The Federal Government has postponed the
resumption of primary and secondary schools
across the country to Monday October 13th, it
has been announced. Primary and Secondary
schools were supposed to resume on September
22nd but about two weeks ago, FG postponed it
indefinitely to prevent an outbreak of the Ebola
Viral Disease. They announced today that schools
can resume October 13th.
The Federal Government also stopped all summer
schools.
Most people are not familiar with wild animals and some don't want to, due to their scary nature, no doubt, they are wonderful creatures, created by God. One of the commonest one is hippopotamus and many learnt about it in their primary school days.
Below is a picture of a baby hippopo.
Communication is very important in every
relationship…particularly, there are words,
phrases and sentences that either partner does
not like to hear. Generally, here are five things
women hate to hear:
1. You are really getting fat : A woman knows
when she is adding weight. I mean, she checks
the mirror everyday, so she knows when her
cheeks are getting too puffy or when her
waistline is disappearing. Simply put, you don’t
have to rub it in again…only encourage her to
lose the weight. Don’t forget to tell her that
she is always beautiful too…!
2. “Is it that time of the month?” : Okay, so the
fact that scientists have proven that women
get edgy when they are on their periods does
not mean that you should attribute every of her
actions to “that time of the month. Everytime
you do that, you only make her seem irrational.
3. Cheesy pick-up lines : You know what I mean…
doesn’t make any woman feel special in any way…
4. Hey [gorgeous, baby, mama, boo, etc...] :
Most women do not respond well to strangers
who start off by calling them baby, gorgeous,
beautiful, sexy, babe, dear, or any other
condescending and objectifying term.
5. “My ex used to love it when I…” : Well, you
should get over your ex before going into
another relationship. Comparing a woman to
your ex is one thing you definitely can do to
spoil her day!
Never forget, words hurt…and are memorable
too. So try as much as possible to treat your
woman in a special way with your words…
By JANE E. BRODY
Think you do just fine on five or six hours of shut-eye? Chances are, you are among the many millions who unwittingly shortchange
themselves on sleep.
Research shows that most people require seven or eight hours of sleep to function optimally.
Failing to get enough sleep night after night can compromise your health and may even shorten your life. From infancy to old age, the
effects of inadequate sleep can profoundly affect memory, learning, creativity, productivity and emotional stability, as well as
your physical health.
According to sleep specialists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, among others,
a number of bodily systems are negatively affected by inadequate sleep: the heart, lungs and kidneys; appetite, metabolism and weight
control; immune function and disease resistance; sensitivity to pain; reaction time; mood; and brain function.
Poor sleep is also a risk factor for depression and substance abuse, especially among people with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to Anne Germain, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.
People with PTSD tend to relive their trauma when they try to sleep, which keeps their brains in a heightened state of alertness.
Dr. Germain is studying what happens in the
brains of sleeping veterans with PTSD in hopes
of developing more effective treatments for
them and for people with lesser degrees of
stress that interfere with a good night’s sleep.
The elderly are especially vulnerable. Timothy
H. Monk, who directs the Human Chronobiology
Research Program at Western Psychiatric,
heads a five-year federally funded study of
circadian rhythms, sleep strength, stress
reactivity, brain function and genetics among
the elderly. “The circadian signal isn’t as
strong as people get older,” he said.
He is finding that many are helped by standard
behavioral treatments for insomnia, like
maintaining a regular sleep schedule, avoiding
late-in-day naps and caffeine, and reducing
distractions from light, noise and pets.
It should come as no surprise that myriad bodily
systems can be harmed by chronically shortened
nights. “Sleep affects almost every tissue in
our bodies,” said Dr. Michael J. Twery, a sleep
specialist at the National Institutes of Health.
Several studies have linked insufficient sleep to
weight gain. Not only do night owls with
shortchanged sleep have more time to eat,
drink and snack, but levels of the hormone
leptin, which tells the brain enough food has
been consumed, are lower in the sleep-deprived
while levels of ghrelin, which stimulates
appetite, are higher.
In addition, metabolism slows when one’s
circadian rhythm and sleep are disrupted; if not
counteracted by increased exercise or reduced
caloric intake, this slowdown could add up to 10
extra pounds in a year.
The body’s ability to process glucose is also
adversely affected, which may ultimately result
in Type 2 diabetes. In one study, healthy young
men prevented from sleeping more than four
hours a night for six nights in a row ended up
with insulin and blood sugar levels like those of
people deemed prediabetic. The risks of
cardiovascular diseases and stroke are higher
in people who sleep less than six hours a night.
Even a single night of inadequate sleep can
cause daylong elevations in blood pressure in
people with hypertension. Inadequate sleep is
also associated with calcification of coronary
arteries and raised levels of inflammatory
factors linked to heart disease. (In terms of
cardiovascular disease, sleeping too much may
also be risky. Higher rates of heart disease
have been found among women who sleep more
than nine hours nightly.)
The risk of cancer may also be elevated in
people who fail to get enough sleep. A Japanese
study of nearly 24,000 women ages 40 to 79
found that those who slept less than six hours a
night were more likely to develop bosom cancer
than women who slept longer. The increased
risk may result from diminished secretion of the
sleep hormone melatonin. Among participants in
the Nurses Health Study, Eva S. Schernhammer
of Harvard Medical School found a link between
low melatonin levels and an increased risk of
bosom cancer.
A study of 1,240 people by researchers at Case
Western Reserve University in Cleveland found
an increased risk of potentially cancerous
colorectal polyps in those who slept fewer than
six hours nightly.
Children can also experience hormonal
disruptions from inadequate sleep. Growth
hormone is released during deep sleep; it not
only stimulates growth in children, but also
boosts muscle mass and repairs damaged cells
and tissues in both children and adults.
Dr. Vatsal G. Thakkar, a psychiatrist affiliated
with New York University, recently described
evidence associating inadequate sleep with an
erroneous diagnosis of attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder in children. In one study,
28 percent of children with sleep problems had
symptoms of the disorder, but not the disorder.
During sleep, the body produces cytokines,
cellular hormones that help fight infections.
Thus, short sleepers may be more susceptible to
everyday infections like colds and flu. In a study
of 153 healthy men and women, Sheldon Cohen
and colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University
found that those who slept less than seven
hours a night were three times as likely to
develop cold symptoms when exposed to a cold-
causing virus than were people who slept eight
or more hours.
Some of the most insidious effects of too little
sleep involve mental processes like learning,
memory, judgment and problem-solving. During
sleep, new learning and memory pathways
become encoded in the brain, and adequate
sleep is necessary for those pathways to work
optimally. People who are well rested are better
able to learn a task and more likely to remember
what they learned. The cognitive decline that
so often accompanies aging may in part result
from chronically poor sleep.
With insufficient sleep, thinking slows, it is
harder to focus and pay attention, and people
are more likely to make poor decisions and take
undue risks. As you might guess, these effects
can be disastrous when operating a motor
vehicle or dangerous machine.
In driving tests, sleep-deprived people perform
as if drunk, and no amount of caffeine or cold
air can negate the ill effects.
At your next health checkup, tell your doctor
how long and how well you sleep. Be honest:
Sleep duration and quality can be as important
to your health as your blood pressure and
cholesterol level.
This is the first of two columns on inadequate
sleep.
A version of this article appeared in print on
06/18/2013, on page D5 of the NewYork edition
with the headline: Harming Our Health With
Eyes Wide Open.
Source:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/
Once again, the Federal Government’s refusal to honour an agreement it reached with lecturers of public universities has forced the Academic Staff Union of Universities to embark on industrial action on Monday, SEGUN OLUGBILE reports When the Academic Staff Union of Universities suspended its two-month strike in February 2012, many had thought that the last had been heard of national strikes in public institutions. This optimism was hinged on the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Federal Government and the lecturers on how to
resolve funding challenges, infrastructural decay and welfare problem in the nation’s public universities.
But this is not to be, as the union on Monday stated that it has returned to the trenches to fight government for its alleged refusal to honour an agreement it reached with lecturers. Specifically, ASUU said it has resumed the suspended strike from Monday (yesterday). This action, the union’s National President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, said was taken after the Federal Government allegedly failed to implement the agreement.
Fagge said the action, though painful, would be total, comprehensive and last for as long as the government implements the details of the Memorandum of Understanding that both parties signed in 2011. Consequently, the semester
examinations going on in some universities would be disrupted, while admission processes would be put on hold. Final year students writing their projects would be hit hard, as their supervisors would not attend to them. By this, academic
activities in public tertiary institutions, particularly in universities and polytechnics, which had been on strike in the last three months, would be paralysed.
The decision to embark on the action was taken during the National Executive Council meeting of ASUU at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State between Sunday and Monday. All the 53 chapters of ASUU were represented at the meeting, during which 51 chapters of the union overwhelmingly voted in support of the action.
Briefing the press about the outcome of the NEC meeting at the University of Lagos on Monday, Fagge said the union decided to suspend the action in January 2012 after the Federal Government and ASUU signed the MoU, which contained
how all the issues of funding, pension scheme, retirement age and payment of earned allowance for qualified lecturers would be handled.
The Federal Government, the union stated, had only implemented the extension of the retirement age of professors to 70, but had failed to pay the earned allowance for lecturers who are assigned other duties apart from teaching, research and community service. The earned allowance is the money paid to lecturers who are assigned to administrative duties such as heads of department, hall wardens, student project’s supervision and examination duties
and pay for extra workload on lecturers.
Under the student projects’ supervision allowance, a professor is expected to be paid N15, 000 per theses. Also, under the extra workload category, the,lecturer/student ratio in Arts, Social Sciences and Education faculties is one
lecturer to 50 students, one to 35 in Faculty of Sciences and one lecturer to 25 students in Colleges of Medicine. Lecturers are supposed to be paid if they have more than the national lecturer/student ratio.
“When we signed the MoU, it was stated that N100bn had been set aside to pay the earned allowance. But I can tell you that no lecturer has been paid since 2009. Yes, the government has extended the retirement age of professors to 70 as agreed, earned allowances have not been paid while little has been done to raise the level of infrastructure in universities,” he said.
Although he explained that the union had met with government over the matter many times, government has refused to respect the agreement. Rather, he said, ASUU was told that the government forgot to include the earned allowance in the budget.
The Chairman, ASUU, UNILAG chapter, Dr. Karo Ogbinanka, who had earlier briefed the press about the readiness of his chapter to start the strike after a congress on Monday, explained that the strike was called because government
had never shown enough commitment to the development of the sector.
He explained that after the MoU was signed, a NEEDS Assessment Committee on the State of Public Universities was set up to look at the state of infrastructure of the institutions. “The report has been submitted and all of us know that our universities fall short in physical development, but our concern is government has not done enough to revamp these institutions and the modalities for the injection of
funds into these universities have not been followed. That is why there has been increase in the rate of agitation for improved municipal facilities in our universities which has unfortunately been leading to the deaths of innocent
students,” Ogbinaka said. But why is the union embarking on strike when it has not given the government the required ultimatum, Ogbinaka explained that the union had done a warning strike before now. “Anyway, we don’t even need to give them ultimatum because it is clearly stated in the MoU that we signed with them that we (ASUU) will go on strike without warning should they fail to honour the agreement. They have reneged on the agreement and so there is nothing that can stop us from embarking on
this comprehensive and total strike,” he said.
On when UNILAG would join the strike, Ogbinaka said that immediately after the press briefing, a congress would be called and the university management would be informed. “It’s a national strike and UNILAG has joined the action,” he said.
Also the National Treasurer of ASUU, Dr. Ademola Aremu who is also the former Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter of ASUU said the action, being a national one, would be fully supported by lecturers at the premier university.
“We are not fighting management of the university, it is the Federal Government that should be blamed for pushing us to the wall to make this painful decision,” Aremu said.
Most of the students our correspondent spoke to on this new development expressed sadness at the action. They called on the Federal Government to honour the agreement by giving their teachers their due. “I’m in the final year, if this crisis is not urgently resolved, it will dislocate my career and that of the other students,” Wale, a student of Political Science at UNILAG said.
But before ASUU finally resorted to go on strike, the House of Representatives had few weeks ago summoned the Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’I and officials of the union with a view to ensuring that the crisis did not degenerate. The duo were invited to meet with members of the House Committee on Education as part of the moves by the legislature to avert the looming strike.
It followed a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Mr. Bashir Babale (PDP/ Kano) and unanimously endorsed by his colleagues. Babale said it had become worrisome that university lecturers frequently embark on strikes to compel the government to meet its obligations. This, he noted, was not good enough as the issues at the root of the crisis were matters that had been agreed upon by both parties. The lawmaker urged the House to intervene in the crisis and avert the impending strike. Other lawmakers who contributed to the debate, argued that democracy cannot survive without good education.
They warned that it would be wrong for the government to continue to treat its 2009 agreement with ASUU with levity. But this intervention was fruitless, as government said it had no money to pay the earned allowance. “We even agreed to sacrifice 20 per cent of the earned allowance but government said it could only pay 50 per cent. We were even shocked when they said they had forgotten to include the money into the budget. So, since 2009 no lecturer has been paid the earned allowance and all of us can testify to the fact that our universities whether old or new are still being underfunded,” Ogbinaka said.
The ASUU officials, however, pleaded with students and parents to bear with the union as they could no longer stand government’s lack of commitment to education.
The last time ASUU embarked on a national strike over the same issue was December 5, 2011. The union was prevailed upon to suspend the strike in February 2012 after the Federal Government signed the now contentious MoU with ASUU with a promise to accede to the lecturers’ requests. President
Goodluck Jonathan hurriedly signed into law a bill that sought to extend the retirement age of professors to 70. But after that not much had been done to make the system better than it was in 2009.
Efforts to speak with the minister failed, as a top official in the ministry, who pleaded anonymity, said she was not available for comments.
The source, however said the ministry would comment on the new development
on Tuesday (today).
