Fallen School Children, Reverse Boom?

02-03-2010 17:35   Falling Schoolchildren Numbers

Time to Take Revolutionary Steps to Raise the Birthrate Many baby boomers will never forget the jam-packed classrooms of their elementary schools. In the late 1960s and the early 1970s, each classroom was overcrowded with as many as 100 children. Schools even employed a three-shift system to force students to take turns for morning, noon and afternoon classes. In those happy old days, schoolchildren often wondered if their teachers could remember all the names of the many attendants.  The classroom overcrowding was caused by a failure to build more schools to meet the soaring growth in births. But this problem has already become history for the baby-boomer generation. Now, the government and educational authorities are ever more worried about the opposite ― empty classrooms amid the decreasing number of schoolchildren. The lack of schoolchildren began to emerge in the late 1990s. This time, it is the sinking birthrate that makes schoolchildren scarcer and scarcer. Currently, 30 or less students on average attend each classroom in primary schools in Seoul and major cities across the country. The problem is more serious with schools in rural areas where young people have left for cities. Many schools in farming and fishing villages have been shut down, while only small numbers maintain two or three classrooms. Even some open only one classroom that is mixed with less than 10 pupils ranging from first to sixth graders. Such a phenomenon is also spreading to many urban areas. In the southeastern industrial city of Ulsan where Hyundai Motor, the nation's largest automaker, operates assembly lines, 16 of 110 primary schools reported enrollments of less than 100 students for this school year. Some are even considering closing their operations. The city said the total number of newly enrolled first graders plummeted 40 percent to 11,210 this year from a decade before.

 Read the whole article:

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2010/02/137_60223.html

Return to previous page Chicago Tribune's 2009 pictures of the year

Kites festival (Tribune photo by Abel Uribe / May 2, 2009) Parents and their children enjoy the sight of a giant kite, while visiting the Annual Kids and Kites Festival at Montrose Harbor. Bolt out of the blue (Tribune photo by Scott Strazzante / May 13, 2009) A lightning bolt pierces through a cloud northeast of Wrigley Field during the Cubs-Padres game in May. One with the garden (Tribune photo by Bill Hogan / September 8, 2009) A stunning Carrie Seacrist stands at her front door pretending she is part of her flower garden during a photo shoot for the Special Spring Sunday Magazine. Acrophobic's nightmare (Tribune photo by José M. Osorio / July 1, 2009) Anna Kane, 5, of Alton, Ill., top, Sophie Allaway, 4, of Glen Ellyn, Ill. (in pink top) and Grace Kane, of Alton, Ill. stare down at the city from The Ledge, a glass enclosure suspended on the outside of the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower. Night at the Joffrey (Tribune photo by Phil Velasquez / November 2, 2009) Young dancers train at the Joffrey School on State Street, next to the Chicago Theatre.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-091222-year-in-pictures-2009-pictures,0,3573658.photogallery

Road Trips To So Cal

Idyllwild, California

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Idyllwild
California deserts

Distance: 109 miles one-way
Cost for roundtrip gas: $28.89

What happens if, two-thirds of the way to a Palm Springs weekend, somebody grabs control of your family's vehicle, veers hard to the right, follows the cliff-clinging goat path known as California 243, then roars into the pines looking for a soft meadow between granite peaks?

Idyllwild is what happens. Arriving from Los Angeles, you first climb to the largely residential community of Pine Cove, then descend to about 5,300 feet, where you see half a dozen blocks of shops, restaurants and art and craft galleries, all surrounded by trees, rocks, scattered vacation cabins, the odd A-frame and the odder geodesic dome. The year-round population is about 3,500.

Read more: Find simpler times in Idyllwild's peaceful San Jacinto mountain retreat

Little Petroglyph Canyon

(Manuel Nunez)

Little Petroglyph Canyon
California deserts

Distance: 177 miles one-way
Cost for roundtrip gas: $46.91

No one knows for sure who decorated Little Petroglyph Canyon with images out of a dreamscape, some thought to be more than 10,000 years old. Or why the basalt walls of a narrow wash in the bone-dry Coso Mountains at the northern edge of the Mojave became a magic canvas for flocks of bighorn sheep, hunters with bows and arrows poised and more. But the area is probably the richest Amerindian rock-art site in the hemisphere. To see the canyon, you must contact the Navy base or join a tour offered by Maturango Museum. It's a rough 40-mile drive to the trail head, followed by a hike and a scramble along the canyon. Visits only in spring and fall.

Info: Maturango Museum, 100 E. Las Flores Ave., Ridgecrest, CA 93555; (760) 375-6900, www.maturango.org. Private tours through the Naval Air Weapons Station, (760) 939-1683.

-- Susan Spano

Hurkey Creek Park

(Jordan Rane)

Hurkey Creek Park
California deserts

Distance: 113 miles one-way
Cost for roundtrip gas: $29.95



Hurkey Creek Park has more than 100 sites (plus five large group sites) with picnic tables, fire pits, restroom and shower facilities, and a two-vehicle/six-person limit per site. Large RVs and trailers are permitted, but there are no hook-ups. Sites cost $20 per night. Reserve with Riverside County Parks between April and October. The campground is also open for day use ($2 per adult, $1 per 12-and-under) from dawn to dusk.

Riverside County Parks, (800) 234-7275, www.riversidecountyparks.org

-- Jordan Rane

Read more: Hurkey Creek Park: cold, empty and so refreshing

'

Shields Date Gardens

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Shields Date Gardens
California deserts

Distance: 128 miles one-way
Cost for roundtrip gas: $33.92

This spot has delicious date shakes and free screenings of that California blockbuster "The Romance and Sex Life of the Date." (760) 347-7768, www.shieldsdategarden.com.

Borrego Palm Canyon

(Annie Wells / Los Angeles Times)

Borrego Palm Canyon
California deserts

Distance: 152 miles one-way
Cost for roundtrip gas: $40.28

Borrego doesn't get the attention that desert areas farther north do, but it's the biggest state park in California. Borrego Palm Canyon (a three-mile hike, round-trip) is a testament to the violence of desert life -- it lost about 80% of its palms in a 2004 flood -- and it's the park's star hike. Also a good place for spotting bighorn sheep. (760) 767-5311,
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=638.

Hidden Valley, Joshua Tree
HIDDEN VALLEY Joshua Tree National Park
(Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times)
Hidden Valley, Joshua Tree
California deserts



MORE ROAD TRIPS AND PHOTOS ON LA TIMES.COM

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-trw-caroadtrip-pg,0,5191255.photogallery

Biosphere 2's Second Chapter: Climate Change

Updated: 1 hour 18 minutes ago

Over the past 15 years, experiments conducted at Biosphere 2 by researchers from Columbia University and the University of Arizona have helped shape scientific understanding of how climate change will affect the planet. The story of the facility's evolution, however, is as entertaining as it is surprising.

Great Hopes

Biosphere 2 was built by Space Biospheres Ventures in the late 1980s at a cost of $200 million. The project was heralded around the world as the experiment that would eventually lead to the colonization of other planets. The concept was to create a sustainable ecosystem entirely sealed off from the outside world.

Lonely Planet/ZUMApress.com

No longer a sealed-off environment, Biosphere 2 now offers guided tours.

Inside 7.2 million cubic feet of sealed glass, several artificial environments were created, from desert to rain forest to a coral reef. Spanning 3.14 acres -- the size of several football fields -- the scale of the facility, which is about 25 north of Tucson, was unprecedented.

http://www.sphere.com/article/biosphere-2-regains-scientific-respect/19312078

Thailand on the Map

World's Best

Thailand On The Map

Thailand on the map

Thinking about heading east for Christmas or the New Year? Rick Jordan rounds up the latest luxury options from north to south

Traveling guide from North To South In Thailand.

By Rick Jordan

http://www.cntraveller.com/Special_Features/Luxury_In_Thailand/

Bangkok Guide:
The cultural and commercial centre of Thailand.
http://www.cntraveller.com/Guides/Thailand/Bangkok/

Best Asian Spa:
http://www.cntraveller.com/Special_Features/Best_Asian_Spas/The_Baan_Thai_Wellness_Retreat/

Conde Nast Readers Name the Best Places to Go, Where to Stay, and How to Get There

Conde Nast Readers Name the Best Places to Go, Where to Stay, and How to Get There

By Libby Zay

October 20, 2009

Conducted since 1988, Conde Nast Traveler magazine's Readers' Choice Awards is one of the most esteemed in the industry. Over 25,000 travelers were polled this year, each ranking the best-of-the-best when it comes to places to go, where to stay, and how to get there.



Here is the partial list:

Top 20 Scores
01. (Resort) Four Seasons Tented Camp Golden Triangle, Chiang Rai, 98.9
02. (Hotel) Peninsula House, Dominican Republic, 98.6
03. (Hotel) Blanket Bay, South Island, New Zealand, 98.3
04. (Hotel) La Scalinatella, Capri, 97.3
05. (Resort) King Pacific Lodge, British Columbia, 97.8
06. (Hotel) 21C Museum Hotel, Louisville, Kentucky, 97.2
06. (Hotel) La Colombe d'Or, St-Paul de Vence, France, 97.2
06. (Hotel) Oberoi Udaivilas, Rajasthan, 97.2
06. (Resort) Oberoi Vanyavilas, Rajasthan, 97.2
10. (Resort) Mombo And Little Mobo Camps, Botswana, 97.1
11. (Hotel) Il San Pietro Di Positano, Positano, 97
12. (Hotel) Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo, 96.8
13. (Hotel) The Peninsula, Hong Kong, 96.5
13. (Resort) Four Seasons Resort Bali at Sayan, Bali, 96.5
15. (Resort) One&Only Palmilla, Los Cabos, 96.4
16. (Hotel) Hotel Taschenbergpalais Kempinski Dresden, Dresden, 96.3
16. (Hotel) The Saxon, Johannesburg, 96.3
18. (Resort) Sandibe Safari Lodge, Botswana, 96.2
19. (Hotel) Grand Hotel A Villa Fel Trinell, Lake Garda, Italy, 96.1
19. (Hotel) Il Pellicano, Porto Ercole, Tuscany, 96.1

http://www.concierge.com/tools/travelawards/readerschoice/top100

The 10 Best Retiement Havens.

In Pictures: The 10 Best Retirement Havens
By Richard C. Morais

Austria
© Inti St. Clair/Getty Images

Austria

Elegant architecture, classical music, trams that run. Vienna offers the highest quality of life on the globe, according to Mercer, and medical insurers say its private clinics are world-class. Salzburg, Graz and Kitzbühel and surrounding hamlets have much to offer those who love mountains and the outdoors. Look at Austria as a lower-cost Switzerland.

Downside: no Mediterranean-style love of life. Icy reserve.


#2
Thailand

Warmly welcoming of retirees and ideal for seniors on modest budgets, Thailand has everything from bungalows on Phuket's blue lagoons to urban living in bustling Bangkok. Considered Asia's best buy for quality health care at reasonable costs. But the good private hospitals are in Bangkok, so make sure your retreat on the water is within three hours of the capital.

Downside: unpredictable politics.


http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/15/ten-best-retirement-havens-personal-finance-retire-abroad_slide_2.html?partner=yahoo

World Most Beautiful Sunset. #2

Rudy Maxa, TV personality, travel journalist: Ban Talae Nok, Thailand
© Rudy Maxa


Rudy Maxa, TV personality, travel journalist: Ban Talae Nok, Thailand

Beautiful sunsets aren't just about the sun. Surroundings, and even local history, add to the experience. Rudy Maxa recalls a recent visit to Ban Talae Nok, Thailand, a small community that lost more than 200 villagers in the 2004 tsunami, including 16 schoolchildren who were playing near the beach. Today, a new school stands out of harm's way high on a hill. And every evening at sunset, Maxa says, "a herd of wild water buffalo go down to the deserted beach and pause as if not sure they want to get their feet wet. Then, as the sun threatens to sink into the Andaman Sea, they step gingerly into the small waves and begin wallowing in neck-high water for about 15 minutes. It's one of the most unusual sunsets I've ever seen."

Rudy Maxa is host and executive producer of Rudy Maxa's World, which airs on Travel Channel International.

http://www.forbestraveler.com/best-lists/sunsets-slide-2.html?thisSpeed=25000

World 25th Sexiest Beach 2009

Phang Nga Bay, Phuket, Thailand

Thailand runs the gamut in terms of sexiness: There’s everything from romantic seclusion to all-night barely clothed partying. No one can argue with the beauty of the stunningly scenic Phang Nga Bay, where giant limestone formations spike dramatically out of the jade waters. National Park protection has guarded the area against creeping over-development.

SEE ALSO: The World's Best Cruises, Period

http://www.forbestraveler.com/islands-beaches/sexiest-beaches-world-2009-slide-20.html?thisSpeed=25000

507-Carat Rough Diamond Found

507-Carat Rough Diamond Found
by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) Sep 29th 2009 at 10:02PM

It looks like a chunk of clouded ice but the stone shown at right is a 507-carat rough diamond found at the Petra Diamonds Cullinan Mine in South Africa. The 507.55 carat stone is believed to be of exceptional color and clarity, and is most likely a Type II diamond. The rough was found as part of a run that also included a 168-carat piece of rough and two other stones of 58.5 and 53.3 carats. A lucky day indeed, the stone is one of the top 20 largest high-quality rough diamonds ever found making it incredibly rare.



The Cullinan Mine has yielded some of the world's great diamonds including the largest "gem-quality" stone ever recovered, the "Cullinan," 3,106 carats rough, and was the source for the Golden Jubilee, at 755 carats rough, and the Centenary, at 599 carats rough. Cullinan also produced the piece of rough that became the Taylor-Burton diamond, a stone that is 69 carats polished. The diamonds will be analyzed by a team of experts and then the long process of determining how to best cut them can begin.