Motion balance at the Wageningen Open
doorMascha Bloemer
Motion balance at the Wageningen Open
By Srdjan Miletic
As usual, I won't write about the social side of the tournament because, frankly, that's not my area of expertise. What I will write about is the motion, which were as follows:
Motions (as posted by Micheal Dunn):
 - R1: Given the scarcity of donor organs, THW deprioritise substance abusers on organ recipient lists
 - R2: THBT the punishments for murder and manslaughter should be equal
 - R3: This House regrets The Euro
 - R4: TH regrets monogamy
 - Final: THBT the acquisition of wealth, above that needed to meet one's basic needs, is immoral
I believe that the motions for round 1 and 2, while interesting, were probably unbalanced, favouring Prop and Opp respectively. Here's why:
Round 1:
This motion requires current substance abusers (A.K.A: addicts from any decent Gov) be given lower priority than non abusers. The basic, obvious arguments I would expect to see from gov are:
 1. (Very Weak) Drug users are less deserving of organs
 1. Drug users chose to use drugs
 2. Drug users harmed society
 2. Drug users are helped less by organs
 1. Organs should be distributed in such a way as to maximise either [(tenuous claim) life years/(acceptable claim) lives saved]
 1. Justification
 1. We have to adopt some position, neutrality is impossible
 2. We already do this in all other resource allocation problems, i.e:
 1. police
 2. economic subsidies
 3. etc…
 3. Intuitively appealing
 1. Intuition is the only source of morality, no independent grounding is possible
 2. Case: two people. One has a 99% chance of rejecting an organ, the other a 2% chance. All else is equal, I intuitively would give the organ to the person it is more likely to save.
 2. More likely to die earlier, and hence gain less years of life from the organ
 1. More likely to become addicted again
 2. More likely to have serious health problems resulting from addiction.
 3. More likely to reject organ than non-users
 1. Less likely to stick to diet and drug regime required to avoid rejection
 2. Less healthy
The problem with the motion, and the reason I suspect it is unbalanced, is that these arguments are easy to make, intuitively appealing and hard to rebut. Moving to Opp, there are far fewer obvious arguments and even rebuttal of the Gov case, while by no means impossible, is far from simple.
First, rebuttal. Obviously, it is easy to rebut argument 1, drug users being less deserving of life, by pointing out that drug addiction is not a choice or through other means. The real difficulty comes with argument 2, that drug users are less likely to benefit from the organs and that we should allocate organs so as to maximise the amount of lives saved/extended. There are two options here, opp can argue that:
 1. We should not allocate organs so as to save the most lives
 2. Drug users do not benefit less from organs than non-users
The issue with the first line of argument is that I struggle to see an alternate system of allocation that is anywhere near as appealing as allocating to maximise lives saved. The problem with the second argument is that it does not seem possible to entirely rebut the fact that drug abuse leads to a higher risk of organ rejection. While it is possible to frame out certain health risks, for example, by pointing out that STD's or immune problems acquired due to drug use are already accounted for by the health check's done to determine rejection risk, it is not possible to frame out the risk of re-addiction and consequent rejection as that is a risk a doctor cannot know of without taking into account past history of substance abuse. Also, framing out the health risks of drug addiction by shoving them into the "general health" requirements can be a bit iffy if Gov are smart enough to argue that certain health risks associated with addiction are not possible to independently verify/discover. Hence, my belief that the motions is likely unbalanced
Round 2:
While this is a round I personally find much more interesting, it is one which seems to be even more unbalanced. This time, I'll start with the possible opp lines (many of which are lifted from other people in the tournament)
 1. The purpose of the justice system is to provide restitution and closure to victims
 1. victims of intentional crime are, all things equal, more offended than victims of accidents. The same applies to victims families.
 2. The purpose of the justice system is to punish people who do evil
 1. Intentional harm to another is more evil than unintentional harm
 1. i.e: What's more evil? 1: carelessly leaving medicine where a child could find it, drink it and die. 2: forcing the same medicine down the child's throat because you want to kill it.
 3. The purpose of the justice system is to protect society from dangerous people
 1. Man-Slaughterers are less likely to reoffend than those who made a decision to take a life
I find these arguments to be, generally speaking, quite obvious, easy to argue and persuasive. On the other hand, I struggle to see what Gov can argue and most of the obvious lines are comparatively weaker. i.e:
 - (depending on mech) [Longer/Shorter] sentences are better because deterrence/prisons are bad]
 - Rebuttal: Just make sentences generally longer/shorter but not the same
 - Victims are equally offended in both cases
 - Rebuttal: False, intentional crime is more offensive
 - Both crimes are equally evil as both show a disregard for human life
 - Rebuttal: Murder = intentional = far greater disregard
 - There is no free will and morality does not exist?????
 - Rebuttal:
 - Crazy
 - no moral culpability
 - not intuitively plausible
 - (advanced but devastating): no free will = no personhood
Note that this is not to say that it is impossible to argue for Opp. I would be glad to do so and I think many philosophy students or high-level debaters would be capable of doing so. My point is that it seems to be far easier to argue for prop, especially for the average debater in the average room, which leads me to believe that the motion could be unbalanced.
Mascha Bloemer
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Martijn OttenGeplaatst op11:37 pm - jun 8, 2015
Michael Dunn posted some interesting prop-arguments on Facebook that are worth mentioning:
1.Free will does not exist, there is no such thing as intent, it is wrong to impose suffering upon people for that over which they have no control.
2. Even if choice does exist, there is no cogent moral distinction between the choice to, say, drive drunk and the choice to stab someone. In both cases, the behaviour which you are knowingly engaging in forseeably leads to an elevated chance of someone else dying. Sure the probabilities are higher in the latter case, 99.9% vs 30% or 40% but the callous disregard for human life is the same in both cases.
3. If the right to incarcerate people in anchored in the suffering imposed on victims and the grieving then the harm done and hurt caused should not be categorically different. In both cases, someone has been deprived of their life and others of a loved one, and to claim that intent should inherently have any bearing on their suffering and loss is absurd. That's not to say it ought not have an influence, but this is better taken into account by, say, a victim impact statement than a separate offence.
4. Consequentionalist argument. This would lead to shorter sentences. Whatever opp counterprop, manslaughter will be getting less time than murder, and we'll be giving everyone this time. Insert arguments about shorter sentences being good.
5. Consequentionalist argument. This would lengthen sentences. Whatever opp counter prop, murder will be getting more time than manslaughter, and we'll be giving everyone this time. Inset arguments about longer sentences being good.
6. Consequentionalist argument, but more fun. The idea that people who commit murder are somehow marked out as different from other people who are just careless or respond poorly to circumstance, is harmful. There is no such thing as an evil person: rather bad luck or carelessness often leads people to do bad things. Here, in both cases, people are making choices that lead to bad outcomes – picking out a particular set of choices and saying 'these are especially bad' strengthens the idea that there exists special moral evil in the world. This idea is so harmful because it limits attempts to tackle the underlying causes of crime because – y'know – they are just evil people and there's no stopping them.
Disclaimer: obviously this is very summary and there is *way* more to say on all of these.


text:
Griffon, the first ship to sail the Upper Great Lakes, was launched at Cayuga Creek on the Niagara R, 7 Aug 1679. A small barque, armed with 7 cannon, it sailed under the command of LA SALLE
to Michilimackinac and Green Bay. Loaded with furs, the Griffon was lost on the return voyage, likely in the storms of Lk Michigan.
La Salle, René-Robert Cavelier de
His one claim to fame is his descent of the Mississippi, upon which French claims to Louisiana were to be based (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-1843).

source: HuggingFaceFW/fineweb-edu


cash discount Capacent
A common scenario. The Customer demands a better price in a market with decreasing prices, and the supplier agrees by offering additional 3% discount through a payment term; Current 30 days net term will be changed to a term with two options: 8 days with -3% price discount or 30 days net.
Is this a good deal for the buyer? It seems so, but a couple of counter-arguments to think otherwise.
Argument 1: Experienced salespeople can price in the cash discount
Commercial contracts typically have many elements that are negotiated between the buyer and the supplier. Experienced salespeople give something to their customer and require something back, during this years' negotiation, or at a later stage. In this case, prices are decreasing in the market, so the buyer has valid argumentation to require price decreases from the supplier. The supplier knows this, and she accepts the discounts (that she might have to accept in any case), as an exchange for a better payment term for her company.
Argument 2: Cash discount terms do not make sense financially
The net term and the discounted term are almost never true alternatives using common sense. What does 8 days with -3% price discount or 30 days net mean in practice? One has an option to pay in 8 days or borrow money for an additional 22 days with an annual interest rate of 50%. So, the only apparent reasons for the supplier to grant you a discount this big is that the supplier is in financial distress or, as discussed above, the supplier can price the discount in.
Argument 3: Cash discount effectively ties the buyers' hands in negotiations and payment process
Having agreed to a payment term with cash discount, the buyer is in a very difficult position to negotiate extensions to the payment term. If the buyer opens discussion considering the term, the supplier immediately directs the discussion to the discount.
Also, the buyer organization's payment process suffers. An efficient way to manage payments is many times with just one weekly payment round. However, if you want to make cash discount payments just in time, you must arrange those payments daily.
Case example
In an earlier working capital optimization project, our European customer aggressively approached suppliers to extend net terms and improve product net prices. Their approach involved systematic negotiation and tendering that was carefully prepared through financial analysis, benchmarks and story creation. As an example, best contracts included 7% net price discounts and 120 days payment terms. Apart from careful preparations, the key success factor was a complete focus on the business partnership, not only negotiating prices or payment terms in isolation.
Katso Läpinäkyvyyttä hinnoitteluun -webinaaritallenne, jossa kerromme, miten parannat katettasi tilkitsemällä hinnoittelun vuotokohdat.
Katso Läpinäkyvyyttä hinnoitteluun -webinaaritallenne
redline (1)
Mikko Myllys is Capacent's sales and marketing director in Finland. Mikko holds over 15 years of experience in working capital management, management consulting and change consulting from various industries.


means that little code is required to use them, although this comes at the expense of flexibility.
 Typically, these objects are used for simple tasks such as dragging a rectangle or creating a new line. Operations that involve moving the vertices of existing geometries require the feedback objects to be used instead. The TrackNew method takes two parameters: an IScreenDisplay object representing the ScreenDisplay to draw the rubber band and an ISymbol object for drawing the rubber band. If no symbol is given, the default symbol is used. The method returns a new geometry object - the type of geometry returned depends on the class that was used. RubberPolygon returns a polygon object. If the method fails to complete, that is, if you press the Esc key, then nothing is returned. The types of geometry that are returned for TrackNew by each rubber band object are as follows:
 The TrackExisting method also takes ScreenDisplay and Symbol parameters as well as IGeometry representing the input geometry. This last parameter represents the geometry to move on the screen and is passed by reference so that it can be altered by the rubberband operation. The method returns a Boolean, which will be true unless the operation was interrupted by the Esc key being pressed. The method will do nothing if the geometry that is passed in does not intersect the current mouse location. The types of geometry that are expected by TrackExisting for each rubber band object are as follows:
 - RubberCircle - Not implemented
 - RubberEnvelope - IEnvelope
 - RubberLine - IPolyline
 - RubberPoint - IPoint
 - RubberPolygon - IPolygon
 - RubberRectangularPolygon - IPolygon
 For additional information, see Sample: RubberBand zoom.
 The selection tracker objects are shown in the following diagram:
 The three types of selection tracker objects are as follows:
 - An envelope tracker allows you to move and resize the element. This functionality is implemented by the EnvelopeTracker object for all element types, including point, line, polygon, and group elements.
 - A vertex edit tracker allows you to move vertices of lines, polygons, curves, and curved text. This functionality is implemented by the LineTracker and PolygonTracker objects.
 - A callout tracker allows you to move a text callout. This functionality is implemented by the CalloutTracker object.
 The CancelTracker object is used by ArcObjects to monitor the Esc key (optionally, the space bar and mouse clicks as well) and terminate processes at your request.
 For additional information, see Selection trackers.
 A representation class is also called a feature class representation. It is associated with a collection of representation rules to symbolize features and store that information in the geodatabase. It allows the geometry and properties of features to be altered from the rule without disrupting the associated spatial data. Representations are representations of individual features participating in a representation class. RepresentationClass, RepresentationRules, and Representation are objects in the Geodatabase library.
 RepresentationRules is a collection of one or more individual RepresentationRule objects that are used to categorize features in a geodatabase into groups. A regular representation rule consists of multiple layers of basic symbols such as BasicMarkerSymbol, BasicLineSymbol, or BasicFillSymbol for drawing markers, line strokes, and fill patterns, respectively. All basic symbol classes implement the IBasicSymbol interface.
 More complex symbology can be achieved by including one or more geometric effects in a representation rule. A geometric effect is a dynamic process that alters geometry at draw time. It can even change geometry type. For example, point, line, or polygon geometries can be processed through GeometricEffectBuffer to produce buffer polygons around them.
 All representation rule objects support the IRepresentationRule interface. Use the LayerCount and Layer properties to get the total number of symbol layers and to retrieve individual symbol layers at a given index. The InsertLayer method can be used to insert a symbol layer into a representation rule. You can specify the index and basic symbol as input values. Use the RemoveLayer method to remove a specific symbol layer present in the representation rule given its index.
 RepresentationRule also implements IRepresentationRuleInit, which is useful for transforming a regular ArcGIS symbol to a basic symbol. Since only basic symbols are used to construct a representation rule, it is important to transform a regular symbol to a basic symbol to use it with representations.
 For additional information, see Cartographic representations.
 A basic marker symbol is used to draw marker symbols and has marker, size, and angle as its graphic attributes. These attributes can be managed using the IGraphicAttributes interface. The attributes are listed in the esriGraphicAttribute enumeration and are prefixed with esriGAMarker - for example, esriGAMarkerSize. All basic marker symbol classes implement IBasicMarkerSymbol, which has a single MarkerPlacement property.
 Marker placement objects are marker placement styles for placing markers. You can place single or multiple markers depending on the marker placement you choose. For example, MarkerPlacementOnPoint places a single marker over a point, while MarkerPlacementAlongLine places multiple markers along a line. The default marker placement for any basic marker symbol is MarkerPlacementOnPoint. Use IMarkerPlacement to create and manipulate the properties of placement styles.
 The esriMarkerPlacementAttributes enumeration lists graphic attributes for all marker placements where each attribute is prefixed with esriGA(name)(attribute), such as esriGAInsidePolygonGridAngle, where MarkerPlacementInsidePolygon is the marker placement style and GridAngle is its graphic attribute.
 Examples of basic marker symbols are shown in the following graphic:
 The following table lists the available marker placement styles along with their valid input geometry types and graphic attributes:
 Marker placement
 Valid input geometry
 Graphic attributes
 - Line
 - Polygon
 - Step
 - Endings
 - Control points
 - Angle to line
 - Line
 - Type
 - Offset
 - Angle to line
 - Line
 - Polygon
 - Number of positions
 - Begin gap
 - End gap
 - Flip all
 - Flip first
 - Angle to line
 - Polygon
 - X step
 - Y step
 - Grid angle
 - Shift odd rows
 - X offset
 - Y offset
 - Clipping
 - Line
 - Polygon
 - Position
 - Relative to
 - Angle to line
 - Point
 - X offset
 - Y offset
 - Line
 - Polygon
 - On end points
 - On control points
 - On regular vertices
 - Angle to line
 - Polygon
 - X offset
 - Y offset
 - Center method
 - Center clipping
 - Line
 - Polygon
 - Step
 - Endings
 - Control points
 - Random
 - Skew effect
 - Polygon
 - X offset
 - Y offset
 - Clipping
 - Line
 - Polygon
 - Step
 - Endings
 - Control points
 - Min zoom
 - Max zoom
 - Zoom number
 - Method
 - Offset
 A basic line symbol is used to draw stroke symbols. All basic line symbol classes implement IBasicLineSymbol, which has a single Stroke property. LineStroke has width, caps, joins, and color as its graphic attributes. These attributes can be manipulated using the IGraphicAttributes interface. The attributes are listed in the esriGraphicAttribute enumeration and are prefixed with esriGAStroke, such as esriGAStrokeWidth. Use ILineStroke to create and manipulate the properties of a new stroke symbol.
 A basic fill symbol is used to draw fill symbols. All basic fill symbol classes implement IBasicFillSymbol, which has a single FillPattern property. The three fill patterns and their graphic attributes are shown in the following table:
 Fill pattern
 Graphic attributes
 - Color
 - Color1
 - Color2
 - Pattern style
 - Interval
 - Percent
 - Algorithm
 - Angle
 - Color
 - Width
 - Angle
 - Step
 - Offset
 These attributes can be manipulated using the IGraphicAttributes interface. The attributes are listed in the esriGraphicAttribute enumeration and are prefixed with esriGA(fill pattern type), such as esriGASolidColorPatternColor. Use IFillPattern to create and manipulate the properties of a new Fill Pattern symbol.
 Fill patterns of BasicFillSymbol are shown in the following graphic from left to right: solid, hatch, and gradient:
 GeometricEffect and GeometricEffects
 Geometric effects are dynamic processes that alter the geometry of features. A single representation rule can contain multiple geometric effects, functioning in sequence to create complex symbols. When a single RepresentationRule object is applied with a chain of geometric effects, the end result of applying the chain of effects can be considered and managed as a single geometric effect. For this reason, the RepresentationRule class inherits both the IGeometricEffect and IGeometricEffects interfaces. The result of geometric effects applied on a rule are directly passed to all basic symbol layers present in the rule for drawing features. While IGeometricEffects is useful to browse through individual geometric effects participating in the rule, IGeometricEffect is useful to manage the chain of multiple geometric effects as a single geometric effect.
 For example, as shown in the following illustration, if there are two geometric effects - GeometricEffectDash and GeometricEffectOffset - applied on line strokes in sequential order, you can


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Ten students, working for ABC News, visited nuclear reactors on 25 college campuses and found many gaping security holes at many of them, prompting a federal investigation. Here's what the team found at MIT.
Reactor Name: MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory
Fuel: Highly-enriched uranium, possession limit 40 kg.
Power Level: 5 MW
Began Operating: 1958
Location: In a highly populated area just off Massachusetts Avenue, the heavily traveled main artery that runs through Cambridge. The dense area includes campus buildings, pharmaceutical laboratories, shops and restaurants.
Security Obervations: Two armed guards. No metal detectors. No searches. Tour available with advance request and interview. Multiple forms of identification requested and photocopied before tour. Backpacks allowed inside the complex, though not inside the reactor building. Wallets permitted on reactor tour.
What We Found: Detailed information (including labeled diagrams and photographs of the reactor core and its full operation schedule) was easily located on the Internet. Even more information was available using campus computer terminals available to the public at the MIT library, where the Fellows found detailed floor plans of the reactor.
The Fellows scheduled a tour by e-mail and, after a brief interview with a few staff members, toured the reactor.
An ABC News producer parked a large Ryder truck next to the reactor facility and was not questioned or challenged.
University Reaction: In a written statement, Denise Brehm, senior communications officer, said given the small size of the reactor facility, it is not a likely target for terrorism.
Brehm said an independent study assessing the impact of possible terrorist acts against the reactor concluded that in all likely scenarios the core of the reactor would not be breached and radiation would not be released. According to Brehm, the study also determined that a large truck bomb within even a few feet of the reactor building would not breach the containment of the reactor's core. The core is fully enclosed in a radiation-shielded structure consisting of several feet of concrete and other materials, which itself is housed within the containment building, "all of which would impossible to breach at one time," Brehm said.
Tours are by appointment only and names, addresses and identification are run through a security review prior to the tour, Brehm said, adding that visitors are not allowed to bring bags or cameras into the reactor building, but must leave them in the administrative offices.
"MIT moved its reactor floor plans and exterior diagrams from its Web site following the 9/11 terrorist attacks," according to Brehm. Posting of the operating schedule does not pose a security threat because it does not indicate "when MIT is conducting sensitive operations, such as a refueling."
"Fresh fuel is not stored in the facility and is never present in large enough quantities to create a nuclear weapon," Brehm said.
Additional Comment: The federal official responsible for security at the nation's campus reactors told ABC News that he was not happy to see the wide availability of detailed information on the Internet. "That's something I'd want us to pursue, and we will," said Roy Zimmerman, director of the Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.


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(uh'k-sleh) The German scale of measuring the sugar content of must (in the US we use the Brix Scale). The aim of such scales is to determine the potential alcohol content of the finished wine. This is a critical measure of when to harvest.
UHX-leh] The German ripeness scale based on specific gravity of the must. It measures the same thing as the American Brix scale. In the Rheingau, for example, a wine must measure 95 Oechsle/22.6 Brix or more to be considered an Auslese.
The German measure for the sugar concentration in grape juice or wine.
measure of sugar concentration in grape juice (and therefore grape ripeness) or must common in Germany.
(Germany) A scale of must weight based on specific gravity. It is vital to assess the must weight in Germany as it determines the Prädikat classification. An Oechsle unit is equal to one unit of specific gravity above 1000. For example, the must of a Mosel with specific gravity of 1090 has an Oechsle of 90 and therefore qualifies as an Auslese. Other measures of must weight include Baumé, Brix and KMW. My article on must weight in my Sweet Wine series gives more information.


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Teaching Statistics Through Inferential Reasoning
Who Should Take This Course?The Teaching Statistics Through Inferential Reasoning MOOC-Ed is applicable to anyone interested in strengthening their approaches to teaching statistics through data investigations. The statistical content and strategies are appropriate for implementation with middle school through early college learners. Thus, teachers of statistics in grades 6–12 and in post-secondary contexts are the primary audience. This course may also be of interest to elementary teachers, teacher educators, and teachers of other disciplines that use data-based explorations extensively to make claims and inferences (e.g., science, social science). There is no cost for participating in the Teaching Statistics Through Inferential Reasoning MOOC-Ed.
- Strengthen your understanding of how to engage students in a statistical investigation process for the purpose of making inferences or claims;
- Explore a framework for guiding your teaching of statistical investigations to promote inferential reasoning for your students;
- Use rich data sources and dynamic graphing tools to support data exploration for investigative questions that give students opportunities to make inferences about contexts and issues of interest them;
- Examine the ways students reason with data to make inferences or claims;
- Apply a framework for inferential reasoning to your educational practices;
- Collaborate with colleagues near and far to gain different perspectives and to build a library of teaching resources.
Unit 0: Orientation and Review of SASI Framework
In Orientation, you are introduced to the course and colleagues, and can review essential background material related to a framework for supporting Students' Approaches to Statistical Investigations (SASI). This material is part of the Teaching Statistics Through Data Investigations course. If you need a review, or if you have not yet had the opportunity, please engage with these materials before you work on Unit 1.
Unit 1: What is Inferential Reasoning?
In this unit, you learn core aspects of inferential reasoning, why it is important in statistics, and how it develops, from informal approaches with early learners to more formal approaches as learners get more sophisticated, as described in the SASI framework. In the Posing Questions phase of an investigation, you will learn three general types of questions that can provide opportunities for students to build inferential reasoning skills. Each type of question will be the focus of the next three units.
Unit 2: Inferential Reasoning with Comparing Groups
In this unit, we take a deep dive into questions that provide opportunities for learners to compare two or more groups. When learners have a need to find similarities or difference among distributions, their understanding of key characteristics of distributions becomes an essential aspect of making comparative statements and generalizing beyond the data at hand. You will get to experience investigating a comparing groups question, see samples of students work, and consider other tasks for their potential to promote inferential reasoning.
Unit 3: Inferential Reasoning Between Samples and Population
Generalizing from a sample to a population is often considered the quintessential way to make inferences in statistics. In Unit 3, we consider questions that engage learners in considering what is likely true about a population. You will get to experience a task that includes reasoning about a sample to make claims about a population, view students' work, and consider different ways to support inferential reasoning.
Unit 4: Inferential Reasoning with Competing Models
Unit 4 focuses on how learners can engage with questions that focus on making decisions about which model is the most plausible for describing a population. Within tasks that engage learners to compare competing models, you will consider how learners can use different approaches and levels of sophistication for supporting claims.
Unit 5: Making Inferential Reasoning Essential in Your Practice
This unit will assist you in making plans to change teaching practices that can really engage students in inferential reasoning. You will reflect on, assess, and share what you have learned throughout the course.
A certificate of completion for 20 hours of professional development will be provided to participants who do the following in each unit:
- Access and engage with all materials on the Engage with Essentials page.
- Complete the Explore and Discuss; this includes engaging in activities and participating in the discussion forum.
- Post at least one discussion or comment in the Discuss with Colleagues.
- Complete the End-of-Course Survey.
You can submit the certificate to your local agency with a request for Continuing Education Units (CEUs). Granting of CEUs will be subject to the policies and procedures of your state and local agency.
There are also opportunities to participate in performance assessments to demonstrate your competency with ideas presented in the course and apply them to your educational practices. These performance assessments, called micro-credentials, can allow you to earn additional professional development hours. Our Teaching Statistics micro-credentials are portable and stackable. Once you demonstrate a competency and earn a micro-credential, you will receive a certificate and a virtual badge recognizing your accomplishment. We have created two stacks of micro-credentials that are purposefully stacked to help support you as you deepen your knowledge and competence in specific areas of teaching statistics. Each micro-credential can help you earn 5–7.5 professional development hours. Note that you can earn hours by successfully completing any of the six Teaching Statistics micro-credentials, even if you choose to not complete the requirements for the 20-hour certificate.
- Self-directed learning, through personalizing your experience by identifying your own goals, selecting among a rich array of resources, and deciding whether, when, and how to engage in discussions and activities to further your own learning and meet your goals.
- Peer-supported learning, through engaging in online discussions, reviewing your colleagues' projects, rating posted ideas, recommending resources, crowdsourcing lessons learned, and participating in twitter chats and other exchanges appropriate to the individual course.
- Job-embedded learning, through the use of case studies, classroom and school related projects; developing action plans; and other activities that center your work on critical problems of practice and data-informed decision-making in your own classrooms, schools or districts.
- Multiple voices, through learning about the perspectives of other teachers and administrators along with those of students, researchers and experts in the field. Our courses are purposefully not designed around one or two experts who present online lectures. They provide exposure to a rich set of perspectives presented within the context of course elements that reflect these core principles.
You will see these design principles implemented in our courses through the following instructional elements:
- Conceptual Frameworks
- Resource Collections
- Asynchronous Discussions and Twitter Chats
- Student Scenarios
- Expert Panels
- Participant Projects and Peer Feedback
- Professional Learning Community (PLC) Guides
|Future Start Date(s)||
Grade 6-12 Teachers
Hollylynne Lee, Ph.D.
Gemma Mojica, Ph.D.
Teaching Statistics Through Data Investigations

source: openbmb/Ultra-FineWeb


Biologically, a child is a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some biological definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority.
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text:
The video, a mesmerizing ten-minute visual odyssey, opens with a barren landscape under a dark sky. A solitary astronaut lies on the ground, his weathered spacesuit a testament to his journey. As the camera pans across the desolate terrain, the viewer is confronted with a mysterious bejeweled skull, a potent symbol of mortality and the inexorable passage of time. This opening sequence sets the stage for the rest of the video, with its haunting imagery and enigmatic symbolism.
The year was 2015, when the world teetered on the brink of change, with technological advancements propelling society forward at breakneck speed. The air was charged with anticipation and excitement as people brimmed with hope for the future. This era of transformation was epitomized by a sense of optimism and creativity as artists and innovators broke boundaries, reshaping the cultural landscape. During this momentous year, David Bowie released his much-awaited music video for the enigmatic and spellbinding song "Blackstar."
Bowie's performance in the video is nothing short of captivating. With his distinctive voice and stage presence, he commands the viewer's attention as he sings about a solitary candle in the center of it all. The scene then shifts to a dimly lit, eerie room where Bowie, blindfolded and adorned with buttons for eyes, is flanked by a group of mesmerized, writhing dancers. The contrast between the darkness and the piercing light from the candle creates an atmosphere of tension and intrigue, drawing the viewer deeper into the world of "Blackstar."
The video is replete with striking visuals, such as a skeleton floating in space and a circle of women performing a ritualistic dance around the jeweled skull. Combined with the song's enigmatic lyrics, these images prompt the viewer to ponder the meaning behind Bowie's artistic vision. The video's surreal and dreamlike quality lends itself to countless interpretations, making it a masterpiece of visual storytelling.
One little-known fact about "Blackstar" is that the song was originally conceived as two separate tracks. Bowie and his long-time collaborator, Tony Visconti, merged them into one seamless composition, resulting in the ten-minute magnum opus "Blackstar." The song is a testament to Bowie's creative genius and ability to push the boundaries of musical conventions.
Another fascinating tidbit about the song is that the works of Kendrick Lamar and Boards of Canada inspired it. Bowie admired their innovative approach to music, which prompted him to explore new sonic territories in "Blackstar." This willingness to experiment and grow as an artist is a hallmark of Bowie's illustrious career, and it is evident in the rich tapestry of sounds and styles found throughout the song.
In addition to its captivating music and visuals, "Blackstar" is also notable for its prophetic nature. Released on January 8, 2016, just two days before Bowie's untimely passing, the song and its accompanying video serve as a hauntingly poignant farewell from the legendary artist. While it is impossible to know if Bowie intended for "Blackstar" to be his final creative statement, the song, and video undeniably capture the essence of his artistic spirit and serve as a fitting tribute to his legacy.
"Blackstar" is a shining example of the brilliance and boundless creativity that characterized David Bowie's career. The video's enigmatic imagery and mesmerizing performance is a testament to his ability to captivate and inspire audiences across generations. It stands as a powerful reminder of the transformative power of art and the impact a single song can have on the hearts and minds of millions.
We invite you to hit like and share this story because "Blackstar" is a captivating piece of music and visual art that deserves to be shared and appreciated by fans and newcomers alike. As a testament to David Bowie's genius and creativity, this masterpiece captures the essence of an era marked by change and anticipation. By sharing this story, you help keep the spirit of Bowie's timeless artistry alive, inspiring others to appreciate and explore his legendary body of work. So let us come together to celebrate the enduring legacy of a true icon as we immerse ourselves in the enigmatic world of "Blackstar" and remember the indelible mark David Bowie has left on the world of music and beyond.


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Q: Lately, a lot of newscasters, politicians, and people in general are using the phrase "as well" instead of the normal "also" or "too," especially at the end of a sentence. What is this all about? Is it correct? I now find myself using it as well!
A: This use of "as well" is nothing new. In fact, the phrase has been used to mean "also," "in addition," "besides" or "in the same way" for more than 700 years.
The Oxford English Dictionary's first citation for this use of "as well" comes from Robert Manning of Brunne's 1303 work Handlyng Synne: "Ryght as she dede, he dede as weyl."
Or, as we would put it, "Right as she did, he did as well." Brunne was translating a long poem from Anglo-Norman French into Middle English.
Since the Middle Ages, this usage has been pretty routine. Here's a more recent citation, from On the Lesson in Proverbs (1853), by Archbishop Richard Chenevix Trench: "We have a right to assume this to be a voice of God as well."
If these guys could use the phrase, you have the right to use it as well.


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Pustules of leaf rust are small and circular producing a mass of orange-brown powdery spores predominantly on the upper leaf surfaces, (Figure 2.22). Later in the season pustules also develop on leaf sheaths. The pustules easily rub off on a finger. As the crop matures the pustules turn dark and produce black spores embedded in the old plant tissues. Leaf and stem rust may be confused but are distinguished by their colour and size, leaf rust being lighter coloured, smaller and rounder than stem rust.
Figure 2.22 Leaf rust symptoms on barley leaf
The primary source of inoculum for leaf rust is green volunteer barley plants that survive over summer. Development of leaf rust is most rapid during warm (15-20°C) moist (rain or dew) weather. Crops sown before May, when nights are still warm, are often more severely infected.
The 'Star of Bethlehem' ( Ornithogalum umbellatum ) weed, (Figure 2.23) can also be a source of inoculum and is a host for the alternate, sexual stage of teleospores. The existence of a sexual cycle means the formation of new strains of rust can occur, increasing the occurrence of new, virulent strains that can overcome current resistances. Currently the Star of Bethlehem weed occurs in South Australia with isolated occurrences through the Victorian cropping zone.
Figure 2.23 Star of Bethlehem
RUSTS OF BARLEY


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Study blames 2,200 deaths on traffic emissions
Traffic congestion experts have long warned that pollution caused by idling vehicles on crowded roads was harming Americans' health.
Now, for the first time, researchers at Harvard University have quantified the damage: They say that congestion in the USA's 83 largest urban areas last year led to more than 2,200 premature deaths and a related public health cost of at least $18 billion.
"Our estimates of the total public health cost of traffic congestion in the U.S. are likely conservative, in that they consider only the impacts in 83 urban areas and only the cost of related mortality and not the costs that could be associated with related morbidity — health care, insurance, accidents and other factors," the researchers at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis at the Harvard School of Public Health report.
Researchers focused on motor vehicle emissions, using several models "to predict how much of what people are breathing in each urban area is attributable to emissions from traffic congestion."
"What the study says is when you are designing and evaluating (transportation) policies, you should take into account the pollution impacts, because they do matter," says Katherine von Stackelberg of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, a co-author of the study. She says people at risk are those sitting in traffic and others exposed to the polluted air.
Costs of congestion
Estimated number of premature deaths and associated public health costs in 2010 from traffic congestion in selected urban areas:
|Urban area||Deaths||Social costs
Source: Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, Harvard University School of Public Health
Researchers evaluated premature deaths resulting from people breathing particulate matter. Previous studies have shown that motor vehicle emissions contribute up to one-third of particulate matter in urban areas.
"The report highlights the complete failure of elected leaders to adquately invest in new capacity for all modes of transportation," says Matt Jeanneret, spokesman for the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, one of 29 groups that commissioned the study. "Sadly, traffic congestion in America can be summed up this way: Time lost, fuel lost — and now, lives lost."
One bright spot: The number of premature deaths and the public health care costs associated with congestion have been declining slightly for a decade.
Researchers say the decline will continue until 2030, when it is projected to begin rising.
"This reduction results from the continual turnover … to lower emission vehicles and the increased use of cleaner fuels," the report says.


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A Theory of Predicates
Lexicalism is a theory of information associated with words and what exactly a word is. The authors propose a different idea of what can be contained in words. Lexicalism is first and foremost a hypothesis about functional-semantic information and secondarily a hypothesis about the formal expression of this information. Grammar rules cannot change the argument structure of words. Any change to the meaning of words must occur in the lexicon. A new lexical theory of complex predicates is proposed in this volume. The authors argue that previous lexicalist accounts within Lexical Functional Grammar and Head Driven Phrase Structure Grammar have abandoned certain crucial aspects of lexicalism in their efforts to account for analytically expressed predicates, in particular permitting predicate formation operations to occur within phrase structure. Although the theory is presented in detail primarily for German expressions of these predicates, consideration is given to cross-linguistic application of this theory.
ISBN (Paperback): _PHONE_
ISBN (Cloth): _PHONE_
Subject: Linguistics; Grammar--Verb Phrase
Distributed by the


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Recent research on the development and implementation of social investment (i. e. policies that aim at creating, preserving, and mobilizing human skills and capabilities) has shown that there is some level of implementation of social investment policies not only in different regions of Europe, but also in North America, Latin America and East Asia. However, one cannot speak of a general development of a social investment welfare state, as the phase but also-and especially-the specific substance of the social investment policies varies strongly between these regions. Why have social investment ideas and policies been more developed in some regions and countries than in others? Going beyond different structural pressure, the project aims at theorizing the politics of social investment and testing different explanations empirically. The aim is to assess what the political conditions for the development of social investment policies are. Given that similar governments in different contexts have adopted different strategies with regard to social investment, the project investigates the institutional and socio-structural factors that enable or prevent political support coalitions for (different kinds of) social investment.
This project assesses the political conditions for the development of social investment policies, investigate the politics of Social Investment in Europe, North and Latin America and East Asia along the following three questions:
- What explains the content of the social investment agenda? To what degree and in what form is social investment politicized? (empirically: identify framing and the effect of institutional legacies – constraints, economic strategyon the social investment agenda in different regions of the world)
- How does political conflict over social investment map onto other conflict lines and cleavages? (empirically: identify actor positions, dimensionality, links between actor positions on different issues).
- What political coalitions support or prevent a social investment turn? Why do policies in some areas taken an inclusive form, while they are stratified or targeted elsewhere? (empirically: identify reform coalitions and the institutional and structural conditions that produce them)


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Tuesday 21 May
Pomarine jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus)
What's the World's Favourite Species?Find out here.
Pomarine jaeger fact file
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Pomarine jaeger description
The largest of the jaegers, the pomarine jaeger (Stercorarius pomarinus) is most distinctive in the summer, when it bears unusual spoon-shaped central tail feathers measuring up to 11 centimetres. These tail streamers are lost in the winter months, which can often make the adults difficult to distinguish from the juveniles (2) (4).
Pomarine jaeger adults may either be a light or dark morph. The majority of adults are the 'light' form, having dark brown upperparts and white underparts with a bold brown bar stretching across the chest. The top of the head is black and it has a bright white collar with a yellowish tinge on the sides of the neck. The underside of the wings fade from dark brown to white, with the edges becoming darker again (4). Dark morph adults are similar except the underparts, collar and sides of the neck are dark brown (4).
Juvenile pomarine jaegers differ in appearance to the adults, being brown all over except for the underparts which are patterned with blackish bars (4).
The name 'pomarine' originally comes from a Greek word meaning 'lid-nosed'. This is due to the fact that the bird has a pale, saddle-like covering on the base of the upper bill which gives it a two-tone effect (4).
- Also known as
- pomarine skua.
- Labbe pomarin.
- Head-body length: 46 - 51 cm (2)
- Wingspan: 125 - 138 cm (2)
- Male weight: 648 g (3)
- Female weight: 745 g (3)
- The flesh of a dead animal.
- Kept warm so that development is possible.
- One of two or more distinct types of a given species, often distinct colour forms, which occur in the same population at the same time (that is, are not geographical or seasonal variations).
- An area occupied and defended by an animal, a pair of animals or a colony.
- Treeless, grassy plains characteristic of arctic and sub-arctic regions. They are very cold and have little rainfall.
IUCN Red List (November, 2010)
- del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J. (1996) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 3: Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
- Maher, W.J. (1970) The pomarine jaeger as a brown lemming predator in northern Alaska. The Wilson Bulletin, 82(2): 130-157.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (November, 2010)
BirdLife International (November, 2010)
- Pitelka, F.A., Tomich P.Q. and Treichel G.W. (1955) Breeding behaviour of jaegers and owls near Barrow, Alaska. The Condor, 57(1): 3-18.
- Maher, W.J. (1974) Ecology of Pomarine, Parasitic and Long-tailed Jaegers in Northern Alaska. Cooper Ornithological Society, Los Angeles, California.
- Andersson, M. (1973) Behaviour of the pomarine skua Stercorarius pomainus Temm. with comparative remarks on Stercorariinae. Ornis Scandinavica, 4(1): 1-16.
- Custer, T.W. and Pitelka, F.A. (1987) Nesting by pomarine jaegers near Barrow, Alaska, 1971. Journal of Field Ornithology, 58(2): 225-230.
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Pomarine jaeger biology
During the breeding season, between May and September (2) (5), the pomarine jaeger is highly dependent on the availability of its main food source, lemmings. Lemming populations grow and shrink cyclically every three to five years, and the pomarine jaeger only successfully reproduces when lemming populations peak (6).
The pomarine jaeger catches lemmings by chasing them across the ground and, if the lemming tries to evade the bird by entering its burrow, the pomarine jaeger will tear at the burrow with its beak to reach the lemming inside (8). The pomarine jaeger is the only avian predator which will dig for the lemming in this manner (4). It will also prey on other types of rodent (3) and when these are in short supply it will eat small birds (3) (9). Outside of the breeding season the pomarine jaeger eats a smaller number of rodents and instead eats more birds, carrion, fish and insects (3), which it obtains not only by scavenging and hunting, but also by stealing from other birds (4).
The pomarine jaeger builds its nest on marshy flat land (6). The female usually lays 2 eggs which are incubated for 25 to 27 days (6). The chicks leave the nest just two days after hatching (7), but it takes a further month for their feathers to become fully developed and for them to be able to fly (6).
When protecting its breeding territory the pomarine jaeger has a very nasal call and will simultaneously flap its wings higher up and more slowly than usual. If the intruder is not deterred, the pomarine jaeger will call and start to glide with its wings held in the shape of a 'V' to scare off the intruder. This species may also give a short call or a call that fluctuates in pitch to warn when predators are approaching (8).Top
Pomarine jaeger range
The pomarine jaeger breeds in the far northern reaches of Europe, Asia and America (2) (5). In the winter, the pomarine jaeger migrates to areas between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer, as well as along the coasts of Argentina and Australia (5).Top
Pomarine jaeger habitatTop
Pomarine jaeger status
The pomarine jaeger is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (1).Top
Pomarine jaeger threats
Although the pomarine jaeger is not currently considered to be threatened with extinction (1), its dependence on lemmings does place it in a vulnerable situation. As the pomarine jaeger tends to not breed when there is a low lemming population (6) (9), any future threats to the lemmings will also impact greatly on the jaeger (4).
Other potential future threats include climate change, which could alter the pomarine jaeger's favoured habitats (5).Top
Pomarine jaeger conservation
Currently, there are no known conservation measures in place for the pomarine jaeger.Top
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Battery Matching Worksheet
In this science worksheet, high schoolers look for the definition of each word by matching the terms related to batteries and electricity. The answers are found by clicking the button found at the bottom of the page.
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Clipper and Clamper Circuits Clipper and Clamper Circuits
In this electrical worksheet, learners design and build a circuit board to grasp the understanding of circuit design including clipper and clamper circuits and before answering a series of 21 open-ended questions that include analyzing...
10th - Higher Ed Science


The magic of beans
This time of year news outlets like to report that beans are a traditional food for the new year because beans look like coins. Maybe they do a little bit, if you lack depth perception, but most people would mistake beans for coins about as easily as they would cabbage for a dollar bill. I think beans are perfect for the new year because a good collection of dried beans makes a person feel both rich and lucky. Just like optimism, beans are cheap enough that anyone can have them. They are easy to store and last longer than a human lifetime (at least 200 years, according to research from Kew Gardens). If they aren't cooked, they can be planted to make more of themselves. They may be simple and earthy, but they generate wealth.
Fabaceae black-eyed peas in a pot
Do these look like coins?
Beans are also perfect for eating this time of year. After weeks of elaborate rich food, something easy and healthy is very appealing. Beans have been paired with rice in just about every culture that has adopted farming. It's a great combination, and one of my favorite traditional versions for the New Year is hoppin' john. It may have originated in some Caribbean cultures as a dish made with pigeon peas (pois au pigeon, very roughly pronounced "hoppin' john"), but most people I know use black-eyed peas (Vigna unguiculata), and that's what I use in my recipe below. Black-eyed peas probably evolved in Africa (Delgado-Salinas et al., 2011), and they are close relatives of mung beans, cowpeas, and Chinese long beans. All of these species have more box-shaped seeds and longer narrower pods than common Phaseolus beans, the New-world group that includes string beans and black, white, and kidney beans, among others.
Beans as seeds
If you remember learning anything about plants in elementary school, you probably remember growing beans, and it was probably boring. It's a wonder anyone goes on to study plants anymore. But should old acquaintance be forgot? I say absolutely not. Dried beans are amazing creatures, and you likely have a pile of them alive but sleeping soundly in in a jar in your cabinet right now. Of all the things living in there, beans may be the only things you really want to know about.
Dried beans are seeds of legume plants, and seeds are far more complicated than they look. Like two-faced January, they bridge the winter gap between last fall's harvest and next spring's planting. Seeds also kicked off one of the most important periods in plant history. When the first seeds evolved, plants finally gained a bit more freedom to reproduce without staying wet all the time, which turned out to be a great strategy. Seed plants have flourished in the 370 million years since then, and now the vast majority of plant species are seed plants (flowering plants and gymnosperms). Legumes (family Fabaceae) evolved fairly recently, just over 60 million years ago, yet is now one of the largest and most diverse plant families in the world (approx 18,000 species). Jeanne will turn her fabulous phylogeny machine on the beans in a future post and bring you more details about their origin and distribution. For now, I'll focus on bean structure.
Black-eyed pea soaked and split. The seed coat is on the right, showing the black eye around the hilum. The two cotyledons are on the left. The uppermost is still attached to the rest of the embryo.
Seeds are more than just a plant embryo and its sack lunch, bundled together and tossed optimistically into the wild. Seeds contain three distinct generations and a jumble of genetic material: the seed coat belongs to the mother plant; the nutritive tissue (endosperm) contains an unequal mixture of maternal and paternal genes, with the balance tipped towards the mother plant; the embryo itself gets half of its genes from each parent; and in gymnosperms the seed contains a generation intermediate between the parents and the embryo, called a gametophyte. (In flowering plants, unfertilized seeds – ovules – contain gametophyte cells too.) These various players have distinct interests, and you might even say that there is a war raging inside our peaceful looking little seed. Many of those genes direct resource allocation and the synthesis of storage materials, which should align the interests of the embryo itself and both of its parents. The maternal plant, however, has more than just this one selfish seed to provide for and must spread resources accordingly; while the paternal parent takes the side of the embryo, since it may not be the father of any of the other seeds on the plant. These conflicting genetic interests seem to have driven some important aspects of seed evolution (see work by Friedman for discussion).
What's in a bean?
Seeds pack a lot of resources into a small space to fuel the transition of the embryo to an independent seedling. Orchid seeds are one exception. They are minuscule – think of the specks in vanilla bean ice cream – and when they germinate, they recruit fungi to bring the resources to them. Most seeds, though, contain a lot of starch, protein, and some fats (e.g. "nuts"). Many also contain defense compounds, such as lectins, tannins, and cyanide precursors. Bean seeds also contain a lot of oligosaccharides, sugars like raffinose and stachyose, that make some people fart. That's because mammals lack the enzyme α-galactosidase (α-GAL) needed to digest the oligosaccharides ourselves. We pass them along to the bacteria in our large intestines, which gratefully accept the sugars and break them into CO2, methane, and other gases. We then pass these along to the outside world.
If you buy your beans at a burrito stand, you have to take what you get. If you cook your own beans, though, you can control the oligosaccharides and the gas. The sugars are water soluble and come out in the soaking water and the cooking water. The slime around canned beans contains a lot of oligosaccharides, so it should obviously be washed off. Any flavor you lose is probably mostly salt anyhow. I always defy any recipe that directs me to use the bean cooking water, and in the recipe below, I suggest changing the soaking water as well. (On this point, see also Sally and Martin Stone's terrific book The Brilliant Bean.)
Protein is not cheap for plants to make because it contains a lot of nitrogen, which is often limiting for plants since they cannot get it from the air. Carbohydrates, by contrast, are relatively cheap because carbon dioxide is abundantly available to be fixed through photosynthesis. The reason beans and other legumes can afford to be particularly high in protein is because their roots house symbiotic bacteria that turn atmospheric nitrogen into something a plant can use. Beans are generally about 22-25% protein by weight, whereas even whole grains contain only one-third to half that much.
Seeds becoming plants
Should old acquaintance with elementary-school botany have been forgot, the diagram below may bring it back to mind. It maps the structure of a bean seed onto the seedling it will become. Fabaceae BEP germination
The relationship between a bean seed and the plant it will become
The bulk of a bean seed is a pair of cotyledons, or "embryonic leaves." These leaves serve the dual purpose of storing the starch and sugars, proteins, and fats needed by the young plant before it becomes independent; and turning green and making some new sugars once the seedling emerges from the soil. The cotyledons enclose the main axis of the embryo, with the nubbin of a root (radicle) at one end and a little leafy shoot at the other. It is not easy to see, but the cotyledons are actually attached to the axis between the root and the shoot. Soaking a bean in water will soften it enough to be split, revealing the main axis of the embryo inside.
I should take a moment to note that not all flowering plant species rely on their cotyledons for storage. The seeds of most flowering plants make a specialized nutritive tissue called endosperm, which results from double fertilization and contains genes from both parents, but mostly the maternal plant (see above). In some plant species, the endosperm is present in the mature seed. The white part of popcorn is endosperm, as is coconut water and coconut meat. In beans and some other plant groups, the contents of the endosperm are taken up by the cotyledons and stored there.
Soaking bean seeds is the first step to sprouting them for eating or planting. When a bean seed takes up water, it breaks its dormancy and starts a complicated physiological process. Starch grains swell, cells enlarge, and the seed coat is broken. Enzymes begin to digest complex molecules to be used by the growing seedling. Seeds are full of mRNA molecules (instructions from the DNA for making proteins) that may allow very rapid synthesis of proteins needed early in germination.
The root is the first part of the embryo to emerge through the seed coat. It starts taking up water and growing down in response to gravity. The tender shoot with its tiny leaves does not


I need more than 250 individual pins for my project.(can't use multiplexing). so how can i get them? is there any good efficient and low cost modules for that. can MCP27017 do this?
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 Maybe you can tell us more about your project. Depending on what those 250 pins are used for and how they are connected the answer might be different. – kwasmich Jul 25 '17 at 9:06
 - You can't magically triple your physical pins without multiplexing them. The only reasonable choice i see is using another IC, which transmits results of it's GPIO's to the Pi via serial interfaces. Edit: In fact, the MCP seems to function that way, so yes, it can. – mystery Jul 25 '17 at 9:24
You can increase the effective number of GPIO pins on your Pi but using an appropriate external IC. I've never used the MCP27017, but it looks like it will do the trick.
But, there's a catch if you want to get a ton of pins. The Pi has limited ability to provide power through the GPIO header. If you string together enough external ICs, you might get 250 pins, but you probably cannot power them all simultaneously in any meaningful way. Whether or not that matters probably depends on your application. (In theory you might need 250 connections but only want to power a few at a time? You might also be able to get around this in some cases by providing a separate power supply to the external IC, but that would depend on what you're doing.)
Here's more information on the power limits of the Pi: What is the maximum current the GPIO pins can output?
One way would be to use external I/O units connected through USB. If you connect them through a powered HUB, this might help overcome power issues.
Have a look at _URL_ or _URL_
You will need to use an I/O peripheral (like the MCP27017) assuming the serial access time is not an issue. The GPIO pins on the RPi are nowhere as rugged as the I/O pins on an Arduino. At startup all GPIO pins are inputs. You need to configure in software how much current you intend to drive through an output pin. Total current from all outputs cannot exceed 50 mA (i.e: you can push 16 mA through three output pins). The following documents need to be understood before using the GPIO pins: _URL_ _URL_
Your Answer


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Mälardalen University (MDH) is a young and modern university focusing on applied research and education in close cooperation with industry. MDH participates in the SafeCOP project through the research direction Embedded Systems (ES) at the School of Innovation, Design and Engineering (IDT). ES is the leading research profile at MDH, and the leading group in Sweden in Embedded Systems related research.
The research at ES is organized in 10 mutually supportive and cooperating groups and focus on themes such as:
- Industrial software engineering including technology and processes for complex products
- Embedded Systems Software Engineering
- Design methodologies for real-time dependable systems
- Static analysis of software
- Design methods, architectures and communication for embedded systems
ES hosts several large strategic initiatives in close collaboration with Swedish industry, such as the DPAC research profile, the national research programs as SYNOPSIS and FIC, the industrial graduate school ITS EASY. The SafeCOP related research at MDH will involve multiple research groups and will target to extend the state-of-the art in:
- System-of-systems safety certification
- Predictable wireless networking
MDH envision the emergence of a viable, holistic and industrial strength approach to facilitate efficient safety certification of embedded systems-of-systems developed from certified components.
- Hans Hansson
- Sasikumar Punnekkat
- Elisabeth Uhlemann
- Mats Björkman


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Common sense is slow to develop in humans, and many a time young people will sit around throwing around silly ideas – and then go on to act on the silliest of them all.
And as if kids can't come up with enough stupidity all on their own, access to a world wide web of thoughts feeds them more tricks and dares – YouTube is great at that.
The cinnamon challenge is nothing new, but I heard about it from my kids only a couple of years ago. The challenge: swallow a tablespoon of ground cinnamon in 60 seconds, without drinking fluids.
Fail to swallow a spoonful of cinnamon, and you might still have your moment of glory in this viral sensation: more than 50,000 YouTube clips, one popular clip with 30 million views (these numbers might be irrelevant by the end of today) and it's all over Twitter. Subjecting the Cinnamon Challenge to a Google fight (fun site in which you can battle two words or phrases against each other to see which is more Internet popular) shows that cinnamon challenge with its 15 million search results is more popular than chewing gum (7 million).
Cinnamon sounds innocent enough – every baking home has some, and what can be more natural than an ancient spice from tree bark.
So here's an opportunity to teach kids a few basic principles in toxicology:
- Dose matters. As Paracelsus famously said: The dose makes the poison. Even water and oxygen – which we can't survive without -- can be toxic if you have too much of them.
- Safe to eat doesn't mean it's safe to introduce into your body in any other way. Do you like hot peppers? So do I. They're pleasant only by mouth. Water is fine to swallow, and to wash with, but if you inhale it it's called drowning.
Back to the cinnamon challenge.
An article in the recent issue of Pediatrics warns that the cinnamon challenge isn't all fun and games. Inhaling cinnamon can damage the lungs and airways, and although the effects are usually temporary, it has led to many emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and a few teens even requiring ventilator support for collapsed lungs.
You see, the cellulose fibers in cinnamon, once in the lungs, do not dissolve or break down – they stay there and are not inert. The authors, led by Steven Lipshultz, cite a study in which cellulose was introduced through the windpipe of rats. This caused inflammation and lung damage, and the results were apparent even a year after the exposure.
When a teen attempts to swallow a large mount of cinnamon there's a pretty high risk of breathing in some of the cinnamon powder. The powder can damage the lining of the airways and lungs and even cause permanent scarring. Introducing a foreign substance into the airways is even more dangerous for people who have asthma.
Bottom line, there are better – tastier, and more creative – uses for cinnamon.
I'm just afraid that warning kids about the dangers of the challenge – or locking the cinnamon along with the liquor as some parents have suggested – will introduce it to the few that haven't heard about it yet, and just increase its allure.


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In the early 2000's, after receiving a BFA in Drawing from the Alberta College of Art & Design (ACAD), Jeff Tallon lived throughout Canada, Europe and Asia. These experiences inform the global yet local nature of his work and question the notion of nationalism, truth, identity, commerce, colonialism, and communication.
Since 2009, Tallon has been synthesizing painting and technology. Some of his paintings include QR Codes, which allow viewers to capture content using a hand-held device. These actions mirror common practices that have ubiquitously
become embedded throughout society.
Tallon's initial interactive paintings sent text messages to participants creating a sense of faux-intimacy. Subsequently, the breadth of his work has grown to unite photography, oil paint, text, audio/video and the Internet.


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Here are instructions for how to tie a figure 8 double loop. The figure eight double loop knot is the most accepted and used way to attach a climber to the end of a rope. It provides a static, reliable hold with just few easy steps. Also, disassembling the knot is easy compared with other tension knots. The double figure eight knot must always be tied carefully to ensure the climber's safety.
To tie a figure eight double loop, you will need:
- A piece of rope, at least five feet long.
- A harness, or a belt to fix the knot.
- An anchor away from your body.
- Hold the rope by one of it's ends.
Make a bite, or a 180 degree bend, one arm length away from the end.
- Twist the bite to complete a full loop.
- With the opening upwards, take the loose end of the rope and make it go all the way trough the loop. This forms your initial figure eight.
- Take the loose end of the rope and make it go trough the harness. There's different types of harness that have different points to tie the figure eight knot. Check the harness for manufacturer's instructions, usually printed on the sides of the belt.
- Make the loose end of the rope go parallel to the side with the figure eight once it went trough the harness. This way, you will have the figure eight and the rope parallel to it.
Extend the loose end until the figure eight is five to seven inches away from your belt.
- With the eight in front of you, make the loose end of the rope go parallel to the rope with the eight, staring with the right side, and following the exact shape of the other rope. To do this, you will have to loose the eight a bit. Remember not to loose it too much, as it will loose it's shape. The choice of side to start is arbitrary, but each climber has to choose one and make himself a routine to follow, to ensure that the knot comes out the same way every time.
- Once you have both lines of rope going parallel all the way trough the eight, you have a figure eight Double Loop tied to your harness. Make it tight, double check for the rope to go trough the right openings, and then use the remaining rope on the loose end to tie a seaman's knot over the fixed line. This way you will not be bothered during climbing.
- To untie the figure eight double loop knot, you have to push the parallel ropes into the figure eight. Depending on how loaded the knot was, it will come out with more or less resistance.
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Cats in general are like oil in water. They just do not match well together. However, if you look at them, you see cats as very clean and tidy with their bodies. Very seldom will you see a cat that is dirty and that is because unlike some animals, cats are very much capable of grooming themselves and they do so almost every day. So the question that remains as a huge mystery to most pet lovers out there that needs some clarification is why do most cats dislike water?
It must be distinguished that cats do not hate water. They simply do not like being drenched in water because cats are skittish in nature. They easily get scared of anything new to them. One of their defense mechanisms is they try to look bigger whenever they are faced with imminent danger. The hair on their bodies rises almost instantaneously whenever they see a predator. Its tail is almost twice its original size because of its fur standing on end. This is their way to look as big as possible. Getting them drenched in water would make them feel vulnerable and helpless. In addition, cats are known to be agile creatures. They would not be as agile as they could if they have additional weight on their body because their fur becomes waterlogged. More so, the structure of a cat's fur is set up to be water resistant at the top layer. Therefore, if your cat gets drenched, it somehow locks in the water making it very uncomfortable for your pet.
Other factors may also be at play why your feline friend is afraid of water. Basically, it depends on their previous experience or exposure to water. Other pet owners may force their cats to take a bath. Unknowingly, it leaves a mark behind that would certainly make your cat avoid water altogether. Others may also use water spray as a disciplinary measure whenever their pets commit mistakes. Another theory why cats, especially those living in the wild, avoid water is because they are trying to avoid being the prey to crocodiles and other predators that are known to be deadly underwater.
However, there are exceptions. It must be noted that not all cats, either domesticated pets or those in the wild, are afraid of or dislike water. There are those who even enjoy a regular swim. Big cats in the wild that stay under the sun almost the entire day every day are fond of bathing to stay cool or sometimes catch dinner. Domesticated cats on the other hand are fascinated by water. Water dripping from a faucet or a hose or from a fountain, may be viewed as a toy with which they love to attempt to catch a drop or two using their paws.
In essence, cats simply do not want to be susceptible to any form of attack with their guards down, and being drenched in water is just a major example. But, its attitude towards water can be completely programmed and you can make your pet enjoy getting wet if it was introduced in a playful manner and the overall experience is an enjoyable one.


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Northern Royal Flycatcher
The Northern Royal Flycatcher (Onychorhynchus mexicanus) is a species of passerine bird found in Mexico, south through most of Central America, to northwestern Colombia and far western Venezuela. Its habitat is subtropical and tropical moist lowland forests.
The adult is 6.5 to 7 inches long with brown upperparts and small beige colored spots on its wing coverts. The rump and tail are yellow-brown to orange-yellow in color. The bill is long and broad. It has an fan-shaped crest that stands on end and is red in color in the male and yellow-orange in the female. The display of the crest being fully raised is rarely shown, except during banding sessions. It is a normally quiet bird, but will sometimes give sharp repeated pree-o or key-up calls.


Applicable PlansSprout Blossom Garden✔ Estate✔ Forest
Freshcaller allows you to transfer calls to another agent, team, or contact available within your account. Additionally, you can transfer calls to an external number
Call transfers are useful when you think that another team member has better expertise to resolve a customer's query, or sometimes, customers may want to talk to a specific agent. This helps deliver faster resolutions to the customer without making them go around in circles or hold the line for too long.
User Requirements
Agents, supervisors, admins, and account admins can transfer calls.
Types of Call Transfers
You can initiate two types of call transfers:
 - Warm Transfer
 A warm transfer allows you to have a brief conversation with another agent or a contact in your team before transferring the call to the customer. You can provide all the necessary details about the customer's query to another agent so that the customer does not have to repeat their question.
 - Cold Transfer
 Unlike a warm transfer, this option directly transfers the call to the second agent you selected. The second agent can choose to accept or reject the call.
When you initiate a warm or cold transfer, the customer will be put on hold until the other agent accepts the call.
To initiate a warm/cold transfer:
 1. During a live call, click on the phone icon to see the active (online) agents or contacts. You can use the search bar at the top to search for the names.
 When you enter a letter or a number, the search results display all the agents, teams, or contact names having the letter or number you entered. To see the team's active agents, click on the arrow next to the team/group name. The number next to the team name indicates the number of active/online agents in that team.
 Note: The contact names you see are the names you added/imported to your account.
 2. Warm Transfer
 To initiate a warm transfer, select the agent, team/group, or a contact name and click on the forward icon.
 Note that you can initiate a warm transfer only to individual agents within a team/group. For this reason, the warm transfer icon will not be visible next to the team name.
 3. Cold Transfer
 To initiate a cold transfer, select the agent, team/group, or a contact name and click on the phone icon.
 You can also select an entire team to initiate a cold transfer. In this case, all online agents in that particular team will receive the call, and anyone can choose to answer the call.
 For example, if you want to transfer the call to any agent in the US team, select the US team and click on the cold transfer icon.
 4. Once you initiate a warm or cold transfer, you will see the following screen.
 5. After the other agent answers the call, the customer on hold will be connected to the second agent, who is now the primary agent.
 If you initiate a warm transfer, you can disconnect the call after giving the necessary details. However, you will be disconnected immediately once the second agent answers the call in case of a cold transfer.
 The second agent will see the following notification when a call is transferred from the first agent.
 Dialpad in Warm Transfer:
 When you initiate a warm transfer, you can also use the dialpad to transfer the call to agent 2. The dialpad can be useful if the agent 2 has an IVR set up and wants to use the dialpad to enter the IVR option.
 Transferring Calls to External Number:
 To place a warn or cold transfer to an external number, enter the phone number in the search box, and choose between cold or warm transfer.
Tip: Transferring Calls with Call Notes
It is always recomended to add call notes before you transfer the call to another agent. The call notes help the other agent in understanding the customer's query better. Also, it eliminates the need for the customer to repeat the entire problem again.
 1. When you transfer calls, call notes are automatically transferred from Agent 1 to Agent 2.
 2. If Agent 2 is not available, Agent 1 will be able to resume the call.
Call recordings during Warm Transfers:
 1. If the Freshcaller number has " Record all calls," "Record incoming calls," or "Record outgoing calls" options enabled, then the conversation between Agent 1 and the customer is saved as recording 1. The conversation between Agent 2 and the customer is saved as recording 2. Recording 2 starts when Agent 2 resumes the call from agent 1.
 2. If the setting is "Record calls manually," and Agent 1 had not started recording, then the recording will start only when the Agent 2 manually activates the recording feature.
 3. The conversation between the agents when the customer is on hold is not recorded.
 4. If the customer disconnects the call while the two agents are in conversation, Agent 2 (once connected) will hear an information message that the customer has disconnected. The call will then be terminated.


Most of us are concerned about the things to take as a precaution before enter a swimming pool, and many a times we wished that someone had told us these tips earlier.
Here are a few tips that can be useful before and after you enter a swimming pool:
 1. Do not eat anything at least an hour prior to your entry into a pool. Mixing chlorinated water with food can result to an upset stomach.
 2. Apply a well-reviewed waterproof sunscreen/sunblock on all parts of the body (even those areas that are not directly affected). Most of the so called very effective waterproof sunscreens also wash out in 20 minutes of the swim. Otherwise, you can also apply moisturizer. Give it some time to sink in before you enter into the water.
 3. Take shower in the pool shower room earlier and then only bare your skin to chlorine.
After Swimming:
 1. Take a shower with normal water/soap to remove the chemicals as soon as you get out of the pool. It is considered better to cover your hair with a shower cap but if you forgot, make sure you wash your hair too.
 2. Being continuously in contact with water for a long time can make your skin feel dry and itchy. After a shower, be sure that you use a lots of moisturizer even on the damp skin. Never miss any part of your body. Petroleum jelly like Vaseline is considered to be one of the most effective in case of an itchiness.
 3. Ensure that you are not wearing clothes on the wet or damp skin. This may cause rashes and other skin problems if your skin is sensitive. Make sure that you wait till the moisturizer/ sunscreen gets fully soaked by the skin and then pat any left wet skin with a soft and dry towel.
 4. During swimming, we indirectly consume lots of chlorine with the air we breathe or water from the pool which is dangerous for the skin and lungs. Hence, as soon as you come out of the pool, take in a lot of fresh air from outside the pool area by the nose or even through your mouth.
 5. One of the most common after effects of swimming is unusual hunger and the other condition commonly noticed is dehydration. So before you move on to having some food, hydrate your body by drinking a lot of water.
 6. Even after lots of potions of sunscreen, sometimes slight tanning of skin is inevitable. And especially for Indian skin, this can be a little unfavorable. Avoid swimming during sunny days and you can opt for early morning or evening swimming sessions instead.
 7. Some home remedies to lighten the effect of tanning include using lemon and curd on the tanned areas, Gram flour and turmeric, raw milk or milk powder are also proven effective.
Keeping these tips in mind can help us have a good swim. These tips can save us a lot of efforts in recovering from tan afterwards.
Prevention is better than cure, always.
Happy swimming!!
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By Diana O. Perkins, Clark D. Jeffries, Barbara A. Cornblatt, Scott W. Woods, Jean Addington, Carrie E. Bearden, Kristin S. Cadenhead, Tyrone D. Cannon, Robert Heinssen, Daniel H. Mathalon, Larry J. Seidman, Ming T. Tsuang, Elaine F. Walker, and Thomas H. McGlashan | Schizophrenia Research | October 2, 2015
Improving predictive accuracy is of paramount importance for early detection and prevention of psychosis. We sought a symptom severity classifier that would improve psychosis risk prediction.
Subjects were from two cohorts of the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study. All subjects met Criteria of Psychosis-Risk States. In Cohort-1 (n = 296) we developed a classifier that included those items of the Scale of Psychosis-Risk Symptoms that best distinguished subjects who converted to psychosis from nonconverters, with performance initially validated by randomization tests in Cohort-1. Cohort-2 (n = 592) served as an independent test set.
We derived 2-Item and 4-Item subscales. Both included unusual thought content and suspiciousness; the latter added reduced ideational richness and difficulties with focus/concentration. The Concordance Index (C-Index), a measure of discrimination, was similar for each subscale across cohorts (4-Item subscale Cohort-2: 0.71, 95% CI = [0.64, 0.77], Cohort-1: 0.74, 95% CI = [0.69, 0.80]; 2-Item subscale Cohort-2: 0.68, 95% CI = [0.3, 0.76], Cohort-1: 0.72, 95% CI = [0.66–0.79]). The 4-Item performed better than the 2-Item subscale in 742/1000 random selections of 80% subsets of Cohort-2 subjects (p-value = 1.3E−55). Subscale calibration between cohorts was proportional (higher scores/lower survival), but absolute conversion risk predicted from Cohort-1 was higher than that observed in Cohort-2, reflecting the cohorts' differences in 2-year conversion rates (Cohort-2: 0.16, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.19]; Cohort-1: 0.30, 95% CI = [0.24, 0.36]).
Severity of unusual thought content, suspiciousness, reduced ideational richness, and difficulty with focus/concentration informed psychosis risk prediction. Scales based on these symptoms may have utility in research and, assuming further validation, eventual clinical applications.


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Your 13-year-old comes to you and asks permission to start babysitting so she can earn enough money for that great pair of sneakers or a new video game. Or maybe your 16-year-old wants to work at the local fast-food restaurant so he can save money for a car.
If you're like many parents, you probably think a part-time job, whether after school, on weekends, or during the summer, is a good idea. After all, working teaches teens a sense of responsibility, helps them pay for their own expenses, and teaches them that money is something that's earned. So you may be inclined to say, "Sure, take the job."
But sometimes parents may not give much thought to the risks their teens may face while working. Here's how you and your teen can choose a safe part-time job that minimizes those risks.
Common Jobs for Teens
Lots of teens work, especially 15- to 17-year-olds. Many are employed in retail operations, including fast-food restaurants, grocery stores, and other shops. Service industries, including nursing homes, swimming pools, amusement parks, and moving companies, account for another large portion of teen labor. And a smaller number of teens are employed in the agricultural industry. Other teens opt for entrepreneurial activities, such as babysitting, delivering newspapers, and dog walking.
Of course, almost all jobs have hidden safety hazards: falling off a ladder while reaching for a box on a high shelf, slipping on a newly mopped floor, or being bitten by an unruly pet are just a few risks your teen could encounter on the job or at the workplace.
Other job injuries have more recently become common, such as carpal tunnel syndrome (an overuse injury in the wrists) and other repetitive stress injuries (RSIs). Though mostly associated with computer work, RSIs can also develop as the result of scanning items as a supermarket checker.
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in 2006:
30 youths under age 18 died from work-related injuries
an estimated 52,600 work-related injuries and illnesses among teens 15 to 17 were treated in hospital emergency departments
And since only about one-third of work-related injuries are seen in emergency departments, that means that an estimated 157,000 teens sustain work-related injuries and illnesses each year.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the farming, forestry, and fishing industries are the most dangerous and account for the most fatal occupational injuries; the retail industry is the second most-hazardous; followed by the construction industry.
Transportation injuries on farms, highways, and industrial premises account for almost half of fatal occupational injuries among teens. Wholesale and retail trade and service industries account for the majority of on-the-job nonfatal injuries.
Depending on the industry they're working in, teens can be at risk for serious dangers, such as injuries from heavy machinery or illness from bacteria or toxic chemicals. Teen workers are generally believed to be at increased risk of occupational injury because of inexperience and limited training.
If you and your teen agree about your teen looking for a job, plan to spend some time searching for one that's safe and enjoyable.
Talk about what your teen wants to do. If possible, your teen should be interested in the job, not just taking it for money. Someone interested in pursuing medicine in college, for example, might seek a job as a nursing home worker or at a hospital.
Try contacting the department of labor in your state. Among the things you can ask them: the number of hours teens can work, the hours of the day when they can work, and the types of jobs they shouldn't do. For example, in some states teens under age 16 aren't allowed to operate deli slicers or fryers in restaurants. And some teens under age 18 may not be allowed to work past 10:00 p.m. on school nights.
You can also get helpful information from the National Consumers League (NCL), a national organization that works (among other things) to monitor and fight child labor abuses.
Starting a Business
How do you monitor the safety of a teen who wants to start a business (or work independently, as in babysitting)? Check with the labor department anyway; this may help you and your teen establish some guidelines, like hours to work and what kind of businesses are OK.
For example, let's say your 16-year-old wants to run a window-washing business this summer, but the labor department in your state prohibits minors from taking jobs that involve climbing ladders. Even if you know your teen is mature and responsible, the laws are there to protect teens from getting hurt.
Before your teen starts a business, steer your child to the library or Internet for business and safety advice for young entrepreneurs. Your local hospital, police or fire department, Red Cross chapter, or YMCA/YWCA may have helpful information about first aid, CPR, and safety.
To find out if a job is safe, talk to your teen and ask questions such as:
How did you find out about this job? If your teen got the tip from a trusted adult, for example, you might feel more comfortable with it than a job listed in the classifieds with an unknown company.
Do you know the people you're working for? It's one thing for your 14-year-old to babysit for your neighbors and friends. But if you don't know your teen's boss, you may want to set up an appointment to meet before your teen accepts the job.
How many hours will you work? What hours will you work (weekends, after school, school nights)? For the sake of grades and sleep, you and your teen should set limits.
What protection will you have? If your child is working inside someone else's home or cleaning up at a restaurant after hours, find out if there's a security system and lock, as well as easy access to a phone to call 911 and other emergency numbers.
Do you have the skills for this job? Age isn't always the key factor. A 13-year-old used to babysitting for younger siblings may be more qualified for such work than the 16-year-old who's an only child with no experience watching kids. And if your teen wants to be a lifeguard but has limited swimming skills, you might steer him or her toward the snack bar instead.
You might not have concerns if your teen is working around the neighborhood with people you know. But you might have questions if your child's takes a job where you don't know the people or the environment.
If you choose, get references for jobs from the school, parents, the labor department, and the Better Business Bureau. Make an appointment to meet with your teen's potential employer and take a quick tour of the work environment.
Ask questions, including:
What are the specific job responsibilities? Find out if your teen can (legally and physically) or should do what's expected.
What sort of training is offered? You should be satisfied that your child is properly trained to handle the job, is never asked to substitute in jobs for which he or she isn't trained, and that your teen's coworkers are also trained. Teens can also benefit from being trained in emergency procedures such as first aid, CPR, and burn treatment. Your teen should know to report any injury to a supervisor immediately — no matter how minor it seems — and to get proper treatment for it ASAP.
Who's supervising my child? In some work situations, teens' direct supervisors may not be much older than they are. So, an immediate boss may not know much more about the work or how to react in an emergency than your teen would.
What other potential dangers have been addressed? A spokesperson for the Children's Safety Network provided this good advice: "I know a pizza place that uses Caller ID to confirm the caller's identity, the address of the delivery, and that the order was really placed." These kinds of practices ensure that your teen is delivering to a legitimate customer and increase safety overall.
What about working late at night? Many older teens work in late-night establishments like diners, ice-cream shops, and all-night groceries. You and your child must discuss the pros and cons of such work. Ask serious questions of the employers: Who's working with my teen late at night? Is there always an adult there? What security measures are in place? And be sure to check with your local police precinct for further suggestions and information.
Don't stop talking after your teen has been hired. Encourage your teen to discuss work regularly and offer specifics on the workday (rather than just "it's fine"). For example, you can ask:
What was something interesting that happened at work today?
Are you still handling the original job or have your responsibilities expanded?
What are your new responsibilities?
What kind of training did you get before you took on this additional work?
Are you being paid more for the extra work? Why or why not?
Do you think anything about this job will help you in your career someday?
Talking to teens about their rights and experiences at work is a great way to keep communication flowing. Explain that there are laws to protect teens against sexual harassment and discrimination, and encourage your child to come to you with all work-related concerns, especially if anything "doesn't feel right."
Also make sure your son or daughter understands that with rights come responsibilities. Some employers get away with paying teens less than minimum wage by paying them "off the books" and telling them they won't have to pay taxes. But remind your teen that paying taxes is an important responsibility and a legal requirement.
And be aware of your teen's physical health and safety: Is he or she nodding off a lot? Are grades slipping? Does he or she seem