January 31, 2007

Northern Exposure (DVD) Review

Filed under: 64bestloan1_yourmoneysave — admin @ 9:05 pm

Nominated for 39 Emmys, including 4 nominations for Outstanding Drama Series in just six short seasons, Northern Exposure is one of the most unique television shows of its time. Half-drama, half-comedy, the show built itself a large cult following, experiencing widespread critical acclaim as well as viewer popularity. The brainchild of St. Elsewhere creators Joshua Brand and John Falsey, Northern Exposure premiered in July 1990 on CBS, lasting only five years (cancelled in July 1995). But the show’s cutting edge wit and originality have earned it a place among the most hallowed and venerable of TV classics

Northern Exposure follows the exploits of recent medical school graduate Joel Fleishman (Rob Morrow) who, failing to read the fine print in the government papers accompanying his student loans, is forced to practice medicine for several years in the frozen tundra of Alaska. Even more unsettling is that he’ll be the only doctor in the small logging township of Cicely, a place filled with oddball characters and never short of strange occurrences. The wealthy entrepreneur, ex-NASA astronaut Maurice Minnifield owns Cicely and is determined to turn it into an ideal vacation paradise (with Fleishman being part of his plan). Other notable characters throughout Cicely include beautiful bush pilot (and Fleishman love interest) Maggie O’Connell (Janine Turner), KBHR radio deejay Chris Stevens (John Corbett), aspiring filmmaker Ed Chigliak (Darren E. Burrows), and husband/wife team Holling (John Cullum) and Shelly Vincoeur (Cynthia Geary) who run the local watering hole, The Brick. With its classic “fish out of water” theme, Northern Exposure provides some memorable moments as hero Joel Fleishman learns to appreciate the finer points of rural Alaska

The Northern Exposure DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the series premiere in which the recently graduated Joel Fleishman arrives in Anchorage, Alaska, intent on fulfilling his contractual obligations with the government. But when Anchorage doesn’t him, Joel is transferred to the remote town of Cicely where the residents are determined to prolong his stay Other notable episodes from Season 1 include “Soapy Sanderson” in which a hermit takes Joel’s advice to get his estate in order and leaves all of his land holdings to Joel and Maggie, and “A Kodiak Moment” in which Maurice adopts the ex-con radio deejay Chris to be his “Minnifield heir”

Below is a list of episodes included on the Northern Exposure (Season 1) DVD:

Episode 1 (Pilot) Air Date: 07-12-1990
Episode 2 (Brains, Know How and Native Intelligence) Air Date: 07-19-1990
Episode 3 (Soapy Sanderson) Air Date: 07-26-1990
Episode 4 (Dreams, Schemes, and Putting Greens) Air Date: 08-02-1990
Episode 5 (Russian Flu) Air Date: 08-09-1990
Episode 6 (Sex, Lies, and Ed’s Tapes) Air Date: 08-16-1990
Episode 7 (A Kodiak Moment) Air Date: 08-23-1990
Episode 8 (Aurora Borealis - A Fairy Tale for Big People) Air Date: 08-30-1990

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Northern Exposure (DVD).

Tag:

January 24, 2007

Career Education Options For Working Adults

Filed under: 64bestloan1_yourmoneysave — admin @ 1:08 am

Ask yourself this question: “Do I like what I do for a living?” If you answered “no”, what are you doing about it? Maybe you have a “good” job, but it’s not very rewarding to you personally. Maybe you have job with good pay, but bad hours or worse - a job with good hours, but bad pay. Perhaps you’ve just done your job for too many years, or are excited to work in some of the new careers that just weren’t available when you finished school.

Whatever the reason is for you wanting to switch careers, there are some practical considerations to take into account.

How long will it take?

How will I find the time to do it?

How much will it cost?

This article will answer these questions and point you towards a more fulfilling career.

How long will it take to train for a new career?

The answer to this depends on what you want to train for. But, the majority of well paying careers that are currently seeking workers, take two years or less to train for. For example, becoming a machinist takes about 10 months. Training to become an X-ray technician can be done in a year. There are other training options that can get you a new job in only six months!

Your experience can also count. For example, if you work with computers on your job now, you won’t have to take word processing and spreadsheet classes if you want to be a medical coder. If you tinker with computers in your spare time while you’re working a retail management position, you’ll be ahead of the class when you train to become a help desk technician. Also, if you like working on projects around your house more than your job in an office, you’ll be more likely to obtain employment as an HVAC tech or electrician.

How will I find the time to go to school?

If you decide you want to train for a new career, there are many educational options. Traditional universities and colleges are one option, but tend not to offer a lot of flexibility in their class times. Community colleges are a better option since they have flexible classes, but due to limited resources, some of the most in demand training programs like nursing and dental hygiene have several year waiting lists in many markets across the U.S.

The educational option many working adults choose is a career college. Career colleges offer flexible scheduling and have the proper resources to greatly reduce waiting lists, if they have any at all. The biggest drawback is they cost more to attend. Consider a career college to be like a private community college. However, the flexible scheduling and the shorter time to graduation compensate for the higher initial cost of a career college.

How much will career training cost?

This is probably the most difficult question. If you’re like most working adults, you don’t have an eight month emergency reserve fund stashed away but, you do have credit card bills, a car payment, possibly children and that nagging monthly rent/mortgage payment. Chances are you’re not in a position to quit your existing job. Due to flexible class schedules you’ll still be able to work and keep that income. Student loans or grants are a possibility to pay for tuition. Also, check if your company has a tuition reimbursement plan. Even though you’re thinking about leaving your job, your company may have a need for the career you’re interested in training in.

The bottom line is if you don’t feel satisfied with your current job, you don’t have to stay with it for the rest of your working years. There are a number of great careers available that pay well and require less than two years of training time.

Check out your career options here. WWW.top-colleges.com/s/site-map.html

Copyright 2004

About The Author

Max Stein is a freelance writer who writes about a number of business, education and marketing subjects.

Reprint/republish rights to this article are granted, as long as it is not modified and the resources plus signature remain unchanged.

DegreeSource.com

Tags: , , , , , ,

January 17, 2007

Distance Learning for Your MBA

Filed under: 64bestloan1_yourmoneysave — admin @ 5:08 am

In today’s job market, a bachelor’s degree often isn’t enough to give you the edge over other job applicants. However, getting your MBA at a local college or university may be just too much for a full-time breadwinner with a home and family to care for. There are still ways to advance your education, though, and one of the most popular is getting your MBA through distance learning.

Distance learning via internet is a relatively recent phenomenon. Usually, a student will enroll in an online university and take the all of the classes online. Sounds like a great deal, right? There are many pitfalls for the distance learner.

Be sure to choose the right school. As with every other category of business, there are good and there are not so good distance learning programs. Don’t waste your time and money on a school that is not accredited by a nationally recognized agency. Your diploma needs to be from an accredited university or school to help you advance, so do some homework up front and check the credentials of the school. They should be accredited by one of the nationally recognized agencies (New England, Middle States, North Central, Northwest, Western and Southern). These are the valid accreditation agencies.

Verify that the classes are all online. Don’t enroll in a distance learning program across the country, only to realize later that you’ll need to attend one or two sessions in the classroom.

Check out the technical capabilities of the classes. Are the classes available through technology that you can access, like websites, email or bulletin boards? Will you have to use complicated, proprietary software? Steer clear of programs that are not simple and easy to use. After all, isn’t that why you want an online degree program. Just in case there are problems, make sure that technical help is available when you’ll be working.

Look for programs with a proven track record. Even though the idea of internet learning is new, you should look for a program with a good success rate an satisfied graduates. Ask if you can email or talk to some of the graduates, or read recommendations. Ask about the school’s completion rate.

Does the school offer adequate financing? If the school is accredited, they should be able to participate in the federal student loan programs and offer financing to distance learners.

Finally, investigate who is teaching the classes. Do they have experience in online teaching? Managing a virtual classroom is different that teaching the typical college course, so the teachers should be experienced in this type of learning.

Of course, distance learning is not for everyone. In order to succeed at this type of coursework, you will need to be self-motivated and dedicated to getting your MBA. You will need to be organized and disciplined. Procrastinators have a difficult time working at their own pace, because they can always finish an assignment “tomorrow”. Of course, this can turn a 2-3 year program into 6-8 years.

Investigate online distance learning to pursue you MBA, but first, make sure that you are ready to commit to self-directed learning.

Jay Moncliff is the founder of http://www.distancelearningreviews.info a website specialized on Distance Learning, resources and articles. This site provides updated information on Distance Learning. For more info visit his site:Distance Learning

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Close
E-mail It