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Utah Foundation Research Report
The Utah Foundation's latest research report, "Teacher Attrition: Why do teachers in Utah stop teaching and what policies will encourage them to stay?", looks at why teachers are leaving their careers in the U.S. and in Utah and recommends, among other things, "focusing on improving mentoring programs for new teachers, coupled with targeted pay increases for teachers in shortage subjects or locations or those with skills or training that would provide higher pay in other careers. Higher salaries for all teachers would also be helpful to induce more teachers to stay in the profession or to persuade more college students to prepare to become teachers." (See Executive Summary and related press release.)
Washington Watch
Hatch Unveils CHIP Agreement
Sens. Orrin Hatch, Max Baucus, Chuck Grassley, and Jay Rockefeller unveil a $35 billion agreement to renew and improve the Children's Health Insurance Program (see press release).
Today in Political History
July 17, 1936: Start of the Spanish Civil War.
July17, 1964: In Iraq, a military coup deposes President Arif. The main plotters are army officers and Ba'thists. A second coup (July 30) eliminates the army officers. The Ba'th Party, a small, exclusive, and secretive organization, emerges in control of the regime. (Source: Perspicuity)
July 17, 1975: An Apollo spaceship docks with a Soyuz spacecraft in orbit in the first superpower linkup of its kind. (New York Times)
Wise Words
“Humor is the only test of gravity, and gravity of humor; for a subject which will not bear raillery is suspicious, and a jest which will not bear serious examination is false wit.”
-- Aristotle (Source: Quotations Page)
Communications Tip
Say What You Mean
Since the dawn of man we have been perfecting techniques that help us to convey our messages. From gestures to inflections to carefully thought out words, we strive to be understood. We must learn the dynamics of making a point and understand the nuances of a true exchange.
Think before you speak. Saying what you mean and meaning what you say is the golden rule of communications. To achieve this you must hear what you are saying before it is spoken. This requires pausing for a moment of thought. Analyze what you plan to say and evaluate whether it sounds like what you mean. When you speak to someone you don’t have a backspace key to erase what you just said (especially if you’re talking to a news reporter). Read the entire tip.
National Politics
Best Stories From …
-- New York Times: "The rich got richer when it came to presidential fund-raising last quarter as the Democrats saw their big financial edge over the Republicans extend even to lesser-known candidates. And in both parties the financial gap between the leaders and the rest of the pack widened."
-- St. Petersburgh Times: "Rudy Giuliani has made Florida a focus of his presidential campaign, and Floridians are returning the attention in a big way. Campaign finance reports show the former mayor of New York raised $1.7-million in Florida from April through June -- more than any other Republican or Democratic candidate."
-- USA Today: "For Arizona Sen. John McCain, it's back to basics. His presidential campaign nearly broke, stripped of staff and on a slide in state and national polls, he went to the second-floor meeting room at American Legion Post 29 on Saturday to make his case before about 100 New Hampshire residents. In place of the nationwide organizations and TV ads some of his top rivals air, he'll rely on town hall meetings like the ones that propelled him to a primary victory in New Hampshire in his first presidential bid in 2000."
-- Washington Post: Columnist Markus Prior: "Today's news world is a political junkie's oyster. Cable TV offers CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and C-SPAN. The Washington Post, BBC online, The Note and many, many more news Web sites are only a click away. But that's where they remain for many Americans. Decades into the 'information age,' the public is as uninformed as before the rise of cable television and the Internet. Greater access to media, ironically, has reduced the share of Americans who are politically informed."
Blog Watch
-- Rep. Steve Urquhart says this Deseret Morning News story on "differences between schools on the east (richer) and west (poorer) sides of Salt Lake County" illustrates "why we need vouchers." (For more on the voucher issue, see The Utah Amicus.)
-- Utah Taxpayer explains why "[c]ongestion pricing is an issue that taxpayer advocates and environmentalists can rally behind."
Lighter Side
"A great many people think they are thinking when they are only rearranging their prejudices."
-- William James (Salt Lake Tribune Cryptoquote) |
