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Online schools could provide the solution to many of the problems faced by mature students. With more and more people finding that they need extra qualifications to advance in the employment market, mature students are often faced with a dilemma; how to obtain those coveted higher educational qualifications whilst juggling work, family and financial commitments. By studying through online schools, students are able to maintain their current standard of living, while working towards a better lifestyle.

Just to give you an idea, there are many good reasons for you to consider earning your degree online, including:

- You can study when you wish and at your own pace
- You can keep your existing job while you study
- You do not have to leave your family and live on a campus
- You have round-the-clock access to the many facilities of your college
- via your Internet connection
- Online Degree programs generally cost less

Allthough I reside in Texas, I do know that a good list of online schools are available in Texas. But there are many other list of onlilne schools around the nation offering courses in every subject and specialty area. Whatever your area of interest, you will be able to find a program that will suit your needs and give you the education and training you’re looking for.

But because there are so much information and options available on online universities; it sometimes can be difficult to choose which online universities to enroll for your degree program?

Hence, if you decide to earn your degree online, which is the best online university for you? I can honestly say that online education has it’s risk, but a well run program requires a great deal of self motivation and discipline. I have a college degree and have taken classes both in a class room and from a distance.

So which list of online schools are you interested in? Do you know? Have you found that right oline accredited school? If not, let me provide you with a short list of online schools to get things started on your search:

1) University of Phoenix – A well recognized and good reputation online university. Employers consistently regard the students coming out of University of Phoenix Online as prepared for the job market and as a result, a degree from University of Phoenix Online, more than any other online university, confers marketability.

2) DeVry University – One of the oldest and most widely recognized online universities. DeVry is an accredited school offering studies in the areas of business, technology, healthcare technology and management. DeVry provides assistance in job placement and many companies actively hire from DeVry.

Other good reputation and well known list of online schools include:

- Everest College
- Kaplan University
- Concord Law School
- Berkerly College
- South University
- Keiser University
- eCampus Online
- National American University
- National Technological University
- Penn Foster Career School
- Penn Foster College
- Penn Foster High School

There are many more list of online schools on the net, you just have to do some thorough research to find the right one in your hometown. Request free online college degree information from as many of these schools as it takes to make the right decision for you.

Keep in mind that each good online university has it pros and cons against their competitors. To maximize the investment on your education, you must choose the best list of online schools which meets your career goals.

History

Main article: History of the Central African Republic

Pre-history

Between about 1000 BC and 1000 AD, Adamawa-Eastern-speaking peoples spread eastward from Cameroon to Sudan and settled in most of the territory of the CAR. During the same period, a much smaller number of Bantu-speaking immigrants settled in Southwestern CAR and some Central Sudanic-speaking populations settled along the Oubangi.

The majority of the CAR’s inhabitants thus speak Adamawa-Eastern languages or Bantu languages belonging to the Niger-Congo family. A minority speak Central Sudanic languages of the Nilo-Saharan family. More recent immigrants include many Muslim merchants who most often speak Arabic or Hausa.

Exposure to the outside world

Until the early 1800s, the peoples of the CAR lived beyond the expanding Islamic frontier in the Sudanic zone of Africa and thus had relatively little contact with Abrahamic religions or northern economies. During the first decades of the nineteenth century, however, Muslim traders began increasingly to penetrate the region of the CAR and to cultivate special relations with local leaders in order to facilitate their trade and settlement in the region.

The initial arrival of Muslim traders in the early 1800s was relatively peaceful and depended upon the support of local peoples, but after about 1850, slave traders with well-armed soldiers began to penetrate the region. Between c. 1860 and 1910, slave traders from Sudan, Chad, Cameroon, Dar al-Kuti in Northern CAR and Nzakara and Zande states in Southeastern CAR exported much of the population of Eastern CAR, a region with very few inhabitants today.

French colonialism

Main article: Ubangi-Shari

Oubangui-Chari in 1910

European penetration of Central African territory began in the late nineteenth century during the so-called Scramble for Africa (c. 18751900). Count Savorgnan de Brazza took the lead in establishing the French Congo with headquarters in the city named after him, Brazzaville, and sent expeditions up the Ubangi River in an effort to expand France’s claims to territory in Central Africa. King Leopold II of Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom also competed to establish their claims to territory in the Central African region.

In 1889 the French established a post on the Ubangi River at Bangui, the future capital of Ubangi-Shari and the CAR. De Brazza then sent expeditions in 189091 up the Sangha River in what is now Southwestern CAR, up the center of the Ubangi basin toward Lake Chad, and eastward along the Ubangi River toward the Nile. De Brazza and the procolonial in France wished to expand the borders of the French Congo to link up with French territories in West Africa, North Africa and East Africa.

In 1894, the French Congo’s borders with Leopold II’s Congo Free State and German Cameroon were fixed by diplomatic agreements. Then, in 1899, the French Congo’s border with Sudan was fixed along the Congo-Nile watershed, leaving France without her much coveted outlet on the Nile and turning Southeastern Ubangi-Shari into a cul-de-sac.

Once European negotiators agreed upon the borders of the French Congo, France had to decide how to pay for the costly occupation, administration, and development of the territory. The reported financial successes of Leopold II’s concessionary companies in the Congo Free State convinced the French government in 1899 to grant 17 private companies large concessions in the Ubangi-Shari region. In return for the right to exploit these lands by buying local products and selling European goods, the companies promised to pay rent to the colonial state and to promote the development of their concessions. The companies employed European and African agents who frequently used extremely brutal and atrocious methods to force Central Africans to work for them. At the same time, the French colonial administration began to force Central Africans to pay taxes and to provide the state with free labor. The companies and French administration often collaborated in their efforts to force Central Africans to work for their benefit, but they also often found themselves at odds.

Some French officials reported abuses committed by private company militias and even by their own colonial colleagues and troops, but efforts to bring these criminals to justice almost always failed. When news of atrocities committed against Central Africans by concessionary company employees and colonial officials or troops reached France and caused an outcry, there were investigations and some feeble attempts at reform, but the situation on the ground in Ubangi-Shari remained essentially the same.

Stamp from 1924

In the meantime, during the first decade of French colonial rule (c. 19001910), the rulers of African states in the Ubangi-Shari region increased their slave raiding activities and also their sale of local products to European companies and the colonial state. They took advantage of their treaties with the French to procure more weapons which were used to capture more slaves and so much of the eastern half of Ubangi-Shari was depopulated as a result of the export of Central Africans by local rulers during the first decade of colonial rule. Those who had power, Africans and Europeans, often made life miserable for those who did not have the power to resist.

During the second decade of colonial rule (c. 19101920), armed employees of private companies and the colonial state continued to use brutal methods to deal with local populations who resisted forced labor but the power of local African rulers was destroyed and so slave raiding was greatly diminished. In 1911, the Sangha and Lobaye basins were ceded to Germany as part of an agreement which gave France a free-hand in Morocco and so Western Ubangi-Shari came under German rule until World War I, during which France reconquered this territory by using Central African troops.

The third decade of colonial rule (19201930) was a period of transition during which a network of roads was built, cash crops were promoted, mobile health services were formed to combat sleeping sickness, and Protestant missions established stations in different parts of the country. New forms of forced labor were also introduced, however, as the French conscripted large numbers of Ubangians to work on the Congo-Ocean Railway and many of these recruits died of exhaustion and illness.

In 1925 the French writer Andr Gide published Voyage au Congo in which he described the alarming consequences of conscription for the Congo-Ocean railroad and exposed the continuing atrocities committed against Central Africans in Western Ubangi-Shari by employees of the Forestry Company of Sangha-Ubangi, for example. In 1928 a major insurrection, the Kongo-Wara ‘war of the hoe handle’ broke out in Western Ubangi-Shari and continued for several years. The extent of this insurrection, perhaps the largest anticolonial rebellion in Africa during the interwar years, was carefully hidden from the French public because it provided evidence, once again, of strong opposition to French colonial rule and forced labor.

During the fourth decade of colonial rule (c. 19301940), cotton, tea, and coffee emerged as important cash crops in Ubangi-Shari and the mining of diamonds and gold began in earnest. Several cotton companies were granted purchasing monopolies over large areas of cotton production and were thus able to fix the prices paid to cultivators in order to assure profits for their shareholders. Europeans established coffee plantations and Central Africans also began to cultivate coffee.

The fifth decade of colonial rule (c. 19401950) was shaped by the Second World War and the political reforms which followed in its wake. In September 1940 pro-Gaullist French officers took control of Ubangi-Shari.

Independence

On 1 December 1958 the colony of Ubangi-Shari became an autonomous territory within the French Community and took the name Central African Republic. The founding father and president of the Conseil de Gouvernement, Barthlmy Boganda, died in a mysterious plane accident in 1959, just eight days before the last elections of the colonial era. On 13 August 1960 the Central African Republic gained its independence and two of Boganda’s closest aides, Abel Goumba and David Dacko, became involved in a power struggle. With the backing of the French, Dacko took power and soon had Goumba arrested. By 1962 President Dacko had established a one-party state.

On 31 December 1965 Dacko was overthrown in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d’tat by Colonel Jean-Bdel Bokassa, who suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly. President Bokassa declared himself President for life in 1972, and named himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire on 4 December 1976. A year later, Emperor Bokassa crowned himself in a lavish and expensive ceremony that was ridiculed by much of the world. In 1979 France carried out a coup against Bokassa and “restored” Dacko to power. Dacko, in turn, was overthrown in a coup by General Andr Kolingba on 1 September 1981.

Kolingba suspended the constitution and ruled with a military junta until 1985. He introduced a new constitution in 1986 which was adopted by a nationwide referendum. Membership in his new party, the Rassemblement Dmocratique Centrafricain (RDC) was voluntary. In 1987, semi-competitive elections to parliament were held and municipal elections were held in 1988. Kolingba’s two major political opponents, Abel Goumba and Ange-Flix Patass, boycotted these elections because their parties were not allowed to compete.

By 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a pro-democracy movement became very active. In May 1990 a letter signed by 253 prominent citizens asked for the convocation of a National Conference but Kolingba refused this request and detained several opponents. Pressure from the United States, more reluctantly from France, and from a group of locally represented countries and agencies called GIBAFOR (France, USA, Germany, Japan, EU, World Bank and UN) finally led Kolingba to agree, in principle, to hold free elections in October 1992, with help from the UN Office of Electoral Affairs. After using the excuse of alleged irregularities to suspend the results of the elections as a pretext for holding on to power, President Kolingba came under intense pressure from GIBAFOR to establish a “Conseil National Politique Provisoire de la Rpublique” (Provisional National Political Council) (CNPPR) and to set up a “Mixed Electoral Commission” which included representatives from all political parties.

When elections were finally held in 1993, again with the help of the international community, Ange-Flix Patass came in first in the first round and Kolingba came in fourth after Abel Goumba and David Dacko. In the second round, Patass won 53 percent of the vote while Goumba won 45.6 percent. Most of Patass’s support came from Gbaya, Kare and Kaba voters in seven heavily populated prefectures in the northwest while Goumba’s support came largely from ten less-populated prefectures in the south and east. Furthermore, Patass’s party, the Mouvement pour la Libration du Peuple Centrafricain (MLPC) or Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People gained a simple but not an absolute majority of seats in parliament, which meant Patass needed coalition partners.

Patass relieved former President Kolingba of his military rank of general in March 1994 and then charged several former ministers with various crimes. Patass also removed many Yakoma from important, lucrative posts in the government. Two hundred mostly Yakoma members of the presidential guard were also dismissed or reassigned to the army. Kolingba’s RDC loudly proclaimed that Patass’s government was conducting a “witch hunt” against the Yakoma.

A new constitution was approved on 28 December 1994 and promulgated on 14 January 1995, but this constitution, like those before it, did not have much impact on the practice of politics. In 19961997, reflecting steadily decreasing public confidence in its erratic behaviour, three mutinies against Patass’s government were accompanied by widespread destruction of property and heightened ethnic tension. On 25 January 1997, the Bangui Peace Accords were signed which provided for the deployment of an inter-African military mission, the Mission Interafricaine de Surveillance des Accords de Bangui (MISAB). Mali’s former president, Amadou Tour, served as chief mediator and brokered the entry of ex-mutineers into the government on 7 April 1997. The MISAB mission was later replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping force, the Mission des Nations Unies en RCA (MINURCA).

In 1998 parliamentary elections resulted in Kolingba’ RDC winning 20 out of 109 seats, which constituted a comeback, but in 1999, notwithstanding widespread public anger in urban centers with his corrupt rule, Patass won free elections to become president for a second term. On 28 May 2001 rebels stormed strategic buildings in Bangui in an unsuccessful coup attempt. The army chief of staff, Abel Abrou, and General Francois N’Djadder Bedaya were shot, but Patass regained the upper hand by bringing in at least 300 troops of the rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba from over the river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and by Libyan soldiers.

In the aftermath of this failed coup, militias loyal to Patass sought revenge against rebels in many neighborhoods of the capital, Bangui, that resulted in the destruction of many homes as well as the torture and murder of many opponents. Eventually Patass came to suspect that General Franois Boziz was involved in another coup attempt against him and so Boziz fled with loyal troops to Chad. In March 2003, Boziz launched a surprise attack against Patass, who was out of the country. Libyan troops and some 1,000 soldiers of Bemba’s Congolese rebel organization failed to stop the rebels, who took control of the country and thus succeeded in overthrowing Patass.

Franois Boziz suspended the constitution and named a new cabinet which included most opposition parties. Abel Goumba, “Mr. Clean”, was named vice-president, which gave Boziz’s new government a positive image. Boziz established a broad-based National Transition Council to draft a new constitution and announced that he would step down and run for office once the new constitution was approved. A national dialogue was held from 15 September to 27 October 2003, and Boziz won a fair election that excluded Patass, to be elected president on a second ballot, in May 2005.

Humanitarian situation, peacebuilding, and development

The Central African Republic is heavily dependent upon multilateral foreign aid and the presence of numerous NGOs which provide services which the government fails to provide. As one UNDP official put it, the CAR is a country “sous serum,” or a country metaphorically hooked up to an IV. (Mehler 2005:150). The very presence of numerous foreign personnel and organizations in the country, including peacekeepers and even refugee camps, provides an important source of revenue for many Central Africans.

The country is self-sufficient in food crops, but much of the population lives at a subsistence level. Livestock development is hindered by the presence of the tsetse fly.

In 2006 due to ongoing violence, over 50,000 in the country’s north-west were at risk of starvation, and this was only averted thanks to United Nations support.[citation needed]

Peacebuilding Commission places Central African Republic on agenda On 12 June 2008, the Central African Republic became the fourth country to be placed on the agenda of the UN Peacebuilding Commission, which was set up in 2005 to help countries emerging from conflict avoid the slide back into war or chaos. The 31-member body agreed to take up the situation after a request from the government.

Peacebuilding Fund The Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared on 8 January 2008 that the Central African Republic was eligible to receive assistance from the Peacebuilding Fund. Three priority areas were identified: 1) Security sector reform 2) Promotion of good governance and the rule of law and 3) Revitalization of communities affected by conflicts.

Politics

Main article: Politics of the Central African Republic

Franois Boziz is President of the country. A new constitution was approved by voters in a referendum held on December 5, 2004. Full multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections were held in March 2005, with a second round in May. Boziz was declared the winner after a run-off vote.

In February 2006, there were reports of widespread violence in the northern part of the CAR. Thousands of refugees fled their homes, caught in the crossfire of battles between government troops and rebel forces. More than 7,000 people fled to neighboring Chad. Those who remained in the CAR told of government troops systematically killing men and boys suspected of cooperating with rebels.

Prefectures and sub-prefectures

Prefectures of the Central African Republic

Main articles: Prefectures of the Central African Republic and Sub-prefectures of the Central African Republic

The Central African Republic is divided into 14 administrative prefectures (prfectures), along with 2 economic prefectures (prfectures economiques) and one autonomous commune. The prefectures are further divided into 71 sub-prefectures (sous-prfectures).

The prefectures include:

Bamingui-Bangoran

Basse-Kotto

Haute-Kotto

Haut-Mbomou

Kmo

Lobaye

Mambr-Kad

Mbomou

Nana-Mambr

Ombella-M’Poko

Ouaka

Ouham

Ouham-Pend

Vakaga

the two economic prefectures are Nana-Grbizi and Sangha-Mbar; the commune is Bangui.

Geography

Main article: Geography of the Central African Republic

Satellite image of Central African Republic, generated from raster graphics data supplied by The Map Library

Map of the Central African Republic

Ubangi River on the outskirts of Bangui.

The Central African Republic is a land-locked nation within the interior of the African continent. It is bordered by the countries of Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo.

Much of the country consists of flat, or rolling plateau savanna, typically about 1,640 feet (500 m) above sea level, of which most of the northern half lies within the World Wildlife Fund’s East Sudanian savanna ecoregion. In the northeast are the Fertit Hills, and there are scattered hills in southwest part of the country. To the northwest is the Yade Massif, a granite plateau with an altitude of 3,750 feet (1,143 m).

At 240,519 square miles (622,941 km2), the Central African Republic is the world’s 42nd-largest country. It is comparable in size to the Ukraine, and is somewhat smaller than the US state of Texas.

Much of the southern border is formed by tributaries of the Congo River, with the Mbomou River in the east merging with the Uele River to form the Ubangi River. In the west, the Sangha River flows through part of the country. The eastern border lies along the edge of the Nile river watershed.

Estimates of the amount of the country covered by forest ranges up to 8%, with the densest parts in the south. The forest is highly diverse, and includes commercially important species of Ayous, Sapelli and Sipo. The deforestation rate is 0.4% per annum, and lumber poaching is commonplace.

The climate of the C.A.R. is generally tropical. The northern areas are subject to harmattan winds, which are hot, dry, and carry dust. The northern regions have been subject to desertification, and the northeast is desert. The remainder of the country is prone to flooding from nearby rivers.

In the November 2008 issue of National Geographic, the Central African Republic was named the country least affected by light pollution.

Economy

Main article: Economy of the Central African Republic

A boy playing with a burnt kerosene lamp in the city of Birao, Central African Republic. The town was almost completely burnt down in March 2007 during fighting between rebels and government troops.

The economy of the CAR is dominated by the cultivation and sale of food crops such as cassava, peanuts, maize, sorghum, millet, sesame, plantain and sara[disambiguation needed]. The annual real GDP growth rate is just above 3%. The importance of foodcrops over exported cash crops is indicated by the fact that the total production of cassava, the staple food of most Central Africans, ranges between 200,000 and 300,000 tons a year, while the production of cotton, the principal exported cash crop, ranges from 25,000 to 45,000 tons a year. Foodcrops are not exported in large quantities but they still constitute the principal cash crops of the country because Central Africans derive far more income from the periodic sale of surplus foodcrops than from exported cash crops such as cotton or coffee.

The CAR’s largest import partner is South Korea (20.2%), followed by France (13.6%) and Cameroon (7.7%), while its largest export partner is Japan (40.4%), followed by Belgium (9.8%) and China (8.2%).

Many rural and urban women also transform foodcrops into alcoholic drinks such as sorghum beer or hard liquor and derive considerable income from the sale of these drinks. Much of the income derived from the sale of foods and alcohol is not “on the books” and thus is not considered in calculating per capita income, which is one reason why official figures for per capita income are not accurate in the case of the CAR.

The per capita income of the CAR is often listed as being around $300 a year, said to be one of the lowest in the world, but this figure is based mostly on reported sales of exports and largely ignores the more important but unregistered sale of foods, locally produced alcohol, diamonds, ivory, bushmeat, and traditional medicine, for example. The informal economy of the CAR is more important than the formal economy for most Central Africans.

Diamonds constitute the most important export of the CAR, accounting for 4055% of export revenues, but an estimated 3050% of the diamonds produced each year leave the country clandestinely. Export trade is hindered by poor economic development, and the location of this country far from the coast.

The wilderness regions of this country have potential as ecotourist destinations. The country is noted for its population of forest elephants. In the southwest, the Dzanga-Sangha National Park is a rain forest area. To the north, the Manovo-Gounda St Floris National Park has been well-populated with wildlife, including leopards, lions, and rhinos. To the northeast the Bamingui-Bangoran National Park. However the population of wildlife in these parks has severely diminished over the past 20 years due to poaching, particularly from the neighboring Sudan.

The CAR is a member of the Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA).

The CAR is ranked 180 out of 181 on ‘ease of business’ in the 2009 Doing Business Report of the World Bank Group. The ‘ease of business’ ranking uses a composite index on regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of the Central African Republic

A village in the Central African Republic

The population has almost quadrupled since independence. In 1960 the population was 1,232,000. Now the population is 4,422,000. (2009 UN est.) Note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality and death rates, lower population and growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.

The United Nations estimates that approximately 11% of the population aged 15 49 is HIV positive. Only 3% of the country has antiretroviral therapy available, compared to 17% coverage in neighbouring countries of Chad and the Republic of the Congo.

The nation is divided into over 80 ethnic groups, each having its own language. The largest ethnic groups are the Baya 33%, Banda 27%, Mandjia 13%, Sara 10%, Mboum 7%, M’Baka 4%, and Yakoma 4%, with 2% others, including Europeans of mostly French descent.

Health

Main article: Health in the Central African Republic

Female life expectancy at birth was 48.2 and male life expectancy at birth was at 45.1 in 2007. The fertility rate is at about five births per woman. Government expenditure on health was at US$ 20 (PPP) per person in 2006. There were 8 physicians per 100,000 people in 2004. Government expenditure on health was at 10.9 % of total government expenditure in 2006.

Religion

Main article: Religion in the Central African Republic

Religion in the Central African Republic

religion

percent

Christian

 

50%

Indigenous

 

35%

Islam

 

15%

Christians form 50 percent of the population, while 35 percent of the population maintain Indigenous beliefs, and Islam is practiced by approximately 15 percent of the country’s population.

There are many missionary groups operating in the country, including Lutherans, Baptists, Catholics, Grace Brethren, and Jehovah’s Witnesses. While these missionaries are predominantly from the United States, France, Italy, and Spain, many are also from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and other African countries. Many missionaries left the country due to fighting between rebel and government forces in 2002 and 2003. Many have now returned to the country and resumed their activities.

Culture

Music

Main article: Music of the Central African Republic

Education

Main article: Education in the Central African Republic

Public education in the Central African Republic is free, and education is compulsory from ages 6 to 14. About half the adult population of the country is illiterate. The country has the University of Bangui.

See also

List of writers from the Central African Republic

See also

Africa portal

Main article: Outline of the Central African Republic

List of Central African Republic-related topics

Transport in the Central African Republic

References

^ Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2009) (.PDF). World Population Prospects, Table A.1. 2008 revision. United Nations. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_text_tables.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-12. 

^ a b c d “Central African Republic”. International Monetary Fund. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2009/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=2006&ey=2009&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=626&s=NGDPD,NGDPDPC,PPPGDP,PPPPC,LP&grp=0&a=&pr.x=53&pr.y=9. Retrieved 2009-10-01. 

^ Which side of the road do they drive on? Brian Lucas. August 2005. Retrieved 2009-01-28

^ List of countries by Human Development Index

^ HS Foreign 24.4.2001 Did the Central African Republic surpass Finland in environmental affairs?

^ “Thousands could die of starvation, says United Nations spokesperson Maurizio Giuliano”. http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=58581. 

^ http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/pbc39.doc.htm

^ http://www.unpbf.org/CAR.shtml

^ Reuters AlertNet CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Polls results to be announced on 22 May, official says

^ BBC NEWS World | Africa | Country profiles | Timeline: Central African Republic

^ BBC NEWS Africa | Thousands flee new CAR ‘rebels’

^ BBC NEWS Africa | Thousands flee from CAR violence

^ Sold Down the River (English) March 2001, Forests Monitor

^ The Forests of the Congo Basin: State of the Forest 2006. CARPE 13-Jul-07

^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2050.html?countryName=China&countryCode=ch&regionCode=eas&#ch

^ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2061.html?countryName=China&countryCode=ch&regionCode=eas&#ch

^ OHADA.com: The business law portal in Africa, http://www.ohada.com/index.php, retrieved 2009-03-22 

^ http://www.doingbusiness.org/Documents/CountryProfiles/CAF.pdf

^ Countries

^ http://data.unaids.org/pub/GlobalReport/2006/2006_GR_ANN3_en.pdf

^ a b c d http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/data_sheets/cty_ds_CAF.html

^ http://www.afro.who.int/home/countries/fact_sheets/car.pdf

^ the World Factbook

^ U.S. Department of State

^ “Central African Republic”. Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor (2001). Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor (2002). ^ http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/car_statistics.html

Further reading

Kalck, Pierre, Historical Dictionary of the Central African Republic, 2004

Petringa, Maria, Brazza, A Life for Africa (2006) ISBN 978-1-4259-1198-0

Titley, Brian, Dark Age: The Political Odyssey of Emperor Bokassa, 2002

External links

Find more about Central African Republic on Wikipedia’s sister projects:

Definitions from Wiktionary

Textbooks from Wikibooks

Quotations from Wikiquote

Source texts from Wikisource

Images and media from Commons

News stories from Wikinews

Learning resources from Wikiversity

Government

Central African Republic Online

Chief of State and Cabinet Members

Overviews

Country Profile from BBC News

Central African Republic entry at The World Factbook

Central African Republic from UCB Libraries GovPubs

Central African Republic at the Open Directory Project

Wikimedia Atlas of the Central African Republic

News

Humanitarian news and analysis from IRIN Central African Republic

Central African Republic news headline links from AllAfrica.com

(French) RCA Info

Cultural

Baka Pygmies Culture and music of the first inhabitants of the Central African Republic, with photos and ethnographic notes

Tourism

Central African Republic travel guide from Wikitravel

Other

Central African Republic Pictures

location of Central African Republic on a 3D globe (Java)

Central African Republic at Humanitarian and Development Partnership Team (HDPT)

Central African Republic reports from Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers

Johann Hari in Birao, Central African Republic Inside France’s Secret War from The Independent, October 5, 2007

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 Central African Republic topics

Politics and government

Coat of Arms  Constitution  Corruption  Elections  Flag  Foreign relations  Human rights (GLBT  Women)  Law enforcement  Military  Ministers  National Assembly  Political parties  Politics  President  Prime Minister

History

Precolonial history  Oubangui-Chari (part of French Equatorial Africa)  Central African Empire  Patass presidency  Boziz coup

Geography and environment

Cities  Ecoregions  National Parks  Prefectures  Rivers  Sub-prefectures  Wildlife

Economy and infrastructure

Agriculture  Airports  Banks  Communications  Companies  Mining  Tourism  Trade unions  Transport

Culture and society

Demographics  Education  Films  Football (National team)  Holidays  Languages  Literature  Music  Religion (Catholicism  Islam)

Miscellany

Personalities on stamps  Public Holidays  Scouting

See also: List of Central African Republic-related topics

v  d  e

Former French colonies in Africa and the Indian Ocean

Mahgreb

Algeria  Morocco (Arguin Island)  Tunisia

French West Africa

Cte d’Ivoire  Dahomey  French Sudan  Guinea  Mauritania  Niger  Senegal  Upper Volta

 

French Togoland  James Island  Albreda

French Equatorial Africa

Chad  Gabon  Middle Congo  Oubangui-Chari

Comoros

Anjouan  Grande Comore  Mohli

 

French Somaliland (Djibouti)  Madagascar  Ile de France  Seychelles

 

Geographic locale

v  d  e

Countries and territories of Africa

West Africa

Benin  Burkina Faso  Cape Verde  Cte d’Ivoire  The Gambia  Ghana  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Liberia  Mali  Mauritania  Niger  Nigeria  Senegal  Sierra Leone  Togo

North Africa

Algeria  Egypt  Libya  Mauritania  Morocco  Sudan  Tunisia

Central Africa

Angola  Burundi  Cameroon  Central African Republic  Chad  Democratic Republic of the Congo  Republic of the Congo  Equatorial Guinea  Gabon  Rwanda  So Tom and Prncipe

East Africa

Burundi  Comoros  Djibouti  Eritrea  Ethiopia  Kenya  Madagascar  Malawi  Mauritius  Mozambique  Seychelles  Somalia  Tanzania  Uganda  Zambia  Zimbabwe

Southern Africa

Botswana  Lesotho  Namibia  South Africa  Swaziland

 States with

limited recognition

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic  Somaliland

 Partially in Africa

France (Runion)  Italy (Pantelleria)  Portugal (Madeira)  Spain (Canary Islands / Ceuta / Melilla / Plazas de soberana)  Yemen (Socotra)

 Dependencies

Iles Eparses (France)  Mayotte (France)  Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (United Kingdom)

 Disputed areas

Western Sahara

 

International membership

v  d  e

African Union (AU)

Algeria  Angola  Benin  Botswana  Burkina Faso  Burundi  Cameroon  Cape Verde  Central African Republic  Chad  Comoros  Democratic Republic of the Congo  Republic of the Congo  Cte d’Ivoire  Djibouti  Egypt  Eritrea  Ethiopia  Equatorial Guinea  Gabon  The Gambia  Ghana  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Kenya  Lesotho  Liberia  Libya  Madagascar  Malawi  Mali  Mauritania  Mauritius  Mozambique  Namibia  Niger  Nigeria  Rwanda  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic  So Tom and Prncipe  Senegal  Seychelles  Sierra Leone  Somalia  South Africa  Sudan  Swaziland  Tanzania  Togo  Tunisia  Uganda  Zambia  Zimbabwe

v  d  e

Community of Sahel-Saharan States

Benin  Burkina Faso  Central African Republic  Chad  Comoros  Cte d’Ivoire  Djibouti  Egypt  Eritrea  The Gambia  Ghana  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Liberia  Libya  Mali  Morocco  Niger  Nigeria  Senegal  Sierra Leone  Somalia  Sudan  Togo  Tunisia 

v  d  e

Member states and observers of the Francophonie

Members

Albania  Andorra  Armenia  Belgium (French Community)  Benin  Bulgaria  Burkina Faso  Burundi  Cambodia  Cameroon  Canada (New Brunswick  Quebec)  Cape Verde  Central African Republic  Chad  Comoros  Cyprus1  Democratic Republic of the Congo  Republic of the Congo  Cte d’Ivoire  Djibouti  Dominica  Egypt  Equatorial Guinea  France (French Guiana  Guadeloupe  Martinique  St. Pierre and Miquelon)  Gabon  Ghana1  Greece  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Haiti  Laos  Luxembourg  Lebanon  Macedonia2  Madagascar  Mali  Mauritania  Mauritius  Moldova  Monaco  Morocco  Niger  Romania  Rwanda  St. Lucia  So Tom and Prncipe  Senegal  Seychelles  Switzerland  Togo  Tunisia  Vanuatu  Vietnam

Observers

Austria  Croatia  Czech Republic  Georgia  Hungary  Latvia  Lithuania  Mozambique  Poland  Serbia  Slovakia  Slovenia  Thailand  Ukraine

1 Associate member. 2 Provisionally referred to by the Francophonie as the “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”; see Macedonia naming dispute.

v  d  e

Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC)

Members

Afghanistan  Albania  Algeria  Azerbaijan  Bahrain  Bangladesh  Benin  Burkina Faso  Brunei  Cameroon  Chad  Comoros  Cte d’Ivoire  Djibouti  Egypt  Gabon  Gambia  Guinea  Guinea-Bissau  Guyana  Indonesia  Iran  Iraq  Jordan  Kuwait  Kazakhstan  Kyrgyzstan  Lebanon  Libya  Maldives  Malaysia  Mali  Mauritania  Morocco  Mozambique  Niger  Nigeria  Oman  Pakistan  Palestine  Qatar  Saudi Arabia  Senegal  Sierra Leone  Somalia  Sudan  Suriname  Syria  Tajikistan  Turkey  Tunisia  Togo  Turkmenistan  Uganda  Uzbekistan  United Arab Emirates  Yemen

Observers

Countries and territories

Bosnia and Herzegovina  Central African Republic  Russia  Thailand  Northern Cyprus (as Turkish Cypriot State)

Muslim communities

Moro National Liberation Front

International organizations

Economic Cooperation Organization  African Union  Arab League  Non-Aligned Movement  United Nations

 

Languages

v  d  e

Niger-Congo-speaking nations

 

Kordofanian

 Sudan

 

Mande

   

 Gambia

 Guinea

 Guinea-Bissau

 Mali

 Mauritania

 Senegal

 Sierra Leone

 Liberia

 Cte d’Ivoire

 Nigeria

 Burkina Faso

 Benin

 Togo

 

Atlantic-Congo

   

Atlantic

 Benin

 Burkina Faso

 Cameroon

 CAR

Ijoid

 Nigeria

 Chad

 Cte d’Ivoire

 Gambia

 Guinea

Dogon

 Mali

 Guinea-Bissau

 Liberia

 Mali

 Mauritania

 Niger

 Senegal

 Sierra Leone

 Sudan

 Togo

 

Volta-Congo

   

Senufo

 Benin

 Cte d’Ivoire

 Mali

Gur

 Benin

 Burkina Faso

 Cte d’Ivoire

 Ghana

 Mali

 Nigeria

 Togo

Adamawa-Ubangi

 Cameroon

 CAR

 Chad

 Nigeria

Kru

 Burkina Faso

 Cte d’Ivoire

 Liberia

Kwa

 Benin

 Cte d’Ivoire

 Ghana

 Nigeria

 Togo

 

Benue-Congo

   

Bantu

 Angola

 Botswana

 Burundi

 Cameroon

 DRC

Yoruba and Igbo

 Nigeria

 Rep. of the Congo

 Equatorial Guinea

 Gabon

 Kenya

 Lesotho

 Nigeria

 Malawi

 Mozambique

 Namibia

 Rwanda

 South Africa

 Swaziland

 Tanzania

 Uganda

 Zambia

 Zimbabwe

CAR = Central African Republic  DRC = Democratic Republic of the Congo

Categories: Central African Republic | African countries | African Union member states | Least Developed Countries | French-speaking countries | Landlocked countries | Member states of La Francophonie | States and territories established in 1960Hidden categories: Wikipedia pages move-protected due to vandalism | Articles containing French language text | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements from December 2007 | Articles with links needing disambiguation

An H-1B temporary worker is a foreign national who is coming temporarily to the U.S. to perform a specialty occupation.  A specialty occupation is defined as “an occupation that requires (A) theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge, and (B) attainment of a bachelor’s or higher degree in the specific specialty as a minimum for entry into the occupation in the United States.” [INA214(i); 8USC 1184(i)]

For example accountants, architects, teachers (primary and secondary, excluding nursery school teachers), university professors, certain types of nurses, attorneys, physicians, designers, and engineers will all qualify as H-1B workers. The only way to make a determination whether a particular worker will qualify is through advice from an experienced immigration attorney.

The H-1B visa remains one of most versatile nonimmigrant employment visas utilized by U.S. businesses to hire foreign workers.  Here is a list of issues to keep in mind when filing an H-1B petition.

Limitation on Duration of Stay and Full-Time/Part-Time Employment

An employer may request initial employment a maximum of 3 years.  The H-1B can be extended.  Generally, the maximum amount of time that an individual can hold H-1B visa status is 6 years. However, exceptions do exist that allow an H-1B extension beyond the initial 6 years. An employer may petition for a foreign worker for either full-time or part-time employment.

Prevailing Wage

The prevailing wage element requires employers to demonstrate that the wage offered will not discriminate against US workers by offering wages that are lower than the actual wage paid similar workers. Generally prevailing wage requirement is met by offering wages as determined submitting a Prevailing Wage Request to the State Workforce or demonstrating that a union contract is in force. The H-1B laws require employers to pay the higher of the actual wage or the prevailing wage.

The Labor Condition Application (LCA)

The LCA is an application by the employer to the Department of Labor attesting to certain conditions of the position offered.  These conditions are:

·         That the higher of actual or prevailing wage will be paid;

·         That the employee is eligible for the same benefits as other similarly employed US workers;

·         That the employee is not being employed because US workers are out on strike or lockout;

·         That the employment of the foreign worker will not adversely affect the working conditions of other workers; and

·         That proper notification was given to U.S. employees or the union representative if the position is union position university’s intent to hire an H-1B non-immigrant.

The LCA must be made available for Department of Labor (DOL) and for public inspection.  The LCA may be obtained online at www.lca.doleta.gov.

Spouse or Children of an H-1B

Spouses and children of an H-1B are eligible for H-4 visas. An H-4 is either a spouse or unmarried children under 21 years old.  H-4 holders cannot work in the U.S. but are eligible to attend school either part time or full-time.  To prove the relationship to the H-1B an H-4 candidate will need to present a marriage certificate if a spouse and a birth certificate if a child. 

Ok, when do I file?

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) will accept H-1B petitions for fiscal year 2010 on April 1, 2009 for jobs starting on October 1, 2009.  It is important to file April 1, 2009 since H-1B visas are capped at 65,000 per year and the last two years the cap was met within one week.  As such, early document preparation is essential to making timely filed H-1B petitions.

I’m Ready to File … Where?

A petition is filed with either California Service Center or Vermont Service Center depending on where the temporary employment will be The California Service Center is appropriate for employment in the following states: Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, or Wyoming.

A petition is filed with the Vermont Service Center if the temporary work will be performed in: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia, U.S. Virgin Islands, or West Virginia.

When the temporary employment will be in different states, the state where your company is located will determine the Service Center for submission of the petition.  For example, if the beneficiary will work in Arizona and Texas, and your company is located in California, file your H-1B petition with the California Service Center.

Sounds Great … How Much is this Going to Set me Back?

As of the time this article is published, an employer must pay for the H-1B Form I-129 filing fee ($320), H-1B Training Fee of either $750 or $1500 depending on the size of your company, and a Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee ($500). All employers must pay these fees unless an employer qualifies for exemption from the H-1B Training Fee.

If a company currently employs 1-25 full-time equivalent employees, the H-1B Training Fee is $750.  Companies who employ more than 25 full-time equivalent employees will need to pay $1500.  The employer must pay the H-1B Training Fee upon the initial hire and the first H-1B extension of the same employee.  The H-1B Training Fee is not required for second or subsequent petitions for H-1B extension.  The Fraud Prevention and Detection fee needs to be paid when the employer initially hires the employee even if he or she is currently working as an H-1B with another employer. 

A simple way to remember this is that every employer needs to pay for the H-1B Training Fee twice for each H-1B employee and the H-1B Fraud Prevention and Detection Fee needs to be paid once for each H-1B employee. Fees are subject to change so it is important to make sure of the proper fees before filing.

Filing Procedure

Documents are filed with the USCIS service center having jurisdiction over the petitioner (see filing locations above).  The petitioner must send Form I-129, I-129 supplement forms, an approved Labor Condition Application, support document about the petitioner’s business, and documents showing the qualifications of the candidate.  If there are dependent/s then the form I-539 need to be filed along with proof of relationship to the H-1B, i.e. marriage certificate or birth certificate or both.  Only one I-539 is required to be filed as children are listed on the application.  The Form I-539 filing fee is $300. 

Everything is large in Texas, but it seems that the rest of the United States has more than its share of the world’s largest somethings. Texas itself has the world’s largest fire hydrant in Beaumont; wooden nickel in San Antonio; kettle in Galveston; horseshoe in Marfa; cowboy hat in Paris; and of course, the world’s biggest burger served at Charlie Brown’s in Carrolton.

California is another big state full of big things, like the world’s largest shoe and Pez dispenser, both in Bakersfield; chess set in Morro Bay; hammer in Eureka; fiddle in Fiddletown; artichoke in Castroville; paper cup in Riverside; and the very patriotic U.S. flag in Long Beach.

Some of the world’s largest things can be found all over the United States. Here is a short list.

- Adirondack Chair: Westminster, Maryland

- Apple Basket: Frazeysburg, Ohio

- Baked Potato: Blackfoot, Idaho

- Ball of Rubber Bands: Wilmington, Delaware

- Baseball Bat: Louisville, Kentucky

- Basketball: Knoxville, Tennessee

- Clock: Clarksville, Indiana

- Conch Shell: Panama City Beach, Florida

- Dinosaur Park: Beaver, Arkansas

- Donut: Yokumtown, Pennsylvania

- Ear of Corn: Olivia, Minnesota

- Eight-ball: Tipton, Missouri

- Globe: Yarmouth, Maine

- Golf Ball: Fripp Island, South Carolina

- Guitar: Bristol, Tennessee

- Hockey Stick: Real Eveleth, Minnesota

Not all the world’s largest things in America are just curiosities. For instance, The world’s largest wind generator has two 400-foot blades, is 20 stories high and is located on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Walmart of Bentonville, Arkansas is the world’s largest retailer. And there is lots more: The world’s largest American Legion Post is in Lincoln, Nebraska; the world’s largest carousel is in Spring Green. Wisconsin; the world’s largest flattop mountain is in Grand Mesa, Colorado; the world’s largest drive-in fast-food restaurant is the Varsity in Atlanta, Georgia; the world’s largest public library is the Harold Washington Library in Chicago, Illinois; the world’s largest commercial building is the Merchandise Mart also in Chicago; and the world’s largest brewery is Anheuser Busch in St. Louis, Missouri.

America has so many of the world’s largest that the list goes on and on. The world’s largest bookstore is a Barnes and Noble in New York City; the world’s largest vacuum chamber is 100 feet in diameter and located at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Sandusky, Ohio; the world’s largest supercomputing grid is the TeraGrid based at the University of Chicago; the world’s largest marine reserve is in Hawaii; the world’s largest honkytonk is Billy Bob’s in Fort Worth, Texas; the world’s largest casino in the Foxwoods Resort in Ledyard, Connecticut; the world’s largest McDonalds is in Vinita, Oklahoma; the world’s largest Bible is in Abilene, Texas; the world’s largest swimming pool is in Garden City, Kansas; the world’s largest guitar store is Ed Roman’s in Las Vegas, Nevada; the world’s largest hotel chain is Best Western, founded in Long Beach, California; the world’s largest department store is Macy’s in New York City; the world’s largest rose bush covers 800 square feet in Tombstone, Arizona; and the world’s largest laundromat is in Berwyn, Illinois and you still have to wait for a dryer!

How will the master online special education degree equip those teachers who want to make a difference? The answer is straightforward – in the USA, currently there are over 6 million students who have enrolled in these special programs.

While schools – public and private, preschool to secondary – struggle to identify and deploy qualified teachers to address these 6 million students, nobody knows for sure how many million students more need to be identified for special classes, so that they can better cope with their learning disabilities, or physical and mental handicaps.

At the same time, successive Federal and State Administrations since 1975 have sharpened their focus on creating complex systems for identifying, formulating, and delivering a highly-individualized education program to each eligible student. The cornerstone of these legislations, programs, and licensures is the highly qualified teacher.

A Master’s degree in has thus become a must for aspiring teachers, and with many of them already employed as regular teachers, master online special education degree has become the most convenient route to this profession.

What It Involves

Master online special education degree involves distance or online learning that leads to graduate degrees like Master of Education (MEd), Master of Science (MS), Master of Arts (MA), or any of the specialized master’s degrees in various sub-domains, such as dyslexia, attention-deficit, etc.

Master online special education degree courses will last upwards of one year, and might involve significant on-the-job training under an experienced special educator. Most states also require that aspiring teachers pass a licensure test, before starting their career.

Why Special Education?

On an average, teachers in this field don’t earn much more than regular teachers. On the other hand, the job responsibilities of these teachers are more demanding – they can even include defending oneself and the school’s program in court, if dissatisfied parents of challenged students opt for litigation, as has happened numerous times in various states!

Still, about 450,000 educators have opted for and currently work as special education teachers in the country. What must be the attraction?

Teachers in this field are very unlikely to encounter unemployment in the short-term or long-term. But that alone can’t be the lure to enter this profession, where sheer hard work, difficult coordination between many, and uncertain outcomes from the part of students, make life stressful.

The answer can, hence, be only that there are hundreds of thousands of teachers out there who want to make a genuine difference to the lives of these challenged students. And it is indeed a huge difference. According to estimates, four in five challenged students used to be excluded from the US education system, as near as three decades back. Official figures, tabulated around 1975, put this at 1 million students, who missed the bus.

Why Master Special Education Degree?

Teachers in this specialty are still in significant short supply. Because of this, some states have still not made it mandatory for them to have a master’s degree. In such states, bachelor’s degree holders appear for professional licensure exams and work as special education teachers.

However, more and more states are opting for a master’s degree as the minimum qualification, for a simple reason. A special ed. teacher should be capable of interacting effectively with professionals like psychologists, disability therapists, educational evaluators, educational lawyers, supervisors from the school district, regular teachers, and, of course parents of disabled students. It takes a master’s degree holder with significant on-the-job training to confidently undertake this.

Master’s degree holders in this field have also another booming avenue – they can work as instructors in colleges and universities that deliver specialized programs, and these institutions are rapidly increasing in number. They are also eligible to work as supervisors or administrators in the school districts.

A small but significant proportion of educators go for ‘ degree, so as to progress to doctoral degrees, which are also offered by more and more universities, these days.

Lastly, though special education teachers don’t earn much more than regular teachers on an average, the highest salaries drawn by special educators exceed the highest salaries drawn by regular teachers by $3,000 to $8,000. It goes without saying that almost all of those highest paid special educators are master’s degree holders.

Why Master Online Special Education Degree?

Those planning to take a master’s degree in this field are almost always regular teachers who have developed a fascination for this field. Others include psychologists, counselors, learning disability therapists, etc. Since both teachers and these professionals already hold full time jobs, it is a master online special education degree that is more suitable to them.

Secondly, only an exceptionally good regular teacher can hope to be an effective teacher of special students. Because of this, aspirants enter the regular teaching profession to garner some years of experience before attempting to study special ed. Master online special education degree perfectly fits this scheme.

Thirdly, a significant component of any education master’s degree is on-the-job training in a special school or a regular school’s special education department. Those working teachers who opt for a master online degree can thus modify their school work itself for the on-the-job training part.

Where to Study Master Online Special Education Degree?

Hundreds of universities and colleges across the country offer master online degrees in special ed. They include state or public universities, and private or independent universities. Some of the courses have small components that require occasional campus visits, while almost all require on-the-job training at a school.

Working teachers who opt for master online special education degree generally prefer studying in their own state, if not their city. Another reason for local preference is that some universities incorporate that state’s licensure requirements as part of the course. Due to strict licensure requirements, it is also important to go for an accredited course.

State or Public Universities Offering Master Online Special Education Degree

At least 12 state university systems offer master online degree in special ed. They include Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Aspirants in states like Alabama, Florida, and Kansas, are especially fortunate, with multiple public universities offering the course. Florida perhaps tops the nation with its three public universities offering this degree. Some of the prestigious state universities offering the course across the nation are:

ALABAMA: Auburn University, Auburn, University of South Alabama, Mobile

FLORIDA: Florida State University, University of Central Florida, University of West Florida

INDIANA: Ball State University

KANSAS: Emporia State University, Fort Hays State University

KENTUCKY: University of Louisville, Louisville

MICHIGAN: University of Michigan, Dearborn

MISSOURI: University of Missouri, Columbia

NEBRASKA: University of Nebraska, Lincoln

NEW JERSEY: New Jersey City University

NORTH CAROLINA: University of North Carolina

PENNSYLVANIA: Clarion University of Pennsylvania

TEXAS: Texas Tech University

Private or Independent Universities Offering Online Degrees

At least 10 well-known private or independent universities in 8 states offer master online special education degree. These states include Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington. Arizona and Iowa top the list with two private universities each, offering the course. Florida and Pennsylvania are perhaps the only two states that have both public and private universities offering the course. Some of the well-known private schools offering online degrees are:

ARIZONA: Grand Canyon University, University of Phoenix

CALIFORNIA: La Sierra University

FLORIDA: Nova Southeastern University

IOWA: Graceland University, Kaplan University

MINNESOTA: Bethel University

VIRGINIA: Regent University

WASHINGTON: City University

What to Expect From Master Online Special Education Degree, in the Future?

The high performance expected from special edd teachers will ensure that a master’s degree in this field becomes an absolute must in all states. As it is working teachers who are more likely to go for a master’s degree in this subject, and because the course itself is dominated by on-the-job training, college degree master online might even upstage regular courses in the subject, in the near future.

Recent stricter regulations from the part of administrations regarding expected student performance, and better awareness about learning disabilities from the part of parents, will make sure that more and more students will be presented for evaluation. This scenario will drive the demand for qualified and trained special educators, giving further momentum to master online special ed. degree courses.

The most likely change in course content will be super-specializations in special education, with probably different master’s degrees built around different learning disabilities or handicaps.

“Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.” was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem Sacred Emily, which appeared in the 1922 book, Geography and Plays. In Stein’s view, the sentence expresses the fact that simply using the name of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it.

That certainty seems to summarize a problem we have today, “A college is a college is a college is a college” or a “University is a university is a university is a university.” There are people that believe that just because someone calls something a “college or university” it is just that.

Because of this belief and with the advent of the Internet, diploma mills have blossomed. There are diploma mills that try to look like a “rose:” excuse me, a “college” even an “accredited university,” but nothing could be further from the truth.

So, if your future plans include college or a university, finding out if the school where you plan to obtain an degree is a fully accredited institution is the first and the most vital step in the online degree process.

What is the difference as long as it is a degree?

I had a good friend who spent four years of his life earning a college degree. Turns out that even though the institution was well known, it was not accredited. Unfortunately because of having a degree that was not accredited, he was never able to get a job in his chosen field, which was teaching.

You are running a risk by not having a degree from an accredited school. An unaccredited degree is a time bomb in your resume. Today, employers are carefully scrutinizing information on job applications and they do not look favorably on diploma mills.

Keep in mind the responsibility for spotting a diploma mill lays in your lap. Here are just a few warning signs: the school’s website has no phone number, their promotional materials focus heavily on credit for life experience, the school’s name is very similar to the name of a traditional, well-known school, a degree is awarded in a few weeks or months, the school claims to be accredited by an organization that is not listed as an accreditor approved by the Department of Education, the school boasts of accreditation, i.e., (fully, nationally or worldwide accredited,) but has no legitimate accreditation agency to back up the claim. If what you have to do to earn your degree seems “too good to be true,” it is a warning sign of a diploma mill.

Why is it so important for a school to be accredited? Accreditation is an independent examination of college and university programs to confirm that the education that is provided is consistent and of the highest quality. When a college or university is awarded accreditation, it guarantees that they have been examined and that they have met the standards of excellence that have been determined by the accrediting organization. Accreditation for a college or university is maintained by continuous adherence to set criteria. The purpose of accreditation is to make sure that colleges and universities achieve certain levels of education.

When looking at a school, check out their accreditation. Some colleges state that they are accredited, but they are accredited by fake accrediting agencies. It is critical that you make sure that any college you look at seriously is accredited by one of the six regional agencies that are listed below. Be sure you look at their websites, which lists all the colleges and universities that they have accredited.

Regional accreditation is the most recognized and accepted type of accreditation in the United States. There are six geographic regions with an agency in each region that accredits college and university programs:

Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools – http://www.msche.org/

Accreditation of colleges in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico.

New England Association of Schools & Colleges – http://www.neasc.org/

Accreditation of colleges in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools – http://www.ncacasi.org/ Accreditation of colleges in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Northwest Association Of Schools And Colleges – http://www.nwccu.org/ Accreditation of colleges in Alaska, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – http://www.sacs.org/ Accreditation of colleges in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Western Association of Schools and Colleges – http://www.wascweb.org/

Accreditation of colleges in California, Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana’s Islands, the Pacific Basin, East Asia, the Pacific and East Asia where American/International schools are.

You can easily find out if a college or university that you are interested in is accredited by simply visiting the specific regional accrediting board’s website depending on where the college or university is located.

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(News) Harman Kardon on Wednesday rolled out new home A/V receivers including the AVR 1600, AVR 2600 and AVR 3600. The top-end AVR 3600 may be of particular interest to…

Apple Drops Prices on IPod Nanos, Touches, Classic

(News) What with the next Apple event just hours away, it would be nice if we had some sort of concrete sign of what they might be announcing. Instead, all we’ve got is…

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Amazon Offers to Return Kindle Users Orwell Book or $30

(News) Amazon.com found itself in the center of a swirling vortex of controversy in July, following its move to remotely delete copies of two George Orwell books that…

Prototype Uses Gestures to Control Appliances

(News) Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute showed research that allowed users to turn on a light with a thumbs up gesture

Microsoft Gets Reprieve in Word Case

(News) Microsoft Gets Reprieve in Word Case

DocScanner for IPhone

(Reviews) The best iPhone apps perform a unique, powerful function that’s hard to mimic. DocScanner, which portends to scan a document in the same way a flatbed scanner…

Wine Ph.D. for IPhone

(Reviews) A fine wine ages slowly and gracefully. A fine iPhone app should be graphically interesting, user friendly… and fast. With Wine Ph.D. for the iPhone and iPod…

The Naked Truth About IPod Cameras

(News) As I suggested the other day, there’s been a lot of speculation that the next iPod models–the iPod touch, iPod nano, and iPod classic–will include cameras…

Birdpost for IPhone

(Reviews) Birdpost is the iPhone companion to Birdpost.com, a Web site where you and others can report and share bird sightings. It’s a great idea, but unfortunately the…

Nokia Works With Facebook on Tighter Mobile Integration

(News) Using a new smartphone app, some Nokia phone users will be able to publish their locations and status updates directly to Facebook.

Assorted IPhone Zombie Apps

(Reviews) Look, the likelihood of a bona fide Romeroesque zombie takeover is slightly smaller than your odds of being struck by lightning, winning the lottery, or even…

Watch Every Baseball Game With MLB’s IPhone App

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Apple Confirms Sept. 9 ‘rock and Roll’ Event

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A Utopian Musical Future One Step Closer?

(News) For nearly as long as the iPod’s existed, I’ve written about where that device may one day take us–with the ultimate destination being All Music, All the Time…

Microsoft Xbox 360 Price Cuts to Come Later for Asia

(News) Price reductions on the Xbox 360 will come later for Japan and the rest of the Asia Pacific region.

IFax for IPhone

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Microsoft Xbox 360 Elite Price to Drop $100 in the US

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Beats for IPhone

(Reviews) If you dance–anywhere from a rave to your junior prom–you’ve seen it. The music is loud, the lights are low. Dancers are moving in time to a hypnotic beat…

Advanced Wi-Fi Sinks Old Ship’s Network Barriers

(News) Beam-forming Wi-Fi gear from Ruckus Wireless helps to get signals around metal walls on the Queen Mary floating hotel.

Airline Pilots Want Ban on Lithium Battery Shipments

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Remastered Music: Making New From Old?

(News) I was recently delighted to receive a box set with re-releases of The Durutti Column’s first four albums. This band, led by Vini Reilly, has been one of my…

Remix David Bowie — Space Oddity for IPhone

(Reviews) For some reason, my mother never said that to get things done, I’d better not mess with Major Tom. If she had said it–I never really understood why anyone’s…

Microsoft Continues to Befriend Non-Windows Phones

(News) Microsoft has launched OneApp, which gives access to a Facebook, Twitter and Windows Live Messenger on cheaper phones from, for example, Nokia.

No ‘three Strikes’ Law Planned for Singapore, Agency Says

(News) There are no immediate plans to propose a ‘three-strikes’ antipiracy law in Singapore, a government regulatory agency said Monday.

The End of Free Lyrics?

(News) Something interesting happened to albums in the mid-60s. (No, not double-album covers and their utilitarian use.) With artists such as Bob Dylan, The Beatles…

Report: Singapore Considers ‘three Strikes’ Anti-piracy Law

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Taiwan University Students Build Tour Guide Robot

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Cut the Cable Bill

(News) Choice is great, but too many choices (and paying for them all) is a hard sell in a tough economy. Take your cable or satellite TV service, for example. Of the…

Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite for IPhone

(Reviews) It’s taken a while, but the mainstay apps in mobile computing–those intended for mobile business users who need to stay productive–are making their way to the…

New Owner Presents Details on Legal Pirate Bay

(News) Global Gaming Factory X, the prospective buyers of The Pirate Bay, will use a system that lets copyright owners remove content.

Microsoft Appeals Word Ruling, Asks for Stay

(News) Microsoft has asked a court to stay an injunction that could put a stop to Word sales.

Report: One in Four Songs Sold in U.S. Is From ITunes

(News) The NPD Group reported Tuesday that Apple’s iTunes Store is responsible for selling one in four songs in the United States.

Beyond HandBrake’s Defaults

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Sony Moves E-reader Technology in the Right Direction

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Space Elevator: Science Fiction or Global Warming Cure?

(News) Researchers at a conference on Thursday discussed issues with building a space elevator.

Zensify for IPhone

(Reviews) Over the past two years, social networks have pretty much taken over the world. For some–especially among the younger generation–services such as Facebook and…

RealDVD Case & the Death of Fair Use

(News) Last April, when commenting on to the RealNetworks versus Media Giants case, I penned DVD Copying Case: Why You Should Care, I included these prescient words:

Injunction on Microsoft Word Unlikely to Halt Sales

(News) Microsoft received new fines and an injunction in a patent battle with i4i.

Tech Jargon Jumble

(News) Tech Jargon Jumble

Roku Player Adds Live MLB Streaming

(News) Roku on Monday announced that its $99 video player box, which previously played only Netflix and Amazon video content, would also support both live and…

Encyclopedia Britannica Loses Patent Ruling

(News) A Texas court ruled that two patents awarded to Encyclopedia Britannica are invalid.

Buckets for IPhone

(Reviews) Buckets, a $4 task-management app from Press Start, aims to help you take control of your task list. The app features some clever interface elements, but is…

What We’re Watching and Listening to Right Now

(News) With so many great songs and albums, TV shows, movies, podcasts, and audiobooks out there, it can be hard to figure out what’s worth watching or listening to…

Sonos Controller 200 (CR200)

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To-Do List for IPhone

(Reviews) For just $3, To-Do List serves as a handy tool that can keep you organized in a pinch. The interface is easy to use, so it won’t add to the confusion of your…

Dealing With Podcast Glut

(News) Sometimes it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. Take podcasts, for example. They’re free and a lot of them offer great content. But they can take up a…

Apple’s Schiller Responds to Dictionary App Controversy

(News) We’ve become accustomed to the deafening sound of silence in response to criticism of the App Store, so it’s surprisingly gratifying that not only has Apple…

Make Sense of PC World’s ‘Find’ Numbers

(How To) Ever wondered about those numbers littered throughout the magazine? Here’s how they work, along with a software shortcut for using them.

Toshiba to Launch Fuel-cell Charger Soon

(News) Toshiba plans to launch an external battery charger based on a DMFC (direct methanol fuel cell) in the next two months, its new president said on Wednesday.

CheckSheet for IPhone

(Reviews) Today’s obsession with productivity has created a surplus of solutions promising to help us manage to-do lists. Included in that number is CheckSheet, a $3 app…

Intuit Offers Free Credit Card Processing App for IPhone

(News) QuickBooks maker Intuit on Tuesday announced the release of GoPayment, a free application for the iPhone and iPod touch designed to help businesses process…

Workamajig Releases Updates for IPhone Client

(News) Workamajig has updated the iPhone client for access to Workamajig Project Management Software to Version 10.0.2.7.

Android Moves Into Home Entertainment

(News) MIPS Technologies made the source code available to allow people to port Android applications to products running on MIPS chips.

Apple and U.K. Man Get Heated Over IPod Fire Claim

(News) Are iPods exploding all over the place? According to the Times Online, an iPod touch belonging to 11 year-old Ellie Stanborough of Liverpool, England, started…

Reports: RIAA Wins $675k in Damages From File Swapper

(News) Joel Tenenbaum was ordered to pay $22,500 each for 30 songs that he admitted to downloading and sharing.

Three Astronomy Apps for the IPhone

(News) With the recent news about outer space–the anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, the July 15 Space Shuttle launch and today’s landing, the Jupiter impact–it’s…

Microsoft Plots Mobile Group Improvements

(News) Microsoft acknowledged to financial analysts that Windows Mobile has not performed well and it is working to turn that segment around.

Adapter Takes Mini DisplayPort Video, USB Audio to HDMI

(News) Apple’s new MacBooks and Mac minis come with snazzy Mini DisplayPort connectors, but if you want to hook one up to your HDTV via its HDMI port, Apple can’t…

PDF Reader Pro for IPhone

(Reviews) Does the iPhone really need a dedicated app for reading PDFs? After all, you can download them right from the phone’s Safari browser or when you receive a PDF…

Apple Re-enables Promo Codes for 17+ Apps

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Twitterena for IPhone

(Reviews) The fact that the App Store boasts an already-crowded lineup of Twitter clients speaks to the exploding popularity of the microblogging service. Still, ask five…

Verizon Adds Hotspots to Consumer Broadband

(News) Verizon offered most of its wired broadband customers free access to Wi-Fi hotspots around the U.S.

Panasonic’s Tricycling Robot to Tackle Le Mans 24 Hours

(News) A Panasonic-developed tricycling robot will next week attempt to run around the Le Mans circuit for 24 hours on a single set of AA batteries.

Comics by Comixology on IPhone

(Reviews) The smell of fanboys is in the air in San Diego, and that can only mean one thing — it’s time for Comic-Con again. On Thursday, coinciding with the first day of…

Wi-Fi Group’s Basic Test Won’t Change With Final 11n

(News) The Wi-Fi Alliance will not change the basic requirements of its IEEE 802.11n certification process when the standard is finished later this year.

Apple Drops DRM Case Against Bluwiki

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MIT Electric Car May Rival Gas Models on Performance

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IPod Touch Ascendant as Traditional IPod Sales Fall

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IEEE 802.11n Heads for a Finish in September

(News) The IEEE is expected to make 802.11n into a formal wireless LAN standard in September.

How Much Would You Pay to Go Eye-to-eye With Gundam?

(News) An online charity auction that had been running all week ended Friday with a winning bid of ¥2.6M (US$27,742) to go up to the top of the Tokyo Gundam statue.

IBank Mobile Finance App Debuts for IPhone

(News) This week IGG Software debuted their online banking application iBank Mobile for the iPhone and iPod Touch. iBank Mobile is designed as a companion to IGG’s…

Taiwan’s Wicatch Turns Back the Clock to Offer Free Wi-Fi

(News) Wicatch is moving forward with plans to offer free Wi-Fi wireless Internet service in Taiwan despite looming competition from WiMax technology.

Computer Modeling Helps Build Sun-powered Stadium

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Microsoft Aims Windows Embedded at Smartbooks

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PC Makers Less Upbeat Than Google About Chrome OS

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Todo+Cal+Sync for IPhone

(Reviews) There’s certainly no shortage of to-do list managers available in the App Store, but Todo+Cal+Sync tries to put its own spin on things with support for the…

What’s Goin Down 2.0 Adds New User Interface

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8Bitone for IPhone

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Korean Operators Join Forces on New Mobile Services

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ZigBee Develops Standard for Devices Without Batteries

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Toyota Research Achieves Brain Control of Wheelchair

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Avoid Facebook Disasters

(How To) Avoid Facebook Disasters

Lithium Ion Batteries Heating up Japan-Korea Trade Tensions

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Asian Mobile Operators Team up for Android

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Mariner Calc 1.2 for IPhone

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Rambus Pulls Some Infringement Claims Against Nvidia

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QlikView for IPhone

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Quickoffice Files for IPhone

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DSLR Camera Remote for IPhone Controls Canon Digital Cameras

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When deciding which criminal justice program to attend, the accreditation issue is very important. There are certain things that you should know about accreditation.

What is accreditation?

Accreditation means that a school and its programs have been peer reviewed through site visits by bodies recognized and authorized by the US Department of Education to do so. It, therefore, ultimately means that degrees obtained from accredited schools are recognized across the nation and are accepted as valid by employers.

Who are the recognized accreditation bodies?

The US Department of Education funds eight accreditation bodies. There are six regional accreditation (RA) bodies and two spin-offs of two of the six RA bodies.
These bodies are authorized to grant accreditations to schools falling within their specified regional jurisdictions.

These bodies are:

• the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont);

• the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia);

• the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Panama);

• the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming);

• the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (California, Hawaii, the territories of Guam, American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Palau, Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, the Pacific Basin, and East Asia); and,

• the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington).

The two spin-offs are:

• the Western Association’s Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities (see WICHE Best Practices), and,

• the North Central’s Higher Learning Commission (see NCA Best Practices).

If your school is accredited by one of these eight (8) groups, which receive U.S. Dept. of Education funding and operate primarily by site visit-peer review, then you need not worry — your school has the best accreditation there is.

Are there other accreditation bodies?

There are other accreditation bodies and many online schools proudly advertise that they are accredited by one or the other of these bodies. But these so-called accrediting bodies are themselves not accredited so that their accreditations are not worth the paper they are written on.

Out of all these other accrediting bodies there are some that are simply blacklisted and not recognized while there are others that may be accepted as valid in 30 per cent of the organizations that matter. Employers, on the other hand, are likely to reject outright degrees given by schools accredited by these other agencies.

Is there a list of blacklisted schools or a list of schools whose degrees are not recognized?

Yes, at present there are two such lists. One list has been prepared by the state of Michigan and another prepared by the state of Oregon. Employers use these lists to check whether a particular degree from a particular school is worthless or not.

Is accreditation a really important issue?

Yes! It is the most important issue when you are deciding which criminal justice school you should enroll in. If the school you enroll in is not accredited, then the degree that you earn after spending a lot of money and effort will not be worth the paper it is written on. You will be a sucker of the worst kind!

Are you considering getting your college degree online? But not sure how you can tell if the college offering the degree is legitimate?

Online courses and online degree programs continue to grow in popularity. But just because they are popular, and just because the name of the college sounds good, does not necessarily make them legitimate.

On the other hand, just because you have not heard of a college does not mean it is not completely legitimate.

The Internet has transformed the way students learn, and the way you can get a degree. You can earn a degree from virtually any college in America without ever stepping foot on campus. But that means you need to make sure the time, effort, and money you put into earning your college degree is worthwhile.

So, how can you tell if the college offering the degree is legitimate?

By checking the college’s accreditation.

Make sure that the college you are considering is accredited by one of the six regional accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S Department of Education. These agencies grant public and private universities their accreditation.

Unfortunately there are many accrediting agencies that are not “official”. And while colleges accredited by these unofficial agencies may still provide you with a quality education, you won’t be able to obtain Federal Financial Aid or transfer your credits to an officially accredited college. And you may find that certain employers won’t accept the degree, and therefore won’t hire you.

Here are the six regional accrediting agencies recognized by the U.S Department of Education. If your college is listed, get out the books and start studying!

New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC)

Accredits schools in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

http://www.neasc.org/

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA)

Accredits schools in Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, New Mexico, South Dakota, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

http://www.northcentralassociation.org/

Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSCHE)

Accredits schools in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands.

http://www.msache.org

Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS)

Accredits schools in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

http://www.sacs.org/

Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)

Accredits schools in California, Hawaii, and the Pacific Basin.

http://www.wascweb.org/

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)

Accredits schools in Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington.

http://www.nwccu.org/

I was reading an article the other day about whether small businesses should invest in search engine optimization during a recession. As I thought about the article it got me thinking about churches and recessions. Much like small businesses, many churches experience a financial crunch during a recession. After all, a church member can’t tithe if they loose their job. So, should churches invest in SEO and other church marketing strategies during a recession?

For businesses I would absolutely recommend marketing themselves out of the recession. A business may have to work a little harder to get a customer, but it’s better to maintain or increase your customer base, than cut back marketing costs. However, unlike businesses, churches do not have it as their objective to make money. They generally don’t provide services for fees other than maybe offering their sanctuary for weddings and they don’t sell products except for the occasional fundraiser or church with a bookstore. So, it’s a tricky thing to talk about church marketing when the church budget is going south. The marketing budget is usually the easiest and first thing to get cut.

All the same, I’d point out that if a church increases its membership, often that increases the churches budget. Certainly, the purpose of the church isn’t to increase its budget, but if budget is often the reason for cutting church marketing, then I think it’s also important to realize that church marketing should actually increase the church budget.

People Are In Need
Churches exist to promote the Gospel of Jesus Christ and facilitate the fellowship and community of believers. So, what does that have to do with a recession? In America we have great wealth and lives that are pretty easy when compared to the rest of the word. The average “poor” person in America has more money and stuff than most of the “rich” people have in many other areas of the world. All the prosperity in the US makes is easy for people to place their security in themselves and their wealth. In a recession that security can be ripped away. So, where will people turn for their security?

Where Will They Turn?
During economically difficult times many people tend to turn to (or return to) the church for support, a fact that is supported by a 2007 study at Texas State University. The study shows that as the economy got worse, church attendance increased. So, a recession can be a time of growth for the church. This also means that a recession is one of the best times for church marketing.

Cast Your Line When The Fish Are Biting
The floral industry is a good illustration. Think about it, the number of people looking for flowers goes way up around Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. When do you think florists put the most emphasis on marketing themselves? The same is true for churches. When the number of people looking for a church increases, we need to increase our church marketing so we can reach as many of these people as possible, people who might otherwise never step inside a church.

Use This Opportunity
For the church, a recession is an opportunity. There are many ways the church can use a recession, but I’ll just mention two:

1. The church needs to be ready to support and reach out with the Gospel to those who are now looking for answers and who are starting to see the fickle nature of financial wealth. These people will not turn to your church if they never hear about your church. So get the word out, make it easy for people to find your church, and reach out to these people. To reference a great hymn, we have the message of Christ the solid rock on which we stand. All other ground is sinking sand. When people start to realize they are standing on sinking sand, we need to be there to help pull them up onto the Rock.

2. The church needs to be ready to help those in need. One of the main missions of the church has always been to help the poor, windows, orphans, and needy. We are told in Acts 2:42-47 of how the early church was willing to sell their possessions and goods in order to give to anyone that had need. 1Timothy 6:18 speaks to the wealthy saying, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” I’m not proposing economic policy here, I’m just saying that we need to show the love of Christ by caring for each other and being willing to sacrifice to help those in need.

So, right now, the church is in a time of great opportunity. Unlike the title of the Texas State study implies, I don’t think we should pray for a recession, but since we have one, we might as set about the Father’s work and use this time to reach as many people for Christ as we can.