1. Hard Times Generation: Families living in cars
Watch the Segment »
Scott Pelley brings "60 Minutes" cameras back to central Florida to document another form of family homelessness: kids and their parents forced to live in cars.
(CBS News)
More than 16 million children are now living in poverty and, for many of them, a proper home is elusive. Some cash-strapped families stay with relatives; others move into motels or homeless shelters. But, as Scott Pelley reports, sometimes those options run out, leaving an even more desperate choice: living in their cars. 60 Minutes returns to Florida, home to one third of America's homeless families, to find out what life is like for the epidemic's youngest survivors.
To learn more about the organization "Families In Transition" - the social services organization featured in this piece - click here. The organization works with homeless students in the Seminole County schools.
The following is a script of "Hard Times Generation" which aired on Nov. 27, 2011. Scott Pelley is correspondent, Bob Anderson and Nicole Young, producers.
Never has unemployment been so high for so long. And as a result, more than 16 million kids are living in poverty - the most since 1962. It's worst where the construction industry collapsed. And one of those places is central Florida.
We went there eight months ago to meet families who'd become homeless for the first time in their lives. So many were living day-to-day that school buses changed their routes to pick up all the kids living in cheap motels. We called the story "Hard Times Generation."
A reporter's story: Finding homeless families
Unemployment in central Florida is so acute that some families are now living in their cars. So how did Scott Pelley's team track down people without addresses?
Unemployment in central Florida is so acute that some families are now living in their cars. So how did Scott Pelley's team track down people without addresses?
Now, we've gone back to see how things have changed. It turns out some families are losing their grip on the motels and discovering the homeless shelters are full. Where do they go then? They keep up appearances by day and try to stay out of sight at night - holding on to one another in a hidden America - a place you wouldn't notice unless you ran into the people that we met in the moments before dawn.
Time, has carried us into uncharted territory. The great recession began December 2007. Almost 1,500 mornings ago.
If you were rushing to work this morning, in Seminole County, Florida, it's not likely you'd notice the truck or hear the children getting ready for school.
Arielle Metzger: In the clear bin, we have dirty laundry. In that one, there's tools that we might need.
Scott Pelley: All these bank bags are storage of this and that.
Arielle Metzger: Like shampoo....
Austin Metzger: And over here is food.
Arielle Metzger: Food.
Pelley: So, you're really not heating up food so much. You're eating out of cans?
Arielle Metzger: Yup.
This is the home of the Metzger family. Arielle,15. Her brother Austin, 13. Their mother died when they were very young. Their dad, Tom, is a carpenter. And, he's been looking for work ever since Florida's construction industry collapsed. When foreclosure took their house, he bought the truck on Craigslist with his last thousand dollars. Tom's a little camera shy - thought we ought to talk to the kids - and it didn't take long to see why.
Pelley: How long have you been living in this truck?
Arielle Metzger: About five months.
Pelley: What's that like?
Arielle Metzger: It's an adventure.
Austin Metzger: That's how we see it.
Pelley: When kids at school ask you where you live, what do you tell 'em?
Austin Metzger: When they see the truck they ask me if I live in it, and when I hesitate they kinda realize. And they say they won't tell anybody.
Arielle Metzger: Yeah it's not really that much an embarrassment. I mean, it's only life. You do what you need to do, right?
2. Grade Inflation: Colleges With the Easiest and Hardest Grades
(MoneyWatch) Grade inflation has been raging for years on college campuses, but professors at some schools have never got the
message to go easy on the grading.
Where do college students encounter the toughest grading? Stuart Rojstaczer, a former Duke professor, who createdGradeInflation.com, compiled a list of schools earlier this year of the toughest graders.
At the 16 colleges and universities on the list, it's significantly harder to get A's than the typical campus. Not all of the schools have particularly low GPA's, but Rojstaczer observed that there are selective schools on this list that would prompt you to expect more A's.
At private schools the average GPA is 3.30 and at some of these schools the average is 3.5 or even 3.6. At Brown University, two thirds of the grades are A's. It's hard to imagine kids trying too hard when they know everybody is going to "earn" an A.
Professors at less selective colleges and universities tend to give out lower grades.Overall, students at state universities earn lower grades than their peers are private schools. According to Rojstaczer, the average GPA is 3.01 at state schools, but the GPA at many state flagships the GPA is 3.2.
Despite grade inflation, most students do not earn all A's, according to federal education statistics. According to the feds, 11% of students attending public institutions get mostly "A's" while 17% of students at private schools earned the same distinction. Eleven percent of students at public schools earn mostly A's and B's, while 15.5% of private school students do.
message to go easy on the grading.Where do college students encounter the toughest grading? Stuart Rojstaczer, a former Duke professor, who createdGradeInflation.com, compiled a list of schools earlier this year of the toughest graders.
At the 16 colleges and universities on the list, it's significantly harder to get A's than the typical campus. Not all of the schools have particularly low GPA's, but Rojstaczer observed that there are selective schools on this list that would prompt you to expect more A's.
Colleges & Universities With the Toughest Grades
East
- Boston University
- MIT
- Princeton University
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Midwest/South
- Auburn University
- Florida International University
- Hampden-Sydney College
- Purdue University
- Roanoke College
- Southern Polytechnic State
- University of Houston
- Virginia Commonwealth University
West
- Cal State University-Fullerton
- Harvey Mudd College
- Reed College
- Simon Fraser University (Canada)
Where Are the Easiest Graders?
Highly selective schools, both public and private, tend to award much higher grades. In a paper ongrade inflation, Rojstaczer insisted, that wealthy students, who gravitate to private colleges in greater numbers, are receiving unfair advantage by having access to easier A's.At private schools the average GPA is 3.30 and at some of these schools the average is 3.5 or even 3.6. At Brown University, two thirds of the grades are A's. It's hard to imagine kids trying too hard when they know everybody is going to "earn" an A.
Professors at less selective colleges and universities tend to give out lower grades.Overall, students at state universities earn lower grades than their peers are private schools. According to Rojstaczer, the average GPA is 3.01 at state schools, but the GPA at many state flagships the GPA is 3.2.
Despite grade inflation, most students do not earn all A's, according to federal education statistics. According to the feds, 11% of students attending public institutions get mostly "A's" while 17% of students at private schools earned the same distinction. Eleven percent of students at public schools earn mostly A's and B's, while 15.5% of private school students do.
3. Beatboxing cellist and singer/songwriter team up again to make beautiful music together
(CBS) - So about three months ago I posted a video of amazing beatboxing cellist Kevin "K.O." Olusola performing a song with equally amazing singer/songwriter Antoniette Costa to make some beautiful music together.
At the time I recommended that the two team up again on another collaboration in the future with how well it had turned out and - wait for it - they listened! Check out their latest collaboration together along with the new addition of pianist/violinist Tara Kamangar.
Okay, so maybe they didn't listen specifically to me, but I'm still so happy they decided to come together again on another amazing piece. Olusola writes about this latest work:
I worked with my friend Antoniette Costa again to produce another original she wrote called "Stranded". The song was inspired by the novel "Rebecca" by Daphne Du Maurier. This time we added Classical Pianist and Violinist Tara Kamangar to the team. We hope that you like our video!
Well, we here at The Feed definitely do like it and hope to see even more collaborations by thesethree now in the future! To check out more you can go to Olusola's website here, Costa's website here and Kamangar's website here.
UPDATE: And unbeknownst to this blogger, who was shockingly without Internet and television for the past week, Olusola just won NBC's "Sing Off" on Monday - a big congratulations goes out to Kevin for what-must-be a truly amazing week!
SOURCE:http://www.cbsnews.com/
1)United States turned over the Iraq Military base Victory to the Iraq Security Forces today. After nine long years of occupying this base, the democracy created in Iraq will now be left to its security and its people to maintain. 130,000 troops will continue leaving Iraq in the next 3 weeks. Analyst and the majority of people in Iraq feel the future is unstable. There is fear that the security force will not be able to keep the religious wars from starting again, but there is hope that it will continue to be a demoracy.
2) Hillary Clinton visited Burma's president in hopes that they can establish a new system of rule in Burma. She also met with the democracy leader Aung Suu Kyi who was a prison in her own country for the last 15 years. She and Clinton talked about ways to hold the government to the promises they are making in order to reunite support with The United States. The Burma government laid out a plan to rebuild confidence with the U.S. which includes; free and open elections, ending military ties to North Korea, Ending Civil Wars, and the largest is the release of military prisoners.
3) Due to 2 strong areas of pressure, there is a wind funnel of all the area between them. California is no stranger to the Santa Ana winds, however this is different. These are gusts of 80-102 miles per hour and in Pasadina damaged 40 building beyond repair and left 100,000's without power. These kinds of winds have not been seen in over a decade. In left trees and power lines down and destroyed business and homes.
Source: CBS Evening News
Source: CBS Evening News
No comments:
Post a Comment