The federal government has tightened school regulations regarding bulling and gender discrimination. Schools worldwide which fails to implement anti-bullying polices shall be penalized by losing U.S. funds.

The issue have caught the attention of higher education authorities especially the federal government when recently several reported suicides of homosexual students flood the news papers. It is first time for the government to impose such act as harassment—under the civil rights statutes (1964-190) which protects citizens from race, national origin, and gender and disability discrimination.

The promulgation has been made clear by Russlynn Ali, assistant Ed secretary at a conference yesterday—emphasizing that the protection extends to gays, lesbians, and transgender. The assistant secretary also said they aren’t making a new policy but it existed long ago.

The Rutgers University suicide incident paves way for several campaigns against bullying. The university now tightened rules against discrimination which some schools consider as normal act of teenagers. Elementary, high schools, and colleges must create antidiscrimination schemes or they will face loss of federal aid.

A letter have been sent all over high schools, colleges and universities nationwide and related cases shall be on legal precedent by the guidance created by the George W. Bush administration regarding discrimination of religion and gender. A conference on anti-bullying next school year is on plan and the Department of Education will conduct series of workshops for school and university administrators.

Meanwhile, on a conference late Oct 21, President Obama felt sad about the suicide incident and helped submit videos to an anti-bullying campaign targeted for lesbians, gay, and transgender. Many have given support to eradicate bullying especially gays and lesbians. A newspaper encouraged victims not to commit suicide and consult professional help. New Jersey will be strengthening their eight year campaign and their respective law against school bullying.

Schools in Western China have been in full security appending to the recent “student demonstrations” against the implementation of Chinese—as the main language—in education programs and relative instructions.

Accordingly, police units and safety officers were posted at several middle schools and high schools in the Tongren County in Qinghai province. Tibetans, which inhabit the second smallest administrative region that includes minority groups and some Mongolians, were not in favor of the proposal. Though, the event is a national matter, reporters were prevented from interacting with students and school teachers.

The Tibetan language which symbolizes the region’s political struggle is heavily valued by most citizens in the area—pointing that Tibetans have independently administered the area and implementation of Chinese policies were hardly eradicating their Buddhist culture.

However, the issue seems to be ironic. While many fight for liberation of the area by refusing the Chinese language, several parents are enforcing their children to learn Mandarin —as substitute education program—for their child’s job security.

The other weeks were filled with peaceful march of students from Tongren to some parts in Qinghai. Fortunately, there were no reported acts of violence regarding the protest. Last Monday, classes resumed quietly and all school activities came back to normal.

Teachers were not talking about the issue—and were not privileged to do so. Some nervously refused to converse about the protest as well as the language plans. Citizens who were asked anonymously said the “area wasn’t stable for the moment”. Teachers where called for meetings and students were sad about the implementation.

The democratic protest only led to greater plans of increasing Chinese language in the area. A Communist Party Chief praised such proposal of using the common language, while officials backed the plan—saying that implementations will only take place once the area becomes stable.

Schools worldwide host major scholastic book fairs for the month of October. Despite different goals and motivation of every institution, schools unite with the target of providing cheap but quality reading books for all ages—at the same time raise funds for the development of their educational facilities.

In Zanesville Ohio, the John McIntire Elementary school hosted a Scholastic Book Fair Family Night last Thursday from 5 to 6 pm. The book fair featured various books and educational products which included children’s classics and newly released books, award-winning books and interactive software. There are also bestsellers for adults and worth reading books from 100 publishers.

The funds will be used to purchase books for classroom use. It will also help build school libraries and improve student’s reading ability by purchasing books through the Classroom Wish List and One for Books education program.

Washington Island School started its book fair last Monday which opens from 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 4 pm every day of the week. All books sold were age-appropriate and well published by Scholastic Inc. Several book copies were sold while an order can be done for sold out books.

Meanwhile, the “Here’s to Heroes – Reading Saves the Day,” event took place at Burchfield Primary School—bringing the newest and innovated learning products in the school library. The week long celebration features traditional children’s favorite from creative authors and latest works of reputable illustrators.

October is definitely the book fair month. Children of all ages as well as adults took advantage of the access to new books and fresh creations from well known authors and publishers. Despite the advent of technology, man will always crave for handheld works which marks the fundamental of education and the infinite learning process.

Schools worldwide and the celebration of different scholastic book fairs exhibit the yearning for more knowledge and patronage of innovative creations of publishers worldwide.

Philippines, (October 18, 2010)—classes are suspended to the rising signal level of the Typhoon Juan also known as Typhoon Megi. Classes in public and private schools in the Cordillera Autonomous Region 1 and 2 were suspended after Eduardo Muyot, Department of Education Undersecretary, ordered class suspension in the 15 major affected areas with typhoon signals 4, 3, 2, and 1.

Preschools, kindergarten, elementary and high school levels were automatically suspended as the storm warnings were raised by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). Preschool classes were cancelled in areas with signal number 1.

Meanwhile, suspension of college classes is under the control of their respective colleges and universities and the orders of the Higher Education Commission, the Undersecretary stressed. Additional suspensions will be made by the DepEd later in the afternoon after PAGASA’s newest report about the typhoon.

The Department of Education made use of the social media network “Twitter” to announce further class suspensions. The twitter account @DepEd_Ph was created to inform savvy Filipinos about the upcoming changes due to typhoon Juan.

This was more prepared to the event last year where the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration and Department of Education announced late the suspension of classes which have made most parents furious.

On the other hand, Typhoon Juan (Megi) brought strong winds of 287 Kph along with gusts up to 350 Kph as it hits the Philippines. Weather analysts expect Juan to severely damage the coast of Luzon with strong winds and heavy precipitation.

Major evacuation initiatives were done by the government especially in the Luzon part. The previous typhoon taught the Filipinos about securing their selves even before storms devastate their properties. Since the CNN calls the typhoon Megi as a “monster storm”, the Philippine government tries hard to secure the Luzon inhibitors as well as students which are very vulnerable to natural calamities such as landslides.

The cost of attending college is definitely one factor to consider. Despite the global recession, some did not compensated quality education with cheap universities. Enrollment in private schools and universities worldwide is stable compared to public universities. One thing for sure—high priced education means quality learning, though there are still public universities which offer the best education programs.

As reported in the Forbes website, the most expensive universities are located in the United States, specifically; George Washington University with a tuition cap of $39,240 (2007-08). Followed by Kenyon College ($38,140), Pennsylvania ($38,134), and, Vassar College ($38,115).

Degree programs in the US are noted to be most expensive even compared to Oxford and Cambridge University in UK which is capped at 3,070. But considering that Europeans pay a larger amount of tax in social services and the sort compared to the United States. The Buckingham University costs 15,500 pounds—which considers itself as the only university in the UK which does not receive support from the government.

Universities which adopts the American dream is also very expenses with courses ranging from business to architecture. Canadian universities also charge quiet high with a cost of $24,000 wherein students experience alternative education programs.

Meanwhile, Japanese Universities charge tuition fees based on the courses majors—costing $7,500 US annually. On the other side, African universities charge no tuition on the country’s brightest students and require tuition payments on average students.

Pricey schools worldwide are reported to sever more students with their finance aids and scholarships. Despite the on-going student-bursaries in UK, the reputation of private universities is on the rise compared to public universities.

At this cost, it is the quality of education which matters. But considering the heavy recession, it is advisable to look for cheap but reputable universities if the household income cannot support the education. While, there are a lot of alternatives families can choose from, such as student loans in public schools, it can’t be denied that the experience in for-profit schools could be a lot better.

God made only man and woman, but, the society had developed into different multiple “sexual orientations”. And today, the society as a whole is divided into the traditional, straight (male), female, and into the other genders (sexual orientation) like the gays, bisexuals, and transgender. The society has gradually accepted these orientations which brought up the celebration of —National Coming-out Day.

Since these orientations have been put into reality, and has largely increased in many places, the National Coming out Day is a way to promote equality among other genders. Among all the places in the society, campus schools record the most number of these other sexes especially, the teenage phase is where a person defines his/her identity.

Eventually, discrimination has grown in some hearts and students display a different attitude towards these genders. Gays and lesbians in school are often the center of criticism; an evident act of discrimination. And despite the gradual appreciation of the other sexes, there is still something that keeps them from showing up in the society as a normal individual.

To address such gender problem, schools worldwide took part in encouraging gender equality and freedom for the other orientations. In Illinois, the National Coming out Day was celebrated with different activities. Community colleges and universities organize campus programs on pride and equality. Educational institutions invited guest speakers to share their experiences of being the other sex and give encouragement for those undergoing discrimination and pressure.

In Miami, Nova Southeastern University students marched 6:15 pm across their campus to show support for gays, lesbians, transgender, and bisexuals. The university conducted seminars with guest speakers like the universities in Illinois.

These programs were initiated to address suicidal incidents in the other sexes because of pressure, discrimination, and bullying. Lately, a New Jersey student jumped off the bridge because of gender bullying while seven recorded suicides was reported in Illinois.

If you found cooking very interesting, then you must be looking forward to a degree program in culinary arts. Perhaps the food industry will never be out of taste—even if generations get spoiled.

The culinary field is as broad as any other fields of education. Deciding on what particular degree, on what level is very confusing for first time students. There are suitable culinary degree programs for every typical student. A culinary student can either be an aspiring student with zero experience; an employee with an associate degree who seeks for career advancement; an experienced chef with no formal training; and someone who wants to earn a certificate in cooking.

For a person who is indecisive on what specialization, he/she can take up an associate degree in culinary arts—which takes two years to complete. This is far advisable since the education program will basically revolve on the foundations of culinary arts. Kitchen procedures and certain knife techniques can be expected from the program. Two year associate-culinary schools often require internships for their students before graduation. This will likewise prepare them for a four-year bachelor’s degree for the future.

The four-year culinary diploma program trains students to be hotel and restaurant managers. The degree program will focus more on shaping managerial skills. Additional advantage for bachelors’ degree in culinary arts is its relevance to some business related course offerings. This allows the student to proceed into business courses with corresponding credit hours.

While those persons who have founded experience but did not undergone formal education can earn certificates though various trainings. There are several schools which offer programs in baking pastries, cooking, food preparation and professional catering services. They might as well think of going online; open learning programs are free programs which can be accessed on everyone’s computer browser.

September 29 2010—is the celebration of “National Coffee day”; this means free coffee everywhere from coffee shops and food chains or some will just be handing you over a cup of coffee at the street.

Schools worldwide have also jumped into the idea of serving nutritious meal for their students through —coffee. The Knox County Schools includes 50 elementary schools, 14 middle schools, 13 high schools and 10 special schools.

However, only high schools were encouraged top participate. Bearden, Farragut and Powell were among the high schools chosen to take part in the National School Breakfast Program wherein schools will be catering coffee products during breakfast and lunch time.

According to Jon Dickl, Knox County School’s director for nutrition, such initiative will increase the percentage of student participation in the NSBP. There is very low percentage at KCS schools; like Bearden High School will ahs only 5% participation in the part of the students, he continued.

The program was said to be pioneered at Farragut and Powell High School but during a meeting at Bearden High School, the director noticed that a large number of students were clinging to McDonald’s food items and Starbucks Coffee.

The director envisioned a plan to help those students who are into innutritious foods and provide an alternative by offering coffee products at the campus. Dickl concluded that the 5 % of the students’ participation in the NSBP shows that the remaining 95% are eating less nutritious foods, such as Starbucks and McDonalds and some would even be skipping it.

The program will be started on October 2010 and to find out if the initiative is a success, data from the Oct. 2009 shall be compared with the recent month data. It will be based on a meal volume and if the numbers do not increase, Dickl is said to stop the program and try another scheme.

Though the program is under school administration, parents who do not wish their child with the school coffee can be exempted by contacting the school administration.

Maryland—schools in the state particularly Harford County Public Schools have shut down classes due to heavy rains brought by the passing—tropical storm Nicole.

The Tropical Storm Nicole had recently leaved the Miami coasts leaving heavy rains. But Miami schools did not close down classes. While the tropical crossed the Florida’s Straight and movers east to the ocean, Maryland got devastated with floods.

Maryland located on the Mid-Atlantic got poured with heavy precipitation caused by a low pressure system from the south and the remnants of tropical storm Nicole. With 2 to 4 inches of rain brought overnight, the Maryland Rail Commuter Service—which is the is a regional rail system comprising three lines in the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area—have been forced to refrain operations.

The Harford County Public Schools canceled classes of Havre de Grace Elementary School at 9: 40 in the morning, high schools will be closed at 11 am, middle schools at 12 noon, and elementary schools at 1:00 in the afternoon. Harford County is composed of 32 elementary schools, 8 middle high schools, 10 high schools,

Baltimore County Public Schools which have the largest number of schools that includes; elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, pure magnet schools, and specialty schools have also cancelled classes due to the deteriorating weather condition. The school started two hours late last September 30, (Thursday).

Today—October 1—Harford County Public Schools opened 2 hours late without morning pre-kindergarten. This is because of building and phone problems, closing of roads, and reported intensified forecast because of tropical storm Nicole.

Meanwhile Maryland authorities advised parents and families to be prepared and always watch updates and weather forecast, check the school website, and monitor automated phones for school updates. They also warn that weather conditions may worsen overnight and presence of mind will keep the family safe from harm.