Boston is first U.S. airport to test new security technique

Along with luggage scans and removing shoes, getting through the security line in Boston's Logan International Airport may now include a brief conversation with a specially trained agent.

Beginning this week, all passengers in Logan's Terminal A will be peppered with questions by a Behavior Detection Officer just after they have their identification verified at the security checkpoint.

Officers will chat with passengers in what the Transportation Security Administration has dubbed a "casual greeting" conversation.

Based on physical cues or answers to questions during the dialogue, specially trained officers may detect suspicious behavior, said TSA spokesman Greg Soule.

This analysis will help determine if a passenger should go through additional screening at the security checkpoint and identify "potentially high-risk travelers," according to the

TSA.

Soule declined to elaborate on any of the questions or responses that would warrant further action.

Looking nervous and averting eye contact, however, are not the tell-tale signs of deception, said Richard Bloom, an aviation security expert and professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

He, too, declined to give away the cues he believed detection officers will analyze.

Experts often credit Israeli security specialists with doing much of the initial work on behavioral detection, said Bloom.

The expanded behavior detection program now underway at Logan is based on other international and domestic programs, said Soule, and will be tested over the next 60 days.

The TSA will consider the pilot program's results and wait times at security check points in order to determine if and how to expand the program more broadly, Soule said.

In Boston, Terminal A is home to Continental and Delta airlines. It's one of about a half dozen terminals at the airport, said Logan spokesman Phil Orlandella. Logan serves up to 50,000 passengers daily, he said.

Critics have said screening methods like this one could promote discriminatory profiling, but TSA's Soule said it would actually be prevented by having conversations with every single passenger in Terminal A and taking action based solely on reactions and answers.

"This program in no way is profiling passengers by race or ethnicity," he said.

Logan was the first airport to implement an observational screening technique in 2003. In those cases, a trained officer would look for passenger behavior that was suspicious. Then, based on a quick conversation, the officer might administer further security checks.

That program has rolled out to more than 160 airports and resulted in more than 2,000 arrests nationwide, Soule said.

School reform: Teachers, public at odds on what to do to improve schools

With states scrambling to get out of No Child Left Behind benchmarks, anemic tax collections decimating education budgets and test scores indicating U.S. students are losing ground to students in other countries, how are Americans reacting to these developments and are they pushing for effective reforms or out to punish teachers?

Education Secretary Arne Duncan last week said the No Child law -- a cornerstone of the Bush administration education policy -- actually is impeding efforts to raise standards and has led to a "dumbing-down" of curriculum to meet the law's proficiency standards. As the law currently stands, school districts that raise standards, increasing the percentage of students not reaching the higher bar, are being punished for trying to improve education.

"We need more highly trained, highly skilled workers; we need to keep raising standards, raising the bar," Duncan told reporters at the White House.

"I've always said from day one, the best ideas in education, frankly, aren't going to come from me and they're not going to come from anyone else in Washington; they're going to come at the local level."

But a study by Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance and Education Next indicates teachers and the general public are not on the same page when it comes to improving education.

Professor William G. Howell of the University of Chicago, the director of the survey, acknowledged teachers and the public have different reasons for supporting or opposing reform efforts.

"There are two classes of explanations for the differences we observes between teachers and the general public -- or so it seems to me," Howell said in response to an e-mail inquiry.

"The first focuses on interests and underscores the role that teachers play as stakeholders in public education. By this account, teachers resist some policy reforms not because they are bad for kids, but because they make their jobs more difficult, less rewarding -- financial and otherwise -- or both.

"The second class of explanations emphasizes the expertise that teachers have. By this account, teachers simply know more about what is required to educate children generally, and the specific children in their communities in particular. Hence, the differences that are observed between teachers and the public are emblematic of the kinds of differences of opinion one regularly observes between laypersons and experts."

Teacher opposition to reforms is increasing along with public support for accountability, the study found.

"The public's appetite for standardized tests appears undiminished," said study authors Howell, and Martin West and Paul Peterson, both of Harvard.

The study found strong support for annual proficiency testing for grades 3-8 and once in high school, mirroring the No Child mandates.

The study, appearing in the fall issue of Education Next, found teachers opposing such reforms as merit pay (favored by 47 percent of the public but only 27 percent of teachers) and alterations to tenure practices -- with 55 percent of the public favoring tenure decisions be based on student achievement and only 30 percent of teachers in favor of academic progress as a basis.

"The idea (of merit pay) remains anathema to teachers," the study found.

"Sixty percent of teachers support the idea of tying grade promotion to test performance, while 66 percent support high school graduation exams, even as these same teachers overwhelming oppose the idea of linking their own remuneration to student test scores."

When asked if teachers' salaries should be cut, only 7 percent of the public said they supported such action, with 55 percent saying teachers deserve a raise; however, support for raises dropped to 43 percent once respondents were told what the average teacher makes in their states. Two-thirds of the public also wants teachers to pick up 20 percent of their pension and healthcare costs -- a budget-balancing measure overwhelmingly rejected by teachers, the study said.

Such issues came to the fore in February amid protests in Madison, Wis., as the governor moved to limit the collective bargaining rights of public employees.

"All in all, the Wisconsin controversy seems to have contributed to a divergence of opinion between teachers and the general public," The authors said. "The biggest changes in opinion took place within the teaching profession, which moved further away from the views of the public at large. The public, and especially the affluent, nonetheless want to pay teachers more."

Support for vouchers has grown by 8 percentage points since last year, with 47 percent of the 2,600 people surveyed April 15-May 4 saying they support giving families the chance to enroll their children in private schools with tuition paid by the government. On charter schools, support was little changed with 43 percent saying they supported such schools and only 18 percent opposed.

Thirty-three percent said they think teachers unions affect schools negatively, up two points from the 2009-10 survey while 58 percent of teachers said unions have a positive impact, up from 51 percent.

The study found more affluent, college graduates were more critical of unions, 56 percent saying unions have a negative impact, and a nearly like proportion (54 percent) rated their schools, where per pupil expenditures averaged $12,300, A or B while only 15 percent would give the nation's schools overall a similar grade. Thirty-seven percent of teachers would grade schools nationally at A or B.

Nationally, per pupil expenditures averaged $10,792, the National Center for Education Statistics showed, ranging from a low of $5,964 per student in Utah to more than $17,000 in New York City.

"Teachers are much more likely to give schools high marks; on many issues, a majority of teachers takes the side opposite to that of the larger public, revealing tensions between what Americans overall think is best and what employees within the education industry prefer," the study found.

Though the Obama administration is encouraging the development of national standards, public education in the United States is locally controlled.

"Through votes, school board meetings, petition drives, and direct advo­cacy, all citizens, at least in principle, can influence public education," the authors said. "Principle and practice, however, often part ways. That all citizens can influence public education is not to say that all citizens do so. Generations of political science research confirm that higher-income and, especially, better-educated citizens are orders of magnitude more likely to participate in politics. And recent evidence demonstrates that teachers are far more likely to vote in school board elections than is the general public."

The authors concluded, "Plainly, the battles over school reform are far from over."

China urges ConocoPhillips to hasten clean-up

China has called on the US energy giant behind a massive oil spill to speed up its clear-up efforts and issue a public apology after it missed a deadline to clean the sea bed, state media said Thursday.

The State Oceanic Administration (SOA) asked ConocoPhillips to explain why it has taken more than two months to collect oil leaked from two of its drilling platforms onto the sea bed, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The SOA had ordered the company to clean up the sea bed by August 7, but ConocoPhillips said it had been forced to halt the clear-up for four days due to severe weather as Typhoon Muifa barrelled towards China.

A statement on the company's website said it was "remobilising personnel and equipment to Bohai Bay to resume its response operations", referring to the area off China's northeast coast where the spill occurred.

ConocoPhillips' partner in the Penglai 19-3 oilfield is the China National Offshore Oil Corporation and both companies earlier issued an apology after the leak was first detected there on June 4.

ConocoPhillips, which said earlier this month the spill might be worse than its previous estimate of 1,500 barrels, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Oil from the leak has been spotted on beaches in northern Hebei province and northeastern Liaoning province, Xinhua said.

Local fishermen have blamed the oil for the death of much of their harvest, and environmental groups have called for more transparency over the clean-up process.

Impact of Information Technology on Business

Information technology is a wide field, and has enabled organizations across the world to work in an efficient manner. It plays a very important role in effective management and running of a business. The use of information technology in organizations is inevitable, be it any type of company like manufacturing or medicinal sector. It has contributed largely to the process advancements in organizations. The exact impact of information technology on business administration can be determined by the elements mentioned below.



Basic Elements of Information Technology



Software and Applications

Software is an important part of information technology which relates to computer applications that enable a company to generate, store, program, and retrieve data as and when needed. There are many softwares developed for different purposes. All operations in the business sector are carried out by software that are assigned for executing specific tasks. Without these computer applications the businesses wouldn't have been able to carry out their functions in a proper and efficient manner. Operating systems, ERPs, special purpose applications, and web browsers are some examples of different softwares.



There are some softwares which are exclusively built to contribute to the proper collaborative working of all sections of the businesses, which are known as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). These are complex applications which enable people to efficiently manage all functions and operations of all processes in the businesses.



Hardware Devices

These are various computer equipments that house the softwares. Devices like microcomputers, mid-size servers, and huge mainframe systems are some examples of hardware. Businesses have to maintain a huge collection of important data. For this purpose, they employ these devices which are responsible for storing confidential company data and retrieving it back when required. Other hardware devices include network devices that are used for providing Internet access to the businesses to work and communicate expeditiously. There are even devices which enable manufacturing tools and equipments to work accurately in the industrial sector.



Running Businesses with Information Technology



Small scale businesses need to buy software packages that would cater to their specific management, operational, and functional needs. For this purpose, they need to approach firms and IT manufacturers who deal in such software applications. Other IT services include Internet marketing and email marketing, web hosting and promotions, and maintaining client networks. Larger businesses on the other hand have their own operational and functional employees who develop software applications and work on several IT needs of the businesses. They usually purchase ERP softwares to coordinate different processes and functions into a single application, which is actually more convenient.



Manufacturing businesses may make use of servers and databases to store their vast data regarding inventory, B2B, B2C, FMCG (in the retail business sector), etc. Automobile manufacturers use computers to guide manufacturing and designing tools to function in a precise manner, ruling out the possibilities of any human error. Businesses all around the globe have to take the aid of information technology in some way or the other to keep themselves in sync with the market and the world. There are several departments in business organizations such as HR and recruitment, finance and payroll, administration, and security. All these departments utilize IT to carry out their respective operations in a productive manner and efficient manner.



The information technology role in business sector certainly is of a great importance, which enables businesses to effectively and successfully plan, manage, execute strategies which lead to profit. Moreover, the impact of information technology on business is on the rise, as several advancements are focused on to be implemented in various business processes.

S&P lowers U.S. credit rating

The bond rating agency Standard & Poor's Friday downgraded U.S. debt from its current triple-A rate to AA+, a move an administration official called "amateur."

Citing government officials it did not identify, ABC had reported earlier Friday the administration was preparing for such a move.

S&P said the downgrade reflects its opinion that the debt reduction plan Congress enacted "falls short of what, in our view, would be necessary to stabilize the government's medium-term debt dynamics."

"The effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges," S&P said in announcing its decision.

One federal official told ABC News the downgrade would be based in part on confusion associated with the way Congress handled legislation to raise the limit on federal borrowing and a lack of confidence that further deficit reduction can be achieved under the current U.S. political system.

Citing another source it did not identify, ABC said another reason for the move was be the Republicans' refusal to allow a deficit reduction deal to include new revenues.

However, another government official said the White House had told S&P the company's thinking was "based on flawed math and assumptions." And S&P acknowledged "its numbers are wrong."

An administration official told NBC News after the credit rating was lowered, "It's amateur hour at S&P."

Treasury Department officials said the S&P announcement came after Treasury pointed out the rating agency, in a draft of its downgrade announcement, overstated U.S. debt by incorrectly adding $2 trillion to its projection of the debt, The New York Times reported.

The effect of the downgrade was a matter of speculation Friday but the Times noted that a small increase in interest rates on borrowed funds could add tens of billions of dollars to the nation's annual debt repayment.

There is also a possibility that a downgrade of federal debt could lead to downgrades of other government-backed instruments, possibly leading to higher mortgage interest rates.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.,, the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, said on MSNBC the decision was "just a political judgment by a group of incompetents."

"This is the rating agency that took money from people who were selling junk bonds and told other people to buy it," Frank said, accusing S&P of overvaluing private debt while consistently undervaluing public debt."

"They are as responsible for the financial crisis as anybody else," he said. "There is zero chance of (the United States) defaulting."

Moody's Investor Services and Fitch Ratings both said Tuesday they will keep the country's credit rating at triple-A for now, but they said a downgrade is still possible if the U.S. financial situation deteriorates or if promised federal spending cuts don't materialize.

The two credit ratings firms issued their assessments after President Barack Obama signed into law compromise legislation passed by Congress to raise the nation's debt limit and cut its budget deficit.

GOP hammered for food-safety cuts

A leading U.S. House Democrat is citing a recent deadly Salmonella outbreak to slam Republicans for their slashing of food-safety funding.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee's health subpanel, said GOP budget cuts aimed at the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture could mean more food-borne illnesses like the salmonella linked this week to ground turkey produced by food giant Cargill Inc.

A drug-resistant strain of Salmonella linked to ground turkey produced by a Cargill processing plant in Arkansas has sickened about 80 people and left one person dead, resulting in a massive recall, The Hill reported Thursday.

"The House majority has slashed funding for the FDA and USDA, choosing to preserve tax cuts for the wealthy over investing in and improving our food safety system," DeLauro said in a statement.

"By cutting their funding, we have limited their effectiveness and asked FDA and USDA to do more with less, and the impact of these cuts is starkly clear with this most recent recall."

GOP hammered for food-safety cuts

A leading U.S. House Democrat is citing a recent deadly Salmonella outbreak to slam Republicans for their slashing of food-safety funding.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, senior Democrat on the Appropriations Committee's health subpanel, said GOP budget cuts aimed at the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture could mean more food-borne illnesses like the salmonella linked this week to ground turkey produced by food giant Cargill Inc.

A drug-resistant strain of Salmonella linked to ground turkey produced by a Cargill processing plant in Arkansas has sickened about 80 people and left one person dead, resulting in a massive recall, The Hill reported Thursday.

"The House majority has slashed funding for the FDA and USDA, choosing to preserve tax cuts for the wealthy over investing in and improving our food safety system," DeLauro said in a statement.

"By cutting their funding, we have limited their effectiveness and asked FDA and USDA to do more with less, and the impact of these cuts is starkly clear with this most recent recall."

China bans books for dubious health claims

China has banned 104 health books officials say contain pseudoscientific information of little or no value to readers.

The General Administration of Press and Publication created a system last year to certify books in the health and medical field, Xinhua, the official government news agency, reported Saturday. Officials said checks on a sample of 50 books found almost half making claims that appeared to be dubious.

"Through a variety of means, some phony doctors and experts have been writing books and misleading the public by spreading their unscientific healthcare methods for quite some time," Liu Binjie, the agency's head, said.

One example cited by officials was "Eat Out the Disease You Have Eaten." The author, Zhang Wuben, said most diseases could be cured with a diet of mung beans, a theory that attracted so many people the price of the beans went up in Beijing.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2011/07/30/China-bans-books-for-dubious-health-claims/UPI-28241312075211/#ixzz1Thvc8oQX

Clergy arrested in Capitol budget protest

Eleven religious leaders were arrested staging a sit-in in the Capitol rotunda to protest budget cuts, U.S. Capitol Police said.

The Christian and Jewish leaders urged the administration and Congress not to "balance the budget on the backs of the poor" as they propose trillions of dollars in cutbacks, they said in a statement reported by The Hill.

On Thursday afternoon, they joined hands and sat down in the middle of the rotunda, surrounded by supporters chanting "Amen," a witness said.

Video of the sit-in in the Capitol

Capitol Police said they were charged with demonstrating within a U.S. Capitol building and taken away for processing.

"Our elected officials are protecting corporations and wealthy individuals while shredding the safety net for millions of the most vulnerable people in our nation and abroad. Our faith won't allow us to passively watch this travesty unfold. … Today, we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice," wrote the Rev. Michael Livingston, a past president of the National Council of the Churches of Christ (USA).

The protesters included Jim Winkler, general secretary of the United Methodist Church's General Board of Church and Society; Rabbi Arthur Waskow of the Shalom Center in Philadelphia; and the Rev. Jennifer Butler, head of Faith in Public Life.