real estate: 2007

Monday, December 17, 2007

Bill would require all government services to be in English

COLUMBIA — The head of South Carolina's Senate has a message he wants to send to non-English speaking immigrants looking to use government services here: No hablamos espanol.
Sen. Glenn McConnell's proposal, among dozens of bills filed in anticipation of the coming legislative session, would require that all government paperwork and videos only use English.
"If you go in and fill out something, it's going to be in English," said McConnell, a Charleston Republican. "There's nothing unfair about it. They have to do what everybody else has done who's emigrated here — learn the language."
While McConnell says it wouldn't apply to foreign-language classes, it would prohibit students from receiving the same textbooks in both English and Spanish.
The bill would require all state agencies and local governments to "offer all services, publications, printed, audio, and video materials, and tests in an English-only format unless otherwise required by federal law or regulation."
Hispanic advocates say immigrants are trying to learn English, but can't do that overnight. In the meantime, they need to be able to communicate and understand what's going on, said Myriam Torres, director of the Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies at the University of South Carolina.
"To learn another language when you are an adult is not easy," she said. "Those who are not bilingual are very aware of their need to learn English."
Printing documents only in English won't help people learn the language, said Raul Gonzalez, legislative director for the Washington-based National Council of La Raza.
He called it discriminatory legislation that, if passed, would likely be challenged in the courts and end up costing taxpayers.
The latest Census estimate puts South Carolina's Hispanic and Latino population at roughly 130,000. But advocates say it's probably more than three times that number.
The proposal stems from a dispute over driver's license tests, which the state offers in German, French and Spanish.
McConnell warned the Department of Motor Vehicles last summer that if the agency didn't stop giving the tests in foreign languages, he would introduce legislation forcing it to do so. Disappointed that the practice continued, McConnell said he decided to expand the bill to all government.
"We shouldn't have to do this," McConnell said, citing a law passed in 1987 declaring English as the state's official language. "It's a shame we have to write laws for common sense."
The Motor Vehicles Department has thousands of driver's manuals in Spanish left over from a 2002 printing. The agency has said it has no plans to print more. But McConnell wants the agency to quit handing them out.
"If there's any place in our state where you need a common language, that would be on instruction on the highway," said Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau, who pre-filed a limited version of the bill that applies only to the Motor Vehicle Department.
An Alabama lawmaker is trying to put through a constitutional amendment in that state requiring driver's license tests only be given in English. The state currently gives tests in 14 different languages.
Melissa Savage, a policy analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures, said 45 states use multiple languages, although in some border and Western states the languages are just English and Spanish. Five states — New Hampshire, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming and Maine — are English only, she said.
The Legislature's only Hispanic member said that, while she didn't know enough about the proposals to comment specifically on them, she agrees immigrants must learn English.
"I'm very much in favor of, when you're in this country, you immerse in the language. It's very important to continue society the way it is," said Rep. Gloria Haskins, R-Greenville, who emigrated from Colombia with her family at 12 years old.
She said she knew just two English words when she arrived in America — words her brother taught her on the plane — but learned the language within six months. She had to, she said, because her new school offered nothing in Spanish.
"I've seen where you're really handicapped if you don't learn the language," she said.

"

Real Estate Designers offers totally innovative solutions for your software development, Internet programming, real estate web design and hosting needs. Our service includes domain name registration and real estate web design. Real Estate Designers provides the complete solution including design, application development and marketing.

source: aikenstandard.com

Firefighters in Charleston to earn more overtime pay

CHARLESTON — The city says it will institute a new pay structure to reward firefighters more for working overtime.
Firefighters had been earning less per hour when they worked overtime rather than more. City officials say the pay structure was the result of a lawsuit in the 1990s.
The change is in response to a panel's report on the department following a furniture store fire that claimed the lives of nine firefighters.
The higher pay — about $270 more per extra 24-hour shift — will help the city get more people agreeing to work overtime to provide needed staffing to put four firefighters on each truck.
The Charleston Firefighters Association had urged the city to pay an overtime rate of 1.5 times regular pay, but the city says it can't under an agreement that settled a 1997 lawsuit over firefighter wage claims.
The new incentive plan doesn't increase pay for the regular hours firefighters are scheduled to work, but does provide more pay for overtime.
"On average, you are getting more than you would get, over a three-shift period, than at time-and-a-half," said Steve Bedard, the city's chief financial officer.
The new pay policy was to take effect Saturday.
"We were hoping the city would pay actual time-and-a-half, the way most cities do," said Roger Yow, president of the Charleston Firefighters Association.
Yow, a retired city firefighter, said overtime shifts are rare, so the pay wasn't a big issue until this fall.
"In my 25 years, I think I was called back for overtime three times," Yow said.
Firefighters often agreed to work extra for compensatory time, but Yow said now some firefighters are owed as many as 18 days off.
The new incentive plan will do away with comp time for extra work, but firefighters will be able to trade as many as three accumulated comp days for cash.
The city has budgeted about $200,000 for overtime costs, Bedard said, adding that the need for overtime shifts will decrease as more firefighters are hired.

"

source: aikenstandard.com

Newspaper: Grade changes to bar exam benefited law school

COLUMBIA — South Carolina's newest law school may have benefited from the grading change on bar exams made earlier this year by the state Supreme Court.
The changed grades put Charleston School of Law closer to a 70 percent passing rate — a key measure used by the American Bar Association in accrediting law schools — according to a newspaper's analysis of the grades.
The Charleston school opened in 2004 and is operating under a provisional accreditation. The school is working toward full accreditation. One measure used by the ABA is how many of a school's students pass the bar exam.
Before the grades on this summer's exam were changed, Charleston's passing rate was 65.1 percent. After the change, it was 69.9 percent, The (Columbia) State newspaper reported Sunday.
Charleston Law School officials and Supreme Court justices say the school's passing rate had nothing to do with the grade changes.
"Nobody did anything for the Charleston School of Law," said Alex Sanders, a former Appeals Court judge and chairman of the law school. Sanders said the school knew nothing about the score changes until after it happened.
One improperly recorded score led the state Supreme Court to throw out an entire section of last summer's bar exam and change 20 grades from failing to passing. Those benefiting from the decision included the daughters of a lawmaker and judge.
"The state of the Charleston school had absolutely no impact on the decision we made," Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal told the newspaper. "Our decision was without any information on the identities of the examinees by way of their name or ... their school."
Eight of the 20 whose grades were changed were Charleston law school grads.
"The Charleston School of Law, from my personal view, didn't enter my mind," Supreme Court Justice Costa Pleicones said Friday. "It was probably the furthest thing from my mind."
Although the American Bar Association doesn't have a written required passage rate, a minimum 70 percent passage rate has been a "rule of thumb" used for years, said Bucky Askew, the ABA's consultant on legal education.
Askew said a below 70 percent passing rate would not necessarily keep a school from being accredited, but American Bar Association spokeswoman Nancy Slonim said last week the U.S. Education Department has been pushing the association to come up with a standard on passage rates.
A decision about the Charleston School of Law's full accreditation won't come until after the American Bar Association visits the school next fall.

"

Real Estate Designers offers totally innovative solutions for your software development, Internet programming,
real estate web design and hosting needs. Our service includes domain name
registration and real estate web design. Real Estate Designers provides the
complete solution including design, application development and marketing.

"

source: aikenstandard.com

Al-Zawahri Warns of Traitors in Iraq

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- Al-Qaida's No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri warned of "traitors" among insurgents in Iraq and called on Iraqi Sunni Arab tribes to purge those who help the Americans in a new videotape posted Monday on the Web.

Al-Zawahri's comments were aimed at undermining so-called "awakening councils" - the groups of Iraqi Sunni tribesmen that the U.S. military has backed to help fight al-Qaida in Iraq and its allies.

Some Sunni insurgent groups have fought alongside American forces, and the U.S. military has touted the councils as a major factor in reducing violence in war-torn regions like Iraq's Anbar province.

In the 90-minute video, al-Zawahri warned of the "presence of hypocrites and traitors among the ranks of the mujahedeen working and fighting for the Americans."

The mujahedeen "must throw out the bribe-taking collaborators from among their ranks, those who sold out their faith and fight under the banner of the cross. They must expose them to the Muslim world," al-Zawahri said. "Those who support the Americans are despicable scum," he said.

"The tribe or clan that does not cleanse itself of traitors and apostates will be remembered in history for generations as one of the collaborators and traitors," he warned. "But any clan or tribe that defends Islam and crushes traitors ... will be remembered in Arab history with pride and glory."

The video was made in the form of an interview of al-Zawahri by Al-Sahab, the media arm of al-Qaida. Al-Zawahri - wearing a white turban and robes - sat in front of shelves of Islamic theology and law books, answering questions from an unseen interviewer.

Earlier this month, the Islamic State of Iraq - the insurgent coalition in Iraq linked to al-Qaida - announced a new campaign against members of awakening groups.

The founder of the awakening movement, Abdul-Sattar Abu Risha, was killed in a bombing in September in Ramadi 10 days after meeting President Bush at a U.S. base in Anbar. Fifteen people were killed that same month when a suicide bomber struck a U.S.-sponsored reconciliation of Shiite and Sunni tribal sheiks.

At the same time as the awakening councils have arisen, the Islamic State of Iraq has faced disputes with other insurgent groups that continue to fight the Americans.

In an October message, al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden called on Iraqi insurgents to unite and said all groups - including al-Qaida in Iraq - should admit mistakes and resolve differences.

Al-Zawahri on Monday took a tougher stance, saying insurgents should focus on purging "traitors" rather than making accusations against the Islamic State of Iraq.

Al-Zawahri said the Americans have failed in Iraq and will withdraw soon.

"The American forces are defeated and looking for a way out. Their government is faced with an incredible popular demand to withdraw," he said, adding that the U.S. forces would abandon Iraqi troops "to their fate."

"No matter how much the gigantic propaganda machine in America tries to deceive the people, the reality is stronger and worse than all the deceptions," al-Zawahri said.

The U.S. general responsible for the ground campaign in Iraq said Sunday that violence in the country is at its lowest levels since the first year of the American invasion, which began in 2003.

Al-Zawahri also denounced predominantly Shiite Iran, accusing it of backing the U.S. occupation of Iraq because of Tehran's backing for the Shiite-led Baghdad government.

He criticized Iran's Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, saying the Shiite guerrilla group was more concerned with liberating Lebanese land than freeing the Palestinians from Israeli rule.

He called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas an American tool and accused him of "selling Palestine."

And he also criticized Egypt, saying it had become a "base for the crusader campaign against the mujahedeen."

source: hosted.ap.org

Clemson research creates companies, jobs

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Technologies created by researchers at Clemson University have led to a dozen new companies, which have created 50 new high-tech jobs.
Four of those companies started up last year — a record year for university technology spinoffs, according to a survey by the Association of University Technology Managers released last week.
The University of South Carolina had six startups last year and the Medical University of South Carolina had three, according to the report.
Universities are required to look for ways to commercialize inventions that resulted from federally funded research. "It benefits the university and the community at large," said Vincie Albritton, interim director for Clemson's Office of Technology Transfer and associate director of the Clemson University Research Foundation.
Albritton said Clemson has 84 active patents available for licensing and commercialization.
"The impact of technology transfer is not in mere numbers reflecting the activities of offices, but rather in the benefit to the public of almost 700 new products reaching the marketplace in 2006," Patrick L. Jones, president of the Association of University Technology Managers wrote in a survey summary.
Clemson's startups are mostly biomedical, software and advanced materials businesses that hire people with advanced degrees. Most of the new businesses are located along the Interstate 85 corridor.
"The economic development sector, the chambers and S.C. Launch make our job a little bit easier to transfer technology to companies such as these," Albritton said. "We can't do it without the community."
The transfer also provides income to the universities.
For example, the patent on the Clemson Hip, a replacement hip adhesive, produced $7.4 million in licensing income for the college's bioengineering department during the 20-year lifetime of the patent, Albritton said.
Last year, Clemson led the state's three research universities with $2.45 million in licensee income, according to the technology managers' association report. USC received $412,531 and MUSC received $596,367.

"