Curious...

So, I don't know how many of you have heard about this, but it's amusing and interesting to me. A co-worker of mine mentioned a texting ringtone mostly audible only to people under 30. I wasn't sure whether to believe it or not, though I do get the whole "You don't hear as much as you get older" thing, and inaudible soundwaves and such. I did a bit of research, and apparently it was once used to repel teens from storefronts, but now the teens have reclaimed it for texting in class, basically. I can hear it (at nearly 25), and Dan (at 21) shouted "OW!" when I played it, but if I were teaching a class and it was turned a bit down and in someone's lap or pocket then I probably wouldn't even notice it going off.

This blog has samples of the ringtone and true sine waves--and what ages adults generally stop detecting them, as the ringtone is rather "dirty." I want to see if I can detect the true sine wave, but I don't want to bug Dan with it right now...lol
http://saunderslog.com/2006/06/12/the-mosquito-ring-tone-this-adult-can-hear-it/

The Kalamazoo Promise...

I was browsing restaurant sites and came across the one I most recently worked at (I was curious if it had been updated at all recently :-P). On it, the owner had put a news segment that I didn't realize existed...Katie Couric came to Kalamazoo and did a segment on what is commonly referred to around here as "The Promise" and came into existence in 2005. Now, I have a few comments on things said within the segment that I wanted to touch on here, but first I'll give you a short overview of what "The Promise" is. Keep in mind, I adore this city. There is a lot of good stuff inherent in the Promise, but you can't overlook the downfalls.

Basically, the "Kalamazoo Promise" is a promise to local families that their children will have affordable college educations. The amount varies depending on how long your child has been in the KPS system, but let's those of us who have been to college be honest--any free college money is a wonderful wonderful thing:
K-12 .......................100%
1-12 ........................95%
2-12 ........................95%
3-12 ........................95%
4-12 ........................90%
5-12 ........................85%
6-12 ........................80%
7-12 ........................75%
8-12 ........................70%
9-12 ........................65%

The Kalamazoo Promise website has a bunch of questions answered (if you live outside of the district, even if your kids attend school here, you don't qualify, if you attend a private school it doesn't count (Central Catholic HS, for one example, Kalamazoo Christian for another), if you attend a private college it isn't applicable, etc.). We have a handful of "donors" that are contributing roughly $12 million a year to the cause, and the segment is saying how widely attainable this could be, but there are a fair amount of things the segment doesn't cover about the city. It mentions how Kalamazoo was once reliant on the paper mill industry and that the factories are pretty much non-existant now, and this has led to severe economic depression. This is very true. The thing it fails to mention is the absurd number of extraordinarily wealthy families we have living here that contribute ridiculous (but wonderful) sums of money to the local arts scene and such. I would bet money that there is only a small handful of these families (the Gilmores, the Upjohns, the Strykers, please feel free to name more those of you who know more than I do about it) that contributed. Who would be willing to bet that the Gilmores make up at least half of the donation? If cities don't have similarly generous and wealthy families, I don't see how widespread it can be. That's really the one big "downfall" of the segment.

I do, however, see it as a brilliant economic chance for Kalamazoo. These kids, many who never even bothered with school because statistics were so against them going to college and having careers, were already dreaming the second it was announced and are now looking for ways that they can make it work andn give back to the community once they're finished. They have been given a gift the likes of which I can't even begin to imagine, and these kids who didn't give a damn before understand just how special it is and are determined to make the most of it. I really love it. I wish I could get my little cousin's family here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai4AwqBUmvw
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/stories/news/promise_17.html
http://www.mlive.com/news/kzgazette/index.ssf?/stories/news/promise_10.html

All the Gazette stories on "The Promise":
http://www.mlive.com/kzgazette/scholarship/