the buzz log
Smart Money Move: Student Loan Makeover
While the price of ignorance is high, the cost of college—not to mention graduate education—has become astronomical. A government initiative aims to change all that.
It's a simple concept called Income-Based Repayment, which reduces student loans so they aren't more than 15% of income. (Some people making very little income won't owe a cent.) After 25 years of repayment, debt is wiped out. If you're a teacher or work at a nonprofit, more good news: Your debt will be cleared after 10 years.
About 1 million people are expected to participate in the program. To see if you qualify, you can use the calculator here. U.S. News & World Report blog has some helpful tips for anyone who wants to apply.
News of the loan program sent searches soaring on the Web. Queries for "new student loan law" jumped to the head of the class with a whopping 8,800% increase. Other popular lookups included "consolidate federal student loans," "new law for student loans," "government help with student loans," and "department of education student loans."
See, now you can tell your parents it was a smart move to get that philosophy degree after all.
Filed under: Education
Harve Presnell Dies at 75
Golden Globe-winning actor Harve Presnell has passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 75. As Entertainment Weekly points out, Mr. Presnell may have been best known for his role in "Fargo." He played William H. Macy's tough-talking father-in-law, who loved watching hockey and undermining his son-in-law, though not necessarily in that order.
The Heck's a Reverse Stock Split?
One-time insurance giant AIG has announced a 1-for-20 "reverse stock split." Folks have raced to the Search box to figure out what exactly that means. Short answer: If you had 100 shares valued at $1.00 each, you now have 5 shares valued at $20.00 each. Yay? For more on the move and why companies do it, check out this article from Investopedia.
From Sci-Fi to Syfy
Hell hath no fury like a geek scorned. The Sci-Fi Channel's decision to change its name to "Syfy" has outraged some of the channel's longtime devotees. Still, the station plans to go ahead with the switch on July 7. Will this rebranding appeal to a broader audience? Or will the "shrewd move" go down as the TV equivalent of "New Coke"? Sound off and leave a comment below.
LaToya Scene Cut from Bruno
Sacha Baron Cohen may be shameless, rude, and disgusting, but he's also sensitive... well, a little bit, at least. The comedian behind the upcoming "Bruno" film has elected to cut a scene that features LaToya Jackson out of respect for the Jackson family. We're just as shocked as you are.
Filed under: Sacha Baron Cohen
top movers
| Rank | Subject | 1-Day Move |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Karl Malden | Breakout! |
| 2 | Alexis Arguello | Breakout! |
| 3 | Danielle Deleasa | Breakout! |
| 4 | Burmese Python | Breakout! |
| 5 | Williams Sisters | Breakout! |
| 6 | Kevin Jonas | 2543% |
| 7 | Jeremy Mayfield | 2346% |
| 8 | Diana Reyes | 2229% |
| 9 | Diana Ross | 1865% |
| 10 | Diana Krall | 1622% |
top leaders
| Rank | Subject | Move | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael Jackson | -101 | 924 |
| 2 | Debbie Rowe | +184 | 224 |
| 3 | -3 | 206 | |
| 4 | Kellie Pickler | +152 | 167 |
| 5 | Neverland Ranch | +75 | 163 |
| 6 | Megan Fox | -52 | 158 |
| 7 | Wimbledon | +40 | 156 |
| 8 | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | -2 | 148 |
what's the buzz?
A subject's buzz score is the percentage of Yahoo! users searching for that subject on a given day, multiplied by a constant to make the number easier to read. Weekly leaders are the subjects with the greatest average buzz score for a given week.
For more detailed information, visit our FAQ.