I'm keeping the dog!

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Here is Jesse in his too-big crate, which I sold on Craig's list before the new one came! What a mistake.

I have spent this vacation learning as much as I can about training and re-training an adult dog. My dear friend and her expert dog-breeder friend have suggested that socializing a distant beagle, a roamer by nature, is virtually impossible and certainly not worth the effort. The breeder suggested that I return the dog to the rescue center. Hearing this advice was shocking and upsetting, but it helped me tremendously. 1. I began to accept the situation we are in: I am starting from scratch with Jesse and I can have NO expectations. 2. I love Jesse and having him is great, despite the challenges.

The housebreaking is a challenge, his tendency to chew and destroy given the opportunity is a challenge, and teaching him to be a loving house dog is a challenge.

But, I'm learning. I bought the Nature's Miracle and have cleaned the rugs with it. I bought baby gates to restrict Jesse to the kitchen when no one can be home with him. I've ordered a smaller crate to help with the housebreaking. It should arrive soon. I leash him in the house and force him to follow me everywhere so that he in involved with our lives and daily routines. A puppy would do this instinctively, but Jesse has to be taught to be curious. I've also learned that the walking schedule must be adjusted if Jesse goes out and goes earlier than usual-that it's the duration between walks that counts. I'm reading the Monks of New Skete and that has really helped me understand how dogs think. It has also given me hope that even adult dogs can be taught and retrained to adjust to their new lives and homes. The Monks explain just how to do everything! Best of all, I found a beagle support group on line, so from now on, I'll be posting about Jesse there instead of on this blog.

Happy new year!

Government Student Grants; What's Available, and How to Apply

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Government student grants are available for most U.S. students and can go a long way towards paying for your education. Government student grants are considered the building block on which all other sources of student financial aid are applied. Amounts offered vary each year depending upon the availability of federal funding, a school's enrollment cost, and whether or not the student is planning to attend school on a full-time basis. The key to receiving a government student grant is in knowing how to properly apply, with the correct forms for your specific grant. We will endeavor to tell you how in this article.

Who Qualifies for a Government Student Grants:

Government student grants are available to those who show scholastic aptitude, those who are in financial need, and minorities. Whichever sort of grant is being applied for, whether government or private, it is important to first fill out the proper application for federal student aid. For any grant, even the lesser known or not as easy to obtain ones, it is always best to purchase a grant writing kit. Just make sure you get the best guide that you can find, some even have software that can be used as a template for filling out and writing your grants.
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What Government Student Grants are Available:

If you are eligible for a Pell grant, you may be able to receive an academic competitiveness grant if you meet certain criteria. The federal supplemental educational opportunity grant (fseog) program also provides supplemental grant funding to Pell grant recipients. This program is administered by the financial aid department at each participating college or university, giving priority to the neediest of the Pell grant recipients. To attract students to certain high-priority career areas, there are government student grants designated for recipients in specific college majors. If you are planning to be a teacher and willing to sign an agreement saying you'll spend at least four years in a school that serves students from low-income families, you may be able to receive funds through the teacher education assistance for college and higher education grant (teach) program.

For more information on properly filing for government student grants


Visit >>>http://fafsa-studentaid-ed-gov.blogspot.com/


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I Won't Qualify for Financial Aid

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I Won't Qualify for Financial Aid

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One of the most common, and often the most disheartening, misconception about financial aid is that a family's income will disqualify them from receiving any aid. This is usually based on some anecdotal evidence where a friend or family member went to all the trouble to file the paperwork to receive aid and they were denied any money. This of course could happen to anyone at any income level filing for financial aid; aid is not guaranteed. These misconceptions often lead to a family not filing for aid and a student paying way too much for an education or, in the extreme, skipping a college education entirely.While financial aid is based to a large extent on a family's income, families earning up to $250,000 per year are often receiving some type of aid to offset the cost of a constantly increasing college cost burden. It is true that families earning less than the $52,000 median income in the United States will receive the bulk of the need-based financial aid, especially the money funded by the federal and state governments. It is also true that to attract the top students to their institutions colleges and universities are resorting to a widening variety of financial incentives for families earning over the median income. Even at state institutions, which are supposed to serve as the great educational equalizers, a recent study found that between 1995 and 2003 aid to families earning over $100,000 per year jumped by 400%, while aid to families earning less than $20,000 fell by 13%.It is important to understand how the financial aid process works. Colleges and universities all require a family to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) which is designed to determine how much a family can afford to pay for college. The FAFSA is also used to determine whether a family qualifies for Federal and State grants and subsidies for education. Colleges try to use money from outside sources first when developing an aid package. They will especially try to get you as much money as they can from government sources. While this is free money to the family, it is also free money to the college. Once the outside sources have been exhausted a college or university often has its own money to subsidize a student's education from their endowment funds. While most of this money is still given away based on need, much of the money is allocated based on the "merit" of the student. In other words how much they want a student to attend their school.While merit money is largely allocated on the basis of academic achievement, colleges also use this money for a variety of other purposes including geographic diversity (it looks good in the college catalogue when you can say you have students from all 50 states), ethnic diversity, acquiring special skills (talented athletes or musicians), and increasingly more common, the gift giving ability of the parents. If a university thinks that you might be a generous benefactor in the future there is no doubt they will find some way to subsidize your student's education.The gist of all this is very simple; there are no fixed rules about whether you will or will not receive financial aid. Even at the Ivy League colleges which always prided themselves on only giving away aid based on need, competition for students and the constantly increasing cost of college have forced them to toss out the old aid formulas. At many of these schools families earning less than $60,000 per year will pay little or nothing for their student's education. Families earning up to $180,000 per year will pay for college based on a sliding scale which is well below what the FAFSA would calculate for their family contribution. Competition breeds more competition and now the second tier colleges and universities are offering tuition discounts, up to 50% in some cases, and reducing the amount of student loans allocated to each family.So before you throw your hands up in the air and despair about your ability to receive financial aid you can perform a self-assessment. A quick look at your income versus the cost of the school will give you some indication of your likelihood of receiving need-based aid. If your income is over the median income of $52,000 per year and five times the cost of the school, your likelihood of receiving need-based aid is poor. So if you earn $70,000 and you want your student to go to a community college which costs $3,000 per year, it is likely you will be paying most of that cost on your own. However, if your student wants to attend a school that costs $50,000 per year it is likely your student's education will be heavily subsidized with financial aid. This is not a hard and fast rule. The number of dependents and the type of assets you own will also affect this calculation. It is just a quick way of giving you some perspective on receiving need-based aid. Families earning less than the median income are likely to receive aid at most any college or university.When you look at the schools your student wants to attend, how does your student measure up with the typical entering class? If your student's class rank and SAT or ACT scores put them in the top 25% of the entering class, it is likely the school will be providing your student with not only need-based aid but some of the merit money as well. Colleges subsidize the brightest students. This of course means the dream of your student attending an Ivy League school may not come to fruition. You have to be realistic about your student's chances of receiving aid.Are you willing to let your student attend a school in another state? Colleges and universities are increasingly looking for geographic diversity in their student body. I tell parents, especially at private schools, the further away you live from a school the more likely it is that you will receive a better aid package. A student from Massachusetts is less likely to receive a great aid package at Boston College than a student from California. So many students from Massachusetts want to attend Boston College. So few students from California want to attend Boston College. The law of supply and demand also works for financial aid.Does your student have special nonacademic talents? If your student has athletic or musical talents a school often has a bit of money to attract theses talents. On the athletic front your student is more likely to get a bit of extra money if they play lacrosse, rugby, or gymnastics than if they play the two big sports football or basketball. This is especially true for women. Title IX requires a school to provide as many scholarships for women's sports as are provided to men's sports. To offer money to all those male football and basketball players they have to offer the same number of scholarships to women. If your student is a talented musician, to receive some merit money, they may have to agree to play in the marching band on Saturday. If it helps pay for their education they can live through it.With the complexity of the financial aid process there is really only one guarantee. If you do not apply for aid you will not receive any aid. Families earning up to $250,000 should go ahead and fill out the financial aid applications. Even though your family contribution may end up being higher than the cost of attending, it indicates to the financial aid officers that you are interested in some of the school's money. These financial aid officers just might take a second look at your student and decide that they are deserving of a little help. Even if it is only a few thousand dollars, over four years, that can add up to a lot of money.Timothy R. Wall is a partner in the group Independent Financial Aid Advisors (IFAA, LLC) which works with families to develop strategies for achieving the best financial aid packages for their students who want to attend college. The company provides a free resource guide at http://www.achievecollegeaid.com. You may contact Tim at trwall@achievecollegeaid.com.Visit to - http://fafsa-studentaid-ed-gov.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5265990

Pell Grant For Moms - A Vehicle For Achieving a Mother's Dream

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Via the efforts of the federal government numerous moms will now have the opportunity to return to college and end a school diploma. A Stimulus Strategy which provides moms the quantity of $ten,000 a yr in the type of academic grant will assist deliver 1000's of moms back again to college.

The best barrier why moms have a tendency to stop pursuing their dream of an schooling is simply because of lack of funds. Moms these days have two or 3 work opportunities just to help their households and make ends meet generating it not possible for them to carry on their education and learning.

With the support of the Federal Pell Grant, moms can attain that dream of a much better existence. The grant will assist moms throughout the nation to finance the expenditures in obtaining a school diploma. With introduction of on-line schooling program moms are no lengthier confronted with the issue of quitting their careers or leaving their children at house. They can now research and complete their schooling in the comforts of their personal residing rooms.

On the web finding out applications are provided by various schools and universities in the United States. Moms can verify their preferred instructional establishments if they are providing the technique by just going to their sites or just by seeking in the diverse search engines.

The Pell Grant is a motor vehicle which will assist hundreds of lives. Mothers could now have the career they need and at the identical time provide their little ones and people with greater dwelling problems. Not like pupil loans, Federal grants desire not be repaid. So a mother will end her school diploma with no currently being indebted.

Utilize for the grant right now for a much better daily life tomorrow!

Freedom of Speech doesn't give people the right to be A-holes

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Today, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 8-1 in favor of Westboro Baptist Church. Saying that the First Amendment gives this church the right to protest at soldiers’ funerals. The SCOTUS ruling also reversed a five million dollar judgment given to the father of Matthew Snyder, a marine whose death was protested by the church members.

I am all for the first amendment, it is a right that many other people in the world don’t have. In the United States no one is going to stop us if we say something bad about the president or the legislature or anything about the government. The press is allowed to report what ever the news is, the government does not control them. There are talk radio shows geared directly to either conservatives or liberals that tailor their coverage to what their audience wants to hear.

The first amendment should not extend to protesting a soldier’s funeral. I am very liberal in my political beliefs, I think that George W. Bush was an idiot and we had no right to invade Iraq or Afghanistan. However, it is a tragedy when ever any soldier dies and while our beliefs might not be similar I would never insult them or their families by holding up a sign saying that their loved one is in hell because the US is tolerant of homosexuals.

Which is precisely what the members of Westboro claim, that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan are all due to the US’ tolerance of homosexuals. They claim that God is mad at this country for being tolerant of another person’s way of life. Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indian, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, Wiccan, Straight or Gay regardless of classification we are all human.

The freedom of speech might protect their right to believe and say what ever they want, but their so-called beliefs should stop them from judging another and damning them to hell. I might not be a super religious person, but what I remember from the bible is “Love thy neighbor, as I have loved you”. I have already had this fight with the super religious and I know that you can find a quote in the bible saying how being gay is a sin. I also know if you look in the bible you can find quotes that defend racism that demean women and every subject in between.

The bible was never meant to be the only absolute truth in the world. It is a road map if you are Christian that is influenced and expanded upon by preachers. This is the 21st century. You would think that we would have stopped being scared of things we didn’t understand a long time ago. And yet it is groups like Westboro and others of that ilk that hold us back.
Whether are beliefs are similar or different can we at least agree to be decent to one another. I know it’s a new and terrifying idea to accept people as they are, but how about we give it a try. Let tolerance and reasonableness dictate our actions instead of crazy antiquated beliefs.

Earlham CollegeThe First Stop on Jeremy's Spring College Tour

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Earlham College is 660 miles from just outside the Holland Tunnel, on the Jersey side, where we gassed up on our way out west. Although the trip took nearly one whole day (11 hours) of driving and two tanks of gas, the school is definitely worth the trip!

Earlham is a small college in Richmond, Indiana, minutes from Dayton, Ohio. The school was founded by Quakers in 1847, and, like Guilford, has a philosophy strongly rooted in Quaker beliefs and values. The school sits on 800 acres, some wooded, and is made up of Georgian style red brick buildings. The overall architectural theme is one of simplicity, and although the campus is not the most beautiful we have seen, it has an extremely pleasing look and is peppered with lots of old, tall trees, many smaller, colorful flowering trees and lush green lawns in between. The buildings are clustered around a quad affectionately called “The Heart,” making the walk from one to the next relatively short.


A prospective student visiting Earlham is given a schedule created by the admissions office. Celeste just signed up for a tour, but Jeremy attended a class at 9am, (computer science-artificial intelligence,) went on a tour at 10am, and was interviewed at 11.




At 12 there was a lunch tour and all of the visitors and their parents who were visiting that day walked to the dining hall and we all ate together at two big tables! It was so welcoming and, well, fun! We made many new friends and chatted with people visiting Earlham form all over. Celeste and I actually toured twice, once with Emma and once again with Mallory. Interestingly, there is no info-session. It is up to us to speak to people and gather facts and information about the school ourselves. So we chatted with almost everyone we met. It makes for a warm and very personable experience.






What makes Earlham so special, in my opinion, is that it is a little oasis in the middle of no-where. It’s a beautiful college in the middle of a lesser known little town in an area of the state that is open and flat, and lacks the beauty of mountains or rolling hills. And, Earlham is full of friendly, sophisticated, liberal, like-minded folks who seemed to have gathered in this out-of-the-way place to make a great school that does wonderful and important things. Earlham is, hands down, the most racially diverse school I have ever seen, and it has the most diverse soccer team of all. We were told that only a small percentage of students hail from the immediate area. The bulk, like 80%, come from other places, and many, maybe 18% are international students. It seems Earlahm attracts a certain caliber of student and facluty to gather in this magical place. This makes for a rich and diverse student body, and an interesting place to be.

I must mention the beauty of the buildings, both inside and out. The student center, for example, is open, bright, clean and wonderfully appealing-something that stood out especially after our next tour. There is a student art gallery inside! The living and learning areas are pleasing and comfortable-I saw no cinder blocks! I wish I had photographed the large, bright dining hall that everyone calls SAGA. There is just one, and everyone eats together at big round or rectangular tables at specific times. Students who miss a meal can use their card at a coffee shop. I've always believed that schools with one dining hall help build community that way.


Jeremy had a lovely meeting with the men’s soccer coach, who met him at lunch with other players. Afterwards, he took us around to his office and then down to the soccer fields. He spoke at length and with pride about his school and his team’s accomplishments. He has been at Earlham for 31 years, and plans to continue on for at least a while longer. He invited Jeremy to return in the fall for an overnight and to see a game.

Next time, Jeremy will be flying…

My Rescue Beagle

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Every year that I taught 3rd grade, I read Shiloh to my class. The story made me want, more than anything else, a beagle of my own. Recently, after my friend's daughter died suddenly and proceeds in her honor were to go to the Sean Casey Animal Rescue and, after our beloved Jack Russell Terrier, Phoebe, died after a long and happy life, it happened that I was on the SCAR website looking at a photo of a dog named Jefferson. The site said he was a "beagle mix," probably because of his blue tick coloring where normally the fur is white. His sad brown eyes haunted me and I decided that I would go an meet him.

"Jefferson" was not at Sean Casey's 3rd Street shop when I went to see him, but was housed instead at the new Sunset Park facility on 39th Street. My daughter, Elsa and I went over on a Sunday afternoon to meet him and some other beagles who had come in from Kentucky. Volunteers are allowed to take dogs out for walks and spend time with them. We walked Jefferson first. He was happy to be out. He pranced and pounced when he saw other dogs and children. He walked very nicely on his leash. The second beagle we walked was very frightened of the world and the third was overweight had a coughing fit after running about 30 yards in the park. By comparison, Jefferson seemed the best adjusted and a good choice for us.

We sent photos of him to my friend, Sugar, who thought the dog might be mixed with Australian Blue Heeler-not a good breed mix, she felt, for a city dog. She did not recommend adoption. Sadly, I tried to forget Jefferson.

But I couldn't.

For the next two days, I rushed out after school to visit and walk him. On the second day, the handler at Sean Casey mentioned that he was the only dog in the kennel who willingly re-enters his crate after being out. "I have to lift the rest of them in." It was at that moment that I decided that Jefferson needed to become part of our family. He was SO sweet.

I brought Jesse James home on November 28th.

I have always heard that beagles are hard to train. I've heard that they are difficult to housebreak, they tend to howl, they eat incessantly and will jump up on the dining room table to get food, and that given the chance, they will run away. But, as an experienced dog owner, a former race horse trainer and a current teacher of 6 year olds, I was confident that I am up to the task of raising a beagle.

Ha!

This dog isn't even really difficult-he has a very docile temperament-but no part of having him has been easy!

So, let's run down some of the challenges we have faced:

1. Jesse is not house broken. The first night in his crate, he peed in it, and has almost once every day since then. The second night we had him, I left the crate door open so that if he had to, he could use the newspaper I left down on the kitchen floor. He peed on the newspaper, but he crapped on the  kitchen  floor. He pees when he's had too much water. He pees randomly, even after being out four or five times in a day. I'm tearing my hair out trying to figure out how to housebreak this dog. I've read four books on the subject. Most advice is for puppies but most say training the older dog is much the same. Reward, reward, reward for going outside.

Another problem: Jesse is indifferent to treats, (I've tried two kinds) so rewards have little impact.

So, I have Jesse on a schedule. He walks at 6:30 am, 12:30 pm, 5 pm and 10:30 pm. I have to drag him out in the morning. He HATES getting up. But, once I let him sleep in until 7:30. Too late! He peed his bed. I've had to hire dog walkers for the midday walk while I'm at school.

His last accident was Christmas eve. Keep your fingers crossed.

2. Jesse does not like any treats I give him so rewarding him for good deeds and encouraging him to follow any commands is difficult.

3. Jesse knows no commands. We are signing up for obedience class which will begin January 6th. In the interim, we are working on SIT, COME and HEEL-but this he does naturally, thank goodness. He won't even come to me in the house, or follow me when it's time to go to bed or to eat. I have to leash him indoors to bring him any where. I've never had to do this with ANY dog before!

4. Jesse likes many people. He likes men and he loves the woman who owns IT'S A DOG'S WORLD on Coney Island Avenue. But, he doesn't seem to like me. He doesn't listen to me, he doesn't obey me, he doesn't respond to me when I call his name, and doesn't like to take treats from me. He takes treats from the Dog's World woman, and from his walkers, but not from me.

This is baffling to me. I'm nice. I've spent over $500 on this dog. I take care of him 24/7. What's up with this?

5. Elsa came home during the day last week to have lunch with Theo. While they were eating, Jesse jumped up onto the dining room table. Elsa sent me a photo, otherwise I would not have believed he would do such a thing. I asked her, "What did you say to him?" She said she told him to get down, after she took the photo.

Seriously?

6. The first day we brought Jesse home, I took him out into our large, lovely FENCED yard. He loved it and jumped around excitedly, ears flopping. Within minutes, he had scoped the perimeter of the yard, found an opening under the fence, and took off into my neighbor's yard. He was loose and I had to run around the house, unlatching the locked gate, and chase him down. Fortunately, Jesse didn't realize that the neighbor's main gate was open, otherwise, he would have been gone.

7. The next day, my husband was unloading groceries from the car and, not realizing that we have a NEW dog, let Jesse out onto the sidewalk. "How far can he go?" he wondered. Ha! When Jonathan went back out for the next load, Jesse was nowhere in sight. Jonathan had to call to me and with me barefoot, we chased the dog down Stratford Road, only by chance happening to see him, ears flopping, duck into a neighbor's yard. Thankfully, once we caught up to him, Jesse did not run from us and we were able to bring him home.

8. Jesse is remarkably silent. He doesn't bark, hardly at all, but he will whimper and whine if he sees a dog or something he wants. He does not 'ask' to go out. He does not indicate, in any way, that he needs to go out. Jonathan happened to take Jesse to Thompkins Square Park one night, to the dog run there. Jesse saw a rat through a fence and did that beagle howling thing, over and over. I've never heard him make such a sound, ever.

As you can probably tell, I love this dog with my whole heart. Still there is lots of work to be done, and I have so many questions that I cannot seem to get answers to:

1. Is our crate too big? Jesse is 31 inches long. Our crate is 35". The Sean Casey volunteer said I should buy a 30" crate, but won't that be too small? I honestly don't think it matters because Jesse WILL lie in his pee, something all dog experts say that dogs WILL NOT do.

2. At the Sunset Park SCAR location, they have 'state of the art' crates for dogs that allow for easy cleaning, i.e. there is a grate that allows the mess to fall and the tray then can be easily hosed out. Does this practice then, UN-crate train an animal that is NOT supposed to pee and crap in the crate TO pee and crap in the crate? If they are not walked, the animal has no choice. Is this why Jesse is confused?

3. To choke or not to choke: is use of a choke collar passé? The SCAR volunteer suggested one, Richard Wolters of City Dog recommends using them, but the Dog's World woman hates them and the Beagles for Dummies does not like them either. Jesse walks relatively nicely, but responds better when he's wearing a choke. Should I use it for training only?

4. How much training should we be doing at this point? Should I wait for obedience class or should I begin?

If you have suggestions and/or opinions, please leave me a comment.



Great things about rescuing a dog:
1. For each dog adopted, there is one less in a crate 24/7.2. Jesse is older and more mature. Even though he makes mistakes, he doesn’t have the puppy behaviors that can be so challenging (although also fun!)3. It feels good to support an organization such as Sean Casey’s. He works tirelessly to place dogs in homes. Volunteers are needed to walk rescues every day, if you’re interested.4. Jesse’s new life with us is most likely a big adjustment for him as well, but I do get the sense that he is happier and he’s beginning to enjoy himself.5. Jesse is a great running companion. He can do 3 miles around the park easily and will build up to greater distances.
Here is the link to SCAR: www.nyanimalrescue.org/SCAR also has a Facebook Page that lists events and happenings as well as adoption stories:
http://www.facebook.com/SeanCaseyAnimalRescue?ref=ts&fref=ts

The Drama of Housebreaking

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12.27.12I’m not sure why I’mblogging about our housebreaking drama. I guess I wish I had an adult doghousebreaking support group, and this is the next best thing.We had a setbacktonight. Jesse peed in the house again. I was furious with him, and he knew it,although I didn’t yell at him. I stormed and stomped around-the opposite of theneutral tone the articles instruct one to take. Now, Jesse seems afraid of meand is staying in his crate.
I’m trying to piecetogether what went wrong.
1.  I was at the coop and missed the 5pmwalk. Things always go wrong when I miss a walk. Jonathan covered me with twowalks. Possible confusion for Jesse?2.  I noticed Jesse was drinking more waterthan normal. He hadn’t eaten any food all day, but did once I got home. When hefinished the water in his bowl, he went for the toilet- a first to myknowledge. I refilled his bowl. I should have made note.3.  I was eating dinner later than normal andwatching TV. I checked on him just before the bedtime walk time and said, “15minutes, guy. Okay?” Not okay. I should have walked him.4.  Suddenly, I saw him trotting through thehouse, hitting all of the downstairs rooms. I should have stopped eating andtaken him out.5.  He trotted into the hallway and peed onthe rug-same spot as Xmas eve-exactly what the articles say a dog will do. 6.  I showed anger as I put the leash on anddragged Jesse outside. It was too late. After the too-late walk, I knockedstuff over, including water, and made huge messes that dripped into thebasement. The whole accident snowballed into an even bigger mess.

What did I learn?·     I SHOULD have bought the Nature’sMiracle. ·     I should have cleaned the rug better. ·     I should have had newspapers down in thekitchen. ·     I should not have given Jesse access tothe whole house-yet.·     I need to buy baby gates to block off thekitchen.·     I have ordered a new, smaller crate,although the crate has not been the problem right now. It’s just too big forour kitchen.
They say when a dog is accident-free for 6weeks, he’s housebroken. That’s 42 days. We’re back to day 1.

I'm keeping the dog!

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Here is Jesse in his too-big crate, which I sold on Craig's list before the new one came! What a mistake.

I have spent this vacation learning as much as I can about training and re-training an adult dog. My dear friend and her expert dog-breeder friend have suggested that socializing a distant beagle, a roamer by nature, is virtually impossible and certainly not worth the effort. The breeder suggested that I return the dog to the rescue center. Hearing this advice was shocking and upsetting, but it helped me tremendously. 1. I began to accept the situation we are in: I am starting from scratch with Jesse and I can have NO expectations. 2. I love Jesse and having him is great, despite the challenges.

The housebreaking is a challenge, his tendency to chew and destroy given the opportunity is a challenge, and teaching him to be a loving house dog is a challenge.

But, I'm learning. I bought the Nature's Miracle and have cleaned the rugs with it. I bought baby gates to restrict Jesse to the kitchen when no one can be home with him. I've ordered a smaller crate to help with the housebreaking. It should arrive soon. I leash him in the house and force him to follow me everywhere so that he in involved with our lives and daily routines. A puppy would do this instinctively, but Jesse has to be taught to be curious. I've also learned that the walking schedule must be adjusted if Jesse goes out and goes earlier than usual-that it's the duration between walks that counts. I'm reading the Monks of New Skete and that has really helped me understand how dogs think. It has also given me hope that even adult dogs can be taught and retrained to adjust to their new lives and homes. The Monks explain just how to do everything! Best of all, I found a beagle support group on line, so from now on, I'll be posting about Jesse there instead of on this blog.

Happy new year!

Pell Grant For Moms - A Vehicle For Achieving a Mother's Dream

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Via the efforts of the federal government numerous moms will now have the opportunity to return to college and end a school diploma. A Stimulus Strategy which provides moms the quantity of $ten,000 a yr in the type of academic grant will assist deliver 1000's of moms back again to college.

The best barrier why moms have a tendency to stop pursuing their dream of an schooling is simply because of lack of funds. Moms these days have two or 3 work opportunities just to help their households and make ends meet generating it not possible for them to carry on their education and learning.

With the support of the Federal Pell Grant, moms can attain that dream of a much better existence. The grant will assist moms throughout the nation to finance the expenditures in obtaining a school diploma. With introduction of on-line schooling program moms are no lengthier confronted with the issue of quitting their careers or leaving their children at house. They can now research and complete their schooling in the comforts of their personal residing rooms.

On the web finding out applications are provided by various schools and universities in the United States. Moms can verify their preferred instructional establishments if they are providing the technique by just going to their sites or just by seeking in the diverse search engines.

The Pell Grant is a motor vehicle which will assist hundreds of lives. Mothers could now have the career they need and at the identical time provide their little ones and people with greater dwelling problems. Not like pupil loans, Federal grants desire not be repaid. So a mother will end her school diploma with no currently being indebted.

Utilize for the grant right now for a much better daily life tomorrow!

I'm keeping the dog!

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Here is Jesse in his too-big crate, which I sold on Craig's list before the new one came! What a mistake.

I have spent this vacation learning as much as I can about training and re-training an adult dog. My dear friend and her expert dog-breeder friend have suggested that socializing a distant beagle, a roamer by nature, is virtually impossible and certainly not worth the effort. The breeder suggested that I return the dog to the rescue center. Hearing this advice was shocking and upsetting, but it helped me tremendously. 1. I began to accept the situation we are in: I am starting from scratch with Jesse and I can have NO expectations. 2. I love Jesse and having him is great, despite the challenges.

The housebreaking is a challenge, his tendency to chew and destroy given the opportunity is a challenge, and teaching him to be a loving house dog is a challenge.

But, I'm learning. I bought the Nature's Miracle and have cleaned the rugs with it. I bought baby gates to restrict Jesse to the kitchen when no one can be home with him. I've ordered a smaller crate to help with the housebreaking. It should arrive soon. I leash him in the house and force him to follow me everywhere so that he in involved with our lives and daily routines. A puppy would do this instinctively, but Jesse has to be taught to be curious. I've also learned that the walking schedule must be adjusted if Jesse goes out and goes earlier than usual-that it's the duration between walks that counts. I'm reading the Monks of New Skete and that has really helped me understand how dogs think. It has also given me hope that even adult dogs can be taught and retrained to adjust to their new lives and homes. The Monks explain just how to do everything! Best of all, I found a beagle support group on line, so from now on, I'll be posting about Jesse there instead of on this blog.

Happy new year!

Government Student Grants; What's Available, and How to Apply

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Government student grants are available for most U.S. students and can go a long way towards paying for your education. Government student grants are considered the building block on which all other sources of student financial aid are applied. Amounts offered vary each year depending upon the availability of federal funding, a school's enrollment cost, and whether or not the student is planning to attend school on a full-time basis. The key to receiving a government student grant is in knowing how to properly apply, with the correct forms for your specific grant. We will endeavor to tell you how in this article.

Who Qualifies for a Government Student Grants:

Government student grants are available to those who show scholastic aptitude, those who are in financial need, and minorities. Whichever sort of grant is being applied for, whether government or private, it is important to first fill out the proper application for federal student aid. For any grant, even the lesser known or not as easy to obtain ones, it is always best to purchase a grant writing kit. Just make sure you get the best guide that you can find, some even have software that can be used as a template for filling out and writing your grants.
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What Government Student Grants are Available:

If you are eligible for a Pell grant, you may be able to receive an academic competitiveness grant if you meet certain criteria. The federal supplemental educational opportunity grant (fseog) program also provides supplemental grant funding to Pell grant recipients. This program is administered by the financial aid department at each participating college or university, giving priority to the neediest of the Pell grant recipients. To attract students to certain high-priority career areas, there are government student grants designated for recipients in specific college majors. If you are planning to be a teacher and willing to sign an agreement saying you'll spend at least four years in a school that serves students from low-income families, you may be able to receive funds through the teacher education assistance for college and higher education grant (teach) program.

For more information on properly filing for government student grants


Visit >>>http://fafsa-studentaid-ed-gov.blogspot.com/


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Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/personal-finance-articles/government-student-grants-whats-available-and-how-to-apply-1490202.html

I Won't Qualify for Financial Aid

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I Won't Qualify for Financial Aid

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One of the most common, and often the most disheartening, misconception about financial aid is that a family's income will disqualify them from receiving any aid. This is usually based on some anecdotal evidence where a friend or family member went to all the trouble to file the paperwork to receive aid and they were denied any money. This of course could happen to anyone at any income level filing for financial aid; aid is not guaranteed. These misconceptions often lead to a family not filing for aid and a student paying way too much for an education or, in the extreme, skipping a college education entirely.While financial aid is based to a large extent on a family's income, families earning up to $250,000 per year are often receiving some type of aid to offset the cost of a constantly increasing college cost burden. It is true that families earning less than the $52,000 median income in the United States will receive the bulk of the need-based financial aid, especially the money funded by the federal and state governments. It is also true that to attract the top students to their institutions colleges and universities are resorting to a widening variety of financial incentives for families earning over the median income. Even at state institutions, which are supposed to serve as the great educational equalizers, a recent study found that between 1995 and 2003 aid to families earning over $100,000 per year jumped by 400%, while aid to families earning less than $20,000 fell by 13%.It is important to understand how the financial aid process works. Colleges and universities all require a family to fill out a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) which is designed to determine how much a family can afford to pay for college. The FAFSA is also used to determine whether a family qualifies for Federal and State grants and subsidies for education. Colleges try to use money from outside sources first when developing an aid package. They will especially try to get you as much money as they can from government sources. While this is free money to the family, it is also free money to the college. Once the outside sources have been exhausted a college or university often has its own money to subsidize a student's education from their endowment funds. While most of this money is still given away based on need, much of the money is allocated based on the "merit" of the student. In other words how much they want a student to attend their school.While merit money is largely allocated on the basis of academic achievement, colleges also use this money for a variety of other purposes including geographic diversity (it looks good in the college catalogue when you can say you have students from all 50 states), ethnic diversity, acquiring special skills (talented athletes or musicians), and increasingly more common, the gift giving ability of the parents. If a university thinks that you might be a generous benefactor in the future there is no doubt they will find some way to subsidize your student's education.The gist of all this is very simple; there are no fixed rules about whether you will or will not receive financial aid. Even at the Ivy League colleges which always prided themselves on only giving away aid based on need, competition for students and the constantly increasing cost of college have forced them to toss out the old aid formulas. At many of these schools families earning less than $60,000 per year will pay little or nothing for their student's education. Families earning up to $180,000 per year will pay for college based on a sliding scale which is well below what the FAFSA would calculate for their family contribution. Competition breeds more competition and now the second tier colleges and universities are offering tuition discounts, up to 50% in some cases, and reducing the amount of student loans allocated to each family.So before you throw your hands up in the air and despair about your ability to receive financial aid you can perform a self-assessment. A quick look at your income versus the cost of the school will give you some indication of your likelihood of receiving need-based aid. If your income is over the median income of $52,000 per year and five times the cost of the school, your likelihood of receiving need-based aid is poor. So if you earn $70,000 and you want your student to go to a community college which costs $3,000 per year, it is likely you will be paying most of that cost on your own. However, if your student wants to attend a school that costs $50,000 per year it is likely your student's education will be heavily subsidized with financial aid. This is not a hard and fast rule. The number of dependents and the type of assets you own will also affect this calculation. It is just a quick way of giving you some perspective on receiving need-based aid. Families earning less than the median income are likely to receive aid at most any college or university.When you look at the schools your student wants to attend, how does your student measure up with the typical entering class? If your student's class rank and SAT or ACT scores put them in the top 25% of the entering class, it is likely the school will be providing your student with not only need-based aid but some of the merit money as well. Colleges subsidize the brightest students. This of course means the dream of your student attending an Ivy League school may not come to fruition. You have to be realistic about your student's chances of receiving aid.Are you willing to let your student attend a school in another state? Colleges and universities are increasingly looking for geographic diversity in their student body. I tell parents, especially at private schools, the further away you live from a school the more likely it is that you will receive a better aid package. A student from Massachusetts is less likely to receive a great aid package at Boston College than a student from California. So many students from Massachusetts want to attend Boston College. So few students from California want to attend Boston College. The law of supply and demand also works for financial aid.Does your student have special nonacademic talents? If your student has athletic or musical talents a school often has a bit of money to attract theses talents. On the athletic front your student is more likely to get a bit of extra money if they play lacrosse, rugby, or gymnastics than if they play the two big sports football or basketball. This is especially true for women. Title IX requires a school to provide as many scholarships for women's sports as are provided to men's sports. To offer money to all those male football and basketball players they have to offer the same number of scholarships to women. If your student is a talented musician, to receive some merit money, they may have to agree to play in the marching band on Saturday. If it helps pay for their education they can live through it.With the complexity of the financial aid process there is really only one guarantee. If you do not apply for aid you will not receive any aid. Families earning up to $250,000 should go ahead and fill out the financial aid applications. Even though your family contribution may end up being higher than the cost of attending, it indicates to the financial aid officers that you are interested in some of the school's money. These financial aid officers just might take a second look at your student and decide that they are deserving of a little help. Even if it is only a few thousand dollars, over four years, that can add up to a lot of money.Timothy R. Wall is a partner in the group Independent Financial Aid Advisors (IFAA, LLC) which works with families to develop strategies for achieving the best financial aid packages for their students who want to attend college. The company provides a free resource guide at http://www.achievecollegeaid.com. You may contact Tim at trwall@achievecollegeaid.com.Visit to - http://fafsa-studentaid-ed-gov.blogspot.com/

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Pell Grant For Moms - A Vehicle For Achieving a Mother's Dream

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Via the efforts of the federal government numerous moms will now have the opportunity to return to college and end a school diploma. A Stimulus Strategy which provides moms the quantity of $ten,000 a yr in the type of academic grant will assist deliver 1000's of moms back again to college.

The best barrier why moms have a tendency to stop pursuing their dream of an schooling is simply because of lack of funds. Moms these days have two or 3 work opportunities just to help their households and make ends meet generating it not possible for them to carry on their education and learning.

With the support of the Federal Pell Grant, moms can attain that dream of a much better existence. The grant will assist moms throughout the nation to finance the expenditures in obtaining a school diploma. With introduction of on-line schooling program moms are no lengthier confronted with the issue of quitting their careers or leaving their children at house. They can now research and complete their schooling in the comforts of their personal residing rooms.

On the web finding out applications are provided by various schools and universities in the United States. Moms can verify their preferred instructional establishments if they are providing the technique by just going to their sites or just by seeking in the diverse search engines.

The Pell Grant is a motor vehicle which will assist hundreds of lives. Mothers could now have the career they need and at the identical time provide their little ones and people with greater dwelling problems. Not like pupil loans, Federal grants desire not be repaid. So a mother will end her school diploma with no currently being indebted.

Utilize for the grant right now for a much better daily life tomorrow!

Freedom of Speech doesn't give people the right to be A-holes

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Today, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled 8-1 in favor of Westboro Baptist Church. Saying that the First Amendment gives this church the right to protest at soldiers’ funerals. The SCOTUS ruling also reversed a five million dollar judgment given to the father of Matthew Snyder, a marine whose death was protested by the church members.

I am all for the first amendment, it is a right that many other people in the world don’t have. In the United States no one is going to stop us if we say something bad about the president or the legislature or anything about the government. The press is allowed to report what ever the news is, the government does not control them. There are talk radio shows geared directly to either conservatives or liberals that tailor their coverage to what their audience wants to hear.

The first amendment should not extend to protesting a soldier’s funeral. I am very liberal in my political beliefs, I think that George W. Bush was an idiot and we had no right to invade Iraq or Afghanistan. However, it is a tragedy when ever any soldier dies and while our beliefs might not be similar I would never insult them or their families by holding up a sign saying that their loved one is in hell because the US is tolerant of homosexuals.

Which is precisely what the members of Westboro claim, that the terrorist attacks of 9/11 the casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan are all due to the US’ tolerance of homosexuals. They claim that God is mad at this country for being tolerant of another person’s way of life. Black, White, Latino, Asian, Indian, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, Wiccan, Straight or Gay regardless of classification we are all human.

The freedom of speech might protect their right to believe and say what ever they want, but their so-called beliefs should stop them from judging another and damning them to hell. I might not be a super religious person, but what I remember from the bible is “Love thy neighbor, as I have loved you”. I have already had this fight with the super religious and I know that you can find a quote in the bible saying how being gay is a sin. I also know if you look in the bible you can find quotes that defend racism that demean women and every subject in between.

The bible was never meant to be the only absolute truth in the world. It is a road map if you are Christian that is influenced and expanded upon by preachers. This is the 21st century. You would think that we would have stopped being scared of things we didn’t understand a long time ago. And yet it is groups like Westboro and others of that ilk that hold us back.
Whether are beliefs are similar or different can we at least agree to be decent to one another. I know it’s a new and terrifying idea to accept people as they are, but how about we give it a try. Let tolerance and reasonableness dictate our actions instead of crazy antiquated beliefs.