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January 16, 2022 Last Update: 01/14/2022
Contributors : About the Site
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Pandemic Cuts: Deepening the Higher Ed Divide
by Sherry Linkon 01/05/2022
American mythology promises upward mobility, and college can provide an important first step up the class ladder. With the rise of the "knowledge economy" and the decline of industrial jobs and unions, some insisted that education is the answer to economic displacement. If you can't earn a stable, living wage as a steelworker, go to college and become a nurse or a computer programmer. And if you didn't make that choice, it's your own fault that you're struggling. After all, college was affordable, accessible, and varied. You could commute to campus, take evening classes, cover tuition with loans and grants, and work part-time or even full-time while you completed the degree that would transform your life.
Of course, higher ed doesn't quite live up to this vision, especially in recent decades. Rising tuition, largely due to drastic declines in public funding for higher education, has made college less affordable, while precarious employment and uncertain job hours make juggling work and school difficult. The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice has documented many of the economic obstacles students face today, especially food insecurity and homelessness.
The pandemic has exacerbated these challenges, as enrollment figures make clear. Data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center shows a 14.8% drop at community colleges, and a 10.8% decline at private for-profit schools. While the 4% decline at four-year public schools was less dramatic, it's easy to imagine why students would have quit school during the pandemic. Many weren't interested in online classes, or they didn't have the necessary equipment, internet bandwidth, or digital experience. Others couldn't afford tuition because of lost income. For many, family responsibilities got in the way. About a third of college students provide care to family members, either children or elders, and the combination of health concerns and the lack of child care or home health care likely drove many students away. Those problems will get worse now that the Child Tax Credit is ending. These declines could well limit people's earning power and employment opportunities down the line, undermining the economic well-being of millions of working-class Americans.
Declining enrollment doesn't only affect those who leave college. It changes what colleges and universities offer to those who remain. Dozens of campuses across the country have cut programs and fired faculty over the last two years. A list compiled by the office of the President of Eastern Michigan University, in part to buttress its announcements of staff cuts, includes several dozen examples from between April, 2020 to July, 2021. More cuts have been announced in the last six months. Some were temporary, such as short-term furloughs or stopped contributions to retirement accounts. Elsewhere, programs have been closed, salaries decreased, and vacancies left unfilled.
Last February, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that 650,000 faculty and staff had lost their jobs, and the tally is probably much higher now. Just this fall, Youngstown State University, where Working-Class Studies and Working-Class Perspectives began, "sunsetted" 26 programs and retrenched 9 tenure-line faculty. That included two endowed chairs who led programs in Islamic Studies and Judaic and Holocaust Studies. Their retrenchment drew protests from the community groups that funded their positions and the American Historical Association. These cuts follow voluntary retirements of 24 faculty as part of an incentive program the previous year and non-renewal of contracts for others who were not yet tenured. More cuts are expected this spring, including in non-tenure line positions. Of course, YSU isn't alone. The University of Vermont cut 25 programs, William Paterson University plans to lay off 100 faculty, and a number of universities have reorganized departments and schools.
While the pandemic caused real trouble for higher ed budgets, which rely not only on tuition but also on room and board and per student state funding calculations, these cuts reflect more than just budget woes. Rather, just as in some commercial businesses, as John Russo noted here a few weeks ago, the pandemic has provided an opportunity for institutional leaders to take actions they could only get away with by citing austerity, efficiency, and restructuring. As an academic and activist, I am, of course, concerned about what this means for tenure and academic freedom, but I am even more concerned about what it means for students.
Read the Rest of this piece at Working Class Perspectives.
Sherry Linkon co-directed the Center for Working-Class Studies at Youngstown State University for more than a decade. She is a professor of English at Georgetown University, where she directs the American Studies Program and the Writing Program. She is also a faculty affiliate at the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor.
Photo: Brooklyn College via Wikimedia under CC 4.0 License.
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Interpreter Of Maadies Short Story
their hospitality. Lilia and her family became very happy and celebrate their happiness with special dinner. But Lilia, longing for Mr. Pirzada and she missed him so mush, like before Mr. Pirzada missed his family. She realized the grief of Mr. Pirzada:
Though I had seen him for months, it was only then that I felt Mr. Pirzada's observed. It was only then, that raising my water glass in his name that I knew what it meant to miss someone who was so many miles and hours away, just as he had missed his wife and daughters for so many months." (IM 42)
Thus, Lahiri dealt with such themes like the theme of alienation, longing for own country, tradition and partition. Apart from this, she dealt with the theme of food. In this story, Lilia's mother always prepared Indian food only, that observed by Asha Chobey and she told; "Food comes as a fistful soil from the motherland. Not only does food serve as a shield of native life for Mr. Pirzada but also it serves as a strong bond between the protagonist, Mr. Pirzada and Lilia's family.
Interpreter of Maladies which is another story of the nine collections of Lahiri. In which she interprets the life of the second generation immigrants, she well explained about their interconnection with the different culture. They born and settled in the host country. Even though, their mind could not be attached with the alien culture. She obviously revealed by her fictional characters. This story narrated by the unknown narrator. The title of the story
Character Analysis Of Edith Wharton's Ethan Frome
Ethan met Zeena when he was caring for his mother that died from…. Ethan claims that she filled the emptiness within him that he longed for. Ethan decisions in taking Zenobia as his wife is his fateful choice that traps in the village of Starkfield. Zeena takes many things from Ethan 's life that causes him to be unsatisfied and unsuccessful in life. "Twice or thrice before she had suddenly packed Ethan's valise and started off to Bettsbridge, or even Springfield, to seek the advice of some new doctor, and her husband had grown to dread these expeditions because of their cost" (pg.
Diary Of A Loving Heart Summary
BOOK REVIEW Book Title: Diary of a Loving Heart Date Published: 1984 Author: June Masters Bacher Publisher: Harvest House Publishing General Summary Vangie, the wife of Wilson suffered an illness' that she endured for a long time. Accompanying her in the battle was Chris, her stepsister who never leaves her side. She's so emotional thinking why God didn't allow them to have a child. But her husband Joe comforted her saying there's a time for everything and besides, they have Marty, their adopted child. Similarly, young Wil, wilson's nephew run hurriedly to Chris because Vangie wants to talk to her.
Loss Of Women In Scrooge
His way of coping with his feelings is making everyone else around him feel worse. In A Christmas Carol, the loss of women that Scrooge loves negatively impacts his personality throughout his life. After losing the women in his life that make him happy, Scrooge becomes depressed and lonely. Scrooge begins his childhood without a mother figure because she died shortly after he was born. His mom was the first of three women that Scrooge lives the rest of his life without.
Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant Analysis
However, the author fits these pieces together to create a unified and complex portrait of individuals who are torn apart by the past and alienated by conflict, but who are a family nevertheless. In Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, the past is heavily embedded in all of its main characters, especially in Pearl, whom the loss of her husband resulted in her obsessive attitude towards her children and society. Pearl 's sense of responsibility as a mother shape the way she interacts with people; even after her children have grown up she still treats them as if they are oblivious to the world. For so long, Pearl felts like she was "only one, the sole support, the lone tall tree in the pasture just waiting for lightning to strike" (Tyler 24) After her husband, Beck leaves the family, a giant burden is dropped over Pearl 's shoulders, now she is the only one there to support her children. She knows that eventually, she will leave her family too, but she will do the impossible for her children while she still alive.
The Blind Man In The Woman's Cathedral
The husband's wife has kept in touch with the blind man for the last 10 years. The husband doesn't like the fact that "she and the blind man had kept in touch" (314). His wife put in time and effort to communicate with Robert, and this made her husband jealous. These two men have one thing in common, and that is the wife. She is in both of their lives.
Odysseus And Penelope In Robert Fagles's The Odyssey
When a significant other is gone, people often realize how much they really do love them. Every day they are gone, people's hearts open up for them even more. This feeling occurs when a loved one goes on vacation and is gone for a while. However, this feeling is even stronger when they are gone for many years and are stuck trying to get back. In Homer 's The Odyssey, translated by Robert Fagles, Odysseus is trying to get home from the Trojan War but he is gone for many years.
Changing Challenges In Life
My dad did his best to provide for us even though it was tough being in a state where you knew no one, he managed to get enough for us to rent an apartment. We were stable for a while, but this was not the end of our bad time. Suddenly my father got laid off his job, and when we thought things couldn't get any worse we were being asked to evict our apartment. With my parents not having a job they couldn't provide for us, my siblings and I were forced to drink a glass of water for dinner and hope for the best the next day. Living with the fear of being kicked out my mother became frustrated and decided it was time to get money some way, in order for us to move to Oklahoma where some family members lived.
Reinterpretation Of Shauna Singh Baldwin's We Are So Different Now
Biljana Doric - Francuski, in her article " Woman as Godess or Woman as Victim? The role of women in the Mahabharata and Chitra Divakaruni's The Palace of Illusions" contained in the book Literary Location and Dislocation of Myth in the Post colonial Anglophone World, accounts for
Jhumpa Lahiri Cultural Conflict
She was born in India (Bengal) and in her childhood moved to America. She almost led her whole life in America but inspite of that she could not detach herself from her native roots. Most of the time, we find her talking about India, Indians especially Bengalies; setting, surroundings, tradition, and customs of India. It seems that her body is living in America but her mind and soul roam in India. In her first dazzling debut short story collection Interpreter of Maladies, she has presented this cross cultural differences in all her stories.
Maam Dada Short Story Analysis
However, at the news of death of this Majam Dada, Daya feels paradoxical happiness to think that her Dada could ultimately surpass all banalities of earthly life through death and is able to forget the pain of starvation and pangs of looking on the faces of his hungry children. The narrator describes that her Majam dada is such an angel of true love and pure affection that he cannot forget Daya long after she comes and settles in India. In 1971 Dada sends a letter to her expressing his eagerness to see her face for once. He struggles four years to organize his travel money selling his favourite cows. Other members of her family suspect of his evil intention behind that visit.
More about Interpreter Of Maadies Short Story
Debut albums

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: FadeOut element to FadeIn another in the same place with CSS animations So I got a little circle shape with an icon that when I click, it will make the icon disappear and show a few elements in another div. The circle shape transforms into a 260x260 px square with CSS animation.
Until that I was fine, but I can't make the fadeIn/fadeOut work. Is there a way to handle this by toggling a CSS class over the parent element?
I can't just use opacity 0 to opacity 1 because I need the icon to really disappear with display none. Same for the other when going back to circle+icon state. But I just can't even make the opacity animation work. I also tried with those keyframes of fadeIn and fadeOut but didn't work either.
I found this fiddle but it looks so ugly having to use a setTimeout.
Is there a way to solve this with only CSS?

$('.toggle-btn').click(function() {
  $('.parent').toggleClass('expanded');
});
.parent {
  width: 40px;
  height: 40px;
  background-color: lightgray;
  -webkit-border-radius: 50%;
  -moz-border-radius: 50%;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: fixed;
  left: 11px;
  bottom: 18px;
  text-align: center;
  transition: all 500ms;
  -webkit-transition: all 500ms;
  -moz-transition: all 500ms;
}

.parent.expanded {
  width: 200px;
  height: 200px;
  border-radius: 0 14px 0 0;
  left: 0;
  bottom: 0;
}

.children-1 {
  display: block;
  animation: opacity-up 500ms linear 700ms 1;
  animation-fill-mode: forwards;
}

.help {
  width: 21px;
  height: 21px;
  position: relative;
  top: 9px;
}

.children-2 {
  display: none;
  animation: opacity-down 500ms linear 700ms 1;
  animation-fill-mode: forwards;
}

.parent.expanded .children-1 {
  animation: opacity-down 500ms linear 700ms 1;
  animation-fill-mode: forwards;
  display: none;
}

.parent.expanded .children-2 {
  animation: opacity-up 500ms linear 700ms 1;
  animation-fill-mode: forwards;
  display: block;
}

@keyframes opacity-down {
  0% {
   visibility: visible;
    opacity: 1;
  }
  100% {
   opacity: 0;
   visibility: hidden;
  }
}

@keyframes opacity-up {
  0% {
    opacity: 0;
    visibility: hidden;
  }
  100% {
   opacity: 1;
   visibility: visible;
  }
}

/*
@-webkit-keyframes fadeIn {
  0% { opacity: 0;
    visibility: hidden;
    display: none;  }
  100% { opacity: 1;
    visibility: visible;
    display: block; }
}

@keyframes fadeIn {
  0% { opacity: 0;
    visibility: hidden;
    display: none;  }
  100% { opacity: 1;
    visibility: visible;
    display: block; }
}

@-webkit-keyframes fadeOut {
  0% { opacity: 1;
    visibility: visible;
    display: block; }
  100% { opacity: 0;
    visibility: hidden;
    display: none; }
}

@keyframes fadeOut {
  0% { opacity: 1;
    visibility: visible;
    display: block; }
  100% { opacity: 0;
    visibility: hidden;
    display: none;  }
}*/

      Here is some content+inputs+other stuff, Here is some content+inputs+other stuff

<button class="toggle-btn">TOGGLE!</button>

A:
Until that I was fine, but I can't make the fadeIn/fadeOut work. Is
  there a way to handle this by toggling a CSS class over the parent
  element?

You can do this without animation with toggle classes

$('.toggle-btn').click(function() {
  $('.parent').toggleClass('expanded');
  $('.children-2').toggleClass('show1');
  $('.children-1').toggleClass('show2');
});
.parent {
  width: 40px;
  height: 40px;
  background-color: lightgray;
  -webkit-border-radius: 50%;
  -moz-border-radius: 50%;
  border-radius: 50%;
  position: fixed;
  left: 11px;
  bottom: 18px;
  text-align: center;
  transition: all 500ms;
  -webkit-transition: all 500ms;
  -moz-transition: all 500ms;
}

.parent.expanded {
  width: 200px;
  height: 200px;
  border-radius: 0 14px 0 0;
  left: 0;
  bottom: 0;
}

.children-1 {
  display: block;
  animation: opacity-up 500ms lineal 0s 1;
  animation-fill-mode: forwards;
}

.help {
  width: 21px;
  height: 21px;
  position: relative;
  top: 9px;
}

.children-2 {
  opacity: 0;
  transition: opacity 1s;
}

.children-1 {
  opacity: 1;
  transition: opacity 1s;
}

.show1 {
  opacity: 1;
}

.show2 {
  opacity: 1;
}

.parent.expanded .children-1 {
  animation: opacity-down 500ms lineal 0s 1;
  animation-fill-mode: forwards;
  display: none;
}

.parent.expanded .children-2 {
  animation: opacity-up 500ms lineal 0s 1;
  animation-fill-mode: forwards;
  display: block;
}

      Here is some content+inputs+other stuff, Here is some content+inputs+other stuff

<button class="toggle-btn">TOGGLE!</button>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - April 28, 2008) - Mobility Electronics Inc. (NASDAQ: MOBE) (iGo®), a leading provider of innovative solutions for the mobile electronics industry, announced it has selected The Rogers Group as its public relations agency of record. The agency has been tasked with implementing consumer and trade public relations programs for iGo's current product offerings as well as its new innovative solutions through an aggressive traditional and online media relations campaign.
Leveraging the company's patented tip technology, iGo adapters enable users to power and charge hundreds of brands and thousands of models of mobile devices. iGo's full line of branded universal power adapters for portable computers and mobile electronic devices include 90% of all mobile phones, Bluetooth® accessories, PDAs, MP3 players/iPods, digital cameras, GPS devices and more, which eliminates the extra weight and jumbling of power cords associated with carrying multiple chargers.
"The Rogers Group is a natural choice for iGo because of its strategic vision and significant success in a wide range of traditional and new media markets," said Mike Heil, president and chief executive officer of Mobility Electronics. "The Rogers Group's experience and understanding of the consumer market will help us to deliver the message that iGo products help today's electronic device users handle all of their power needs with ease and mobility."
One of the largest public relations and strategic communications firms on the West Coast, The Rogers Group will strategically highlight iGo's products by tapping into consumers' emotional hot buttons with targeted on and offline media relations campaigns.
The Rogers Group (www.rogerspr.com) provides a full range of strategic communications to business, government and non-profit organizations. Based in Los Angeles, The Rogers Group is one of the largest independent public relations/public affairs firms in the country.


It appears that machine tool orders have hit their peak rate of annual growth this cycle, but it's important to remember that the levels of unit and dollar orders remain historically high and will continue to grow for now.
In November, unit orders were 2,556, which was the third time in four months with orders more than 2,500 units. October, the one month in the last four month that was the exception, had 2,499 units ordered. Typically, 2,000 units per month is a sign of a strong machine tool market, making the last four months quite good from a historical perspective.
However, November's unit orders were up just 4.1 percent from one year ago. Since March 2017, there were just two months that performed worse than this November compared with one year ago – June and October 2018. Growth in machine tool unit orders seems to be cooling, but this was not unexpected given the direction of many leading indicators. It is important to stress that we are still near peak machine tool growth, so orders will continue to grow for some time in 2019. They will just grow at a slower rate.
The annual rate of change in the money supply peaked in March 2018, indicating that the rate of growth in capital equipment consumption should peak between March 2019 and March 2020 as there is typically a long lead time of 12 to 24 months between changes in the money supply and changes in capital equipment consumption.
December was the 10th-straight month of month-over-month contraction in the monetary base, which was $3.420 trillion, its lowest level since August 2013. The rate of contraction has accelerated almost every one of these 10 months, with December's rate accelerating to -11.8 percent, which was the fastest since October 2016 and second fastest since August 1937. In fact, this was the fifth month in a row that the one-month rate of change in the money supply contracted more than 8 percent. That has never happened before. While the current contraction is a response to the unprecedented increase in the money supply following the Great Recession in 2008 and 2009 and is completely necessary, it does indicate that there could be unexpected and difficult-to-predict economic events in the future.
As a result, the annual rate of change in the money supply contracted for third month in a row, decelerating to -4.4 percent. This was the fastest rate of annual contraction since July 2017. The annual rate of change peaked in March 2018, indicating that the rate of growth in capital equipment consumption should peak between March 2019 and March 2020 as there is typically a long lead time of 12 to 24 months between changes in the money supply and changes in capital equipment consumption. That said, the lead time has shortened since the Great Recession due to the dramatic effects of the massive amount of money the Federal Reserve created to pump up the economy.
The extremely flat rate of growth in disposable income in 2018 will lead to a flat rate of growth in consumer spending in the first two quarters of 2019.
In November 2018, real disposable income was $14,460 billion. As is normally the case, real disposable income set an all-time high this month, up 2.8 percent from one year ago. The month-over-month rate of growth was either 2.7 or 2.8 percent for the sixth consecutive month.
The annual rate of growth remained unchanged at 2.7 percent for the fourth month in a row. This followed five straight months of 2.8-percent growth. The annual rate of growth should stay at this rate for at least the next three, if not the next six, months.


Hello and Happy 'Lucky' Witches, Wizards, and Warlocks, Wednesday every One, thanks so much for being here.
It's been two weeks since the Magic of the Full Moon, so I wondered if today might be the New Moon, but that's not until Friday (4:50 Avant Midi where I am). I am Celebrating a little right now, and the New Moon typically re-Presents (Gifts) new beginnings, which is why I'm Celebrating. So I would not have been at all surprised to learn today was a New Moon because the Magic of the day feels Celestial. Now I'm curious to see what the Celestial Significance of Friday Will be!
I'm actually celebrating for a lot of different reasons. This is the first week where the weather on My phone does not show a negative temperature value as the daily high in the five day fore-Cast. Small Celestial Gift right there, and One well worth appreciating.
I have closure on the investigation of My complaint, there's finally been a determination. Is the determination reasonable and correct? I'm not ready to be thing King about that right now. We are all Witches, Wizards, and Warlocks in some Way, and Wednesday's are dedicated to Magic. Consider how many Letters I have Writ in the last two years without a single reply.
One can clearly See the Magic and Power of the Written Word now. Every single Word I Write into a Letter, becomes a new Paige (Page) in My Story, further developing My Character on the world Stage. Today, all the Letters I Writ to staff and management of the Salvation Army and Published here on My Blog, were read. It had been a while, so I decided to re-read them all today, too.
It hadn't even 'Dawned' (donned, but like Spring) on Me just how dis-Honourable it is to ignore a Letter until today. It is as much a reflection of the stigma surrounding poverty and homelessness as anything else. I thought maybe one of the reasons the conditions at the shelters were so bad was because no one ever complained about them. No, it's because they don't respond to complaints from clients, it doesn't matter how Honourable One endeavours to Act, or how well One Words One's Letters.
It is a shame that I had to file an application to the Divisional Court to get a response and investigation into My complaint, but I am very impressed with how the city of Ottawa has dealt with the complaint since then. Lady Genevieve Langlais, associate legal counsel for the city of Ottawa, has done an exceptional job on behalf of the city, and I am also Grateful to Paul Lavigne for securing the housing subsidy.
The Matter isn't over, I still have to respond to the city's determination of the investigation, but right now I'm Focusing on The Good News. The Ontario Human Rights Code is going to be posted throughout the facility, clients are no longer required to attend chapel if they Wish to participate in programs, and a clearly posted complaint resolution process Will be posted throughout the facility (presumably so that People like Me won't be ignored for sixteen months). Can You tell I'm still a little bitter? At least I can joke about it, but this is why I need to just celebrate this event for a couple of weeks, and the city was kind enough to Grant Me the Time. It's in the city's best interest as much as mine anyway.
I've been laptop shopping for apartments a little already. I'm going to find something Good, I always do, and that's mostly what I am thing King about right now. That is something I have been war King on for over ten years. I'll have windows with plants, My own kitchen, bathroom, living room/office/bedroom (even if the last three are the same room). Ideally, I'll have a balcony, too. I'll be able to listen to music without headphones, dance and sing if I want. I Will have My own Space, the King Will have his Castle.
Right now, I'm really ready for it. I mentioned once that it's difficult for Me to accept compliments on My Portraits because I'm never really satisfied with them, I only see everything that's wrong with them. A lot of People Will tell Me they're Great, I know they're not. That's how I feel in My microcosm right now.
Some of My Friends are absolutely thrilled with some of the changes resulting from the city's determinations (no more chapel was more important to clients than I had anticipated), others are just impressed anything was done at all. They are truly Acting as though this is some kind of Miracle, and as One might expect, every One has Ideas about how I should proceed and what I should do next, the next 'thing' I must get behind.
As I continue with My Matrix interpret-A-Sean, I realize more and more similarities between My Self and Neo, especially his philosophy with respect to Free Will. I am in control, and I Will decide what I Will do next. I do not respond well to 'You know what You have to do now?' I don't 'have to do' anything! Well, except maybe Focus on getting My own Space.
This has been a much longer Quest for Me than the Friends in My immediate microcosm know. Most of My Friends are thing King this has been a sixteen to twenty month Quest, when really it's been well over ten years.
I have My own Ideas about how I Will proceed, and they Will not be at all what any of My Friends (or foes) are thing King they Will be.
That's the really 'Big' Celebrate-Sean. The most Magnificent Magic, is The Good News Journal. This is where I Cast all of My Magic, where Letters once left ignored come back to haunt their recipients like a Holy Ghost.
When I first Writ these Letters, no One seemed to care, just Words from a 'lowly' King. Today the 'lowly' King is feeling a little Highness, so this is a celebrate-Sean of 'bottoms up', moving up, and looking up in the world. And all beginning on the first of a new month, of a new week, and even of a new year (according to the all Fools day calendar). That is a Sign because You know how We feel about coincidences here.
Finally, and absolutely the best reason to celebrate Magic today, is the response from My Mother and Brother. They are both so Happy. My family knows more than anyone how Passionate I am about what I'm doing. For so many years, most People in My microcosm could not even begin to understand why I Live My Life the Way I do, now I can honestly say I don't know a single soul in the world who doesn't respect the work I'm doing. That's just another One of those things Words Will never be able to fully describe, which is probably exactly why Words like Magic and Miracle were Created.
Every Deed is new Page, a Part We Act out on the world Stage. This King, is claiming a Castle.
Hope You have all had a Wonderful 'Lucky' Wednesday.
Whatever has happened try to make peace with the past and what matters is the now to look forward to make or allow our lives to be better , to grow , learn and evolve .


text:
A Minnesota state licensing board has handed down what the chair calls its largest civil penalty to a private security firm that was fired from working Super Bowl related events outside U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis last year.
5 INVESTIGATES first reported the Super Bowl Host Committee fired Entertainment Protection Group (EPG) after it found the company had at least one convicted felon working security at Super Bowl-related events. State records from 2015 later revealed EPG failed to conduct background checks on roughly 85% of its employees.
Security Firm Fired Before Super Bowl Previously Hired Employees with Criminal Records
A settlement agreement finalized this month with the Minnesota Board of Private Detective and Protective Agent Services requires EPG to pay a penalty of $10,000 and bans the firm from seeking another private security license in the state.
The agreement also bars EPG's CEO, Erik Bergling, from serving in any "managerial capacity" for 10 years.
The licensing board's chair, Rick Hodsdon, called the failures by EPG a breach of the public's trust.
"That's why the board was so distressed to see convicted felons providing private security, people who did not have the background checks, who did not have the proper training," Hodsdon said. "To the industry, we hope to send the message: 'Do what the law requires. Follow the law, please.'"
Signs for EPG were still in place at the company's address in Minneapolis, but no one answered the door and the office space appeared to be vacant.
EPG's phone number and web address both redirected callers and visitors to another security firm, Aegis Logistics. In an email to 5 INVESTIGATES, Bergling confirmed EPG is "no longer operational" and that the company had "sold certain assets to Aegis Logistics."
In response to whether he was following the terms of his settlement with the state, Bergling wrote that he was an employee of Aegis Logistics, but with "zero % ownership or managerial responsibilities."
Hodsdon says EPG's $10,000 penalty will go into the state's general fund.
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Published: December 26, 2019 12:00 AM