Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

The Uncertainty of Paternal Lineage

Tuesday, December 8, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens 3:28 PM

The Uncertainty of Paternal Lineage

When questions of paternity arose in the old days, it was often a question of somebody’s word. There were two witnesses to the event, and if those two witnesses said they were the parents of a certain child, then it had to be accepted as fact, since there was no way to definitively prove otherwise. If there was a dispute over paternity, it was a matter of deciding which of the two was telling the truth based upon their character or social standing. Today that’s changed with advent of the ability to test DNA for a genetic match between relatives to determine parentage with absolute certainty.

Modern genealogy, however, has to rely on older records to trace family lineage back through time. Older birth certificates, immigration records, or school records show parentage based upon the standards of the day. Often, any disputes or uncertainties that may have existed back in the day, were not preserved as a matter of record. This can lead to errors for those seeking to create their family tree.

The substitution of one bad link the in the lineage for the true father cascades back through the generations adding entire family lines to the family tree that have no actual relation to the modern day descendants. Not only can these hidden disputes cause errors, but depending upon the place and period, record-keeping may have been sparse or even filled with errors. Whenever possible in the pursuit of genealogical records, one should look for corroborating documentation. Multiple records for each event should be used to help eliminate the possibility of poor record-keeping.

In the event that records are missing, it is possible to make some assumptions based on the records of previous and proceeding generations, but such assumptions should be duly noted as such rather than presented as strongly fact-based familial linkages. Searches for other proofs outside of normal genealogical records should still be sought to provide back-up for these assumptions. In these cases, even family photos with names and dates scrawled on the back can be used as supporting evidence, although of a lesser quality than something like a birth record.

No matter how good the old paper trail may be, paternal lineage is always subject to some doubt and can never really be proven. In certain eras, it was even customary for a young unwed mother’s parents to claim her baby as their own to protect her honor and the family’s reputation. These deceptions were often recorded as fact in public records.

Genealogy has many tools to trace family lineages, but it is almost impossible to detect outright deception that was placed into the public record generations ago. The best that can be achieved is to recognize the limitations of older records and proceed from there.

Modern College

Saturday, December 5, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens 5:50 PM

Modern College

A college degree is more important today than it has ever been. Gone are the days where a person can get a job directly out of high school that would allow him to support a family while owning a car and a house. Many people have already entered the workforce without a college degree or only some college experience and are finding out that they are being passed up for promotion opportunities by workers who may have less experience but do have more education.

College is no longer just the “brick and mortar” institution that everybody imagines. Traditional college campuses are still around and available to people who live nearby, but they do not always work well for working adults with busy schedules. Many colleges offer night classes, but even these still require a person to get off work and drive over to the college several nights a week, and this is still based on the assumption that the prospective student lives close enough to a university or college to attend. Some people just do not have the time to make this work. This is where online college degree programs come in.

An aspiring college student today can enroll in many different types of degree programs that are taught online. Students can work towards undergraduate degrees in management, information technology, education, nursing, business administration, and a host of other programs. As an added incentive to continue education, many schools will take prior credits or work experience to put towards the degree. This allows the students to pass up classes that their prior experience has already covered, leaving them to focus on the classes they have not taken and keeping the degree program as short as possible. Some of these schools only serve online students; others are extensions of physical colleges and universities that have created online programs. Most of them are accredited; meaning the degree program offered is considered an equal of any traditional college degree with the same accreditation.

Due to the convenience factor of being able to complete college from the comfort of your own home, online tuition prices are sometimes more expensive than traditional college. The cost should be considered when choosing between an online school and traditional school, but the added expense is usually well worth it for the absence of a commute and the ability to complete the courses on your own schedule. Online schools are eligible for the same scholarships, grants, student loans, and other forms of financial aids that traditional schools are eligible for. Many employers have tuition reimbursement benefits where they will pay a portion or (if you are lucky) all of your tuition costs. Employers do this because they benefit if you get more education and become more valuable, though the benefits usually come with strings attached.

Today it is easier than ever to find the right college. If you are a working adult in need of a college degree, be it an undergraduate or graduate degree, online college might be the solution to your problem.

Taking the Right Path to Success

Thursday, July 2, 2009
posted by Frank Stevens 6:16 PM

Taking the Right Path to Success

Becoming a construction contractor can be a lucrative and personally rewarding career. The act of building establishments involves many specialty roles, from pouring concrete, to running wires, to installing swimming pools, and of course the role of managing the whole process. If you are interested in getting into this career, it is important to take the right steps to find a path to success for you.

Knowing the local market for construction services in your area can help you understand which fields are the most lucrative, and the most competitive. Depending on the types of construction in your area, you may find better work opportunities in different trades. For example, if your area is primarily commercial, you may not find the same level of opportunities as a fencing construction contractor than a plastering or drywall contractor. You might also be able to connect a couple of different trades together in your venture to maximize your opportunities. Some trades are natural candidates for combination like drywall and plastering. Others may take more work or require an additional few set of hands to provide adequate service.

Once you pick a field of interest, becoming licensed and legally allowed to perform the services defined by the trade can be a difficult challenge. In order to protect consumers from inept or dangerous construction services, each state tries to control the quality of available contract services through licensing. If a person is interested in becoming a provider of one of these licensed professions, they can pursue the process with the local authorities. Some licenses require county level licensing instead of city level licensing. All this information is typically available from your local government web sites and departments of business.

In many cases, applying for a contractor’s license requires the applicant to pass a test. These tests are typically standardized by the state and ensure that licenses professionals all have a certain base level of knowledge. Because you cannot practice a licensed profession without a license, acquiring these licenses is an important step. These tests are not free, so preparing for the tests is critical. Having good preparation materials with which to study before the test can make a big difference in your likelihood to pass the exam. And when you are spending hundreds of dollars on these tests, it makes a lot of sense to minimize the chance that you will have to take the tests multiple times.

Good preparation tools usually include a CD-ROM that helps the user learn the information for the test, and practice on some example tests. Courses are also available online if that is a more convenient medium for you. Some services also offering special classes to help you overcome specific testing challenges so that you can make sure to pass the first time.

Whether you are looking to enter a career of contracting or are looking to expand you contracting services, gaining the appropriate licenses is a necessary step in your plan. Many of these licenses require the interested party to pass a test before the locale may grant the person a the license. To maximize your chances of getting your contactors license, think about using a license preparation specialist to help you achieve your goals.

Hong Kong Schools Banded According to the Quality

Monday, September 22, 2008
posted by Paul 10:26 PM

Hong Kong Schools Banded According to the QualityThe need to do well at school is something that is very close to the heart of Hong Kong people. Hong Kong is a very competitive place where the desire to win is a very strong motivating force for the young and old alike. This results in a very competitive education system for Hong Kong.

The competition starts at the kindergarten level. The entry into a good kindergarten can mean an increased likelihood of gaining entry into a good primary school. In Hong Kong many kindergartens have entrance exams. I recently had one of my friends explaining to me in shock that he had been called into his child’s kindergarten because his child had not been doing his homework!

Hong Kong schools are banded according to the quality of their student’s results. A band one school is a top school. A band three school is a school only attended by those who cannot perform academically well enough to get into a higher band school. The competition to get into the top schools is extremely difficult.

This is where many local Hong Kong tutorial schools play a role. A typical tutorial school catering for local students is a massive organisation which will have a class of 40+ listening to the tutor and hundreds of other students in classrooms around Hong Kong watching the lesson on closed circuit television. The value of this type of tuition is very questionable. The classes are meant to be teaching exam tips, techniques etc.

ITS Tutorial School is a very different type of tuition centre from these organisations. ITS is a fully registered school with the Hong Kong Education Department and mainly provides one to one tuition support or small classes (normally from two to a maximum of eight) to students studying a variety of different subjects and syllabuses. The tutor tailors the material to the student’s individual need and moves at the students pace.

Students find the individual attention allows them to fully develop ideas and content that they did not understand during their normal schooling. The interaction of students on a close basis with the adult tutors also helps the students gain maturity and do extension work on the areas of syllabuses covered.

ITS also can help the students in other areas as well such as helping them write their personal statements which are needed to get into top universities around the world. Many Hong Kong students attend universities in the UK, USA and Australia.

The school also helps students prepare for a variety of different exams such as the UK Common Entrance Exam 11+ and 13+, the SAT reasoning and SAT subject exams, the IELTS exam, GMAT, LNAT, SSAT and other different school and university entrance exams.

ITS also has been developing a wide variety of resources available on its website to help students, parents, teachers and the community at large achieve their academic goals.

For more information about ITS please visit our website.