Drowning in Debt: The Emerging Student Loan Crisis
Source: Education Sector

Higher education has never been more expensive. The price of attending a public university doubled, after inflation, over the last two decades, and family income and student financial aid haven’t kept pace.1 As a result, students have no choice but to borrow, and more college students are borrowing more money than ever before.

But a new analysis of federal financial aid records reveals more than just surging debt levels. Students are taking on more of the riskiest debt: unregulated private student loans. Here, students have the least protection and pay the highest rates. For-profit colleges are leading the way in this trend, and minority college students appear to be borrowing a disproportionate share. If this continues, the consequences will be severe: reduced access to higher education, diminished life choices, and increasing rates of catastrophic loan default.

There are many culprits to this emerging student loan crisis: out-of-control tuition increases, lack of commitment to need-based financial aid, and states and universities increasingly spending scarce financial aid dollars on wealthy students. President Obama recently proposed reforming the federal student loan program by having all students borrow directly from the government. The money saved from this change would go to making Pell grants, which are targeted to the neediest students, an entitlement. The new plan would also tie annual increases in Pell grants to inflation. This is a good start to solving the problem of rapidly growing student debt, but much more needs to be done—from reforming state and institutional aid policies to creating better incentives for colleges to restrain prices.

Based on recently released data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey (NPSAS) and an analysis of the past 15 years of NPSAS data, the following charts show just how much higher education debt is increasing, as well as identify several reasons for the surge and what steps policymakers can take to help students attend college without drowning in debt.

Discovering ‘WOW’ — A Study of Great Retail Shopping Experiences in North America (PDF; 1.5 MB)
Source: Wharton School (U Penn), Verde, Retail Council of Canada
From related story (Knowledge@Wharton):

Wharton’s Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative teamed with Verde and the Retail Council of Canada to discover how retailers can create an extraordinary experience for shoppers. In an online survey, 1,006 shoppers in the United States and Canada were asked: “Can you think of a shopping experience that you had in the past six months or so that was especially great, in that the experience created delight and surprise for you in any way?”

A report based on the research, titled “Discovering ‘WOW’ — A Study of Great Retail Shopping Experiences in North America,”points to five major areas that contribute to a great shopping experience:

• Engagement: being polite, genuinely caring and interested in helping, acknowledging and listening.
• Executional excellence: patiently explaining and advising, checking stock, helping to find products, having product knowledge and providing unexpected product quality.
• Brand Experience: exciting store design and atmosphere, consistently great product quality, making customers feel they’re special and that they always get a deal.
• Expediting: being sensitive to customers’ time on long check-out lines, being proactive in helping speed the shopping process.
• Problem Recovery: helping resolve and compensate for problems, upgrading quality and ensuring complete satisfaction.

In all, respondents mentioned 28 elements of a great experience, such as salespeople who “immediately acknowledged you” or “could easily explain a product to you” or “seemed genuine.”

Nutritional Standards in UK Schools (PDF; 115 KB)
Source: Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology

In 2006, 617 million school meals were served in England alone. The situation regarding school meals differs in the constituent countries of the UK. In England, new legislation on minimum nutritional standards in schools began in 2008 in primary schools and will come into force in secondary schools by September 2009. It consists of food- and nutrient-based standards for school food. The devolved administrations have already implemented similar legislation and face similar issues in improving school food. This note outlines children’s nutritional requirements, the take-up of school meals in the UK, the capacity to enforce the standards and the impact of children’s diet on behaviour and learning.

Accuracy of Part D Plans’ Drug Prices on the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder (PDF; 1.7 MB)
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General

A comparison of selected Part D plans’ retail prices posted on the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Finder (Plan Finder) for 10 drugs commonly used by seniors to actual drug costs on corresponding prescription drug event claims revealed that Plan Finder prices generally exceeded actual drug costs, frequently by large amounts. Overall, we found that drug price data in Plan Finder does not accurately reflect actual drug costs on Part D claims because the prices frequently overestimate the drug costs charged when beneficiaries have their prescriptions filled at the pharmacy.

CMS created Plan Finder, located on the Medicare.gov Web site, as a tool to help beneficiaries compare and select Part D plans. Plans’ drug prices are a significant factor to beneficiaries selecting a plan. Plan Finder indicates in its plan drug details section that “drug costs displayed are only estimates” and that “actual costs at the pharmacy may vary slightly.” However, our review revealed that Plan Finder drug prices were a median of 28 percent (or $18) higher than actual drug costs for the 10 drugs included in our review. Drug prices posted on Plan Finder exceeded actual drug costs for 92 percent of the claims in our review and were less than actual drug costs for 7 percent of claims. Plan Finder prices equaled actual drug costs for 1 percent of the claims reviewed. Percentage differences between Plan Finder prices and actual costs were generally greater for the generic drugs in our review, while dollar differences were greater for the brand-name drugs reviewed.

OIG recommended that CMS ensure that plans’ drug prices displayed on Plan Finder accurately reflect actual drug costs on Part D claims. As an immediate measure, OIG also recommended that CMS add a disclaimer to the Plan Finder plan search results screen indicating that drug cost estimates may differ more than “slightly” from actual drug costs. In response to the draft report, CMS concurred with our first recommendation but did not concur with our second recommendation. However, CMS indicated that it will revise language on the Plan Finder Web site to advise beneficiaries that if they do not select a specific pharmacy when conducting a Plan Finder search, the drug prices displayed may be different from point-of-sale drug costs at their pharmacy.

In addition, CMS stated that OIG’s methodology is flawed and OIG’s findings are false and misleading because we conducted a general search rather than a pharmacy-specific search in Plan Finder. OIG does not agree. By choosing to conduct a general search, we employed the same method that beneficiaries using Plan Finder were advised to employ to find the least expensive plan for their needs. Both CMS and AARP (formerly the American Association of Retired Persons) recommended conducting a general search rather than a pharmacy-specific search to improve a beneficiary’s ability to find the least expensive plan. Our findings generate concerns about the accuracy of the plan and drug cost information provided to beneficiaries who choose to conduct a general search rather than a pharmacy-specific search in Plan Finder.

Selection, Wear, and Tear: The Health of Hispanics and Hispanic Immigrants in the United States
Source: RAND Corporation

Among the factors that complicate the study of Hispanic health are data artifacts and cultural differences that originate from different degrees of assimilation. This dissertation provides a better understanding of the issues surrounding the health of Hispanics in general, and of Hispanic immigrants in particular. The author examines differences in health status between non-Hispanic Whites, Mexican Americans, and Mexican immigrants, and proposes an index of biological risk. He finds indirect evidence supporting the “healthy migrant” hypothesis, which states that emigrants are positively selected in their health status from the population of their countries of origin. Two hypotheses explaining the decline in immigrant health are consistent with the author’s results: (1) the “life-course” hypothesis, which states that the deterioration of immigrant health status is a result of the cumulative negative effect of the adversities associated with the process of migration, and (2) the “regression to the mean” hypothesis, which maintains that immigrants self-select on health at the time of migration, but over time their health converges to the average health levels in their home countries.

+ Full Document (PDF; 1 MB)

Influenza Vaccine Use by Adults in the U.S.: Detailed Survey Data Tables for the 2008-2009 Vaccination Season
Source: RAND Corporation

In March 2009, RAND conducted a survey of a nationally representative sample of adults age 18 and over (n=5,203) to collect data on the receipt of the influenza vaccine in the United States during the 2008–2009 vaccination season. The detailed survey data presented here will provide public health officials and other stakeholders information on vaccination rates for all adults and for adults with one or more of the following indications: being age 50–64 or age 65 or older, being 18–49 and having a high-risk health condition, being a health care worker, or having close personal contact with high-risk individuals.

+ Full Document (PDF; 118 KB)

When Drug Cost-Sharing Increases, Patients Newly Diagnosed with a Chronic Illness Delay Starting Medication
Source: RAND Corporation

Describes a study showing that increasing copayments for prescription drugs causes patients newly diagnosed with hypertension, high cholesterol, and diabetes to delay starting treatment, which in turn increases their risk for heart attack and stroke.

+ Full Document (PDF; 91 KB)

Being Most Wired in a Down Economy
Source: Hospitals & Health Networks

These are strange times for clinical information technology. On one hand, providers are being urged to step on the gas, with the federal government poised to distribute $20 billion in stimulus funds to wire doctors, hospitals and patients. On the other hand, the economic crisis is forcing many hospitals to hit the brakes on capital investments. Even this year’s 100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems are torn between building on their IT successes and keeping a sharp eye on budgets.
…
This edition of Hospitals & Health Networks marks the 11th release of the list of 100 Most Wired Hospitals and Health Systems, which is based on the annual Most Wired Survey and Benchmarking Study. Hospitals are named to the list based on a detailed scoring process. This year’s survey was made possible through a partnership among H&HN, McKesson Corp., the American Hospital Association and the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives. The survey asks hospitals to report on how they use information technology to address five key areas: safety and quality, customer service, business processes, workforce, and public health and safety. This year, 556 hospitals and health systems completed the survey, representing 1,314 hospitals. Along with the 100 Most Wired, H&HN uses the results to name the 25 Most Improved, the 25 Most Wireless and the 25 Most Wired—Small and Rural.

+ 100 Most Wired
+ The Most Improved
+ The Most Wired-Small and Rural
+ The Most Wireless

New NASA Satellite Survey Reveals Dramatic Arctic Sea Ice Thinning
Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Arctic sea ice thinned dramatically between the winters of 2004 and 2008, with thin seasonal ice replacing thick older ice as the dominant type for the first time on record. The new results, based on data from a NASA Earth-orbiting spacecraft, provide further evidence for the rapid, ongoing transformation of the Arctic’s ice cover.

Scientists from NASA and the University of Washington in Seattle conducted the most comprehensive survey to date using observations from NASA’s Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite, known as ICESat, to make the first basin-wide estimate of the thickness and volume of the Arctic Ocean’s ice cover. Ron Kwok of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., led the research team, which published its findings July 7 in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans.

The Arctic ice cap grows each winter as the sun sets for several months and intense cold ensues. In the summer, wind and ocean currents cause some of the ice naturally to flow out of the Arctic, while much of it melts in place. But not all of the Arctic ice melts each summer; the thicker, older ice is more likely to survive. Seasonal sea ice usually reaches about 6 feet in thickness, while multi-year ice averages 9 feet.

Using ICESat measurements, scientists found that overall Arctic sea ice thinned about 7 inches a year, for a total of 2.2 feet over four winters. The total area covered by the thicker, older “multi-year” ice that has survived one or more summers shrank by 42 percent.

+ Images: New NASA Satellite Survey Reveals Dramatic Arctic Sea Ice Thinning

NOAA Reports Bay’s Crab Population Rebounds but Juvenile Numbers Remain Low
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

While the overall crab population in the Chesapeake Bay rebounded significantly last year, the number of juvenile crabs remained well below the historical average, according to a report published by the NOAA-chaired Fisheries Steering Committee.

“New regulations implemented by the various bay jurisdictions in 2008 seem to be working,” said Peyton Robertson, director of the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office. “The continued improvements in science and their application to management appear to be resulting in a positive direction for the blue crab in the Chesapeake.”

The 2009 Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab Advisory Report, developed by the Chesapeake Bay Stock Assessment Committee, is based primarily on data collected in the 2008-09 bay-wide winter dredge survey, the most comprehensive and statistically robust annual blue crab survey conducted in the bay.

+ Full Report (PDF; 28 KB)

Sotomayor “Consensus Judge” On Criminal Justice Issues
Source: U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Tuesday released the results of a comprehensive study of Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s appellate decisions in criminal justice cases. At a press conference on Capitol Hill with leaders of the nation’s premier law enforcement organizations, Leahy called Sotomayor both a consensus and moderate judge.

“Based on a review of more than 800 criminal cases, it can be said with confidence that Judge Sotomayor is unquestionably a consensus judge on criminal justice issues,” Leahy said. “In fact, Judge Sotomayor’s criminal justice record proves that she is a moderate judge, whose decisions in criminal cases rarely differ from those of her colleagues on the Federal bench.”

Leahy continued, “As a prosecutor, Sonia Sotomayor gained practical experience about the real-world challenges and dangers that police officers face every day, and about the pain and frustration and sense of violation that crime victims experience. She worked with police officers as a prosecutor, and she worked side by side with crime victims in the quest for justice for these ordinary Americans. It is no surprise to me that Judge Sotomayor has a strong record of being fair to the police in criminal cases.”

+ Full Report (PDF; 179 KB)

The Small Business Economy: A Report to the President 2009 (PDF; 1.5 MB)
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration

The 2009 edition of The Small Business Economy documents the 2008 recession’s effects on small business as well as their role in the 2008 economy. The report includes chapters focusing on the state of small business (with brief subsections on small business challenges such as health care and globalization, as well as contributions in job creation and innovation) and financing. Appendices include additional data on small firms and a summary of Advocacy research published in 2008.

The Status of Wildlife in Protected Areas Compared to Non-Protected Areas of Kenya
Source: PLoS ONE

We compile over 270 wildlife counts of Kenya’s wildlife populations conducted over the last 30 years to compare trends in national parks and reserves with adjacent ecosystems and country-wide trends. The study shows the importance of discriminating human-induced changes from natural population oscillations related to rainfall and ecological factors. National park and reserve populations have declined sharply over the last 30 years, at a rate similar to non-protected areas and country-wide trends. The protected area losses reflect in part their poor coverage of seasonal ungulate migrations. The losses vary among parks. The largest parks, Tsavo East, Tsavo West and Meru, account for a disproportionate share of the losses due to habitat change and the difficulty of protecting large remote parks. The losses in Kenya’s parks add to growing evidence for wildlife declines inside as well as outside African parks. The losses point to the need to quantify the performance of conservation policies and promote integrated landscape practices that combine parks with private and community-based measures.

New GAO Reports Correspondences and Testimonies (PDFs)
Source: Government Accountability Office
8 July 2009
+ Reports
1. Recovery Act: States’ and Localities’ Current and Planned Uses of Funds While Facing Fiscal Stresses
Related Product
Recovery Act: States’ and Localities’ Current and Planned Uses of Funds While Facing Fiscal Stresses (Appendixes)
2. Bottled Water: FDA Safety and Consumer Protections Are Often Less Stringent Than Comparable EPA Protections for Tap Water
3. Transit Security Grant Program: DHS Allocates Grants Based on Risk, but Its Risk Methodology, Management Controls, and Grant Oversight Can Be Strengthened
4. Recovering Servicemembers: DOD and VA Have Jointly Developed the Majority of Required Policies but Challenges Remain
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+ Correspondences
1. Climate Change Trade Measures: Considerations for U.S. Policy Makers
2. Defense Logistics: Observations on Army’s Implementation of the Logistics Modernization Program
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+ Testimonies
1. Recovery Act: States’ and Localities’ Current and Planned Uses of Funds While Facing Fiscal Stresses, by Gene L. Dodaro, acting comptroller general, before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
2. Fiscal Year 2008 U.S. Government Financial Statements: Federal Government Faces New and Continuing Financial Management and Fiscal Challenges, by Gene L. Dodaro, acting comptroller general, before the Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, and Procurement, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
3. Homeland Security: Preliminary Results Show Federal Protective Service’s Ability to Protect Federal Facilities Is Hampered by Weaknesses in Its Contract Security Guard Program, by Mark L. Goldstein, director, physical infrastructure issues, before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
4. Bottled Water: FDA Safety and Consumer Protections Are Often Less Stringent Than Comparable EPA Protections for Tap Water, by John Stephenson, director, natural resources and environment, before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, House Committee on Energy and Commerce
5. Climate Change Trade Measures: Estimating Industry Effects, by Loren Yager, director, international affairs and trade, before the Senate Committee on Finance

Entertainment in the UK in 2028
Source: Ofcom

The UK entertainment sector is, and will remain, a major user of spectrum. In this study we assess the spectrum requirements for both the distribution and production of entertainment by 2028. We then compare spectrum demand with likely supply, identify problems of increased scarcity, and suggest possible ways of dealing with them.

In doing this it is impossible to predict with any certainty what the UK entertainment sector will look like in 20 years time - technology is rapidly changing the types of entertainment services which are possible and expanding the ways in which they might be delivered. To deal with this uncertainty we have produced a small number of scenarios for the likely state of UK entertainment in 2028. Our aim is to bring together economic, social, technology, regulatory and business drivers in a coherent way so as to span the space of possible states of the sector 20 years from now.

+ Entertainment in the UK in 2028 - Final Report (PDF; 2.2 MB)
+ Entertainment in the UK in 2028 - Annexes A-C (PDF; 1.2 MB)
+ Entertainment in the UK in 2028 - Annexes D-G (PDF; 1.3 MB)