ASME Petroleum Division donates $1.25 million to University of Houston

Public release date: 7-Dec-2011
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Contact: Laura Tolley
ljtolley@uh.edu
713-743-0778
University of Houston

UH will use the money to establish an endowed chair in subsea engineering and to help fund a petroleum technology program

The Petroleum Division of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) is donating $1.25 million to the University of Houston to support engineering initiatives at the school.

A $1 million gift will be used to establish the ASME Petroleum Division Endowed Chair in Subsea Engineering in the UH Cullen College of Engineering. The endowed chair provides an opportunity for UH to recruit a world-class leader in subsea engineering who can broaden course offerings, spearhead new research and increase community outreach efforts.

An additional $250,000 donation to the College of Technology extends the life of their Petroleum Technology Initiative and will be used to help fund such operating expenses as adjunct faculty support, scholarships, facilities, equipment, software and outreach programs.

"We are proud to support the University of Houston as it broadens and strengthens these two important energy-related initiatives," said ASME Petroleum Division Chair Gary Harrison.

"The ongoing development of a subsea engineering curriculum demonstrates UH's recognition of the critical role of offshore and deepwater engineering for the energy industry," Harrison said. "Additionally, the Petroleum Technology Initiative has generated strong interest and support from our group and major energy companies in the area."

"Educating the future workforce is the paramount mission of ASME and the Petroleum Division. Engineering Technology degree plans are designed to have experiential learning as the educational backbone, and the program at UH is one of the best in the country," Harrison said.

UH has identified energy as a key strategic focus for faculty research and teaching. The subsea engineering program is the latest effort by UH to support the area's vital energy sector, and the College of Technology's Petroleum Initiative is an ongoing industry-coordinated, workforce directive designed to complement current programs.

Matthew Franchek, chairman of the UH department of mechanical engineering and director of the subsea program, said the ASME Petroleum Division's generous gifts mark a major step forward for the program as well as UH's mission to become "the energy university.

"To date, UH has the only subsea engineering program in the country. This endowment will enable UH seek a rainmaker in subsea engineering who will educate students and make discoveries that promote safe and reliable subsea oil and gas production," Franchek said.

Earlier this year, UH started the subsea program in response to the oil industry's need for these skilled engineers, who are responsible for the design and maintenance of the equipment, tools and infrastructure used in the underwater phase of offshore oil and gas exploration and production.

Courses in the UH program are taught by recognized experts in the industry. Subsea engineering typically has not been considered a distinct discipline in the U.S., but a number of universities aboard offer degree programs in the field.

The program's curriculum advances the science and engineering of subsea oil and gas production systems, with participants gaining a solid, diverse knowledge base in subsea engineering as well as an understanding of the best practices and the state and federal regulations governing them.

"There are incredible challenges in designing and operating equipment in the extreme conditions presented by subsea environments," said Joseph W. Tedesco, dean of the Cullen College of Engineering. "Our location in the 'Energy Capital of the World' provides us ongoing opportunities to draw upon the vast knowledge and experience of the petroleum industry in Houston and, specifically, the subsea engineering sectors."

UH's Petroleum Technology Initiative focuses primarily on using industry retirees, as well as Houston-area facilities and personnel, to teach and/or mentor students. This initiative has generated strong interest and support from major energy companies and organizations such as ASME.

"A gift at this level undoubtedly validates the need for the petroleum initiative," said William E. Fitzgibbon, dean of the College of Technology. "Our vision is to create a critical mass in energy research and become a leader in energy workforce training; and, this initiative offers outstanding advantages for us to prepare engineering technology students for the future."

###

ASME is a not-for-profit, global organization dedicated to promoting the art, science and practice of mechanical engineering. The ASME-Petroleum Division provides mechanical engineers, students and others working in the oil and gas industry with the opportunity to participate in technical workshops, conferences another professional and social activities, while fostering the continued growth of engineering education and the promotion of mechanical engineering as a career choice.

About the University of Houston

The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 39,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 7-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Laura Tolley
ljtolley@uh.edu
713-743-0778
University of Houston

UH will use the money to establish an endowed chair in subsea engineering and to help fund a petroleum technology program

The Petroleum Division of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) is donating $1.25 million to the University of Houston to support engineering initiatives at the school.

A $1 million gift will be used to establish the ASME Petroleum Division Endowed Chair in Subsea Engineering in the UH Cullen College of Engineering. The endowed chair provides an opportunity for UH to recruit a world-class leader in subsea engineering who can broaden course offerings, spearhead new research and increase community outreach efforts.

An additional $250,000 donation to the College of Technology extends the life of their Petroleum Technology Initiative and will be used to help fund such operating expenses as adjunct faculty support, scholarships, facilities, equipment, software and outreach programs.

"We are proud to support the University of Houston as it broadens and strengthens these two important energy-related initiatives," said ASME Petroleum Division Chair Gary Harrison.

"The ongoing development of a subsea engineering curriculum demonstrates UH's recognition of the critical role of offshore and deepwater engineering for the energy industry," Harrison said. "Additionally, the Petroleum Technology Initiative has generated strong interest and support from our group and major energy companies in the area."

"Educating the future workforce is the paramount mission of ASME and the Petroleum Division. Engineering Technology degree plans are designed to have experiential learning as the educational backbone, and the program at UH is one of the best in the country," Harrison said.

UH has identified energy as a key strategic focus for faculty research and teaching. The subsea engineering program is the latest effort by UH to support the area's vital energy sector, and the College of Technology's Petroleum Initiative is an ongoing industry-coordinated, workforce directive designed to complement current programs.

Matthew Franchek, chairman of the UH department of mechanical engineering and director of the subsea program, said the ASME Petroleum Division's generous gifts mark a major step forward for the program as well as UH's mission to become "the energy university.

"To date, UH has the only subsea engineering program in the country. This endowment will enable UH seek a rainmaker in subsea engineering who will educate students and make discoveries that promote safe and reliable subsea oil and gas production," Franchek said.

Earlier this year, UH started the subsea program in response to the oil industry's need for these skilled engineers, who are responsible for the design and maintenance of the equipment, tools and infrastructure used in the underwater phase of offshore oil and gas exploration and production.

Courses in the UH program are taught by recognized experts in the industry. Subsea engineering typically has not been considered a distinct discipline in the U.S., but a number of universities aboard offer degree programs in the field.

The program's curriculum advances the science and engineering of subsea oil and gas production systems, with participants gaining a solid, diverse knowledge base in subsea engineering as well as an understanding of the best practices and the state and federal regulations governing them.

"There are incredible challenges in designing and operating equipment in the extreme conditions presented by subsea environments," said Joseph W. Tedesco, dean of the Cullen College of Engineering. "Our location in the 'Energy Capital of the World' provides us ongoing opportunities to draw upon the vast knowledge and experience of the petroleum industry in Houston and, specifically, the subsea engineering sectors."

UH's Petroleum Technology Initiative focuses primarily on using industry retirees, as well as Houston-area facilities and personnel, to teach and/or mentor students. This initiative has generated strong interest and support from major energy companies and organizations such as ASME.

"A gift at this level undoubtedly validates the need for the petroleum initiative," said William E. Fitzgibbon, dean of the College of Technology. "Our vision is to create a critical mass in energy research and become a leader in energy workforce training; and, this initiative offers outstanding advantages for us to prepare engineering technology students for the future."

###

ASME is a not-for-profit, global organization dedicated to promoting the art, science and practice of mechanical engineering. The ASME-Petroleum Division provides mechanical engineers, students and others working in the oil and gas industry with the opportunity to participate in technical workshops, conferences another professional and social activities, while fostering the continued growth of engineering education and the promotion of mechanical engineering as a career choice.

About the University of Houston

The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation's best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 39,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/uoh-apd120711.php

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What Silicon-Based Life Might Be Like

What's funny about attempts to visualize other types of life forms is, we tend to visualize those life forms in our own environmental terms. That is, we tend to assume some basic atmospheric conditions, pressure ranges, and temperature ranges. We "assume" certain basic conditions that resemble our own conditions.

Silicone? How about we break the cycle by trying to visualize silicone under hundreds of thousands of tons of pressure, and thousands of degrees, with and atmosphere of ammonia? Or, alternatively, in a vacuum at tens of thousands of degrees? Partial pressure atmospheres at near 0 degrees kelvin?

Of course, the question arises then, how and why are mankind interacting with such creatures under such conditions?

Of course, I was enamored with the idea of "living rock" as I child. Some story I read mentioned it, and I had the idea that some rock was really alive. Of course, it isn't - or IS IT?!?!? Nothing says that we are smart enough to recognize alien life when we see it. Geologic time and man's time are so different, that we might not even recognize that a rock actually breathes, or moves, or reproduces. Again, let's step outside our own familiar conditions. Assuming that time might be entirely different for some other life form in conditions that are inimical to us, why would we hang around long enough to collect the data necessary to determine that this or that rock really is alive?

I certainly don't have any answers about the existence of life outside our own experience. But, it amuses me to see the almost idiotic assumptions that people make when considering and debating the possibility. ?It?s life, but not as we know it? How about the possibility that a face to face meeting with another life form might be fatal to one or both of the participants in the meeting? His environment is a poisonous atmosphere (to me) and my own body radiating heat might be fatal to him!

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/X58YLqBaN0c/what-silicon-based-life-might-be-like

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McCready didn't have OK to hide at house

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.?? By the time authorities took country singer Mindy McCready's 5-year-old son from her and into custody on Friday evening, one thing had already become apparent: her life has come to resemble a bad country song.

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Since her emergence in the mid-1990s as a honey-voiced success story out of Nashville, McCready has been increasingly known for her personal troubles instead of her music.

This week's custody battle, where McCready took her son from his Florida home, was the latest in her brushes with the law.

Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman Terri Durdaller wrote in an email Saturday that her agency was working with Arkansas state officials to bring McCready's son, Zander, back to his legal guardian, McCready's mother.

Officials say the boy is safe and in good health after he and McCready were found in a bedroom closet of an unoccupied Arkansas home.

"Zander is in Arkansas and we continue to arrange his swift arrival back to Florida," Durdaller wrote.

In Arkansas, Cleburne County Sheriff Marty Moss said Saturday that McCready didn't have permission to be in the unoccupied summer home where she was found Friday evening with her son. Authorities continue to investigate, he said.

The sheriff's office said in a news release Saturday that McCready had been a visitor to the area. Authorities located her after receiving a report of "possible occupants in a summer home that was supposed to be unoccupied," the news release said.

Moss told The Associated Press on Saturday that he doesn't expect that McCready will face any charges for being at the unoccupied home.

Gayle Inge, McCready's mother, was tearful Friday night.

"I'm real excited that he's safe," she said. "But I can't explain what this is like. We feel for Mindy and we feel for Zander."

Inge said that her son ? McCready's half-brother ? texted McCready, who responded with a text that said her mother would never see her again.

"I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her that I love her," Inge said.

McCready, who turned 36 on Wednesday, did not respond to emails Friday and Saturday.

Authorities say McCready took the boy during a visit late last month to her father's Florida home, where she was allowed to visit the boy. McCready's parents are divorced.

A Florida judge signed an order Thursday telling authorities to take the boy into custody and return him. It's not yet clear whether the singer could face criminal charges.

McCready said earlier in the week that she would not bring her son back from Tennessee, where she has a home, despite violating the custody arrangement. She told the AP that her son had suffered abuse at her mother's house, a claim that Inge vehemently denies.

"I'm doing all this to protect Zander, not stay out of trouble," McCready wrote in an email to the AP on Thursday. "I don't think I should be in trouble for protecting my son in the first place."

McCready told the AP Wednesday night she was in Tennessee and couldn't travel because she is seven months pregnant with twins.

McCready and her mother have had a long custody battle over the boy.

McCready found fame in the mid-1990s when she moved to Nashville at the age of 18, armed with only her karaoke tapes. Her first album, "Ten Thousand Angels," sold two million copies.

Her next four albums weren't as successful. Her personal troubles began encroaching on her professional success. According to her website, she suffers from severe depression.

In August, she filed a libel suit against her mother and the National Enquirer's parent company, American Media Inc., over a story published in the tabloid newspaper that quoted Inge.

And in 2008, McCready was admitted to a hospital after police said she cut her wrists and took several pills in a suicide attempt.

___

Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45522690/ns/today-entertainment/

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UN official to AP: pledges to cut CO2 will go on (AP)

DURBAN, South Africa ? The top U.N. climate official said Saturday she is confident industrial countries will renew their pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions after their current commitments expire next year.

Further commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an unshakable demand by poor countries, would avert a feared derailment of U.N. negotiations, but would mark little advancement toward the goal of a rapid and steep drop in worldwide carbon emissions blamed for climate change.

The protocol's future has been in doubt because rich countries have conditioned its continuation on an agreement by nations such as China, India, Brazil and South Africa to also accept binding emissions targets for themselves in the future.

"Countries are here these two weeks exactly talking about how they are going to go into a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol," U.N. official Christiana Figueres told The Associated Press.

"The discussion this week is not about the 'if,' it's about the 'how.' That doesn't mean that we are out of the thick of it," she said. Delegates are discussing participation, the legal form of the rules and all of the conditions that will define the second commitment period, she said.

Figueres, who is executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, spoke to AP to mark the halfway point of the two-week meeting in South Africa's eastern city of Durban.

Conference chairmen were also compiling the first draft of an agreement that will be given to government ministers arriving next week for the final four days of talks. Among them are 12 heads of state or government and ministers from more than 130 nations.

Outside the conference hall, several thousand activists, South African village women, and trade union members paraded through this port city for a march billed as a "global day of protest."

"It's all about our future. It's calling for a sustainable future. We've got to act and we've actually got to act urgently, so that we put this planet back onto a sustainable path," said Bishop Jeff Davies, Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute. "At the moment, we are destroying our very life support systems."

Figueres said that talks were in "good shape" in preparation for the more senior delegates.

One reason for an uptick in optimism may be a signal from China that it will in the future set absolute caps on its emissions, perhaps as early as 2020. Until now, China has spoken of emissions controls purely in terms of energy intensity, or the amount of energy it uses per unit of economic production.

The signal from Beijing came from Xu Huaqing, a senior researcher for China's Energy Research Institute, who was quoted Friday in the semiofficial China Daily. His remarks were confirmed privately by one of China's top climate negotiators, Su Wei, on the sidelines of the talks in South Africa.

China is the world's largest emitter of heat-trapping greenhouse gas and a main foil of industrial countries in the U.N. negotiations. Virtually every statement, even semiofficial comments, is parsed by delegates seeking departures from its public positions.

"It's part and parcel of a growing realization that all countries can contribute to the solution, that every one of them has to do it, of course, according to their respective capabilities," Figures said.

The 27 members of the European Union provide the bulk of those countries falling under Kyoto's targets. In return for signing up to another round of pledges, the EU wants all major polluters to agree to a legally binding regime for everyone to be negotiated by 2015.

The United States refused to join the Kyoto regime, which it said unfairly exempted major developing countries from any emissions constraints.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_sc/af_climate_conference

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Augmented Sound Gaming With Dimensions ? 148Apps ? iPhone ...

Making everyday life a game.

Technology is improving in in leaps and bounds. It?s an immensely exciting time to be alive. Just a glance at the growing prevelance of Augmented Reality games aptly demonstrates that. How about a game that relies on augmented sound though? Now, that?s a bit different.

Dimensions looks extremely interesting in that respect. It uses augmented sound to turn the world into a game. Designed to be played in parallel with normal life, the game manipulates and enhances sound nearby changing the things we hear as a matter of course over the day. Players enter and exit different dimensions within the game as they go about their life. Missions can then be completed by collecting artifacts and fighting enemies.

It?s a pretty fascinating concept and with music from Inception composer Hans Zimmer, Dimensions looks all the more compelling.

Dimensions is set for release sometime this month. We?ll be sure to keep an eye on its development. For now, check out the video below that explains a bit more.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Posted in: Blog, Upcoming

Tagged with: augmented reality, Augmented Sound, Dimensions, Gaming, Inception, Music

Source: http://www.148apps.com/news/augmented-sound-gaming-dimensions/

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Facebook to open engineering office in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) ? Facebook will open an engineering center in New York City early next year, its first such office outside the West Coast, the social network giant announced Friday.

Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg joined elected officials for the announcement at Facebook's existing New York office on Madison Avenue. Sandberg would not say how many people Facebook would hire in New York, only that the company plans to add "thousands" worldwide in coming years.

Sandberg said the company will stay in its current location at Bank of America Plaza for the time being. The building overlooks Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan.

"Both New York and Facebook share this kind of energy that's really hard to describe, and both make you feel like you're part of something bigger than yourself," said Serkan Piantino, who will head up the engineering unit.

Facebook's New York office currently focuses on advertising sales and employs about 100 people. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company has about 3,000 employees; its engineers are based in Palo Alto and Seattle.

After arriving at Facebook's office, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York's U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer wrote messages in magic marker on a wall, the real-world equivalent of Facebook's "Wall" messaging area.

"Facebook loves New York," the senator wrote.

Schumer said the city has been striving to bring in computer engineering jobs.

"We have turned the corner," Schumer said. "New York is pleased to call Facebook a friend."

Bloomberg said West Coast tech companies "are finding that New York is the place they need to be."

The two politicians toured Facebook's 17th floor office, where dozens of young employees worked around long tables. Like the offices of other tech companies, it featured snack bars stocked with pizza and other free food. Conference rooms were named after gadgets seen in infomercials, like the Thighmaster Room, the Flowbee Room and the Shake Weight Room.

Facebook joins Google Inc. and a trove of smaller tech startups with offices in New York City. Among them are Foursquare, the blogging service Tumblr, as well as the online marketplace Etsy and Meetup, which lets people organize offline meetings online.

But "Silicon Alley," as it is sometimes dubbed, has not attracted the hordes of engineers that Silicon Valley has and New York startups sometimes struggle to find qualified candidates for these jobs. Facebook, though, could change that.

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter, who follows social networking companies, said Facebook's reason for opening an engineering office in the city might have to do with wanting to be close to New York industries like finance or music. It's certainly not an economic decision ? Facebook will have to pay its New York workers for the city's high cost of living.

However, payroll shouldn't be a problem for the world's largest online social network. The company is flush with cash and could fetch as much as $10 billion in an initial public offering next year.

Facebook's move to expand its presence mirrors that of Google, which opened an office in New York to tap into Manhattan's advertising, media and finance industries.

Google's office is in a former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey building that takes up an entire city block. The building has one of the biggest footprints in the city, and Google workers use children's scooters to get around.

Google has tried to recreate the free-wheeling feel of its California headquarters with ping pong tables, free food and a "Lego room."

The Facebook engineering office will be led by Piantino, who previously managed the team behind Facebook's News Feed and built the infrastructure behind Timeline.

___

Associated Press Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-02-Facebook-NYC/id-6a90942c337f4c7d869bcd70ba1ee862

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Former Wisconsin governor Thompson launches Senate run (Reuters)

MADISON, Wis (Reuters) ? Former Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson officially launched his campaign on Thursday for the Senate seat being vacated by four-term Democratic Senator Herb Kohl.

Thompson, a Republican, served four terms as governor and then as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the George W. Bush administration. He joins a field for the Senate seat that currently includes Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, and Republican Mark Neumann, a former congressman.

Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, a Republican, is also vying for the seat. Fitzgerald was instrumental in passing controversial collective bargaining reform legislation in the state earlier this year.

Kohl, who has served since 1989, announced his retirement in May. Democrats in 2010 lost a long-time Senate seat held by the party when former Wisconsin Democratic Senator Russ Feingold was beaten by Republican challenger Ron Johnson. Feingold has decided not to run for any office in 2012.

Wisconsin is expected to be a major battleground in 2012, when Democratic President Barack Obama runs for reelection. If Republicans gain three seats in the 2012 Senate elections, the party could take over majority control of the upper chamber.

In announcing his candidacy, Thompson pledged to roll back big government regulations, implement free market solutions and create new jobs, according to his Web site.

"Our great nation is struggling with stubborn unemployment, record home foreclosures, business bankruptcies and failed leadership in Washington," he said in an open letter to his supporters.

"I refuse to stand on the sidelines and let our children and grandchildren inherit a diminished nation that is less prosperous, less competitive and less free," he added.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Mike Tate responded to the announcement by labeling Thompson as a "flip-flopping politician who will say whatever, whenever to whomever to get elected."

Tate took specific aim at Thompson's position on Obama's health care reform, which he promises to repeal if elected.

"Time and again, he defended the president and the common sense approach that eventually was enacted," Tate said in a conference call.

"Now, in the face of attacks from Tea Party Republicans like Mark Neumann and Scott Walker's political machine, Thompson makes the ridiculous claim that he never supported the president and now wants the repeal of the very health care reform that he championed," he added.

(Writing and reporting by Brendan O'Brien; Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/pl_nm/us_usa_politics_wisconsin_senate

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Chris Weigant: Friday Talking Points -- Fine With Me! (Huffington post)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/169263131?client_source=feed&format=rss

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S.Africa: 1st class graduates from Winfrey school

HENLEY-ON-KLIP, South Africa (AP) ? Mpumi Nobiva was raised by her grandmother in a neighborhood beset by poverty and crime after her mother died of AIDS. Now one of the first to graduate from Oprah Winfrey's school, she is headed to college in North Carolina.

Winfrey spent $40 million to give her girls a campus with computer and science labs, a library and a wellness center. None paid tuition. The students are high-achievers, often from communities where schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid.

And as the South African school year nears its end, all 72 members of the school's first graduating class have been accepted to universities in South Africa or the United States. More than a dozen have received full scholarships.

Winfrey told her students that when you teach a girl, you teach a nation.

"The first class, my class, will prove that," said Nobiva, 18, who will study visual and performing arts at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Winfrey will be at the school for graduation ceremonies in January, school officials said Wednesday as students gathered to reflect on their experiences over the last five years.

The school that has drawn sometimes harsh attention because of the celebrity who founded it, and also because of early problems.

Students have been accused of being spoiled. Allegations that a woman employed to care for the girls in their dormitory had instead abused teens were the subject of headlines around the world. The woman was acquitted last year.

Earlier this year, a newborn born to a student at the school was found dead, again drawing international attention.

"Yes, we've had bad coverage," Nobiva said. "But it has certainly made us stronger."

Winfrey, who has visited her school often, has instilled a sense of purpose. On Wednesday, Nobiva's classmates ? aspiring doctors, accountants, engineers and lawyers ? spoke of their plans to serve their communities.

"You can imagine the impact of girls with that insight going out into the universe," Nobiva said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-11-30-AF-South-Africa-Winfrey's-Girls/id-86506d0275e44cd496c372a8309708cd

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H&R Block 2Q loss widens; RSM McGladrey sale done (AP)

NEW YORK ? H&R Block Inc. on Thursday said its fiscal second-quarter loss widened by 30 percent including charges for closing its ExpressTax business and other items.

The nation's largest tax preparer reported a loss of $141.7 million, or 47 cents per share for the three months ended Oct. 31. That compared with 36 cents per share a year earlier.

Excluding the ExpressTax charges and losses from discontinued operations, H&R Block said it lost 38 cents per share.

Analysts expected an adjusted loss of 35 cents per share, on average, according to data provided by FactSet.

Kansas City, Mo.-based Block earlier announced it was selling its RSM McGladrey consulting unit and said the sale closed Wednesday.

The earnings shortfall reflects the shift of RSM revenue to discontinued operations, but Block typically posts a second-quarter loss because most of its revenue comes during the U.S. tax season.

Growth in its Australian tax business helped the quarter's revenue rise 8 percent to $129.2 million, from $119.6 million last year.

Analysts were expecting revenue of $328.9 million for the quarter, but that included revenue from the company's RSM McGladrey business consulting unit.

Block moved its accounting for RSM to discontinued operations after the sale closed. Last year, RSM McGladrey took in revenue of $203.4 million in the fiscal second quarter.

Block's discontinued subprime mortgage unit, formerly called OptionOne but renamed Sand Canyon Corp., set aside $20 million to cover claims from investors who purchased securities backed by mortgages that have since failed.

The number of claims received during the second quarter spiked to $483 million from $21 million a year ago. Sand Canyon reviewed $61 million in claims during the quarter, resulting in incurred losses of $3 million.

While the incurred losses remained in line with prior quarters, the company received more than three times as many claims during the second quarter as it had in the previous four combined. Block CEO Bill Cobb said the increased reserve was "prudent in light of second-quarter activity" and maintained that the unit is financially strong enough to handle all valid claims.

Wall Street has fretted over the potential for big claims payouts, however, fearing Block would have to kick in cash to support Sand Canyon if losses exceed reserves.

The issue has weighed on the stock for some time but didn't ignite concern after hours Thursday.

Block shares lost 26 cents in the late session after ending regular trading up 33 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $16.06.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_h_r_block

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