there are a number of issues that would need to be satisfied before any proposal could be seriously considered. I want to be very clear in stating that these items are non-negotiable and must be agreed upon, at the highest levels, before any consideration can be given to new system affiliation.
1) We must retain the name “Louisiana Tech University” without compromise, modification or abbreviation.
2) We must retain Tech Red and Blue as our official university colors.
3) We must retain “Bulldogs” as our official university mascot and “Bulldogs” and “Lady Techsters” respectively, as the official names for our men’s and women’s athletics teams.
4) Regardless of the expanse of the physical campus or the future geographic footprint of Louisiana Tech University, the location of the main campus must remain in Ruston, LA.
5) A significant value added to Louisiana Tech University must be clearly defined and agreed upon in advance of any formal proposal or action.
Over the next several months, I will meet with stakeholders of Louisiana Tech to solicit their input and assure them that no action will be taken without an assurance that our institution will be allowed to preserve and promote its own identity as well as its position as north Louisiana’s premier public research university. We will not consider moving to a new system simply for the sake of moving. Louisiana Tech must also be afforded the opportunity to continue to grow and to pursue our progressive vision for the future.
Before any talk of new system membership could progress or action could be taken, the Board of Regents would need to conduct a feasibility study with results submitted no later than 60 days prior to the start of the 2012 legislative session. In a similar vein, Louisiana Tech would also conduct an extensive and thorough review of any proposal to ensure that any realignment would be in the best long-term interest of the University and the people that it serves.
There will certainly be more discussion and commentary on this issue over the next several months. I hope that I have been able to provide you with a better feel for Louisiana Tech’s position and expectations regarding this matter. If I can help clarify our position or address any rumors or media reports, please feel free to email me.
Thank you for your valuable contributions to our beloved University and your continued commitment to its mission and vision for the future.
Daniel D. Reneau President
Graduation Ceremony To Be Held Indoors
The 2011 Graduation Ceremony will be held indoors in Alumni Memorial Hall due to anticipated inclement weather. Graduates should make sure they have their three admission tickets. No one will be admitted without a ticket. The ceremony will be simulcast in Russell Hall and in the Fine Arts Auditorium. The ceremony will begin at 8:30 a.m.