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8A Daily News – Tuesday, February 21, 2012 WORLD BRIEFING Obama opens college debate WASHINGTON (AP) — Access to college has been the driving force in federal higher education policy for decades. But the Obama administration is pushing a fundamental agenda shift that aggressive- ly brings a new question into the debate: What are people getting for their money? Students with loans are graduating on average with more than $25,000 in debt. The federal government pours $140 billion annually into federal grants and loans. Unemployment remains high, yet there are projected shortages in many industries with some high-tech compa- nies already complaining about a lack of highly trained workers. Meanwhile, literacy among college students has declined in the last decade, according to a commission convened during the George W. Bush administration that said American higher edu- cation has become ''increas- ingly risk-averse, at times self-satisfied, and unduly expensive.'' About 40 per- cent of college students at four-year schools aren't graduating, and in two-year programs, only about 40 percent of students graduate or transfer, according to the policy and analysis group College Measures. College drop-outs are expensive, and not just for the individual. About a fifth of full-time students who enroll at a community col- lege do not return for a sec- ond year, costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dol- lars annually, according to an analysis released last fall by the American Institutes for Research. There's been a growing debate over whether post-secondary schools should be more transparent about the cost of an education and the success of graduates. President Barack Obama has weighed in with a strong ''yes.'' Syrian troops converge on rebel city BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian tanks and troops massed Monday outside the resis- tance stronghold of Homs for a possible ground assault that one activist warned Respecting People. Impacting Business Call us. And get back to work. Call us any time for: • An extensive network of recruiting sources • Testing and training • Experienced recruiters • Full-time employees • HR expertise and support services • Temporary Workers • Evaluation hire • Carefully screened candidates • Dedicated service could unleash a new round of fierce and bloody urban combat even as the Red Cross tried to broker a cease-fire to allow emer- gency aid in. A flood of military rein- forcements has been a pre- lude to previous offensives by President Bashar Assad's regime, which has tried to use its overwhelming fire- power to crush an opposi- tion that has been bolstered by defecting soldiers and hardened by 11 months of street battles. ''The human loss is going to be huge if they retake Baba Amr,'' said Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Britain-based activist group Syrian Obser- vatory for Human Rights. The central city of Homs — and in particular the opposition district known as Baba Amr — has become a critical ground for both sides. The opposition has lion- ized it as ''Syria's Misrata'' after the Libyan city where rebels fought off a brutal government siege. Assad's regime wants desperately to erase the embarrassing defi- ance in Syria's third-largest city after weeks of shelling, including a barrage of mor- tars that killed up to 200 people earlier this month. At least nine people were killed in shelling Monday, activists said. Greece awaits bailout decision BRUSSELS (AP) — Eurozone governments hoped to sign off on Mon- day a long-awaited rescue package for Greece, saving it from a potentially calami- tous bankruptcy next month, but several key points of division remained, senior officials said. Finance minis- ters meeting in Brussels were still wrangling over how to further reduce Greece's debt load and impose even tighter control over the country's spending, and the meeting was expect- ed to stretch late into the night. Rich countries like Germany and the Nether- lands and the International Monetary Fund want to be sure that Athens can eventu- ally survive without aid. But after months of delays, time for Greece is running out. The country needs to secure the (euro) 130 billion ($170 billion) bailout so it can move ahead with a related (euro) 100 billion ($130 bil- lion) debt relief deal with private investors. That deal needs to be in place quickly Newly Remodeled! RIDGEWAY PARK RECREATION HALL & GYMNASIUM Available for events, meetings & team practices www.expresspros.com 530-527-0727 243 So. 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''I am of the opinion that today we have to deliver, because we don't have any more time,'' Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg who also chairs the meetings of euro- zone finance ministers, said as he arrived in Brussels. An uncontrolled bank- ruptcy would likely force Greece to leave the 17-coun- try currency union and return to its old currency, the drachma, further shaking its already beaten economy and creating uncertainty across Europe. John Glenn marks his historic orbit COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — NASA surprised John Glenn with the kind of anniversary gift only a space agency can give, enabling him to speak live with the International Space Station on Monday as he marked 50 years since his historic spaceflight. The former astronaut and senator from Ohio, now 90, became the first American to orbit the Earth on Feb. 20, 1962, circling it three times in five hours and helping to lead the nation into space. He celebrated the anniver- sary at Ohio State Universi- ty by kicking off a forum about NASA's future. Sitting on stage with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, he chatted with three space station crew members about space research and NASA's future. Commander Dan Burbank appeared by video link, flanked by two flight engi- neers floating in the zero- gravity environment, and said the crew was delighted to help commemorate Glenn's momentous trip. Glenn was among the top military test pilots presented in 1959 as the Mercury Seven. The only other sur- viving Mercury astronaut is Scott Carpenter, who called out the memorable line ''Godspeed John Glenn'' moments before the rocket ignited for Glenn's space- flight. ''Fifty years ago today, Friendship 7 was orbiting planet Earth, and that helped in a very big way, paved the way for America to become a space power, and to go to the moon, and to do the things that we're doing right now on the International Space Station,'' Burbank said. ''And we hope this also can help set the stage for us down the road to do even greater things.'' Got gum? That'll cost you. CHICAGO (AP) — A sense of order and decorum prevails at Noble Street Col- lege Prep as students move quickly through a hallway adorned with banners from dozens of colleges. Every- one wears a school polo shirt neatly tucked into khaki trousers. There's plen- ty of chatter but no jostling, no cellphones and no dawdling. The reason, administra- tors say, is that students have learned there is a price to pay — literally — for break- ing even the smallest rules. Noble Network of Char- ter Schools charges students at its 10 Chicago high schools $5 for detentions stemming from infractions that include chewing gum and having untied shoelaces. Last school year it collected almost $190,000 in disci- pline ''fees'' from deten- tions and behavior classes — a policy drawing fire from some parents, advoca- cy groups and education experts. Officials at the rapidly expanding network, heralded by Mayor Rahm Emanuel as a model for the city, say the fees offset the cost of running the detention program and help keep small problems from becoming big ones. Critics say Noble is nickel-and- diming its mostly low- income students over insignificant, made-up infractions that force out kids administrators don't want. ''We think this just goes over the line ... fining some- one for having their shoelaces untied (or) a but- ton unbuttoned goes to harassment, not discipline,'' said Julie Woestehoff, exec- utive director of the Chicago advocacy group Parents United for Responsible Edu- cation, which staged protests last week over the policy after Woestehoff said she was approached by an upset parent NYPD monitored students at colleges NEW YORK (AP) — One autumn morning in Buffalo, N.Y., a college stu- dent named Adeela Khan logged into her email and found a message announc- ing an upcoming Islamic conference in Toronto. Khan clicked ''forward,'' sent it to a group of fellow Muslims at the University at Buffalo, and promptly for- got about it. But that simple act on Nov. 9, 2006, was enough to arouse the suspi- cion of an intelligence ana- lyst at the New York Police Department, 300 miles away, who combed through her post and put her name in an official report. Marked ''SECRET'' in large red let- ters, the document went all the way to Commissioner Raymond Kelly's office. The report, along with other documents obtained by The Associated Press, reveals how the NYPD's intelligence division focused far beyond New York City as part of a surveillance pro- gram targeting Muslims. Police trawled daily through student websites run by Muslim student groups at Yale, the Universi- ty of Pennsylvania, Rutgers and 13 other colleges in the Northeast. They talked with local authorities about pro- fessors in Buffalo and even sent an undercover agent on a whitewater rafting trip, where he recorded students' names and noted in police intelligence files how many times they prayed. Chisora apologizes for brawl LONDON (AP) — Dereck Chisora apologized ''wholeheartedly'' Monday for the brawl with David Haye that followed his loss to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. Haye blamed Chisora for the clash that followed his fellow Londoner's defeat in Munich and the beaten chal- lenger has acknowledged that the violence at the post- bout news conference marred the biggest night of his career. ''Whilst my behavior was inexcusable, there were many things that went on behind the scenes that ulti- mately caused my frustra- tions to boil over,'' Chisora said. ''Despite all of this, the bottom line is I have let my family, my team and — worst of all — the sport I love down. 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