An online degree is a college degree (master's/bachelor's/doctor's and sometimes, high school diplomas and non-degree certification programs) that can entirely be earned with the help of an Internet-connected computer, rather than from a traditional college campus. Technical improvements and increasing number of Internet connections worldwide have led to a proliferated number of online college degrees.
According to the US Department of Education, the educational accreditation is to ensure the quality levels of online degree programs provided by higher education institutions. However, there are many pitfalls to grabbing an online degree. Have you ever heard about diploma mills that offer fake degrees for a price? Students are not accredited by any specialized accreditation authority in the national or regional space. Such degrees are of no value for the students. Online institutions with full accreditation have wide recognition from university of accreditation form one of six regional boards of accreditation.
Six of the geographic regions of the United States have non-governmental, regional agencies that oversee and accredit institutions for online degrees. The boards are these:
Quality Standard of Online Degrees
The quality standards of online degrees are very different from the traditional ones. Most of them are regionally accredited, and the public perception of their quality is in dispute. Some people suggest that certain fields are better accepted online than offline, while certain others, offline.
A survey, however, by Distance Education and Training Council found that all of the employers felt that distance education program students performed better after gaining their online degrees. And the employee with online education compared very well with any other student.
However, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported in 2007 that about 55 per cent of the employers prefer traditional degrees to online degrees. This is understandable and very much more than expected, as there are many different traditional entrepreneurs and businesses, which would rather have traditional degrees. Forty-one per cent of the people would give equal consideration to online and offline degree holders.
Future of Online Education
NCES (the National Center for Education Statistics) conducted a study on distance education in 2001-2002. The study reported that 56 per cent of all institutions surveyed, offered distance education courses. It also found out that public institutions are more likely to provide distance education than private institutions.
The Sloan Consortium, after collecting data from over 2,200 colleges and universities, reported that about 3.2 million students took at least one online course in 2005 (which is a significant increase from 2004's 2.3 million). And it also reported that about 2/3 of the largest institutions have online degree programs.
Financial Aid for Students
The rule that the students for online education won't be eligible for federal student aid unless at least half of their education was in campus has changed recently. In 2006 February, this rule was annulled and any student enrolled for an accredited (Title IV eligible institutions) degree online can avail federal grants, loans, and can go for work-study.
Pitfalls in Online Degree Arena
Janet Killen spent about 5,500 dollars and four years in earning a master's degree from Canyon College, an online school based in Idaho, as recently reported by Fox.
But on learning that her degree had no value on submitting it to Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon in 2007, she was traumatized. Furthermore, she came to know that passing the degree off as legitimate can bring civil and criminal charges for her. A victim of online education fraud.
"I felt really violated," said she. "I worked very hard for this degree."
This is no exception. According to Oregon's Office of Degree Authorization, about 4,000 students have been victims of the Canyon College alone. And there are thousands of other schools offering fake online degrees.
According to the law of Idaho, Canyon College has no authority to grant college degrees to students. They are not accredited by any agency mentioned above to grant college degrees to students. Such institutions fool you by telling that they are accredited by some institution no one has ever heard of. If you don't take your life into your hands, you are sure to be doomed by such double-crossing institutions.
This is a huge problem not only in the United States but in various other countries. Bogus institutions and bogus accreditation agencies rake in millions of dollars of profit from unsuspecting students who are awarded worthless degrees. In fact, they are even victimized by the law as in Killen's case. When does law understand that they are not villains, but victims?
Conclusion
Don't go for any online master's or bachelor's degree with slightest doubt about your institution. Make sure you enquire fully about the institution at the agency whichever accredited it before you pursue with your education.
Pitfalls in Online College Degrees for Bachelor's and Master's
Asbestos Risk: Cancer (Mesothelioma) and Attorneys: What Do They Have in Common?
There is a terrible cancerous condition caused by Asbestos exposure: mesothelioma. Cancer is the syndrome (condition) in which cells multiply without any control in any particular body part. In the case of asbestos cancer, the cells go malignant in mesothelium, which is a protective lining covering most of the innards. Most commonly, the mesothelium at pleura (outer lining of lungs and chest) is affected. It can also occur in peritoneum (lining of abdominal cavity) or pericardium (covering of the heart).
People working at asbestos plants and those who get to inhale asbestos dust or fiber are highly prone to mesothelioma. Asbestosis is another disease caused by exposure to asbestos. Also, you can be put to mesothelioma risk by washing clothes used by people who already have this disease condition or who work at asbestos exposure places. However, there is no linking between the risk of mesothelioma and smoking. So, now we have to come to the important part of the article. What connection is there between asbestos cancer risk and law? Many lawsuits have come about regarding compensating the victims of mesothelioma.
Legal Issues Related to Mesothelioma
Southern California is identified as one of the locations where the greatest risk of mesothelioma has been found. In the last five years only, 665 cases of mesothelioma have been reported. San Diego, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, and Ventura counties have been identified as the communities with greatest exposure risk to asbestos. Medical diagnosis of asbestos exposure and disease conditions (including asbestosis besides mesothelioma) should be sought if you have the slightest doubt of it.
Asbestos was used legally in thousands of construction materials in all sorts of construction sites in southern California during the 60's and 70's. Asbestos was banned in 1972 following number of mesothelioma cases, but it remained being manufactured even into 1990s.
Worldwide, about 60 countries have already banned the use of asbestos, reducing the asbestos risk greatly. Countries include Australia, Canada, the US, the UK, France, etc.
Asbestos litigation is the longest and most expensive mass tort in the history of America, involving more than 6,000 defendants and more than half a million claimants. Trends also show that the number of claimants will increase in the coming days. Also, in the US, the litigation charges altogether went well above 200 billion dollars.
This alone shows the importance of having an attorney regarding the mesothelioma risks.
Symptoms and Diagnosis of Mesothelioma
The symptoms of mesothelioma include shortness in breath caused by pleural effusion (increase in the amount of fluid in the pleural cavity) which causes pain in the chest wall and other symptoms including weight loss, fatigue, anemia, etc. Primary diagnosis is done with chest X-ray and CT Scan, and can be confirmed doing a biopsy (tissue sample examination). Diagnosing is a very difficult job since its symptoms well concurs with various other diseases and risks associated with lungs. However, mesothelioma is a dangerous disease that gives very low chances of survival.
It has been seen that the symptoms of mesothelioma do not appear for years. It takes actually 20 to 50 years before the first signs of mesothelioma appear.
Compensation to Mesothelioma Victims
The most important reality of mesothelioma victims is that the cancer renders them in the high financial risk. They have to pay for their medical bills, doctors' expenses, etc. There are many institutions which assist mesothelioma patients to find attorneys to defend them and find financial assistance from the institutions that caused the risk.
The cases are handled at the lowest fees, since the potential to earn the compensation is high and the compensation itself comes in large numbers. The law firms that take a cut from the recovery made from the claim can take still a huge amount of money per case. This naturally gives them the ability to investigate the case and do court proceedings without taking any money from the victims. They may pay the doctors for reports and may cover all the incurring requirements of the court procedure. All these costs will be covered from the claim obtained on success of the case; and the success is almost always guaranteed. However, at an unlikely event of no legal success for the case, the clients are not made liable to pay the costs.
This is a very good way of doing litigation, but at the same time it can make your lawyers millionaires. Normally there is a thought going on among such lawyers that there should be many victims of this terrible malignant condition.
Some of the legal firms even assist in helping the mesothelioma affected clients find other means for making money while the litigation is in progress.
Conclusion
Almost always, a medical condition that is such curious and terrible as mesothelioma should rather be avoided than cured. There is as we noted earlier very low chances of survival for mesothelioma as any other form of cancer. It's advised that no one go and work at asbestos-exposure-risk areas.
Visit for everything about Mesothelioma: Mesothelioma Information
Auto Insurance (Vehicle Insurance): What You Need to Know About This?
Auto Insurance aka Vehicle insurance, which may be known also dependent on the vehicle being insured, as car insurance, motor insurance, truck insurance, etc., is a way to protect against losses caused by accidents and other mishaps on the road traffic, when you use the particular vehicle.
In the United States, it is compulsory to insure your vehicles against property damage to others in most states. The enforcement, however, differs from state to state. For instance, in Virginia residents have to pay 500 dollars every year if they do not insure their vehicles, and New Hampshire does not require motorists to have liability insurance. North Carolina does not issue a license to the drivers if they do not have a liability insurance.
Out of fifty states in the US, forty-seven require you to have a auto insurance policy.
Levels of Coverage in Auto Insurance
Let's check out what are covered in a normal auto insurance now. The following are the covered items in any standard auto insurance:
The policies may identify the circumstances of covering each of the items in the auto insurance. This means, there can be independent coverage for fire damage, accident, and theft.
What Is Deductible?
You should contribute a fixed payment each time your car is repaired through your insurance policy. This fixed payment is called deductible. Normally, the deductible is paid directly at the garage where the vehicle gets serviced and repaired.
A car is declared to be a write-off or total-loss, when the car is not at all worth to be repaired, which means the cost of repairs is more than the worth of the vehicle itself. In such cases, the company just deducts the excess on the policy from the settlement payment itself. Also, if the fault of the accident is with the other party, you will be able to collect the excess from the other person's insurance.
The minimum excess payment accepted by the insurer is called the compulsory excess. This depends on the personal details, driving record, and insurance company.
In order to reduce insurance premium, you can offer to pay a higher amount as excess than the compulsory amount. This is beneficial as you may need to pay less in premium which can come up to a greater profit at a later time. This excess extra you pay is called the voluntary excess. A bigger excess however reduces the financial risk carried by your insurer.
Differences Between Men and Women
Since men have more drivers than women, they are more prone to accidents at all ages. Hence, women drivers are given a lower youth surcharge for women drivers. In the adult side, the rates are comparable to both men and women, however.
In case of teenage drivers, there will be higher premiums for car insurance. However, discount offers are available for drivers who undertake courses with reputable driving training institutions, such as Pass Plus in the UK. And in the US, students with good academic records are given significant discounts.
Vehicle Classification
The auto insurance also depends on the classification of the vehicle being insured. For instance, vehicles with higher accident rates are usually given higher premium than those with lower accident rates. They include sports cars, sport utility vehicles, etc., getting higher premium than the normal ones.
How to Bring Down the Costs
Four main factors help you keep the auto insurance down for your vehicles. You may be able to save significant amounts of money if you fall into any of these categories.
Conclusion
As you see, auto insurance is very important for a new vehicle owner. So, do be very careful about your vehicle and achieve maximum advantage with your auto insurance policy.
Google Android Phone, T-Mobile's G1: Some Videos
Here are quite a few videos that I found from various places regarding the latest Google Android-powered cell phone from T-Mobile, G1 that hit stores on 17th of this month.
Lenin Nair
Shortcut Icons in Windows to Shut Down, Restart, Log Off, and Hibernate
In Windows, did you know that you can actually create a shortcut icon on the desktop and of course, on your taskbar, clicking which automatically shuts down your system or hibernates it? Here is the way to create it.
Supported OSes include Windows 98, 2000, XP, ME, 2003, etc. For Vista, we will be posting a separate post.
Step 1: Create a Shortcut
First of all, right-click on the desktop, choose new, and choose ‘Shortcut’.
Step 2: Choose the Shortcut Location
Now, you have to choose the location. Type in these values according to your choice in the text box:
1. Hibernate: %windir%\system32\rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll SetSuspendState
2. Shut Down: %windir%\system32\shutdown.exe -s -t 0
3. Restart: %windir%\system32\shutdown.exe -r -t 0
4. Log Off: %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -l -t 0
Click 'Next' to continue.
Step 3: Choose the Name for Shortcut Icon
Choose an appropriate name and save the shortcut icon clicking 'Finish'.
Step 4: Change the Icon Image
Once you have created the icon on the desktop, right-click it and choose properties. From here, choose ‘Change Icon’ button. If you already have an icon file, point the browse text box to that icon. Otherwise, to choose generic icons, type in this:
%SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll
In this dll file, there are quite a few icons, from which you can choose one appropriate.
Conclusion
Make sure your operating system supports it. If you have doubts, post them through comments. Make sure to subscribe to get the shortcut icons for Vista post.
Copyright © Lenin Nair 2008
