Graduating With More Than Just a Degree?

FT. LAUDERDALE, FL, Jun 02 (MARKET WIRE) —
It’s that time of year. Families gather, Pomp and Circumstance plays, and
graduates walk across the stage to receive their degrees. The elation
begins to fade as students receive their first student loan statement. A
New Horizon Credit Counseling Services, a well established non-profit
Credit Counseling company, offers tips for new grads dealing with debt.

These days students are graduating with more than just a degree; they’re
leaving college with an unprecedented level of debt. According to the
U.S. Department of Education, 65.6% of undergraduate students financed at
least part of their education with student loans. Furthermore, the
average student’s credit card balance is over $2,000, according to Nellie
Mae.

Attack Student Loans Systematically

Paying down debt is not the first thing on a graduate’s mind.
Fortunately, there are payment plans available which can make life
easier.

Recent graduates who are not quite making the six-figure salaries
promised by their career centers should consider the government’s Income
Based Repayment (IBR) Program. Under this program, students with
relatively low income can make payments that amount to only a percentage
of their disposable income.

Credit Card Crunch

Many students succumb to the allure of paying with credit. The books,
school supplies, groceries, and other incidentals add up fast.

Students often find themselves paying 27% interest on a pack of
highlighters they bought a few months ago. “Credit card debt grows
quickly and can be daunting for anyone. It’s even more intimidating for a
recent college graduate who is first building his or her life,” says
Steven Stark, Chief Operating Officer of A New Horizon Credit Counseling
Services. Stark comments that students should attempt to use their cards
only for emergencies. Students already dealing with mounting credit card
debt, however, can get assistance.

Enrolling in a credit counseling program with a recognized nonprofit
organization can dramatically reduce balances and interest rates,
according to Stark. These programs negotiate significantly reduced
interest rates with creditors, allowing consumers to save money every
month.

A New Horizon Credit Counseling Services is a nonprofit credit counseling
organization that has been helping consumers since 1978. For more
information about their programs, contact 1-800-556-1548. They can also
be found on the web at http://www.anewhorizon.org, or reached via email
at slieberman@anewhorizon.org

Contact
A New Horizon Credit Counseling
1-800-556-1548
slieberman@anewhorizon.org

Copyright 2010, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

Khan gives hard-to-please wife a memorable birthday gift

Britain’s Simon Khan gave his wife Lesley the perfect 42nd birthday present on Sunday when he took home the prized PGA Championship trophy.

“She is the hardest woman to buy for,” the 37-year-old European Tour journeyman told reporters at Wentworth. “I just managed to get a card for her from me and my daughter this morning.

“She just said, ‘Look, I’m not worried about it, you just concentrate on what you’re doing. Go and do it.

“Now we’re going to stay up in London for a night and go to Harvey Nichols or something like that and just let her loose,” said the Englishman after receiving a first prize of 750,000 euros ($937,800) for his win at the tour’s flagship event.

Khan lost his tour card last year and had to go to Qualifying School to win it back, which he did in grand style by winning the six-round event in Spain.

However, he still needed a sponsor’s invite to get into this week’s tournament.

“This is an event I’ve had in my mind all the way through the year,” he said after a closing 66 gave him a six-under tally of 278 and a one-shot victory over fellow Englishman Luke Donald and Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed.

“To get the call on Monday and to get in, that was elation. It would have been hard not to play this week.

“I just love the place, love coming here and enjoy being here.”

Khan ended his round in dramatic style, a snaking 18-foot putt turning at the last moment before dropping in at the back of the hole at the 18th.

“I haven’t seen one like that all week,” he said after becoming the first invited player to win the PGA Championship. “Maybe it was meant to happen.”

It was Khan’s second tour victory and came almost six years after his first, at the 2004 Wales Open.

(Editing by Sonia Oxley; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

The best I have ever played: Hussey

Michael Hussey still cannot believe that he has guided Australia to the Twenty20 World Cup finals with his hurricane knock against Pakistan but he is quite sure that the 24-ball 60 is the best innings of his career so far.

Chasing an intimidating 191 for six, Australia were on the rack at 105 for five in the 13th over and needed 70 runs from five overs at one stage.

Going into the final over of the innings, the Aussies needed 18 runs to win. But Hussey turned the match on its head with unalloyed pyrotechnics, putting the issue across Pakistan with one ball to spare.

“That is probably the best I have ever played. I earlier considered the Ashes Test in Adelaide where I hit the last ball for a six as my best ever cricket innings. But this was the semis and a very crucial match for us. It is the best innings I have ever played,” he said.

Hussey said he wasn’t confident that Australia could achieve the target and still can’t believe that his team has actually made the finals, where it will take on England tomorrow.

“Even I had plenty of doubts on whether we could score the runs. I can’t believe it myself.”

Looking back at the incredible knock, Hussey said he took time to get his eye in before he started hitting the ball all over the park.

“Initially, I take a few balls to get in. That is what I was trying to do, to get the strike. By the end of the innings I was trying to hit every ball. It happened to go my way. I am very, very happy,” said the beaming middle-order batsman.

Asked about his thoughts going into the last over, Hussey said he just wanted to hit every ball out of the stadium.

“I just wanted to try and hit every ball for a shot. If he had bowled yorkers and they were perfect, there wasn’t much you can do about it. But he (Saeed Ajmal) missed his length just by little bit.

“I told myself, God please hit the last ball with the middle of the bat. I didn’t know what it felt like till I did it. I was delighted to see the elation on my teammates faces when they ran in. I am so excited to be in the final,” said Hussey.

Hussey said he enjoys playing Twenty20 cricket.

“I have always enjoyed playing Twenty 20 cricket. My first love is Test cricket, first and foremost. But Twenty20 is a great format for the kids to enjoy and take to it. “Hopefully, they take the game up. It is an awesome concept. The players are getting better by the day at it. Batting and bowling skills continue to improve. I reckon it will keep getting better,” he said.

Meanwhile, skipper Michael Clarke commended his trusted match-winner.

“I willed myself not to watch the final over. But when I saw one six come after another, I got into the game. It would have been hard to believe at one stage. It was an amazing day today. It is a freakish performance, unbelievable to achieve by a cricketer in any form of the game. Thanks to Hussey, we are in the final,” said the Australian captain.

I couldn’t watch the last over, says nervous Clarke

Melbourne, May 15 (ANI): A nervous Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke said he couldn’t eatch Mike Hussey’s heroics in the last over of the World Twenty20 championship semi-final against Pakistan at St. Lucia’s cricket stadium on Friday.

Clarke spent his time in the dugout biting his nails.

Needing 18 off the last over to pass Pakistan’s 6-191, Hussey hit two sixes, a four and another six from consecutive balls to deliver Australia a spot in the final against England in Barbados.

“I enjoy biting my nails when I”m nervous I guess. I couldn’t watch the last over. I watched the first ball when Mitchell Johnson got a single. Then I’ve gone back into the change rooms. I heard loud cheers,” The Herald Sun quoted Clarke, as saying.

“I knew it was a six and then another six and I thought oh my God, what is going on out there? I was too nervous. I couldn’t watch,” he said.

Hussey said he had a fairly simple game plan in the final over.

“Just try to slog every ball for six. I knew he (spinner Saeed Ajmal) would probably try to spear a few fast yorkers in. If he got them right then I don’t think there’s too much I could have done. Thankfully he probably just missed his length a little bit,” Hussey said.

“I don’t know what I was saying to myself. It’s all a bit of a blur. I was just saying please this last ball, please come out of the middle. I just wanted to feel what it felt like. I didn’t know what it was going to feel like and it’s an absolutely amazing feeling.

“It’s the best feeling you can ever have, to hit the winning runs for your country, particularly in such a big game as a semi-final. I’m so happy and it was great to see the elation on all the other boys’ faces. We’re so excited to be in the final,” Hussey added.

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis refused to blame his bowlers for letting the game get away from them. (ANI)

Brit teacher cleared of seducing 16-year-old pupil

London, April 16 (ANI): A British schoolteacher has expressed her elation after being cleared of seducing a 16-year-old pupil.

A pupil had accused Hannah McIntyre, 25, of taking his virginity after a series of drunken games of dare at her flat where he had gone with two friends.

The incident was alleged to have happened after the sixth former, now an 18-year-old university student, visited McIntyre at her flat with two friends “for a laugh”.

He claimed they shared a passionate kiss after she bought them cider and joined in a game of dares as they chatted and watched TV one Friday night in January 2008.

He added that he later followed her to bed where they had sex. Yet he failed to report the incident for 11 months.

“It was the first time I had had sex. I was pretty down about it,” the Daily Express quoted him as telling the jury at Liverpool Crown Court.

But McIntyre gave a different account of that night and told of an evening of terror.

“They barged in. They were very loud and boisterous. They were invading my space – going through my possessions and mocking anything they could find,” she said.

“I asked them to leave but they did not take any notice. I was trying to be non-confrontational – not trying to provoke anything,” she revealed.

She said she told them she had to go to the shop in the hope that they would leave but they followed her and persuaded her to buy them cider.

Even then they did not leave her alone but followed her back to her flat. She claimed the boy then followed her to bed and made sexual grunting and sighing noises as a joke.

“The next thing I knew I was being kissed by him. I was not aware of any discussions. I was just stunned to start with and then pretty repulsed,” she stated.

After a four-day trial, a jury took just 75 minutes on April 15 to clear McIntyre, of Waterloo, Liverpool, of unlawful sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust.

Immediately after the verdict, Judge Robert Warnock told her she was free to leave the dock and she ran into the arms of her boyfriend Richard and parents Irene and Harry.

“I am ecstatic at the verdict. Right now I never want to be in the company of a school pupil for the entirety of my life. I need to have a large drink and sleep for a week,” she said outside court.

She was asked if she was angry to have been put through such an ordeal.

“I do not think anger is the first thing on my mind but he has, without any accountability, made this accusation. I would like him to realise what effect this has had on me,” she said. “I had a job that I loved, that I do not have. I had a reputation which was good, which I do not have,” she stated.

McIntyre taught her accuser at the 8,000 pounds-a-year Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School in Crosby, Merseyside, one of the best-performing independent schools in the country. (ANI)

Brit teacher cleared of seducing 16-year-old pupil

London, April 16 (ANI): A British schoolteacher has expressed her elation after being cleared of seducing a 16-year-old pupil.

A pupil had accused Hannah McIntyre, 25, of taking his virginity after a series of drunken games of dare at her flat where he had gone with two friends.

The incident was alleged to have happened after the sixth former, now an 18-year-old university student, visited McIntyre at her flat with two friends “for a laugh”.

He claimed they shared a passionate kiss after she bought them cider and joined in a game of dares as they chatted and watched TV one Friday night in January 2008.

He added that he later followed her to bed where they had sex. Yet he failed to report the incident for 11 months.

“It was the first time I had had sex. I was pretty down about it,” the Daily Express quoted him as telling the jury at Liverpool Crown Court.

But McIntyre gave a different account of that night and told of an evening of terror.

“They barged in. They were very loud and boisterous. They were invading my space – going through my possessions and mocking anything they could find,” she said.

“I asked them to leave but they did not take any notice. I was trying to be non-confrontational – not trying to provoke anything,” she revealed.

She said she told them she had to go to the shop in the hope that they would leave but they followed her and persuaded her to buy them cider.

Even then they did not leave her alone but followed her back to her flat. She claimed the boy then followed her to bed and made sexual grunting and sighing noises as a joke.

“The next thing I knew I was being kissed by him. I was not aware of any discussions. I was just stunned to start with and then pretty repulsed,” she stated.

After a four-day trial, a jury took just 75 minutes on April 15 to clear McIntyre, of Waterloo, Liverpool, of unlawful sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust.

Immediately after the verdict, Judge Robert Warnock told her she was free to leave the dock and she ran into the arms of her boyfriend Richard and parents Irene and Harry.

“I am ecstatic at the verdict. Right now I never want to be in the company of a school pupil for the entirety of my life. I need to have a large drink and sleep for a week,” she said outside court.

She was asked if she was angry to have been put through such an ordeal.

“I do not think anger is the first thing on my mind but he has, without any accountability, made this accusation. I would like him to realise what effect this has had on me,” she said.

“I had a job that I loved, that I do not have. I had a reputation which was good, which I do not have,” she stated.

McIntyre taught her accuser at the 8,000 pounds-a-year Merchant Taylors” Boys” School in Crosby, Merseyside, one of the best-performing independent schools in the country. (ANI)

Chelsea enters FA Cup semi-finals

London, Mar 8 (ANI): Chelsea tightened their grip on the Football Association Cup and warned Aston Villa they are not about to let go.

The holders entered the semi-finals with a 2-0 victory over Stoke. An impressive performance from Carlo Ancelotti’s side saw them clinch a Wembley date with Aston Villa.

Chelsea’s assistant boss Ray Wilkins praised his team as they made it to a ninth FA Cup semi-final in 17 years.

“There’s a feeling among these players that they own this competition. There’s immense pride in every game they play. They’re a group of winners. We never get beat because we don”t put the effort in. Again today they showed a terrific will to win,” The Sun quoted Wilkins, as saying.

“We class the FA Cup as a massive competition. The elation in the dressing room after last season was magnificent. The FA Cup is high on our list. Another game at Wembley is a huge incentive,” he said.

Wilkins praised his skipper Johyn Terry, and said: “He’s an exceptional captain and we’re delighted to have him on board. He leads these players on the pitch in fantastic fashion and scored the second goal, which was a great goal. This was another superb performance from him.”

Wilkins also made a point of saying that he is certain Joe Cole – who is out of contract in the summer – has a future at the club. (ANI)

Irritability should be considered in a bipolar diagnosis, say experts

Washington, June 25 (ANI): Researchers from Bradley Hospital and The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University suggest that irritability should be considered a vital symptom when diagnosing bipolar disorder in kids.

They say a small percentage of children with bipolar disorder experience manic episodes without extreme elation – one of the hallmarks of the disorder – and are diagnosed based on irritable mood alone.

“Diagnosing children with bipolar disorder is challenging. One of the chief controversies is whether irritability should be included among the criteria for this diagnosis because it can also overlap with a number of other psychiatric disorders, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,” said Dr Jeffrey Hunt, a child psychiatrist and training director at Bradley Hospital.

“Our findings confirm that while irritable-only mania is uncommon, it does exist – particularly in younger children – and should be considered in a bipolar diagnosis,” he added.

During the study, the research team studied 361 children between the ages of 7 and 17 with bipolar disorder

They quantified the frequency and severity of manic symptoms of each participant, including whether irritability and elation were present.

The group was then reclassified into three subgroups: elation-only, irritable-only and both elated and irritable.

The study showed that approximately 10 percent of children fell into the irritable-only category, while elated-only constituted about 15 percent.

Moreover, nearly three-quarters experienced both elation and irritability. The irritable-only participants were significantly younger in age.

“The fact that the irritable-only and elation-only subgroup had similar clinical characteristics and family histories of bipolar disorder provides support for continuing to consider episodic irritability in the diagnosis of pediatric bipolar disorder,” said Hunt.

The study appears in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. (ANI)

Nano launch evokes elation in Delhi

New Delhi, Mar 24 (ANI): The launch of Nano, the world’s cheapest car, has evoked elation in New Delhi as it promises to fulfill the dreams of many persons of owning a car.

Nano, which was launched on Monday, is being looked upon as Tata Motor’s gift to the middle-class and is expected to dramatically change the auto market in the world’s second most populous nation.

The car is emerging, as a popular choice amongst the middle class, for whom owning a car till now was a distant dream due to the high prices.

“It is cheap. If you get a car at the same price of motorcycle, it is good. In a motorbike only two can ride but in Nano, the family of four can travel together,” said Pankaj Chaudhary, a resident.

There are many who want the other car makers to also come up with such low price cars for the benefit of the middle class.

“Nano is good for middle class people. I would want that other car companies also come up with such low price cars, it will benefit the middle class people a lot,” said A.P. Sharma, another resident.

Nano can be booked at over 30,000 locations in 1,000 cities across India, including Tata-owned department and electronics stores, with booking forms costing 300 rupees each. It can also be booked online (www.tatanano.com) as well.

Tata can currently produce about 60,000 Nanos a year until a 250,000-unit plant in Gujarat comes on stream by year-end. (ANI)

Entrance at Detroit auto show done by Lincoln C concept car

The paint on the wheels wasn’t dark enough. The seat upholstery needed more embellishment. The instrument panel cried out for one last tweak.

For months, Ford (F) designers scrutinized the creation of their latest baby, the Lincoln C concept car of the future unveiled Monday in Detroit. Though the design was “locked” last spring, they found improvements they could make as the one-of-a-kind show car was built.

The result was revealed to reporters and photographers from around the world at the North American International Auto Show. Later this week, designers and engineers from other automakers will scrutinize the car to try to discern its secrets. Starting Saturday, the public gets a look.

“There’s nothing that gives you more elation than seeing the reaction on people’s faces once it rolls out,” says J Mays, Ford’s design chief, in talking about the C.

The Lincoln C is an attempt to show how a small car can be a luxury showpiece, thanks to elegant design and stylish details. It’s about the size of a Ford Focus, but sports a glass roof, center-opening doors and a powertrain capable of more than 40 miles per gallon on the highway.

There’s no indication that the C — a test-bed for ideas — will ever go into production. But it’s in keeping with Ford’s belief of late in a profitable future for premium small cars.

The C started life on paper and a computer screen. Then it became a full-size clay model. When the design passed muster, Ford turned over the making of the actual concept car to contract builder Aria Group in Irvine, Calif.

Aria re-created the outside by making a mold of the clay model. The interior was designed digitally. And the trick was getting the two to mesh.

Each concept car has its own “little quirks,” says Pete Gallagher, Aria’s chief project manager. In this case, it was trying to get the interior components to fit with the outside shell.

The project was helped along by having a longer build time than normal — about eight months — in which to solve the problems. In the fast-paced world of auto design, Aria’s work often involves last-minute rush jobs.

Ford designers also made changes during the construction process. At one point, they decided the car would look better with darker paint in the crevices of the wheels, said Freeman Thomas, director of Ford’s Strategic Concepts Group.

As interior design chief Gary Braddock watched the crafting of the outside of the car, he saw a way to add a flourish to the instrument panel.

The C had flowers and foliage etched into the seat upholstery after designers feared it looked too plain. Mays says the latest car designs are “so clean and modern, we’ve gotten sterile.”

The resulting C, Mays adds, is a Lincoln that can stand up to the classic simplicity of the brand’s most-admired years — 1939, 1956 and 1961. “You start to see the timelessness of a design,” he says.

The designers and builders alike were pleased with the finished car. “It came out beautiful,” Gallagher says.