FortySouth

Liberals are furious about the Tax Deal that Obama cut with the Republicans. Republicans are signaling consent for the deal should it be brought to a vote in both Houses of Congress. The House Democratic caucus vowed to defy the President and not even consider bringing the matter to a vote on the House floor (where such financial appropriation bills must be first introduced). Why?

Well taking a look at the deal:

The bone of contention for the Dems is that 13.5% tax cut for the wealthiest 2% and the Estate tax exemption that was raised to $5 million per individual at 35% (too high a limit, too low a rate they say), all in place for two years, with the likelihood of permanent extension. Essentially what they’re saying is that this top group get the largest share of the pie (hedge fund managers et. al keep their tax rate at 15%), and that it’s not the best bang for the buck because this measure (1) will not significantly lower the unemployment rate, and (2) significantly adds to the deficit (the whole proposal is financed by deficit spending).

On the other hand, the Dems got significant concessions in the deal. Unemployment insurance, college tuition credit, payroll tax reductions, earned-income tax credit, child and dependent care credit. Only problem is most of these provisions last 13 months, so they’ll be back to 1st & 10 all over again in 2011/2012 for Part Deux  if the economy wouldn’t have been bolstered appreciably.

Obama came out fighting, with a schooling of “leftist purists” that want a deal-on-their-terms-or-nothing. Some have quipped, that this “self-indulgent” ire should have been channeled to the Republican negotiators instead.

Given the hand he’s been dealt – only 2 weeks left on the jam-packed legislative calendar for this lame-duck Congress before Republicans take over the House and increase numbers in their Senate caucus, plus the need to not let middle-class income tax cuts expire at the end of this year which it’s agreed across the board will have adverse effects in this economy – I think the pot is sweet enough to take. Dems have been painted into a corner. They run the country right now. Not doing anything about this situation will come back to hurt them in 2012. It’s time to make a deal.

Interesting to note: the Republicans didn’t bat an eyelid about financing all $900 billion in cuts and exemptions by adding to the deficit. A case of aligned interests, perhaps. Meanwhile, a decision to raise the national debt ceiling or go into default is coming up early 2011.

Well, we’ve had YouTube instant, twitter instant and the grand papa of them all – Google instant. You know instant job search was well on its way! Loading dynamic content on the fly is not a new concept but has only recently found fame probably not so much for the rapid speed with which search results are returned, but because Google implemented it on a grand scale. Suddenly, traditional search just doesn’t cut it.

So as a complement to what the current Kenyan job boards and blogs offer in content, this web app simply does two things: provide a single interface to search multiple job boards simultaneously, and offer real-time search. All links redirect to the boards/blogs that post them.

This project went from concept to 95% implemented in 4 days so there’s a few more things that need to be tweaked and improved along the way. If anything, it’s always better to start small, launch fast, often and fail forward.

On that note, check it out at http://pandaladder.com, comments at hello@pandaladder.com. Here’s a preview:

For the vast majority of people looking to come study in the US, unless you have plenty of money to spare or a full-ride scholarship locked-in, the foremost question is: will I be able to study and work at the same time, possibly paying for my tuition and upkeep?

Unlike some of the other popular worldwide destinations for most College-bound students from Africa and beyond, like the UK or Australia, in the US one is only allowed to legally work for 20 hours per week, on campus. The pay rate varies by classification (graduate v. undergraduate), job position and state, but generally falls between minimum wage ($5.15/hr) and $12/hr, not considering the outliers.

With living expenses at about a  $400/month minimum even in areas with a lower cost of living, clearly on these wages one is barely breaking even let alone considering tuition requirements which tee off at $6000/semester for state universities, only way is up from there. Living and studying in the West and East coasts is generally more costly than the Midwest and Southern states.

So what options are available to raise funds and possibly get relevant and supremely valuable work experience while in school?

Some end up taking on odd jobs off campus, and while in some cases this action is fueled by  genuine dire financial circumstances, it’s nevertheless not legal, a huge gamble with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and it’s mostly a slippery slope from then onward.

What most students don’t know is that the F-1 Visa has provisions that allow one to work off-campus while in school by obtaining Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization. CPT allows one to work full-time for any employer relevant to your field of study from which you can secure an internship (usually 3 months) or a co-op (usually at least 6 months). This authorization is given at the discretion of a Designated School Official (DSO) at the school’s International Students Office and is annotated in the I-20 form.

A few caveats with CPT: the fact that it’s granted at the discretion of the DSO means that they solely decide whether or not to approve (USCIS is not directly involved and does not have to issue an Employment Authorization Document – the EAD card), and how many hours to grant you, for instance some schools would let you work the full 40 hours during the Fall/Spring semesters, while others will only let you work 20 hours per week. During the summer, majority let you work full-time. Also, obtaining CPT approval can be a tricky affair because practical training has to be an integral part of the curriculum one is enrolled in – it either has to be a required component, or one has to convince the DSO that it is integral (perhaps with the help of your advisor), for instance if there’s a co-op or internship class in the program and pursuing this is strongly encouraged. This can be a tough sell sometimes, but it is not impossible. Just be prepared to push the envelope.

The benefits of approval can be immensely rewarding. Theoretically, one can work for an unlimited number of semesters, except that if you work for more than one calendar year then you will forfeit your Optional Practical Training (OPT) provisions. OPT, if approved by the USCIS, allows one to work for 12 months after graduation, and up to 29 months for graduates of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs. Wages vary a good deal but could start at $15/hour and reach up to $30/hour for higher end technology and financial firms.

If you work for a company for say 2 or 3 years on CPT, then surely during that time one should be angling for a full-time position which would allow you to transition to a H-1b work visa upon graduation. So losing OPT in that case may not be such a bad thing. Otherwise, if things fall through one could always leave for their home country after the 60-day grace period post-graduation or enroll in school afresh, upon which CPT and OPT will become available once again if the matriculation is at a higher level of study e.g. from bachelors to masters.

The legal working provisions of CPT are generally not communicated to students by DSOs and this leads some to explore job opportunities through other avenues that could later lead to larger problems with one’s legal status in the country.

If you are a current or would-be student looking to engage in meaningful work experience, CPT would be a recommended route to explore.