NET-HAPPENINGS Digest - 30 Nov 2000 (#2000-376)
Automatic digest processor
Topics of the day:
1. MISC> [netsites] Achoo Gateway to Healthcare
2. MISC> [netsites] Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
3. RESOUR> [netsites] 10K Wizard
4. RESOUR> [netsites] Federal Bureau of Prisons
5. K12> [netsites] Amazing Space Web-Based Activities
6. RESOUR> new report: A State-by-State Report Card on Higher Education
7. MISC> FREE Digital Signature Verification Software Tool
8. MISC> Announcement of Update to the American Time Capsule Collection of
Broadsides and Printed Ephemera in American Memory
9. Last posting for Thursday, Nov 30, 2000
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Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 13:06:31 -0600
From: Gleason Sackmann <gsac...@classroom.com>
Subject: MISC> [netsites] Achoo Gateway to Healthcare
From: Ben Cooper <acqu...@qwest.net>
To: NetSites <nets...@egroups.com>
Subject: [netsites] Achoo Gateway to Healthcare
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 08:57:32 -0800
"Search or browse through our extensive Directory, or tap into
Healthcare News, get that book or journal you have always wanted
& more. Finding medical & healthcare information on the Internet has
never been this easy."
Ben Cooper
acqu...@qwest.net
http://www.site-of-the-day.org/
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 13:06:49 -0600
From: Gleason Sackmann <gsac...@classroom.com>
Subject: MISC> [netsites] Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
From: Ben Cooper <acqu...@qwest.net>
To: NetSites <nets...@egroups.com>
Subject: [netsites] Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 09:28:00 -0800
"The online source for the collections, exhibitions and activities of
the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts."
http://www.mmfa.qc.ca/a-sommaire.html
Ben Cooper
acqu...@qwest.net
http://www.site-of-the-day.org/
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 13:08:31 -0600
From: Gleason Sackmann <gsac...@classroom.com>
Subject: RESOUR> [netsites] 10K Wizard
From: Ben Cooper <acqu...@qwest.net>
To: NetSites <nets...@egroups.com>
Subject: [netsites] 10K Wizard
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 09:43:13 -0800
"10K Wizard provides free real-time online access and full-text search
of the EDGAR system, thus providing the public a real-time link to the
SEC's filings. 10K Wizard's market leading, proprietary search technology
gives users the ability to not only view the latest SEC filings of more than
68,000 companies, but search historical filings, from the start date of
each company's existence, by keywords, phrases and names."
Ben Cooper
acqu...@qwest.net
http://www.site-of-the-day.org/
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 13:07:58 -0600
From: Gleason Sackmann <gsac...@classroom.com>
Subject: RESOUR> [netsites] Federal Bureau of Prisons
From: Ben Cooper <acqu...@qwest.net>
To: NetSites <nets...@egroups.com>
Subject: [netsites] Federal Bureau of Prisons
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 09:39:13 -0800
"The Federal Bureau of Prisons was established in 1930 to provide more
progressive and humane care for Federal inmates, to professionalize the
prison service, and to ensure consistent and centralized administration of
the 11 Federal prisons in operation at that time.
Today, the Bureau consists of 98 institutions, 6 regional offices, a Central
Office (headquarters), 3 staff training centers, and 29 community corrections
offices. The regional offices and the Central Office provide administrative
oversight
and support to the institutions and community corrections offices.
Community corrections
offices oversee community corrections centers and home confinement programs."
Ben Cooper
acqu...@qwest.net
http://www.site-of-the-day.org/
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 13:08:52 -0600
From: Gleason Sackmann <gsac...@classroom.com>
Subject: K12> [netsites] Amazing Space Web-Based Activities
From: Ben Cooper <acqu...@qwest.net>
To: NetSites <nets...@egroups.com>
Subject: [netsites] Amazing Space Web-Based Activities
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 09:45:40 -0800
"The lessons you will find in "Amazing Space" are interactive. All lessons
include spectacular
photographs taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and many high quality
graphics, videos, and
animation designed to enhance student understanding and interest."
http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/
Ben Cooper
acqu...@qwest.net
http://www.site-of-the-day.org/
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 13:18:47 -0600
From: Gleason Sackmann <gsac...@classroom.com>
Subject: RESOUR> new report: A State-by-State Report Card on Higher Education
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 14:18:30 -0500
From: Andy Carvin <aca...@benton.org>
Subject: new report: A State-by-State Report Card on Higher Education
To: WWW...@LISTS.LIGHTSPAN.COM
Hi everyone. A few hours ago the National Center for Public Policy and
Higher Education released "Measuring Up: A State-by-State Report Card on
Higher Education." It's being billed as the first report of it kind for
higher education in America. If you're interested in reading it, the report
is available as both a website and a PDF file.
http://measuringup2000.highereducation.org/reporthome.htm
http://measuringup2000.highereducation.org/pics/HigherEdReportCard.pdf
For those who prefer to just read the report's introduction, I've included
it below... -ac
INTRODUCTION
By Patrick M. Callan
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education is an
independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization. It was established in
1998 to stimulate effective public policy through research, analysis and
more inclusive and robust public conversation about higher education's role
in American society. Supported by philanthropic foundations, the National
Center is not affiliated with any institution of higher education or
government agency.
At the National Center's inception, its founding Board of Directors and
staff found that two key concepts emerged from extensive formal and informal
discussions with leaders from government, business, education, and the
nonprofit sector. First, the quality of life of Americans and the civic and
economic future of the country depend more than ever before on the
availability and effectiveness of education and training after high school.
For most Americans, college is no longer one of many routes to middle-class
life, but a requirement for employment that makes such a life possible.
Between 1977 and 1997, the average income of high school graduates decreased
by 4% in real dollars, while the income advantage associated with having a
college degree instead of only a high school diploma increased by 28%. For
communities, for the states, and for the nation, the complexity of modern
life-a new global economy, the information age-requires ever-increasing
levels of knowledge and skills. The world marketplace is transformed almost
daily by technological change, and Americans are increasingly being expected
to pursue ongoing training. The fact is that our country cannot sustain
prosperity in the 21st century or maintain and enhance its democratic values
and institutions without an educated citizenry.
Second, although powerful global economic and technological forces drive the
demand for more and better education, America's response-in contrast to that
of other major industrial nations-must be found primarily in our
institutions, communities and states. Within our federal system, the public
policy responsibility for education lies principally with the states. States
largely determine who is prepared and qualified for college by their control
of public schools. States provide most of the direct financial support
to-and oversight of-public colleges and universities, and give significant
direct and indirect support to private ones through student financial aid,
tax exemptions and, in some instances, direct appropriations. States
determine the organizational structures of public higher education, can
shape the relationships between higher education and the public schools, and
can encourage coordination between public and private higher education.
Federal initiatives are significant, but only the states have the means and
the broad responsibility for ensuring opportunity for education, training
and retraining beyond high school. Currently:
=B7 Seventy-eight percent of American college students are enrolled in=
public
colleges and universities, institutions created by and financially=20
dependent on state governments.
=B7 States provide 46% of the financial support for public colleges and
universities and approximately 29% of the total support for all public and=
=20
private colleges.
=B7 State and local appropriations for higher education exceed $57=
billion.
=B7 States' financial aid for students at public and private colleges and
universities exceeds $3 billion annually.
The growing importance of higher education imposes ever-greater
responsibility on the states than in the past. They must ensure that the
nation's gateways to success-our colleges and universities and postsecondary
training centers-are increasingly accessible to all motivated Americans who
can benefit from college opportunity. In this report card and elsewhere, the
National Center defines higher education as education and training beyond
high school, including two- and four-year, public and private, and nonprofit
and for-profit institutions.
I cannot emphasize too strongly my belief that these two core concepts will
overarch virtually all public policy discussions and decisions during the=20
next several decades:
=B7 Higher education has become virtually the only gateway to fully
participate in our nation's prosperous economic and civic life.
=B7 The states have the primary responsibility for public policy in=
education.
These concepts led the National Center to this first state-by-state report
card. They suggested the importance of evaluating and comparing higher
education performance among and between the states, for-despite numerous
rankings and comparisons-state policy leaders lack a critical tool. Useful
comparative measures of state performance in higher education are few and
narrow, and none gives either state policymakers or the general public the
impetus and information needed to improve public policies. We and others in
the field of higher education policy are frequently asked, "How does my
state compare with others in higher education?" and "How do the
opportunities we provide compare with those available to residents in other
states?" Our answers have been inadequate. Students, workers and families
who are considering options for college can examine a wide range of
institutional rankings and comparisons. And there are studies that evaluate
and compare the status and progress of higher education among nations. But
not even the best information about individual institutions or national
performance can adequately address these questions for states.
Measuring Up 2000 offers systematic state-by-state comparisons of
performance to the residents of each state, particularly to those
responsible for forming public policy. In this first edition, we focus on
education and training beyond high school and through the bachelor's degree.
These are the functions of higher education in which state responsibilities
and resources are most deeply vested, and for which systematic methods for
comparison and evaluation are least adequate.
Our path to Measuring Up 2000 led the National Center's Board, staff and
advisors through careful examination of several comparative studies of state
performance in other areas-public school education, the condition of
children, fiscal management of the public sector, and state participation in
the new economy. The most effective ones, we concluded, shared a number of=
=20
characteristics:
=B7 They placed primary or exclusive emphasis on results, outcomes and
performance, rather than measuring effort or progress.
=B7 They relied heavily on quantitative measures or indicators, rather=
than
only on the opinions or judgements of the authors or sponsors.
=B7 They were prepared by independent organizations not connected directly=
to
the providers of public services or the responsible state policymakers.
=B7 They presented, interpreted and distributed findings to a broad public
audience that included, but was not limited to, specialists, professionals=
=20
and policymakers.
=B7 They were repeated at regular intervals to monitor progress or=20
regression.
=B7 They began with the most reliable, timely and relevant information
available, and worked to refine and improve data and methodology in each
successive edition.
The National Center has sought to incorporate these characteristics in
Measuring Up 2000. As David Breneman describes in his essay, this report is
the culmination of a two-and-a-half-year process. Measuring Up 2000 is, we
believe, a major step toward more effective state educational policy, but it
is only the first step. We hope that national and state efforts will create
more powerful measures of educational performance than are now
available-measures needed for sustained efforts to improve higher education
in each state. The National Center is committed to this goal, and to at
least two further editions of Measuring Up, in 2002 and 2004.
The six graded categories-preparation, participation, affordability,
completion, benefits and learnin-provide a state policy framework for
education and training through the bachelor's degree. Each cluster
represents aspects of education over which states exercise substantial
policy influence. And for each cluster, with the exception of student
learning, there are sufficient data to compare performance across states.
Grades in each category are derived by benchmarking all states against those
that perform best in that category. The "A" through "F" grades, therefore,
evaluate each state against a "real world" standard that has been achieved
by the highest performers. This grading methodology was selected over others
that were considered, such as setting an arbitrary standard or grading on
the curve. Hence, both the methodology and the title of Measuring Up were
chosen to encourage high, but demonstrably achievable, levels of=
performance.
It is, of course, the prerogative and responsibility of every state to
define its aspirations, and to set its goals in each performance category.
Measuring Up 2000 will, we hope, encourage states to be explicit about
often-vague goals and priorities. We urge them to use state-specific data to
augment the comparative analysis offered here, and to target education
policy, funding and accountability on improvement of performance. Better
information is not an end in itself. The purpose of information, evaluation
and comparison is constructive change and improvement on a state-by-state=20
basis.
There is ample evidence that states are moving toward a more proactive
policy posture in higher education. As they do, it is our hope that
Measuring Up 2000 will encourage them to define problems and choices by
first assessing the educational conditions of the people of the state.
Crucial questions include: "How well are state residents prepared for
education and training beyond high school?" "What proportion of them enroll
in and complete programs?" A state policy or budget approach that focuses
exclusively on the needs, aspirations and efficiencies of institutions is
unlikely to reach the broader questions of who is being served and who is=
not.
An obvious premise of Measuring Up 2000 is that policy conversations about
higher education should begin with issues of precollegiate preparation. From
the state perspective, the quality of higher education depends heavily on
the extent to which its elementary and secondary system equips its young
residents for college-level learning. A challenge for state policy leaders,
as well as for educators, is to view the entire education system from the
perspective of those who must negotiate its levels and structures. For
students, the continuum of learning should be the central reality, not
organizational boxes that divide education for purposes of administration,
policy, funding, accountability and regulation. Many cultures and attitudes
that undergird the divided-sometimes fragmented-structures are residuals of
an earlier era when the student who progressed from high school to college
was the exception rather than, as now, the rule. These structures and
divisions may still have utility, but our times call for greater emphasis on
the educational continuum-what happens in elementary, middle and high school
is directly relevant to the quality of higher education. Similarly, the
quality of the public schools cannot be isolated from that of higher=
education.
A second premise of Measuring Up 2000 is that state performance in higher
education depends on the contributions of all the diverse higher education
institutions in the state-public and private, two- and four-year, academic
and vocational-technical, campus-based and distance-based, nonprofit and
for-profit. Whatever the array of colleges and other institutions, all are
part of the picture of state performance painted by Measuring Up 2000.
Whatever the array, states have policy approaches that can encourage
institutional performance to improve state performance. Such approaches can
range from direct appropriations to student financial assistance to
contracts, and all deserve consideration.
This first state-by-state report card on American higher education poses a
set of policy issues about the development of human talent that are crucial
to the success of the states and nation. These issues are formulated at the
state level, where primary public policy responsibility for education is
lodged. They reflect the economic and civic conditions of the early
twenty-first century. We would like readers to find both hope and challenge
in Measuring Up 2000-hope because the document reflects the great
accomplishments of the last half-century, and challenge because great gaps
in opportunity and educational achievement remain with us, gaps that all too
often are related to geography and to family and individual wealth and=
income.
*****************************************
Andy Carvin an...@benton.org
Senior Associate
Benton Foundation
http://edweb.gsn.org/andy
http://www.DigitalDivideNetwork.org
*****************************************
Visit my new website, Anatolian Fortnight
http://edweb.gsn.org/anatolia
*****************************************=20
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 14:52:50 -0600
From: Gleason Sackmann <gsac...@classroom.com>
Subject: MISC> FREE Digital Signature Verification Software Tool
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 14:53:47 -0500
From: "Tina Koenig - Xpress Press(tm)" <tko...@xpresspress.com>
Subject: SOFTWARE>FREE Digital Signature Verification Software Tool
E-Lock Technologies delivers FREE Digital Signature Verification Software Tool
New breakthrough product, E-Lock Reader(tm), enables users to verify data
integrity and signature authenticity
FAIRFAX, VA -- November 30, 2000 -- /Xpress Press/ --The E-Lock Reader
makes it possible for diverse parties to verify digital signatures without
the need for complex digital signature products. It enables the receivers
of signed documents to ensure that the contents are in their original,
intended form and are unaltered. It also allows for verification of the
associated digital signatures.
E-Lock was influenced to design and develop this free tool after exploring
the typical e-business scenarios in which digital signing is conducted.
E-Lock found through its research that most often such signing scenarios
are conducted by a handful of authorized persons, while signature and data
verification are the sole requirements of a large majority.
Electronic transactions occurring today involve more than just digitally
signing documents. The need to be able to verify the authenticity of the
person sending critical data via the Internet has gained paramount
importance. One needs to ascertain the identity of the sender and the
integrity of the data received. More importantly, within any e-business
scenario, it is common practice for only one or a few authorized persons to
conduct the actual signing process, while the document may have to be
ratified or viewed by multiple persons. Also, depending on the business
needs, it may be necessary for a particular document to be encrypted so
that only the intended recipients may access the document.
E-Lock Reader is available for download at http://www.elock.com.
View Clinton's digital signature with The E-Lock Reader
Using the E-Lock Reader, the public will be able to view the archived
documentation on the E-Sign Bill and the historic document signed by
President Bill Clinton, which will be available soon in the GSA (General
Services Administration) archives. Persons logging onto GSA will actually
be able to see President Clinton's signature and authenticate it with the
use of the E-Lock Reader.
About E-Lock Technologies
E-Lock Technologies provides assurance to e-Business content and
transactions and develops innovative e-Business Content Assurance products
to meet emerging Internet, extranet, and intranet business requirements.
E-Lock's products are designed to facilitate e-Business by empowering
existing applications and business processes with PKI based Digital
Signature technology. E-Lock Technologies provides business organizations
with cost effective and easy to use products to make e-Business a reality.
These products provide legally binding protection for electronic
transactions with non-repudiation throughout a transaction's lifecycle.
E-Lock has headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia, and can be reached on the
Internet at www.elock.com
Adobe, Acrobat and Acrobat Reader are either registered trademarks or
trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other
countries.
Cylink is a registered trademark of Cylink Corp. All other trademarks are
the property of their respective owners.
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 14:54:58 -0600
From: Gleason Sackmann <gsac...@classroom.com>
Subject: MISC> Announcement of Update to the American Time Capsule Collection
of Broadsides and Printed Ephemera in American Memory
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 15:08:08 -0500
From: Danna Bell-Russel <db...@loc.gov>
Update to An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and
Other Printed Ephemera Now Available on American Memory
In September 1998 An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of
Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera was made available to users of the
American Memory online collections. On November 30, more than seven
thousand additional items from one of the world's greatest collections
of Americana will be added to An American Time Capsule. The collection
can be found at the following url:
<http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/rbpehtml/> .
Taken from the Library of Congress's celebrated Printed Ephemera
Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, the
materials include such highlights as:
The first broadside account of Washington crossing the Delaware River in 1776.
The Gerry-Mander, the 1812 caricature of the salamander-shaped
congressional district created by Federalist polemicists to satirize the
Massachusetts redistricting law spawned by zealous Republican colleagues
of Gov. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts.
A Western anti-slavery handbill, ca. 1850, urging Ohioans to "TURN OUT!"
for an abolition meeting and "Learn Your Duty to Yourselves, the Slave and
God."
The final issue of the Vicksburg Daily Citizen, July 4, 1863, printed on
wallpaper.
An 1864 campaign souvenir "Lincoln Business Card," suggesting that in
the spring of 1865 Lincoln would be at home in Illinois splitting rails
and swapping horses rather than residing at the White House.
A reward poster for John Wilkes Booth (1865).
One of the earliest printed references to baseball (1859).
The National Woman Suffrage Association's "Declaration and Protest of
the Women of the United States," July 4, 1876, calling for the
impeachment of the nation's rulers.
A poster from the mayor of San Francisco printed following the
earthquake and fire of 1906, warning that law enforcement officials
"have been authorized to KILL any and all persons found engaged in
Looting or in the Commission of Any Other Crime."
Much of the material in this collection was produced as events unfolded,
offering a unique snapshot of America's past that captures the concerns
and conditions of everyday living. Many of the items, never intended to
be kept for future generations, nonetheless provide important historical
information. For example, an advertisement for paint from 1783 gives
clues about the colors that adorned the homes of the nation's earliest
citizens. An 1840 poster for a lost dog shows that owners felt as
strongly about their pets 150 years ago as they do today.
American Memory is a project of the National Digital Library Program of
the Library of Congress. The Web site offers more than five million
historically important items of American history, in collaboration with
other institutions. More than ninety American Memory collections are now
available on topics ranging from presidential papers and photographs
from the Civil War to early films of Thomas Edison and panoramic maps,
to documents from the women's suffrage
and civil rights movements. The Library of Congress website can be found
at <htp://www.loc.gov> .
Please direct any questions to ndlp...@loc.gov
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 15:00:03 -0600
From: Gleason Sackmann <gsac...@classroom.com>
Subject: Last posting for Thursday, Nov 30, 2000
Last posting for Thursday, Nov 30, 2000
NOTE: This is primarily for website viewers.
List subscribers can ignore it, or setup a filter to delete it.
------------------------------
End of NET-HAPPENINGS Digest - 30 Nov 2000 (#2000-376)
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