news bites

EDUCATION: On Newsweek's 100 Best High Schools in America list, my alma mater, Sumner Academy, ranked 75. (Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7761678/site/newsweek)

COMMENTS: The magazine went on the rank almost another 1,000 schools. Blue Valley North and Blue Valley Northwest were the only other two KC metro schools to make the list (at 629 and 660, respectively). Go Sabres! Another note: The list also tracked the percent of students eligible to receive subsidized lunches, with 40 percent or higher indicating a high concentration of children in poverty. No surprise, the two Blue Valley schools had low percents here (just 2.2 % and 12%), and Sumner's was quite high (42.9%). There were a few other schools on the top 100 list with high percentages of students eligible to receive subsidized lunches. Children economically disadvantaged at home don't have the be educationally disadvantage. We, society, choose to let poorer schools stay poor. We continue the trend.

CELL PHONES: T-Mobile actually fares better than other carriers in the latest customer-satisfaction rankings by J.D. Power and associates. But John Clellant, T-Mobile USA's senior marketing vice president, concedes that ranking high in an industry that generally evokes sneers is "like being the tallest pygmy." (Source: USA Today)

COMMENTS: I'm a T-Mobile customer. If you haggle, if you play hardball, you get what you need. I shudder to think of what I'd have to do to get the same at another cell phone company. Most of my leverage comes from my threat to leave after my one-year contract is up. I'd have a tougher time bargaining with the other providers who require two-year contract.