The leaders of national Italian American organizations and Italian language studies advocates issued a joint statement regarding the suspension of the Advanced Placement Program in Italian Language and Culture by the College Board. The statement read, in part:

We are deeply disappointed that the Advanced Placement Program of The College Board, commonly known as AP Italian, will be suspended following the 2008-2009 academic year.

We were proud to have been able to offer over $500,000 in contingent commitments toward the $1.5 million needed to ensure the program's future. However, these funds were contingent on commitments from the Republic of Italy, which did not materialize...It is our goal to reinstate the AP Program in Italian as a first-class language experience in the United States of America and around the world. National Italian American organizations remain committed to AP Italian, and ready to step forward again if the Republic of Italy can provide financial support.

In July 2008 the Italian Language Foundation was launched to save the AP Italian Language and Culture course after the College Board announced that the program was slated to be eliminated after the May 2009 test. Earlier this month, to the disappointment of supporters, educators, students, and Italian American organizations, the College Board announced that it would cancel the five-year-old AP course and exam in Italian Language and Culture after this May, citing lack of funds to continue offering the program.

A "wave" of votes has made it official. The Italian "parola dell'anno" (word of the year) is onda (wave, but figuratively a surge or rush of anger or outrage). In a poll sponsored by La Repubblica, almost thirty-three thousand participants voted online, choosing amongst terms such as abbronzato, fannullone, and tesoretto.

Current events in Italy certainly had a role in the selection of a term that's a symbol of force and movement. A controversial new law, "la legge Gelmini," designed to reform the Italian educational system, threatens to handicap schools and universities by cutting jobs, closing schools, and crowding classrooms. The law has led to huge protests and rallies, and the term "onda" has frequently been used to describe the strong outpouring of sentiment by those opposed to the changes.

FMR, publisher of prestigious luxury art books and magazines, has recently released "Michelangelo, La Dotta Mano" ("Michelangelo, The Learned Hand"). The book, claimed to be the world's most expensive with a 100,000 EUR price tag, has a front cover made of white marble from Michelangelo's favorite quarry, in Carrara. The binding is covered with a red silk velvet handmade by the same Italian shop that made the main stage curtains at The Metropolitan Opera and Teatro Alla Scala di Milano. "La Dotta Mano" contains historical and contemporary texts of the Italian master of the Renaissance and a series of tables with reproductions of drawings by the artist from the collection of Casa Buonarroti.

The Porsche 911 Targa 4S is a high-performance German car. It's named after the Targa Florio, an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near Palermo. The sports car racing event was founded in 1906, and Porsche often dominated the race over the decades. Due to safety concerns it is now conducted as a rallying event.