This month in 1901 brought good news for the hard of hearing, as Miller Reese Hutchinson of New York patented the first portable electric hearing aid. Called the “acousticon,” the device was a smaller version of previous tabletop units. While portable, it still had three components and used batteries that only lasted for a few hours. But it was far superior to ungainly hearing trumpets or simply cupping a hand behind the ear. One of its earliest, grateful customers was England’s Queen Alexandra in 1902. Now, tiny digital hearing aids that users can program for maximum effect help millions to hear normal conversations. Making medical equipment and supplies is a nearly $79 billion a year business in the U.S. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at <www.census.gov>.
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The “stakeholders’ meeting” described in today’s Dispatch tells what is wrong with this county–in my opinion. Talk, talk, talk, excuses excuses excuses and no changes-so very sad.
Maybe this is the beginning of the first effort to actually make some changes…
> Presentations were given and by the end, Taylor identified five major barriers to education in Vance County: lack of transportation, poverty, low teacher supplements, discipline in schools and teacher attrition.
I’ll add one to this list from the things I’ve heard discussed that should really be in there, kids. That being the students themselves having kids, but also other family members having kids and the students are the victims that have to drop out of school so they can take care of somebody elses kids so the parent can work.
I came across this article the other day and I think it brings a decent discussion to the table on a solution: Self-made millionaire Harris Rosen adopted a Florida neighborhood called Tangelo Park, cut the crime rate in half, and increased the high school graudation rate from 25% to 100% by giving everyone free daycare and all high school graduates scholarships.
A link to the story is here: http://pegasus.ucf.edu/story/rosen/