Student Life | The Harms of Synthetic Drugs

Student Life | Facebook’s IPO

Academics | Lounges of Love

Entertainment | Best of Apps of 2012

Entertainment | On the Horizon

Entertainment | Showzam

College Prep | College Dorm Must-Haves

College Prep | Financial Aid

College Prep | AIB Spotlight

1063 14th StreetDes Moines, IA 50314PH: 515.283.1933FAX: 515.283.1646isceditor@iowasportsconnection.com

VOLUME SEVEN | ISSUE SIX

MIKE RICKORD | Presidentmrickord@iowasportsconnection.com

JOHN STREETS | Business Consultantjstreets@iowasportsconnection.com

LISA PRINGLE| Sales Representativelpringle@iowasportsconnection.com

TIM WEIDEMAN | Editor

ETHAN CLEVENGER | Staff Writer

ADAM OESTREICH | Art Director

It’s summer! Classes are over, no more teachers, no more homework and the best part is: you can do whatever you want. Well, almost whatever. As long as you plan on being safe, smart and responsible, go ahead, do whatever. This is your summer! If you’re one of the lucky seniors who graduated this past May, then this means you’ll likely want to make this summer one to remember. You and your friends might be going off to college—most likely ones that are separated by many miles—so that means this is the last summer you’ll have to spend with your friends before you make the leap to college life. Watch out! It goes by quicker than it took Rebecca Black’s “Friday” to become a YouTube sensation. Don’t fret, though. While your high school years were some of the most worry-free you’ll ever have in your life, most of the time, they’re not the most fun. College is going to be a blast. It’s where you’ll make the most impactful memories. That said, it’s still a fine idea to try and make this final summer of your high school life one to remember. Now, if you’re not one of the lucky seniors who gets to bolt for greener pastures then it stinks to be you. No, I’m just joking. Enjoy however many years of high school you have left. Like I said above, they are the most worry-free years you’ll ever have in your life. These graduating seniors pretty much have to start over. They’ll be living on their own, making new friends and navigating a totally new city or town. College can be scary. Enjoy not having to pay college fees or rent for a new apartment. Enjoy having your parents cook for you. Most importantly, enjoy the time with your best friends. When it’s time for you guys to split up, you’ll be even more thankful for the times you shared together. Yes, you’ll still see them from time to time and you’ll stay in contact with them on Facebook, but it won’t quite be the same. So take what you’ve got right now and enjoy it. Whether you’re a graduated senior or an incoming freshman, the summer has something exciting in store for you. There are so many things you can do with your friends and family (and no homework!). But before diving off to get your summer time fun underway, let’s take a look at our year in review. For the seniors, you can appreciate the fond memories of prom, dance competitions, music competitions, jazz festivals and all those fun things that for most of us only happen in high school. For the underclassmen, take a look at all the great things you can look forward to for a couple more years. For you, too, it only gets better from here. Finally, thank you to everyone who has helped put High School Assembly together. In the past year, we’ve made significant strides in the quality of content found in both the digital magazine and on our website, highschoolassembly.com. I’d specifically like to thank Ethan Clevenger for his hard work put into this magazine and website. Without him, this publication would not have improved as much as it did. Next year, we’re hoping to focus on our strengths even more, while we continue to grow and offer you, the high school student, a magazine that covers the things you care about and want to learn more about. We hope to expand our current partnerships to make sure that every high school student in Iowa has the ability to have their voice heard. Once again, thank you so much to all those who have made this possible.

Thanks,

Tim Weideman

A Year to RememberBy TIM WEIDEMAN - EDITOR

Table of Contents

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Student

While the crackdown on marijuana may have its benefits, many young people are suffering from the side effects of eliminating that market. In a world where marijuana is illegal, it hasn’t taken long for some entrepreneurs to get smart and start making synthetic pot and other drugs. These sorts of drugs are sold as bath salts and incense, marked not for human consumption. However, many young people aren’t concerned with those warning labels and have taken to smoking the stuff to get high. Brands like “Pure Evil” are flooding the market – and putting youth in hospitals.

Marijuana, for as adamant as some people are to get rid of it, is relatively harmless compared to other drugs out there. Being organic, Native Americans have smoked it for years. Its hallucinogenic properties certainly aren’t conducive behind the wheel of the car, and many people abuse it, letting it get in the way of their day-to-day lives. But these new synthetic look-alikes aren’t just

going to get you high. They are landing lots of high school-aged kids in hospitals after becoming unresponsive and suffering seizures. These synthetic drugs contain all sorts of chemicals that are often even

hard to label, let alone determine their potential effects. Laws banning the sale of such substances are currently working their way through Congress, but many believe that this won’t help.

Excuse me for another Batman metaphor, but in “The Dark Knight”, Alfred advises Bruce Wayne: “You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation. And in their desperation, they turned to a man they didn’t fully understand.” In the same way, dealers without marijuana as an option have turned to chemicals they don’t fully understand, and putting a label on and banning these chemicals and products will simply lead them to more dangerous territory. One response to this predicament, and one that has often been suggested for marijuana, is for government regulation instead of a flat ban. This regulation would keep such products out of the hands of young people and in establishments where its use can be observed and limited. Until then, we at High School Assembly urge our readers to avoid such products. Just like you wouldn’t take candy from a guy in a white van, you should avoid synthetic drugs laced with questionable chemicals with somewhat unpredictable results.

Ethan ClevengerStaff Writer

The Harms of Synthetic Drugs

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Facebook recently filed for its Initial Public Offering, but what does this mean? Time to find out. Facebook has been a privately owned company for quite some time. This means that anyone with equity (ownership) is a direct investor, founder or employee. Facebook’s IPO will make it a publically owned company on the stock market. What? The stock market is a place where people buy and sell stock. Stock is ownership in a public company. This means that anyone can buy stock from a company and is therefore part owner. That means you can show up to shareholders’ meetings and such. For example, the Green Bay Packers are the only publically-owned team in the NFL. That means that anyone can buy stock in Green Bay and show up to such meetings. Most companies are set up in such a way that the original private

owners retain a majority of the public stock so that they are the active owners. If you’ll remember in the film “Batman Begins”, Wayne Enterprises went public and Bruce Wayne bought up a majority of the stock to spite the acting owner. If you didn’t get it, go watch it again, because it’s funny.Stock prices change based on the success of a company. If a company is bombing and its net worth is dropping, people want to sell off the stock – its losing value. Similarly, if the company is on the upswing, people want to buy the stock and then sell it again when it has appreciated. It’s a bit of a gamble, certainly. So what does this mean for a company? For something as big as Facebook, it means a ton of people are going to buy stock, and since Facebook is very successful, the stock will be very expensive. The IPO is expected to have a value around $100 billion. Who wins? People who already retain a huge part of the company. Mark Zuckerberg currently owns a 28% stake in the company, so that

will be worth $28 billion. He could sell it all, day one, and probably get about that much money out of it. He won’t, of course. He likely expects the value to go up and would like to continue running his own company. Interestingly enough, however, Zuckerberg has announced that his salary will drop from $500,000 to $1 in January 2013 – after the IPO – per his request. Compared to $28 billion, it’s not much, but it remains a bold statement. Aside from other large investors, cofounder Eduardo Saverin will be looking at about $5 billion. Sean Parker (founder of Napster and founding president of Facebook) will have stock worth $4 billion, and the 3200 employees at Facebook have a combined share of 30% - $30 billion.For you, this doesn’t mean much. Facebook will be mostly the same with the current staffing retaining ownership. However, if you’re 18 and interested, you could even buy some stock in Facebook. Sell it before the bubble bursts and you could make a few dollars yourself.

Ethan ClevengerStaff Writer

Facebook’s IPO

Volume 7 Issue 6 5 Visit us on the web @ www.highschoolassembly.com

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AcaNew library offers lounges of love

A short time before the school year began, the Franklin Avenue Library reopened its doors at its original loca-tion at 5000 Franklin Avenue. Now that school is in session, students can use the new library for studying. There are many new features at the library that students can use to help them with school. With more comput-ers and laptop plug-ins, there is more than books to help ease the burden of studying. Senior Indira Sheumaker started off volunteering at the library, and now works there. She hasn’t yet had a chance to, but she plans on using the library’s resources to help her with school. Shuemaker enjoys the new color scheme and ambience, but it’s not all fun and games. “When it’s busy, it’s hell,” she said. A few of Shuemaker’s jobs are sort-ing books, re-shelving them, doing shelf checks to make sure books are in order, keeping the library clean, and

occasionally closing. Despite all that, she loves working there. Another person who loves work-ing at Franklin is the branch manager, Kathy Bognanni. Part of her job is se-lecting a portion of the books, movies and CDs that the library purchases. There are many new opportuni-ties for teens to get involved with the library. The Teen Advisory Board is a group that meets and discussed (sic) topics like how to improve the library to benefit students. The new study rooms were a suggestion from them. With the new energy-saving move-ment, the library has also decided to go green. “The library’s trying to set an ex-ample for the community,” Bognanni said. Franklin is trying to currently achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum certification. The highest achievement. This is the first Des Moines Public Li-brary building that is LEED registered. Along with the new energy efficien-cy, the library has also stepped up their technology. New online databases are available to the public now. One of the databases is a site that

has practice ACT and SAT tests for stu-dents to prepare themselves. The tests are free and anyone can access them. In addition if students need help with homework or understanding con-cepts, the library offers online tutoring. The library pays for certain hours so that students can get free help. The tutoring is interactive and helps by going through the process of get-ting an answer instead of just spitting out an answer. It can ever (sic) read over paragraphs and critique them for a student’s essay. With at least twenty different links on their website to help out students, the library keeps up with the growing influence of the Internet for the public. New times calls for new technology. “One good thing about libraries is that they do really try to grow with the time,” Bognanni said. Franklin has modified itself to keep up with chang-ing technology; acquiring new books, new technology, and new energy ef-ficient policies; all for the benefit of the public.

Molly RiordanDes Moines Hoover

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Call - 515.327.1500

Drive Tek. The Drive in Driver Education.

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There are now well over 250,000 apps available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and, surprisingly, many of the best are free. The following list showcases our pick of the 50 best free iPhone apps, and includes iPhone applications for social networking, travel, news, photography, productivity and more. If your top free iPhone apps aren’t covered, tell us all about them in the comments.

1. FacebookOnce an ugly duckling, but now - as of version 3 - a social-network-aware swan, Facebook is a triumph. The revised grid-based ‘home screens’ provide speedy access to regularly visited sections (news feed, notifications, and so on) and pages, and the experience is such that it in many ways beats the browser version.

2. GorillacamPretty much from nowhere, Gorillacam arrived in December 2009 from the creators of the Gorillapod tripods. It mashes together a slew of features to

hugely improve an iPhone’s camera (timer, multi-shot, spirit-level, on-screen grid, ‘press anywhere’ capture), meaning you can bin a half-dozen standalone apps that offer similar things.

3. RunKeeperThe prospect of Nike+ but better and for free might sound unlikely, but that’s what RunKeeper provides. Previously split into ‘pro’ and ‘free’ versions, the developer now generously includes all the features in one free app.

That means you can spend no money, yet use your iPhone’s GPS capabilities to track your jogging and cycling routes, and examine mapping and details of your pace and calories burned. Activities can be shared online, and treadmill runs and other exercise details can be entered manually.

4. StanzaKindle’s grabbed many ‘electronic book’ headlines, but an iPhone or iPod touch is a perfectly competent alternative - at least if you have the right app to hand. Stanza enables you to download books from various sources (many of which offer free titles), and you can transfer your own ePub, PDF or eReader titles from the free Stanza Desktop.

5. DropboxPlenty of apps exist for transferring content between your computer and your device, but Dropbox is free and easier to use than most of its contemporaries. Dump files you want to sync in a folder on your computer and Dropbox for your device will enable you to access them, download them for offline viewing, and, in many cases, view them.

6. thetrainlineFor anyone commuting by train, thetrainline is the free app to beat all

Craig GrannellTechRadar.com

Top 50 Best Free iPhone Apps of 2012

Volume 7 Issue 6 5 Visit us on the web @ www.highschoolassembly.com

Enterothers. Journey planning, offline results, timetables and a location-aware ‘next train home’ option are available via a clean, streamlined interface. The app’s not quite as good as National Rail Enquiries, but it is very similar - and five quid cheaper.

7. SkypeIt’s imperfect and annoyingly lacks push notifications, but Skype is still an essential download. The interface is pleasingly simple and usable, enabling anyone with a Skype account to make free calls to other Skype users and cheap calls to anywhere in the world. If you’re on Pay and Go, this is particularly handy, but the app also enables iPod touch users to utilise their devices for calls.

coverage.

11. Twitter (formerly Tweetie)Tweetie was the iPhone Twitter client that other iPhone Twitter clients wanted to be. Its combination of polished interface, plentiful options and multi-account support meant everyone loved it - apart from cheapskates, because Tweetie wasn’t free. Now, however, it is, because Twitter bought it, rebranded it as Twitter, and set fire to the price tag.

12. ComicsIn all honesty, Comics is a little awkward compared to using it on an iPad, but you won’t find a better comics experience on an iPhone. The app is free, as are dozens of downloadable comics - and once you run out of those, many more are available to buy. Reading works on a frame-by-frame automated ‘zoom’ basis, and is surprisingly usable.

For the complete list of all 50 free apps, visit TechRadar.com, or CLICK HERE

8. MoviesAlthough some aspects of cinema listings app Movies are disappointingly US-centric (notably regarding details on upcoming movies and DVDs), it succeeds where it matters. Select a film and the app figures out where you’re located,

lists nearby cinemas, and displays times your chosen film is showing. Efficiency can be further increased by pinning favourite cinemas to the top of the list.

9. TonePadVirtual pianos and guitars are all very well, but purely digital musical toys are more suited to Apple handhelds. TonePad is the best of them, using a grid-based interface that enables you to turn notes on and off and compose pleasing and harmonious loops; your creations can be edited, saved and uploaded to share with other users.

10. Thomson Reuters News ProThere are many free news apps, but Reuters News Pro offers a breadth of coverage that

makes it a winner. Preferences enable you to tailor the app’s output to the UK, and the toolbar provides swift access to news, pictures, videos and stock markets

12 Volume 7 Issue 6 Visit us on the web @ www.highschoolassembly.com Visit us on the web @ www.highschoolassembly.com

Go to highschoolassembly.com, visit us on Facebook or follow us @TheHSAssembly for more details.

Sign up to be your High School’s correspondent, to help us feature your school’s activities in our online digital magazine and website, for a chance to get scholarship money for college.

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Ethan ClevengerStaff Writer

2012: On the Horizon

Check out some of these big game releases set to hit this year:

Mass Effect 3Out March 6, Mass Effect 3 will wrap up the sto-ryline of Commander Shepard and his Normandy crew as they take the fight to the alien race of Reapers. If you haven’t been keeping up with the series, pick up 1 and 2 on Xbox before the big re-lease. If you’re a Playstation person, you only get to experience 2, but you’ll get the idea. This is a can’t miss. I rarely pickup games on release date, but this is one everyone should be on. A new multiplayer mode should make things interesting as well. Early demos are promising.

I Am AliveThis downloadable releases March 7 on Xbox Live Arcade, with a spring release pending for Sony Entertainment Network. Ubisoft has been working on this one for a while and finally decided on a download-only release. Your character traverses a post-apocalyptic world with a huge focus on a realistic experience. Ammo is limited and the human body is under heavy stress. Climbing a ladder too fast may even result in running out of breath and falling to your death.

Kid Icarus: UprisingNintendo is bringing back Pit and the Kid Icarus series for release on 3DS March 23. If you aren’t aware, Pit is a young angelic figure with a bow and arrow and wings saving the world from Me-dusa. There’s not a lot to say about this one, as is

Colossus. The focus will be on the main protago-nist, a young boy and a griffin-like creature called Trico. This game will likely be focused on feel and art, as is common with Team Ico games. If you haven’t played the previous two titles, grab the HD collection for a real treat.

The Last of UsNot much is known on this title from Naughty Dog other than it revolves around a man and a young girl in a post-apocalyptic setting in which a virus has infected most of humanity, turning them hostile. We can only expect great things from the Uncharted developers.

Luigi’s Mansion 2Luigi is headlining again, tackling more haunted houses. This 3DS title will be a lot like its Game-cube predecessor, so no surprises here. The big gimmick is that it’s in 3D.

South Park: The GameThis is the first South Park game developed with the help of Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the cre-ative minds behind the South Park series. Devel-oper Bethesda will bring its RPG skills to Colorado while also mimicking the torn-paper art style. Factions will be based on favorite TV show groups like the crab people, goths and vampires, while classes are derived from classic RPG favorites with an added twist of the “Jew” class.

Tomb RaiderCrystal Dynamics is rebooting Tomb Raider. A younger and more modest Lara Croft, abandon-ing the Angelina Jolie prototype, will be the focus as we experience the events that shaped who she is. Croft is shipwrecked on an island and must endure until she can find a way off. The game is expected to be grittier than older titles, but main-tain the adventure and puzzle solving aspects.

often the case with Nintendo titles, other than it will be interesting to see how the series holds up with its last title releasing in 1991.

Max Payne 3Rockstar last let Max Payne loose with two titles on PS2. He’s coming back to PS3 and Xbox 360. Max Payne tried to get out of the hitman lifestyle, but is being wrapped back in. This third-person shooter focuses on run-and-gun tactics among some other gimmicks like ‘bullet time’, which have worked well for the series in the past. Look for it May 15 on consoles and May 29 on PC.

Borderlands 2The first Borderlands was outrageous in every way – from the opening Cage the Elephant sequence to the cartoony art-style to the plethora of guns available from its unique weapon-generating system. Borderlands 2 tosses a new class into this action-RPG, and will otherwise probably be very similar to the game that critics raved about. It released September 18 on consoles and PC.

Bioshock InfiniteKen Levine has decided to leave Rapture behind and has instead taken the Bioshock series to the sky-world of Columbia. The story follows protagonist Booker and a young woman named Elizabeth who has been held captive in this city for twelve years. Get ready for underlying socio-political themes and much more than meets the eye, as is to be expected from Levine, an English major. This title will likely be released sometime post-August.

The Last GuardianDesigner and director Fumito Ueda recently left Sony Entertainment, but has assured audiences that he is still working on The Last Guardian – spiritual successor to Ico and Shadow of the

Visit us on the web @ www.highschoolassembly.com Volume 7 Issue 6 11

Showzam!Ethan ClevengerStaff Writer

Johnston High School held its 17th annual Showzam Show Choir Competition on Saturday Jan 21. The competition features some of the best high school show choirs from around the midwest. Here are the results*, and be sure to flip to the center spread to see more pictures from the big day.

Johnston Showzam 2012FINALS

1st Place Studio - Urbandale High SchoolGrand ChampionBest Vocals, Best Band, Best Male Vocalist

2nd PlaceVisual Adrenaline - Ankeny High SchoolFirst Runner UpBest Choreography, Best Female Vocalist

3rd Place Perpetual Motion - Ankeny High SchoolSecond Runner Up

4th PlaceExpress - Lincoln East High SchoolThird Runner Up

5th PlaceVitality - Urbandale High SchoolFourth Runner Up

6th Place Side One - Indianola High SchoolFifth Runner Up

PREP DIVISION

1st PlacePerpetual Motion - Ankeny High SchoolGrand Champion

2nd Place Vitality - Urbandale High SchoolFirst Runner Up

3rd PlaceIntensity - Ankeny High SchoolSecond Runner Up

4th PlaceElegance - Lincoln East High SchoolThird Runner Up

*Results compiled via showchoir.com

Johnston Innovation

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The leading cause of death in young Iowans, aged 16-20, is fatal car crashes. The Iowa Department of Public Safety-Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau

(GTSB) is focused on helping deter one of Iowa's and the nation's bleakest statistic: Nationwide, a total of 58,000 drivers ages 16-20 were involved in fatal crashes; crashes which took the lives of 6,400 individuals. Additionally, in 2009,

41 young people ages 15-20 were killed in Iowa fatal crashes.

Several factors contribute to these unfortunate statistics:

Distracted Driving - Texting While Driving - Alcohol UseDistracted Driving - Texting While Driving - Alcohol UseSpeeding - No Seatbelts - Inexperience

12 Volume 7 Issue 6 Visit us on the web @ www.highschoolassembly.com

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College PrepMust-Have Items for the Average Dorm

Ethan ClevengerStaff Writer

As the school year winds down, we at High School Assembly would like to take a moment to focus on the graduating seniors.

First, congratulation on this big step in your life!

Second, best of luck on your future in college.

However, imagine you get to col-lege. After you get your feet set, you decide you need to get a job. Pulling your one shirt out of your closet, you find it to be wrinkly. But you don’t have an iron, and home is more than three hours away.

That’s why we’ve compiled a useful list of the obvious and not-so-obvious things you need to make sure are packed before heading off to college.

Iron and Ironing BoardNothing says ill-prepared col-lege student at a job interview like wrinkled clothes. Bring these two items and you’ll never be caught unawares.

home. Warm it up a bit with some posters. You can get them for dirt cheap on Amazon, and there are a lot of cool ones out there regardless of your taste. From Pulp Fiction to Van Gough, nothing says home away from home like a poster.

Plates, Bowls, and UtensilsDining hall food will get old fast. Trust me.

Other Odds & EndsMicrowaverefrigeratorFutonClothesTowelsIbuprofen/TylenolExtra sheetsTelevisionRadioPrinterLaptop

Be sure to get in contact with your roommate early so that you can decide who is bringing what on the big items. They can be expensive and a pain to load up, so splitting the hassle and expense is really the only way to go.

Bathroom Flip-FlopsWhile this may not occur to you right off the bat, you’re now sharing a bathroom with everyone else on your floor. For many of us, walking bare-foot in that bathroom and standing barefoot in the shower everyone else is showering in sounds kind of gross. So bring flip-flops if you’re that kind of person.

Water BottleWalking down the hall to fill up a cup every once in a while can be a hassle. Instead, bring a water bottle, fill it up, and then put it in your fridge. The water is always cold, you can save it and you don’t have to fill up nearly as often.

SpeakersIf you don’t have a media system like a Playstation or Xbox that can stream Netflix (and someone will get Netflix if they don’t have it already), you’ll probably want to play it through a laptop. Laptop speakers are hardly sufficient when everyone stuffs in a room to watch a movie, so pick up a set of external speakers so everyone can enjoy.

PostersLet’s face it, dorms can be drab. Col-lege is sometimes a long way from

NUTRITION

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14 Volume 7 Issue 6 Visit us on the web @ www.highschoolassembly.com

Saturday, July 28 8:00am - 2:00pm

Free school and sports physicals good for the 2012-2013 school year!

As the college application season is coming to a close for seniors, the big decision is right around the corner. Unfortunately, this decision can be fraught with talk of where one can actually afford to go. In today’s economy, financial aid for college is a valuable asset, so here are some tips and tricks to getting the most out of it. First off, when it comes to financial aid from the school, you need to know that whatever you’re offered isn’t set in stone. Especially if you’re receiving aid for a particular talent, it isn’t too hard to get a little more money out of them. Make friends with your admission counselor, and tell he or she what you’re getting offered from other schools (or fib a bit). If another school is

(supposedly) offering you more money for your talent and this school really wants you, they’ll often up their offer to get you to reconsider. One might not think that schools are adamant about the students they select, but especially at private schools, it’s very possible you beat out several other candidates, and that happened for a reason. Schools want to fill their roster with the best, and if that means offering some more money, so be it. Use this to your advantage - you’re an asset. Next off, don’t skip on third party donations. There are lots of great websites out there that have a wealth of scholarship there for the taking. The competition can be stiff, but if you have the time on your hands, there is no excuse for scouring the web and applying for everything you can get your hands on it, especially if it’ll make or break your college decision.

Scholarships.com, fastweb.com, fastaid.com, and petersons.com/finaid are just a few websites compiling this free money for you to work for. And finally, the government gives out financial aid as well. Pell grants are essentially free money, so make sure you’ve applied for these. Second-most important are subsidized loans. These loans won’t actually accrue interest until you begin paying them off when you graduate. That doesn’t mean you can’t start paying early - it just means that the interest will stay away for a while. Believe it or not, that extra tacked onto the initial value can be crushing. If it comes to it, that leaves unsubsidized loans. These are expensive since they start charging interest as soon as they’re granted, but they get the job done. Long story short - make the most out of the free money.

Ethan ClevengerStaff Writer

What You Need to Know About Financial Aid

College Prep

College

Rodney J. Brown and Jane Schorer Meisner

AIB Public Relationss

What a concept: Get a bachelor’s degree in three years

Pullout: The attraction of a three-year degree to students is this: By eliminating the fourth year, graduates start bringing home paychecks much sooner. They’re earning salaries while their peers are still paying tuition or amassing student loans. Here’s the latest college news flash: While average tuition costs across the country jumped as much as 7.9 percent at public universities across the country in 2010-2011, some U.S. colleges are successfully tempering the trend of rising education costs by offering three-year bachelor’s degree programs. In fact, the nonprofit AIB College of Business in Des Moines provides a proven working model for proponents of three-year bachelor’s degree programs, which are the norm in Europe and some other countries – and it’s slicing costs of the degree almost in half. “Our college has always been innovative and nimble in the sense that we can accommodate change quickly,” says Nancy Williams, president of 91-year-old AIB, which quietly implemented its “Degree in 3” program five years ago. “We introduced the bachelor’s degree program thinking that students would earn associate degrees, get full-time jobs (perhaps with tuition-reimbursement benefits for furthering their education), then take classes on a part-time basis to complete their bachelor’s degrees. But we discovered the students preferred to continue their studies full-time, completing

AIB is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools [30 N. LaSalle, St., Suite 2400, Chicago, IL; phone (800) 621-7440]. Critics point out that year-round classes prohibit students from working summer jobs to earn tuition money. But AIB strategically designed a work-friendly daytime schedule with no regular Friday classes, plus numerous evening classes and online courses so students can maintain part-time jobs. To minimize student and instructor burn-out, the school schedules one- to two-week breaks between each term and during the December holiday season. Support for three-year bachelor’s degrees may be growing. At a 2009 meeting of the American Council on Education, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) challenged schools to save money for recession-stricken families by creating three-year bachelor degrees programs, and he continues his campaign. He wants students to minimize the size of their education loans and get a year’s head start on their lifetime income. Last spring, Gov. John Kasich of Ohio also took up the cause, ordering state schools to prepare “pathways” to three-year programs. Ohio’s push follows legislation in Rhode Island that instituted three-year degrees in its state schools. Tuition shock still may strike each time the bill arrives for a new term of classes. But shaving an entire year’s cost off the total expense of college and propelling students into the workforce sooner can offer a very effective antidote.

the bachelor’s degree in three years.” The attraction of a three-year degree to students is this: By eliminating the fourth year, graduates start bringing home paychecks much sooner. They’re earning salaries while their peers are still paying tuition or amassing student loans. AIB’s bachelor’s degree can be attained in 11 terms – just less than three years – for a total tuition cost of $50,600 for students starting Fall 2012. According to data compiled by the Iowa College Student Aid Commission for the 2010-2011 academic year, the average annual cost for tuition and fees at Iowa’s other private, nonprofit colleges was $23,988. Disregarding any intervening tuition hikes that may have occurred, that still totals $95,952 for eight

semesters over four years. This more-affordable bottom line has not gone unnoticed. The most recent statistics released by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) listed the net tuition cost of the Bachelor of Science degree program at AIB as the lowest of all private colleges in Iowa, and as one of the lowest of all private, four-year colleges in the United States. In its early years, AIB was well-known for providing quality

training in a variety of business skills. It evolved to junior college status in the 1950s, awarding associate degrees long before such programs became popular across America with the creation of community colleges. AIB now offers associate degrees in a variety of majors. Full-time students can graduate with an associate’s degree in 21 months, then re-enroll to spend 12 more months earning a bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Business Administration.

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HOW MANY?How many empty seats in the class room does it take to change your mind?How many empty seats at graduation does it take to change your behavior?How many times do you have to grieve the loss of a friend, classmate or relative?

You’ve heard it all before: the leading cause of death in young Iowans is fatal car crashes. But did you know that many of these teens were speeding or using alcohol or driving distracted and not buckled up?

Start being a leader now and set the example- Buckle up, Drive the Speed Limit, Don’t Drink & Drive and Don’t Text while Driving!

You have the power to save your life and the lives of others:

Identify traffic safety problems & thereon,develop & implement traffic safety programsdesigned to reduce death & injury on Iowa’sstreets and highways through partnerships withlocal, county, state and private sector agencies.

Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau www.iowagtsb.org

IOWA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY