Student who blew kiss to mom denied diploma

A Maine high school senior says he was denied his diploma because he bowed during graduation and blew a kiss to his mother.

Justin Denney was about to receive his Bonny Eagle High School diploma on Friday when he pointed at friends and relatives.

Schools Superintendent Suzanne Lukas ordered him back to his seat. She told the Portland Press Herald newspaper she was enforcing behavior rules.

Justin's mother, Mary Denney, said her son's showboating didn't break any rules. She told WMTW-TV "a kiss to your mom is not misbehavior." She is seeking an apology — and a diploma for her son.

The commencement at the Cumberland County Civic Center also was disrupted when a giant inflatable rubber duck and beach balls were thrown. One student was ejected.

Some parents want a review of commencement policies.
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UNESCO and its partners launch online library to celebrate world cultures

In a bid to celebrate the world’s myriad cultures, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and dozens of partner institutions today launched the World Digital Library, a Web site featuring cultural materials from libraries and archives worldwide, free of charge.

The new Library, known as WDL, will function in seven languages – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish – and includes content in over 40 languages.

James H. Billington, the United States Librarian of Congress, first proposed the creation of the online library to UNESCO in 2005, stressing that such a project could have the “salutary effect of bringing people together by celebrating the depth and uniqueness of different cultures in a single global undertaking.”

At today’s launch at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the agency’s Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura hailed the WDL, noting that it “offers and invaluable platform for the free flow of information, for international solidarity, for the celebration of cultural diversity and for the building of inclusive knowledge societies.”

Developed by a team from the Library of Congress, the project seeks to expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet; provide resources for educators, scholars and general audiences; and close the digital divide both within and between countries.

Among the information available on the WLD are manuscripts, books, maps and rubbings of oracle bones spanning the range of Chinese history, from ancient to modern times, contributed by the National Library of China.

Also on the site are Arabic scientific manuscripts from the National Library and Archives of Egypt and early photographs of Latin America courtesy of the National Library of Brazil.
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Even fewer will attend school due to falling basic education aid

Steep drops in aid to basic education in developing countries threatens to roll back progress made towards achieving the global goal of universal primary schooling, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) cautioned today.

Total aid commitments to basic education has dropped over 20 per cent from $5.5 billion in 2006 to $4.3 billion in 2007, according to the latest figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

At present, there are 75 million children out of school, with many millions more dropping out before completing primary education, the 2009 report of the UNESCO’s Education for All Global Monitoring Report Team said.

It also predicted that the goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015 will be missed by at least 30 million children.

Commitments made by donor nations have not been sustained, with only 5 per cent of all education aid going towards basic education in 2007.

Only the United States’ aid to basic education rose significantly in 2007, but too few countries stepped in to fill the financing gap.

“The concentration of aid to basic education among just a few donors means that financial assistance for countries is highly unpredictable,” said Kevin Watkins, Director of the UNESCO report.

The current global economic crisis could drive aid for basic education even lower, possibly even driving assistance down more than $1 billion by 2010, the study warned.

“This is not the time to be cutting aid to basic education,” Mr. Watkins said. “With the economic downturn pushing millions of vulnerable households into poverty and putting budgets under strain, donors should be providing a fiscal stimulus aimed at keeping children in school.”

The new report put the price tag for meeting key education goals in the world’s poorest countries at $11 billion, of which only one-quarter was received in 2007.

“Millions of children stand to be hardest hit by the [current economic] crisis, and face irreversible long-term consequences if denied health, nutrition and education,” said Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO. “We must invest in their future and provide them with the education they need to end poverty and improve their lives.”
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