Current Events September 28, 2010

Local

Woodcliff Lake Council approves creation of passive park

Pascack Valley Community Life

On Tuesday September 21^st 2010, the Woodcliff lake mayor was ecstatic to hear that his proposal to turn an 18^th century historic Dutch colonial house into a passive park that would include a scenic walkway along with a toddler park passed through the Woodcliff lake council. The project which will cost 400,000 dollars and is set to break ground by February, will be paid for by the borough’s open space trust fund. The passing of this ordinance ends the years of debate the town had over how to effectively us the historic property.

National

M.I.T. Weighs Charges for Online Lectures

By THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Over the past decade, The massachustes institute of technology has been at the forefront in the Open course ware movement, an organization that provides free high quality educational material to anyone interested, but that is likely to change in the coming months as MIT is toing around with the idea of charging for their once free materials in an attempt to increase their declining endowment. MIT’s shrinking endowment, which went from 10.1 billion dollars in 2008 to 7.6 billion, has been a cause for concern for the university so much so that they have created a number of measures to increase their endowment.

Global

Teacher's Day in China a Financial Burden on Parents

By Wu Shanshan

The Epoch Times

Parents of students in china have expressed disdain for National teachers day, a day in which they feel leaves the parents burdened with not only the stress of buying a teacher a gift but alos with the bill. Since the creation of national teachers daym it has become tradition for the students in the class to competer over who purchased the best gift, a prctice which fosters a unfriendly learning enviorment and one that can be mistaken for bribery

Current events week 2

Local

Grid Irony:Teams face $25M tax

by Bill Sanderson: The New York Post

The town of East Rutherford, NJ is attempting to tax the new Giants stadium. The town claims that since the property is privately owned, it can be taxed. Under the town's current tax rate, the stadium would have to pay over $25.

National

Blow-Out BP Oil Well Officially Killed at Bottom of Gulf

Fox News

BP's oil well has been permanently stopped by a big, cement plug. The leak was about 2.5 miles under the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico. The US plans to continue the restoration of the Gulf.

World

Use of 'Sub-Saharan Africa' disparaging

by Faith Karimi, CNN

A group in Africa is pushing to stop the use of the phrase "Sub-Saharan Africa." The nations activists groups are looking to get signatures and bring them to world leaders.

Upton Sinclair

The famous muckraker, Upton Sinclair, was avidly involved in politics. Towards the begging of his career he was a socialist, and included commentary surrounding his political views in his writing. This can be seen in one of his best known works, King Coal, which told about the coal strikes of 1914-1915. However, in 1917 in order to support President Woodrow Wilson, Sinclair left the Socialist Party. He then rejoined the party when President Wilson promoted US involvement in the Soviet Union.

Current Events September 13, 2010

Local

Stem-Cell treatment patent by Allendal Firm Approved

By Lindy Washburn

The Bergen Record

In Allendale, New Jersey, a small company recived a patent for the development of stem-cell therapy for heart attack patients. The company was able to take stem cells from a patient's bone marrow, prepare them, and inject them into the heart's damaged blood vessel, which then repair the heart muscle and propel new blood vessesl to begin growth.

National

As residents return, utility pledges money for Califronia suburb

by the CNN Wire Staff

CNN

$100 million have been allocated by California ultility Pacific Gas and Electric to aid in the rebuilding parts of San Bruno, California. The suburb was devastated by a gas explosion las week. Up to $50,000 will be given to each household for the living expences during thier evacuation from thier homes.

Gloabal

Detained U.S. Hiker could be freed as early as Monday

by CNN Wire Staff

CNN

Sarah Shroud, an American hiker being detianed in Iran, may be realased as soon as Monday if $500,000 is sent to the Iranian Judiciary. Shroud has been held in Iran for more than a year, along with two other American hikers. It is up to Shroud's family to send the money via Swiss embassy in Iran.

Old News

My parents dread the end of newspapers. They find it difficult to read their news off an electronic screen. Though our generation is accustomed to checking website updates, and receiving twitter news, my parents rely on receiving the news at their doorstep as they are not that technologically savvy. They are uncertain of how to switch from one section to another on a website. How can they read their news on the airplane if they had not previously download it? What if they have no wifi connection at work or on the train? After growing up with newspapers, the transition for my parents would be far too difficult.