Semester at Sea

Semester at Sea (SAS) is a study abroad program founded in 1963, now managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education in Charlottesville, Virginia. The University of Virginia is the current academic sponsor for the program while the program itself is run on a cruise ship. Throughout the history of the program, nearly 55,000 undergraduate students from more than 1,500 colleges and universities have participated in Semester at Sea.

During the spring and fall semesters, the approximately 100-day program circumnavigates the globe, with up to 720 undergraduates traveling from North America heading either east across the Atlantic or west across the Pacific, visiting from 8 to 11 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America, before ending the voyage in another North American port. The program previously had voyages that would sail through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal, but due to piracy concerns in the Gulf of Aden, voyages now typically travel around Africa.

For many years, ISE hosted a shorter 65-day Semester at Sea program in the summer that concentrated on one general region of the world. In May 2011, Semester at Sea introduced a new short-term or Maymester voyage with a curriculum focused on the UN Millennium Development Goals. These voyages lasted 26 days and offered students the opportunity to earn 4–5 transferable credits. However, following the Maymester 2012 voyage, Semester at Sea made the decision to cancel Short-Term voyages indefinitely due to low enrollment. Additionally, a two-week "Enrichment Voyage" program is held for continuing education participants during December and January. Itineraries for these voyages focus on Central America and South America, often transiting the Panama Canal or traveling up the Amazon River. ISE currently offers only Fall and Winter voyages.

My Life

My Life may refer to:

Autobiographies

Music

Albums

Songs

In My Life

"In My Life" is a song by the Beatles released on the 1965 album Rubber Soul, written mainly by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song originated with Lennon, and while Paul McCartney contributed to the final version, he and Lennon later disagreed over the extent of his contributions (specifically the melody). George Martin contributed the instrumental bridge. It is ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" as well as fifth on their list of the Beatles' 100 Greatest Songs. The song placed second on CBC's 50 Tracks. Mojo magazine named it the best song of all time in 2000.

Composition

According to Lennon, the song's origins can be traced to when the English journalist Kenneth Allsop made a remark that Lennon should write songs about his childhood. Afterwards, Lennon wrote a song in the form of a long poem reminiscing on his childhood years. The original version of the lyrics was based on a bus route he used to take in Liverpool, naming various sites seen along the way, including Penny Lane and Strawberry Field. Those original lyrics are on display at The British Library.

Academic term

An academic term (or simply "term") is a portion of an academic year, the time during which an educational institution holds classes. The schedules adopted vary widely.

Pension tax simplification

Pension tax simplification, often simply referred to as "pension simplification" and taking effect from A-day on 6 April 2006 was a policy announced in 2004 by the Labour government to rationalise the British tax system as applied to pension schemes. The aim was to reduce the complicated patchwork of legislation built-up by successive administrations which were seen as acting as a barrier to the public when considering retirement planning. The government wanted to encourage retirement provision by simplifying the previous eight tax regimes into one single regime for all individual and occupational pensions.

Main changes

Broadly the new regime allows considerable freedom in the tax relievable contributions that may be made to pension schemes, and the assets in which they may be invested. It also however caps the size of tax favoured pension fund that may be accumulated by an individual. This 'lifetime allowance' was set at £1.6M for 2007–08. Funds accumulated in excess of the lifetime allowance are subject to a tax charge of 55%. Transitional protection provisions were made for individuals who had already accumulated pension funds in excess of this amount.