Daily Educational Headlines

Vietnam Internet users fear Facebook blackout

2009-11-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

Vietnam's growing legions of Facebook users fear that the country's communist government might be blocking the popular social networking Web site, which has become difficult to access over the past few weeks.
Facebook has more than 1 million users in Vietnam, and the number has been growing quickly since the company recently added a Vietnamese language version of the site.
Over the last week, access to Facebook has been intermittent in the country, whose government tightly controls the flow of information. The severity of the problem appears to depend on which Internet service provider a customer uses.
Access to other popular Web sites appears to be uninterrupted in Vietnam, a nation of 86 million with 22 million Internet users.
San Francisco Chronicle

OKI Data Americas Introduces Desktop Capture Solution to Manage Electronic Workflow Direct From...

2009-11-17T15:25:00.001-05:00

Desktop Capture Solution, which helps businesses seamlessly convert paper to electronic documents, with the ability to scan directly into Microsoft(R) Office SharePoint(R) and other document management systems. Compatible with OKI Printing Solutions' full line of color and monochrome multifunction products (MFPs), Desktop Capture Solution eliminates the need for additional imports and uploads that are necessary with most competitive solutions. The solution immediately increases workflow efficiency and employee productivity and reduces the costs of current business processes.
Forbes

EDUCATION: Foreign Students Flock Back to U.S

2009-11-17T14:43:00.000-05:00

The 2008/2009 academic year marked the largest increase - eight percent – in the number of international students attending U.S. colleges and universities since the 1980/1981 academic year, according to a report released Monday by the Institute of International Education (IIE).
While the ranks of international students in the U.S. are increasing, so to are the numbers of U.S. students choosing to study abroad.
U.S. students choosing to study abroad increased by 8.5 percent to 262,416 in the 2007/08 academic year with a noticeable increase in students choosing to go to "less traditional" locales, particularly in the developing world.
Destinations experiencing the biggest increase in U.S. students studying abroad include China, Ireland, Austria and India, with increases of about 20 percent each, and Costa Rica, Japan, Argentina and South Africa, up nearly15 percent each.
"Open Doors 2009: International Students in the United States" also finds that the number of new international students - those enrolling for the first time at a U.S. college or university - increased by 16 percent, which followed consecutive increases of 10 percent in the past two years.
IPS News

HPC Advisory Council Announces World's Fastest 120Gb/s Networking Demonstration During SC09

2009-11-17T14:15:00.001-05:00

The HPC Advisory Council, a leading organization for high-performance computing research, outreach and education, today announced the largest demonstration of the industry's fastest network during the SC09 conference (Nov.16-20) in Portland, Oregon --120Gb/s InfiniBand over SC09's massive conference network - SCinet. The 120Gb/s demonstration will connect 23 exhibitors on the SC09 showroom floor for demonstrating leading solutions and technologies for high-performance computing such as MPI application offloads and high-speed visualization that will enable real-time 3D navigation of full-scale automotive CAD models. Coupled with a high-resolution portable immersive system, the demonstration will allow visitors to literally walk in unedited automotive CATIA (Computer Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Application) models composed of millions of polygons.
Individual.Com

Fashion school receives three out of five faculty awards at conference

2009-11-16T17:35:00.000-05:00

Kent State fashion professors received three of the five faculty awards given at the International Textiles and Apparel Association conference Oct. 30 in Seattle.
Faculty of The School of Fashion Design and Merchandising attend the conference every year. More than 20 countries present designs and research at the juried event.
Professor Vincent Quevedo said Kent State has the most "Lectra" award winners in its faculty. He said the award used to be named "Best in Show."
"There was a lot of buzz after the conference because of Kent State," Quevedo said. "Everyone knows that the top faculty are teaching here. We are trying to create a new graduate program. It will attract the best of the best graduate students."
KentNewsNet.com
Kent State University, Kent, OH

Boston College: Fallen Alumni Honored

2009-11-16T17:10:00.000-05:00

Boston College dedicated a memorial yesterday to the 209 BC students who have died in the course of military service. Their names, from William F. Colwell, BC '19, to David S. Connolly, BC '94, are etched into a polished stone memorial that curves against the slope on the Burns Library lawn.
"We are gathered here today to honor those who bore the ultimate burden," said Andrew Jenzer, ROTC cadet and A&S '10.
University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., said that this monument will bring a new sense of solemnity to its area of campus. "May we make our prayer the prayer for each of the individuals whose names are inscribed on the memorial here today," he said. "May we rededicate ourselves to the values and beliefs that inspired these alumni."
The Heights
Boston College, Boston, MA

Half of States Now Offer Online-Learning Programs

2009-11-16T16:20:00.000-05:00

More than half of U.S. states now operate online-learning initiatives for K-12 students, an increase over the 15 states that did so just two years ago, according to a new survey.
Most of the 26 states that have online programs have seen significant growth in enrollments in recent years, with a dozen of them reporting jumps of 25 percent or more since 2007, according to the report, “Online Learning Policy and Practice Survey: A Survey of the States.”
But funding and other issues are still roadblocks to the creation or expansion of such programs in some states, the survey concludes.
Education Week

HIV/AIDS cases rise for women

2009-11-16T16:17:00.000-05:00

According to the World Health Organization, AIDS is the leading cause of death among women between the ages of 15 and 44.
Originally, health officials thought HIV and AIDS mostly affected homosexual men. However, women have always suffered from the disease, too. A 2006 Centers for Disease Control report stated that young adults aged 13 to 29 accounted for the largest number of new HIV infections in the United States. Even though more men have HIV than women, women are catching up.
In fact, according to the CDC, if new HIV/AIDS infections continue at their current rate worldwide, women with HIV/AIDS may soon outnumber men.
"It's scary to know how young women are affected by this virus," PUC student Brittany Shepherd said. "No one ever thinks that HIV or AIDS can happen to them, but obviously it does."
Many people don't know or understand the difference between HIV and AIDS. According the CDC, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. It is different from every other virus since it attacks the immune system. HIV finds and destroys a type of white blood cell that our immune system must have to fight diseases.
The CDC reports that AIDS is the final stage of HIV, meaning that the virus has weakened the immune system to the point to where it is difficult to fight diseases.
PUC Chronicle
Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN

Study finds interracial dorm roommates reduce prejudice

2009-11-16T15:45:00.000-05:00

Students who live with a roommate of another race gain a new perspective, according to a recent study from The Ohio State University.
Russell Fazio, Ohio State professor of psychology, conducted several studies in 2008 with Natalie Shook, assistant psychology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, about the effects of interracial roommate relationships on racial attitudes.
Freshmen interracial roommates showed more positive racial attitudes over time, according to the study. It examined only black and white interracial roommates.
Fazio said interracial roommates have reduced anxiety among groups of a different race, and this makes them more comfortable around other races.
KentNewsNet.com
Kent State University, Kent, OH

Education Department to Demand School Pay Data

2009-11-16T15:32:00.001-05:00

Goal Is To Find Out How Spending Between Title I and Other Schools Differs
U.S. Department of Education officials plan to require districts receiving economic-stimulus aid to report school-level salaries—a sign, observers say, that the Obama administration might seek key changes to district accounting procedures for federal Title I funds.
The reporting—the first collection of its type undertaken by the federal government—could give a clearer picture about the extent to which district spending on salaries differs between schools that receive Title I dollars for disadvantaged students and those that do not.
The results of the data collection, which is to take place this winter, are likely to give more ammunition to school finance experts and lawmakers who maintain that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act should be changed to require districts to address such disparities before receiving the federal aid.
Education Week

Quantitative skills decline across country, not at Smith

2009-11-15T17:39:00.000-05:00

Fewer university students in the United States are interested in math, science and internationalism, a recent report by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities concluded. The study argued that this decline could make U.S. college students less competitive on the international stage and decrease international enrollment on campuses.
While math and science professors nationwide are concerned about this development, these fears may have very little relevance to Smith.
The Sophian
Smith College, North Hampton, MA

Smith singled out for vegan, vegetarian options

2009-11-15T16:32:00.000-05:00

Smith, along with many other colleges nationwide, has expanded its vegan and vegetarian meal options in recent years. This year, youth animal rights organization peta2 recognized these efforts by selecting Smith has one of the top 32 schools in the U.S. for providing vegan and vegetarian dining.
"Smith's success in offering great vegan options is good for students' health and for the school's bottom line," said peta2's Senior College Campaign Coordinator Ryan Huling in a press release. "More and more young people are learning that the best thing that they can do for animals, the planet and themselves is to go vegan."
For many students, Smith provides a supportive environment to make vegan or vegetarian food choices. Lillie Scheffey '13, for instance, praised Smith for including vegan protein substitutes at meals.
The Sophian
Smith College, North Hampton, MA

Should teachers put price tag on lesson plans?

2009-11-15T15:29:00.000-05:00

Thousands of teachers are cashing in on a commodity they used to give away, selling lesson plans online for exercises as simple as M&M sorting and as sophisticated as William Shakespeare.
While some of this extra money is going to buy books and classroom supplies in a time of tight budgets, the new teacher-entrepreneurs are also spending it on dinners out, mortgage payments, credit-card bills, vacation travel and home renovation, leading some school officials to question who owns material developed for public-school classrooms.
Just about every imaginable lesson for preschool through college is up for sale, on individual teachers' blogs and commercial sites where buyers can review and grade the material.
Seattle Times

Tarleton told of $137,500 fine for inaccurate crime reporting

2009-11-14T16:42:00.000-05:00

Tarleton State University's failure to disclose information about campus burglaries and drug and sex offenses has prompted the U.S. Department of Education to propose a $137,500 fine for violating The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act.
It is believed to be the first fine levied against a Texas university under the Clery Act.
In a prepared statement released this week, the university said it had "recognized that unintentional mistakes had been made in its reporting under the Clery Act."
The Clery Act is a federal law that requires universities to annually disclose information about serious crimes, such as murder, robbery, sex offenses and burglary.
A Department of Education report, released following a request by The J-TAC under the Texas Public Information Act, states that Tarleton underreported the number of forcible sex offenses, drug law violations and burglaries between 2003 and 2005.
The J-TAC
Tarleton State University, Stephenville, TX

U.S. Solicits Input for New Ed-Tech Plan

2009-11-14T15:22:00.000-05:00

Federal education officials are soliciting input for a new plan for educational technology that would put student learning at the center of the nation’s strategy for transforming schooling in the digital age.
But even though today’s Web 2.0 tools can spread information broadly and quickly and foster collaboration on such projects, the effort has apparently been slow in attracting recommendations from educators and ed-tech experts that could help guide its development, some people in the field say.
“The new plan is a critical component to moving education forward in the digital age,” said Donald G. Knezek, the executive director of the International Society for Technology in Education, or ISTE, based in Washington. “The draft is shaping up to have all the right placeholders focused on learning and effective and competent teaching.
Education Week

Fulbright applicants, fellowships expected to rise at Lehigh

2009-11-14T14:38:00.002-05:00

The Fulbright Commission sends about 1,000 college graduates to 140 countries each year, he added.
There are two types of Fulbright Programs. The first is a more traditional program, which allows selected applicants to obtain their masters or do research in a foreign country. In the second type of program, those selected go to a foreign country and teach English at the high school or college level.
The program was set up by Senator J. William Fulbright after World War II in an attempt to expose American scholars to a global education, Aronson said. Now, the grant program promotes an exchange of faculty and students.
Because there are only a limited number of grants per country, the increase in candidates nationwide is likely to make the process more competitive for all applicants, especially those who apply to countries that are in high demand, like Japan, Israel and Western Europe.
The Brown & White
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA

Friday 13th Fears Stem From History

2009-11-13T16:13:00.000-05:00

About 21 million Americans suffer from paraskevidekatriaphobia, the fear of Friday the 13th, or Black Friday.
They avoid daily activities that could potentially put them in harm's way and some are too afraid to get out of bed in the morning.
But why? Where did the superstition come from?
One theory suggests 12 is the most complete number. It occurs in common cultural references - 12 months in a year, signs of the Zodiac, labors of Hercules, tribes of Israel, gods of Olympus and apostles of Jesus Christ. Thus, 13 is considered irregular.
Friday has been considered unlucky, and therefore a bad day to start a new journey or project - stemming from the Canterbury Tales. Also, according to Christian scripture, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
The Red and Black
University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Race To The Top: Funding for Common Assessments Poses Challenge

2009-11-13T15:40:00.000-05:00

Near the end of a public meeting held here Thursday, the director of the Race to the Top Fund competition at the U.S. Department of Education, Joanne Weiss, asked a group of assessment experts to summarize their thoughts about how the federal agency could work to improve the country’s assessment systems.
“Good luck,” deadpanned Lauress Wise, a scientist for the Alexandria, Va.-based Human Resources Research Organization, a nonprofit evaluation group.
The remark drew laughter from the researchers, federal officials, state assessment directors, and test vendors in attendance. But it also underscored the challenges the department faces in spending $350 million in economic-stimulus money to aid consortia of states in developing common assessments in reading and mathematics.
Three common messages emerged from the testing experts convened for the first of three meetings being held to advise the federal officials on how to design the competition for those funds:
• State consortia should consider devising assessments to aid instructional practices, in addition to the annual accountability tests now required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
• Teachers must be much more involved in the development, use, and possibly even the scoring of assessments.
• The Education Department should seek to structure state consortia in such a way that the one-time infusion of cash will leverage sustained work.
Education Week

Rules Set for $4 Billion 'Race to Top' Contest

2009-11-13T15:11:00.000-05:00

For a good shot at the $4 billion in grants from the federal Race to the Top Fund, states will need to make a persuasive case for their education reform agenda, demonstrate significant buy-in from local school districts, and develop plans to evaluate teachers and principals based on student performance, according to final regulations set for release Thursday by the U.S. Department of Education.
Those three factors will rank as the most important to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and his staff as they weigh states’ applications based on more than 30 criteriaRequires Adobe Acrobat Reader, including how friendly their charter school climates are and how well they use data to improve instruction.
At stake for states is a slice of the biggest single discretionary pool of education money in the economic-stimulus package passed by Congress in February—a $4.35 billion prize, of which $350 million has been pledged to help states develop common assessments as part of a separate nationwide effort.
Education Week

PDC 2009: Tune in for our live blogging frenzy next week

2009-11-13T14:28:00.000-05:00

Microsoft’s Professional Developers Conference (PDC) 2009 kicks off the week of November 16. Like we did last year, a handful of us Microsoft watchers will be live blogging the keynotes as a group.
Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie; Server and Tools President Bob Muglia; Kurt DelBene, Senior VP of Microsoft’s Office Business Productivity Group and more talk about what’s coming for developers in the next year.
The PDC keynotes are slated for Tuesday November 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. PT and Wednesday November 18 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
ZDNet

Keeping Pacemakers Safe from Hackers

2009-11-13T13:26:00.001-05:00

Manufacturers have started adding wireless capabilities to many implantable medical devices, including pacemakers and cardioverter defibrillators. This allows doctors to access vital information and send commands to these devices quickly, but security researchers have raised concerns that it could also make them vulnerable to attack.
Researchers from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control have now developed a scheme for protecting implantable medical devices against wireless attacks. The approach relies on using ultrasound waves to determine the exact distance between a medical device and the wireless reader attempting to communicate with it.
The potential risks of enabling radio communication in implantable medical devices were first highlighted by Kevin Fu, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Tadayoshi Kohno, an assistant professor of computer science at the University of Washington. They showed how to glean personal information from such a device, how to drain its batteries remotely, and how to make it malfunction in dangerous ways. The two researchers stress that the threat is minimal now, but argue that it is vital to find ways to protect wireless medical devices before malicious users discover and exploit vulnerabilities.
ASM Newswire

IFC Supports Private Sector Education in Rwanda

2009-11-12T16:12:00.000-05:00

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is helping increase quality education opportunities in Rwanda by training representatives from private schools to help improve their management skills and business models.
IFC’s Africa Schools Rwanda Program, in collaboration with IFC’s Rwanda Entrepreneurship Development Program ( REDP ), conducted two workshops in October to train representatives of 16 private schools. The first workshop was the Strategic Planning and School Vision three-day session. This was followed by a four-day session on Financial Management and Accounting.
The trainings have helped schools write long-term business plans, increasing their chances of accessing finance. The IFC training sessions featured specially-designed tools, including IFC’s Small and Medium Enterprise Toolkit and Business Edge, which are interactive learning programs that help managers run more efficient businesses.
Media Newswire

MSU begins Green Certification Program

2009-11-12T15:13:00.000-05:00

Departments, programs and people at Michigan State University will soon have the opportunity to be recognized for the work they do that helps reduce the university’s environmental footprint.
Beginning Nov. 9, departments and on-campus students can earn green certification by completing an online form showing the steps they take to reduce MSU’s impact on the environment through energy efficiency and conservation, waste reduction, water conservation and purchasing.
In addition to reducing MSU’s environmental impact, there will be several other benefits to earning green certification:
Recognition for units, departments and students at an Earth Day event April 22, 2010.
Use of the green certification seal on departmental communications, recruitment and other materials.
Buildings where all departments earn green certification will have a tree planted or a plaque recognizing the building as “green certified.”
Media Newswire

Is Facebook the future of micropayments?

2009-11-12T14:10:00.001-05:00

In the ongoing saga of paid content on the Web, Rupert Murdoch is once again threatening to pull his Web sites from Google's search results.
In a Sky News interview posted online this week, he said "There's not enough advertising in the world to make all the Web sites profitable. We'd rather have fewer people coming to our Web sites, but paying."
Meanwhile, social game maker Playfish, with estimated revenues of up to $75 million from selling virtual goods in its games on Facebook and other platforms, has been acquired by Electronic Arts in a deal worth up to $400 million.
The company is not alone in turning virtual goods into gold: Playfish rival Zynga reportedly brings in over $100 million in revenue (a proportion of which, admittedly, is driven by schemes in which users receive virtual currency when signing up for questionable special offers).
Even The New York Times is heralding the "real paydays" being delivered by virtual goods on Facebook; such stories run counter to the common wisdom that social networking sites are difficult to monetize.
CNN

California could get up to $700 million in U.S. education funds

2009-11-12T13:05:00.002-05:00

Guidelines for the Race to the Top money for states will be released Thursday. State legislators will have to scurry to make the application deadline.
California could be eligible for up to $700 million in federal education stimulus funds under guidelines scheduled to be released today by the U.S. Department of Education.
Earlier this year, the Obama administration proposed a series of reforms, including abolishing charter school caps and using student test score data to evaluate educators, as part of a $4.35-billion competitive grant known as Race to the Top. The administration accepted public comment for several months before finalizing the regulations.
...States will be judged on a 500-point scale that will measure their plans to enact a variety of reforms, including implementing data systems, turning around low-performing schools and paying effective teachers and administrators more.
States now have 60 days to apply for federal funding, which puts more pressure on California Assembly members, who are currently in a special legislative session focused on education. The deadline to apply for the first round of federal dollars is in mid-January...
Los Angeles Times

Hofstra's School of Education, Health and Human Service Receives Accreditation from the Teacher Education Accreditation Council

2009-11-11T16:12:00.000-05:00

Hofstra's School of Education, Health and Human Service Receives Accreditation from the Teacher Education Accreditation Council
The School of Education, Health and Human Services has received accreditation by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council ( TEAC ). The TEAC accreditation is effective between September 11, 2009 and September 11, 2014.
Dean David Foulk, Ed.D., said the TEAC encourages and rewards program innovation and creativity in its accreditation process.
"After our extensive preparation for the TEAC audit, the School of Education, Health and Human Services is honored to have earned this credential," said Dean Foulk. "This is validation of the quality of work being done at Hofstra University's School of Education, Health and Human Services that we are accredited by the same body as many other prestigious institutions regionally and nationally. This accreditation is the result of thorough and collaborative work on the part of faculty, staff and administrators in our School."
Among the other institutions that have TEAC accreditations are: New York University, Rutgers University and Johns Hopkins University.
"The recent accreditation from TEAC confirms the School of Education, Health and Human Services and Hofstra's success in preparing competent, caring and qualified educators," said Hofstra President Stuart Rabinowitz. "This recognition demonstrates the quality programs we provide and the high caliber of our faculty and students."
Media Newswire

Green Career Opportunities Available in Surprising Fields

2009-11-11T15:32:00.000-05:00

Clean technology is a growing industry. As the world grapples with the energy crisis, jobs in sectors such as wind power, solar, biofuels and biomaterials, conservation and efficiency are in higher demand. But college students don't have to study science or engineering to work in green industries. At Penn State, a wide variety of students are preparing to work in green professions in some surprising areas.
Vivienne Wildes, an assistant professor of hotel, restaurant and institutional management, teaches a course at Penn State called "Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility," which highlights sustainability. She said green jobs are universal.
"If you choose to work in a green environment, you can," she said. "People working in sustainable jobs are working in teams across every discipline."
Media Newswire

U.S. School Sells Students Grades for Cash

2009-11-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

A middle school in North Carolina is selling better test scores to students in a bid to raise money.
The Raleigh News & Observer newspaper reported Wednesday that a parent advisory council at Rosewood Middle School came up with the fundraising plan after last year's chocolate sale flopped.
The school will sell 20 test points to students for $20. Students can add 10 extra points to each of two tests of their choice. The extra points could take a student from a B to an A on those tests or from a failing grade to a passing one.
Principal Susie Shepherd said it's not enough of an impact to change a student's overall marks.
Officials at the state Department of Public Instruction said exchanging grades for money teaches children the wrong lessons.
The Canadian Press

Hispanic Higher Education Closing the Gap

2009-11-11T13:30:00.001-05:00

THE University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) is one of the most binational of America’s big universities. Some 90% of its students come from the borderplex—the Texan city of El Paso and its much larger sister-city, Ciudad Juárez, on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. More than 70% of its students are Mexican or Mexican-American.
And that, in turn, means that the El Paso campus is rather different from the University of Texas’s flagship campus in Austin. More than half of UTEP students are among the first in their families to go to college, and roughly a third come from families with incomes below $20,000 a year. Diana Natalicio, UTEP’s president, says that for many of her students trouble at work, or an unexpected expense, can derail a whole year of college. UTEP tries to help, offering after-hours advice and instalment plans for tuition fees. Such measures have helped it to become one of the country’s leading sources of degrees for Hispanic students.
The Economist

Australia announces new visa measures for students

2009-11-10T17:33:00.000-05:00

The Australian government is introducing new measures to assist overseas students, including many Indians, affected by the closure of an international education provider, a minister said Monday.
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Senator Chris Evans said that from Jan 1, 2010, overseas students who require a new visa to complete their studies at another school or college will be exempt from paying the A$540 (approx. Rs.22,500) student visa application charge.
Just this year alone, 12 education providers have closed affecting about 4,700 students.
Evans said that although most students will be able to complete their studies on their existing student visa, some may need to enrol in a new course that finishes after their existing student visa expires and will require a new visa.
Prokerala

First in India, university offers scuba diving course

2009-11-10T16:37:00.000-05:00

Scuba diving is much more than an adventure water sport. Realising this, a university is offering, for the first time in India, a certificate course in scuba diving for marine biologists and researchers to study the impact of global warming on marine life.
The 15-day course offered by the Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute (SDMRI), Tuticorin, affiliated to the Manonmaniam Sundaranar University in Tamil Nadu, will focus on marine biodiversity assessment, underwater photography and monitoring of coral reefs and sea grass.
As of now, Indian marine researchers have to go to private scuba diving centres here or abroad to learn the diving skills, which is a must for those studying sea biodiversity.
The institute will soon be applying for recognition from Australia-based Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) to run level one and level two courses in scuba diving.
Prokerala

AMU ties up with Holland varsity for promoting research

2009-11-10T15:25:00.000-05:00

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the INHolland University of Amsterdam for undertaking joint activities in educational and cultural research and training, an official said Tuesday.
"As per the MoU, the two universities can go for the exchange of students and academic staff and launch programmes in the area of course development, student internships and higher research," AMU's official spokesperson Rahat Abrar told reporters.
The MoU would provide opportunities to the students of both the universities to learn each other's language, culture, religion and the sociology of home and host countries.
AMU has already discussed some areas of interest with a delegation of the INHolland University that the two varsities will soon explore higher learning and research.
Prokerala

Make Better Decisions: E-Learning That Advances Business Goals

2009-11-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

Most organizations today are developing competency models that have defined proficiency levels for specified jobs and career paths. You can look at these, in conjunction with the methods and tools for e-Learning, and start making better decisions that will help learning to advance business goals.
Competency models and proficiency scales should be defining the performance of the workforce and giving us methods, or at least good clues, as to how we can measure performance. That means that training professionals should have a better opportunity to train toward better performance. In this article, I’m only addressing online learning, but I’m sure the comparisons to other learning environments will be clear.
Learning Solutions Mag

The Insecurity of Higher Ed Research

2009-11-09T15:25:00.000-05:00

Academics are often characterized (and caricatured) as pompous, confident that they are the smartest people in the room and eager to prove it. But arrogance and insecurity are sometimes flip sides of one coin, and the professoriate has seen a rash lately of scholars expressing dismay at their perceived marginalization -- sociologists awaiting calls from the Obama administration, for instance, and political scientists reiterating calls for more grounding for their discipline in "the real world."
When it comes to a field with an inferiority complex, few have it over scholars who study higher education. They, like many of their colleagues in the social sciences, yearn for more attention from and influence with policy makers, as was the subject of numerous discussions at last week's meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education here.
But higher ed researchers also feel as if they get short shrift from other scholars within the academy, several of them argued at a panel called "The Trouble With Higher Ed Research" at the ASHE meeting on Friday. Lisa Wolf-Wendel, a professor of higher education at the University of Kansas, said she was stunned when she went on the job market and an interviewer, impressed, asked her why she had sought a Ph.D. in higher education. "His implication was that I should have gotten a degree in a real discipline," she said.
Inside Higher Education

Fans and Fears of 'Lecture Capture'

2009-11-09T14:17:00.000-05:00

If professors record their lectures and put them online, will students still come to class?
That question came up in two different sessions at the 2009 Educause Conference here on Friday. And in both cases, the panelists cited research indicating that students’ likelihood of skipping class has no correlation with whether a professor decides to capture her lecture and post it the Web.
Attendance is much more contingent on whether the professor is an engaging lecturer, said Jennifer Stringer, director of educational technology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, at one of the sessions. “Well-attended lectures were well-watched; poorly attended lectures were not watched,” Stringer said, pointing to research she had conducted at Stanford. "If you’re bad, you’re bad. If you’re bad online, you’re bad in lectures, students don’t come.”
....The technology known as “lecture capture,” which is offered in many forms by more than a dozen vendors, has been getting more and more attention in higher education as the software becomes more sophisticated and studies suggesting it could boost retention and performance continue piling up....
Inside Higher Education

Censorship of LACC Newspaper, Stifles Student Journalism, Free Speech

2009-11-09T13:12:00.000-05:00

Los Angeles City College's student-run newspaper, the Collegian, is an award-winning publication that has been in continuous print for 80 years. Its staff of approximately 30 students works tirelessly to publish high-quality content while adhering to rigorous journalistic values. The Collegian is a training ground for writers, reporters, columnists and editors, as are thousands of other student-run publications that hold to the same principles, standards and ethics.
But LACC's president, Jamillah Moore, has made calculated attempts to hinder the students' right to a free press. She has tried to forbid a company working with the college from speaking to the student press; she has tried to pressure student reporters to sign releases for recording public meetings; she has violated California Open Meeting Laws by requesting that reporters identify themselves; and she has attempted to silence the Collegian by slashing its budget by 40 percent - when the budgets of other student organizations were cut only 15 percent. Adam Goldstein of the Student Press Law Center said that if he had to choose the biggest First Amendment offender in the country, he would most likely choose Moore. And now, Moore is attempting to move the Collegian under student services, where the administration would have the option to edit all content, monitor stories and determine the direction of the paper.
An attack on free speech anywhere is an attack on free speech everywhere. That is why we, the undersigned, have come together to universally condemn the actions of Jamillah Moore and the actions of any administration that makes deliberate efforts to break the free speech of student publications.
As students, we have been taught to expect an environment where freedom of speech will go uncontested. And as student journalists, we expect our administrations to understand that we strive to be an objective voice of reason. But we also recognize that any publication that disturbs the comfort of the comfortable will be challenged. Student journalists at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of New Mexico and the University of Oregon, as well as countless untold others, have seen such assaults on their rights. This cannot stand
The Daily Orange
Syracuse University, Syracuse,NY

NSSE changes how colleges judge success, identify weaknesses

2009-11-09T11:58:00.001-05:00

Online courses at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., have generated such rich student conversations that some faculty have started using electronic discussion boards in on-campus classes, too.
And after officials at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, N.J., discovered that students who don't interact much with other students outside of class are also among those least satisfied with their experience, and therefore may be more likely to drop out, they made an extra effort this fall to reach out to freshmen who had seemed a bit shy during summer orientation. Those students got an extra phone call inviting them to a campus-sponsored party.
USA Today

Modern Slavery Awareness

2009-11-07T14:23:00.000-05:00

Slavery is far from being dead in our world; it's a current worldwide problem that most people are not even aware of. It is estimated that 13 billion dollars are generated by slavery each year and that there are 27 million slaves worldwide. In the United States an estimated 10 to 15 thousand slaves are brought in to the country each year.
Most Americans would think that slavery ended in 1865 with the end of the American Civil War. However, when people think of slavery, it is often associated with "old slavery." Old slavery, before 1863, was an expensive system because of transportation costs and the relatively small number of people who were slaves. It is for those two reasons that slaves during this time were treated somewhat better than the slaves of today.
The slavery of today, modern slavery, is not at all like our image of old slavery. Modern slavery is a less expensive system; there are more people being brought into the system and transportation is cheaper-both of which makes modern slaves expendable.
The Racquette
SUNY Potsdam, Potsdam, NY

State Council Begins Talking About Tuition Increases

2009-11-07T13:32:00.000-05:00

Last April, in recognition of the poor economy and its effect on students and their parents, the council limited in-state tuition increases for the current 2009-10 academic year to between 3 percent and 5 percent. The University of Louisville and University of Kentucky were permitted to raise their in-state student tuition by 5 percent. The state's six regional universities were limited to increases of 4 percent, while tuition couldn't rise more than 3 percent in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, which includes Jefferson Community & Technical College.
But while council members agreed at the meeting that tuition increase for next school year were not preferable, they remained cautious about setting limits prior to Gov. Steve Beshear and the state legislature beginning budget talks. At the same time, they recognized that the state’s higher education institutions have sustained significant budgets cuts, while trying to provide services to more students, many of whom are returning to school seeking new training.
“Nobody wants to see tuition go up. But there comes a point when the institutions cannot do the impossible,” said council chair and former Kentucky Gov. Paul Patton. “At all cost, we want to maintain quality. We’re not running diploma mills.”
Courier Journal

Tuition scheduled to increase next year

2009-11-07T12:20:00.000-05:00

Budget Committee Chair and Associate Professor of Economics Bob Williams said that there will be an increase in tuition for next year.
"Yes (fees) will go up," said Williams during a question and answer session at a Community Forum held Nov. 4 in Bryan Auditorium.
"The school is almost maxed out in terms of the number of students," said Williams. "We can't increase enrollment much more so we do have to increase fees to cover higher costs."
Randy Doss, vice president for enrollment services, said that tuition increases are almost inevitable for a school with only a small endowment.
Guilford pays about 80 percent of its yearly expenses with tuition income. The school's small endowment and tuition-driven budget place its fees within national trends for all colleges and universities.
...The College Board reported last month that private non-profit schools increased tuition an average of 4.4 percent this school year. Tuition increases for traditional Guilford students were higher than the national average for 4-year private colleges at 5.5 percent....
The Guilfordian
Guilford College, Greensboro, NC

USG copes with budget cuts, possible student fee increase

2009-11-07T11:18:00.001-05:00

A University System of Georgia-wide budget cut increase from 6 percent to 8 percent will result in eliminating many positions that are currently frozen according to GCSU President Dorothy Leland. An additional $150 mandatory emergency fee may be added to the existing fee, totaling $250 per student for Spring 2010 semester, according to Leland.
Colonnade
Georgia College & State University, Milledgeville, GA

Brown Set To Go Green

2009-11-06T16:40:00.000-05:00

In a push for more sustainable living, students will now have another, less scandalous reason to turn off their lights. The Green Dorm Initiative, which launched Wednesday, is a way for students to rate their dorm and receive incentives based on their levels of environmental friendliness.
The Green Dorm Initiative committee, part of the Environmental Club, is working in conjunction with EcoReps and the Rice Student Green Building Initiative to encourage students to assess their current behavior and reward them for adopting more environmentally friendly practices, GDI committee leader Nicole Kwan said.
"The concept is to recognize individual green efforts and give an incentive for people to change their lifestyle to be more environmentally friendly," Kwan, a Baker College EcoRep, said.
The pilot program launched Wednesday for students at Brown College lasts until Thanksgiving Break. If successful, the program will expand to other colleges next semester, Environmental Club co-President Becca Sagastegui said. Sagastegui, a Sid Richardson College EcoRep, said Brown was chosen based on diversity of room type, which includes doubles and quads, and general interest from the student body.
The Rice Thresher
Rice University, Houston , TX

University of Miami hires controversial expert

2009-11-06T15:20:00.000-05:00

The UM medical school hired a psychiatrist who has been criticized for taking millions of dollars from drugmakers.
Charles Nemeroff, an Atlanta psychiatrist who was the subject of a Senate investigation concerning huge sums he received from drug companies, has been named chairman of the psychiatry department at the University of Miami.
Last year Nemeroff, as the top psychiatrist at Emory University, was the focus of an investigation by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, who said he was concerned about the millions the psychiatrist received from drug companies while conducting supposedly unbiased research for the National Institutes of Health on drugs made by the companies he was receiving money from.
On Thursday, Pascal Goldschmidt, dean of UM medical school, called Nemeroff ``an exceptional psychiatrist and an exceptional scientist who has one issue in which he recognizes he made a mistake,'' in not telling Emory how much he was getting from drug makers.
Goldschmidt said he had read investigative reports from Emory about Nemeroff's activities and Emory found nothing to indicate that payments the psychiatrist received had in any way influenced his research results.
Miami Herald

The Survey of Higher Education Faculty: Level of Faculty Satisfaction with the Academic Library

2009-11-06T14:13:00.000-05:00

The report details the level of faculty satisfaction with library creature comforts, information literacy efforts, hours of access, research support for faculty, collection adequacy and other areas. Data is presented in the aggregate and for 12 criteria including academic field, size of college, type of college, academic title and other factors.
Just a few findings of the report are:
- 28.44% of faculty said that they were highly satisfied with their academic library's level of physical comfort.
- Satisfaction was high on the issue of the library staff's capacity to deliver help when needed. More than 47% said that they were highly satisfied and 38.53% said that they were satisfied with their library's capacity to deliver help when needed.
- Only 14.33% of the faculty in the sample said that they were highly satisfied with the adequacy of their college library's materials collection for their own personal scholarly pursuits.
- More than 44% of US-based faculty but only 30.77% of Canadian faculty were highly satisfied with their academic library's inter-library loan services.
- 27.44% of faculty in the sample felt that their library should increase spending on traditional print books.
Research and Markets

More Report Cards Go Online

2009-11-06T13:32:00.001-05:00

When report cards went out for students in the Clarksville-Montgomery County school district in October, most of the 29,000-plus students did not have a printed version for their parents to sign.
That's because the district went largely paperless with its report cards for the first time, making grades available to parents with secure accounts online, says communications manager Michelle Newell.
A growing number of districts nationwide are making the change says Ann Flynn, director of education technology with the National School Boards Association.
Districts in Louisiana, Colorado, South Carolina and Texas are among those that have gone paperless since 2008. Although Flynn could not say how many other districts are doing it, she says those making the change "are no longer the exception. They are becoming the rule."
USA Today

Online Programs: Profits Are There, Technological Innovation Is Not

2009-11-05T12:30:00.000-05:00

Online programs are generally profitable. But despite the buzz about Web 2.0, the education they provide is still dominated by rudimentary, text-based technology.
Those are two key findings in a recent report, “Benchmarking Online Operations: Snapshots of an Emerging Industry,” produced by the consulting firm Eduventures.
Online education has grown in popularity, yet it remains dependent on learning-management systems, with content-delivery built around text, says Richard Garrett, an Eduventures managing director.
“The underlying delivery model or pedagogical model hasn’t really changed much in the last five, 10 years,” Mr. Garrett says.
Chronicle of Higher Education

Online Education, Growing Fast, Eyes the Truly 'Big Time'

2009-11-05T11:30:00.000-05:00

Online education is a runaway best seller. Its growth rate -- 12.9 percent -- dwarfs the overall pace of academe’s student expansion. More than 25 percent of all students may have taken at least one online class this year, according to a speculative estimate suggested at a distance-education conference that wraps up here today.
But the success isn’t smashing enough. Not even close.
That’s the case made by A. Frank Mayadas, an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation program director who called on online educators gathered here to meet what he sees as a major need -- fast. And Mr. Mayadas, considered the Father of Online Learning, suggested in an interview following his speech that the government should step in with some $500-million to support traditional online courses -- not just the experimental “free” courses that have emerged as a darling of the Obama administration.
Chronicle of Higher Education

Facebook spammer ordered to pay $711 million

2009-11-05T10:30:00.000-05:00

The social networking site wins damages against noted spammer Sanford Wallace for bombarding its users with junk mail.
A California judge awarded Facebook $711 million in damages against spammer Sanford Wallace for bombarding the Web site with junk messages.
"We won another battle in the fight against spam," said Facebook, which announced the Oct. 29 ruling on its Web site on Friday.
Wallace, who has also been called the "Spam King," accessed Facebook members' accounts without their permission and sent out "phony" Wall posts and messages, the company said.
In addition to the damages, Judge Jeremy Fogel of U.S. District Court in Northern California's San Jose division banned Wallace, and anyone affiliated with him, from accessing Facebook.
CNN Money

Knovel Bridges Knowledge Gap for Engineers

2009-11-05T09:30:00.000-05:00

Knovel, an online resource that helps engineers find reliable technical information faster, today announced it has launched Engineering Cases, a regular content feature that aims to bridge the knowledge gap for engineers by sharing examples of best practices, rules of thumb, new uses of applications or technologies. The articles, written by engineers and reviewed by experienced editors, highlight specific examples of how engineers have applied innovative and fresh approaches to both common and uncommon challenges.
Written in a case study format and released on a rolling basis, the articles will focus on four engineering practice areas: Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Product Lifecycle Management and Sustainable Development.
Forbes

Google Wave: an Organic Collaboration Platform

2009-11-02T11:37:00.000-05:00

Google Wave can be described as a communication/collaboration tool in which products like e-mail, IM, discussion board and Wiki are rolled into one. Though it can be considered a mix of these products, the final outcome is much more than sum of its components — they are all combined in a synergetic fashion.
Once logged on to the Wave infrastructure (https://wave.google.com/wave/), you will find the Wave creation interface. (You now need an invite to participate on Google Wave). Once a Wave is created, you can simply add participants using the ‘+’ button. Now, the fun begins! All the participants who are now on-line and on the Wave window can actively interact in real-time. Yes, for Google Wave the significance lies in real-time participation — real-time e-mail, real-time chat, real-time editing and so on.
When a participant types something, each of the characters entered becomes visible to all the participants. So, in the middle of his/her sentence itself you may understand the intention of your buddy and can answer his/her query before it arrives in full.
Being a hosted service, the Wave thus created (with all its historic details) will be available to all the participants as and when they need it. Another advantage of the Wave is that a new participant can join the discussion at any point of time. Unlike in the traditional e-mail, this late entrant will not miss out on information history.
The facility that lets a participant edit anywhere on the Wave anytime is another valuable feature. A Wave can contain numerous messages from its participants. The interesting feature is that one can reply to any of these messages and create a threaded conversation based on that message.
A Wave is an extremely dynamic entity that always gets enriched through the collaboration process. You can easily attach images and other documents. As you drop files on a Wave, they become immediately accessible to all the participants.
The Hindu

More districts use income, not race, as basis for busing

2009-11-02T10:35:00.000-05:00

More than 60 school systems now use socioeconomic status as a factor in school assignments, says Richard Kahlenberg, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation, which studies income inequality. Students in Champaign, Ill.; Kalamazoo, Mich.; and Louisville have returned this year to income-based assignments.
"To the extent we can eliminate the highest concentrations of poverty or spread more thinly those concentrations of poverty, I think we make the environment a little less challenging for students and staff to be successful," says Kalamazoo Public Schools Superintendent Michael Rice.
USA Today

Bob Barker donates $1 million Creates endowed professorship of Animal Rights

2009-11-02T09:30:00.000-05:00

Drury's most famous alumnus, Dr. Bob Barker, made a return visit to campus Tuesday to give $1 million for the establishment of the Dorothy Jo Barker Endowed Professorship of Animal Rights, named in honor of Barker's late wife.
"What we're doing here today is something they will be talking about all over the country," Barker said.
Dr. Barker has helped put Drury University on the map in terms of the unique course offering on the topic of animal ethics. The Animal Ethics course, established by Barker's first $1 million endowment, established Drury as the first undergraduate institution to offer a multi-disciplinary course on animal ethics.
The course analyzes animal ethics through the lenses of philosophy, criminology, psychology, religion and biology and is taught by experts in each of these fields to give the students a well-rounded, well-informed perspective on the issue.
The Dorothy Jo Barker Endowed Professorship of Animal Rights will allow this program to grow. It is the hope of Dr. Patricia McEachern, director of forum on animal rights, to use this endowment to eventually establish an entire program devoted to the study of animal ethics.
The Drury Mirror, Drury University, MO

CT Extends Unemployment Benefits Again

2009-10-31T12:30:00.000-04:00

Staying under the national average, Nutmeg State sees unemployment claims skyrocket
Gov. M. Jodi Rell announced on Oct. 22 that unemployed Connecticut residents will be eligible to receive an additional seven weeks of benefits.
High Extended Benefits (HEB) is a federal extension plan that states qualify for when their unemployment rate averages 8 percent or higher over three consecutive months.
"These benefits offer the lifeline we need to help our families weather this economic storm," said Rell in a press release from state. "While I am confident our nation will soon emerge from this recession, until we do recover and begin to create new jobs, we must provide assistance to those who felt the brunt of this downturn."
Unemployment rates have risen in the past three months, with 7.8 percent of the workforce unemployed in July, 8.1 percent unemployed in August and 8.4 percent unemployed in September.
According to Nancy Steffens, the spokeswoman for the Connecticut Department of Labor, the state issued nearly 132,000 unemployment checks totaling $44.7 million in last week alone.
"In 2007, we had about 40,000 workers filing for unemployment each week. In 2009, we've seen about 90,000 each week," said Steffens.
State economists anticipate that Connecticut's unemployment rate will continue to trend toward the national average of 9.8 percent. Steffens said that Connecticut may see its unemployment rate rise as high as 8.7 percent. Many economists believe the unemployment rate may begin to drop in 2010.
The Daily Campus, University of Connecticut, CT

Popular costumes should make your Halloween, not break the bank

2009-10-31T11:30:00.000-04:00

The Joker is sooo 2008. Batman? It's been done. Move over, Wolverine. You've been replaced.
Halloween costumes last year were all about the comic book characters and political figures such as Republican hockey mom Sarah Palin, geriatric John McCain and what would be our president-elect Barack Obama, which were all widely celebrated. You betcha. But 2009 seems to be the year for dressing creatively as recognizable celebrities for fractions of what a traditional costume would typically cost.
So Wolverine's steel claws have now been replaced with vampire fangs. The Joker's smudged make-up and green hair are out, but the "King of Pop's" white sequined glove and fedora are in. And Lady Gaga's flashy, metallic leotards are the new black Teflon Batman bodysuits.
But while designer pantsuits, masks and walkers can certainly be expensive, some might not be celebrating Halloween like they used to.
Many believe the current recession will impact how much consumers spend on costumes, leaving many cutting back on scary attire or not partaking in the holiday at all. According to the National Retail Federation, Halloween spending is estimated to drop 18 percent down to $4.75 billion. That's down from $5.77 billion from last year.
However, just because funds are low is no reason to go without a costume. New reality figureheads and TV show characters are emerging as this year's "it" costumes with more bang for not nearly as much buck.
Gateway, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE

CDC reports 19 more children died of swine flu last week

2009-10-31T10:37:00.000-04:00

That brings the total to 114 children deaths since the pandemic's start, compared with 40 to 50 in a normal flu season. On H1N1 vaccines, 'the gap between supply and demand is closing.'
Nineteen more U.S. children died from pandemic H1N1 influenza in the week ending Oct. 24, bringing the total to 65 since Aug. 30 and to 114 since the beginning of the pandemic in April, according to the newest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Two-thirds of those children had underlying medical conditions that put them at higher risk for complications, CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden said in a Friday news conference. In a normal flu season, 40 to 50 children die, so the swine flu is affecting children much more severely than seasonal flu.
Comparable numbers are not available for adults because there are no similar reporting requirements for them. As of Tuesday, 12,466 laboratory-confirmed hospitalizations for swine flu and 530 deaths had been reported to the CDC, but those are likely to be significant underestimates, Frieden said.
Estimates released this week suggested that perhaps 800 Americans had died from swine flu by the end of July. Frieden said the agency hoped to have real-time estimates for the entire pandemic period available in the next couple of weeks. He said "many, many millions" of Americans now have been infected.
Supplies of vaccine for swine flu continue their slow growth. As of Friday morning, 26.1 million doses were available, an increase of 10.5 million since the previous Friday and 1.3 million more than were available Thursday. "There is not enough yet for all providers, but the gap between supply and demand is closing," Frieden said.
About half of the doses given out so far have gone to children, and most of the rest to young adults, he said. About 1% to 2% have gone to the elderly, he said.
The Los Angeles Times

Google Social Search Aims to Make Social Networks More Useful

2009-10-31T09:29:00.000-04:00

The experimental Google Social Search service , which went live today, adds opinions from friends and others to information a search engine provides on products and services like a new restaurant or smartphone.
...Google announced Social Search last week at the same time it disclosed that it had inked a real-time search deal with Twitter . Mayer noted that the two announcements are related in that users will eventually see Twitter posts , or tweets, in Google search results....
Google Social Search is designed to let searches return traditional results along with updates and tweets that their friends and other people they follow on various social networks have posted. For instance, a user might want to buy a specific car. They can search for information and reviews of the car on a regular search engine and then use Social Search to find pertinent posts from their friends and colleagues...
San Francisco Chronicle

Stockholm-Based Bonanza Education Expands Into U.S. Market

2009-10-29T17:18:00.000-04:00

"Financial statements are considered a foreign language to a vast majority of employees who work outside of the finance function at companies, and that is a huge barrier to connecting them with the key drivers for business success," said Steven Wade, Chief Executive Officer of Bonanza Education USA. "The financial literacy programs delivered through Bonanza's concepts translate numerical tables into a universal graphical language that turn the once difficult and avoided financial discussions into collaborative conversations. When employees have a better understanding of the financial drivers for the company, they make better decisions, and companies can unlock the embedded innovation within their existing employee base."
The visual language developed by Bonanza enhances the skills and speed of assimilation of employees who already have a grasp of financial principles and enables those who don't like numbers to truly understand and begin to contribute to the financial conversation. Several European banks have successfully used the Bonanza concepts to build and enhance their relationships with clients, as well as, explaining the client's own financial situations.
...Since its inception in 1991, Bonanza Education has helped hundreds of thousands of people to understand finance, profitability and business challenges. The company's programs have been translated into multiple languages with partners in a dozen countries. Today, the company provides financial literacy programs in both the classroom setting and through highly interactive modules over the Web. Bonanza's analysis and presentation software is used in a wide range of companies to clarify the financial message, facilitate analysis and unlock embedded innovation within the organization....
Forbes

Hundreds of schools closed as A/H1N1 flu cases multiple in U.S.

2009-10-29T16:16:00.000-04:00

Sick students are suggested to stay at home, while city emergency rooms are also largely filled with students who are severely ill, according to news reports on Thursday.
According to U.S. Education Department, at least 351 schools were closed in last week -- affecting more than 126,000 students in 19 states. So far, about 600 schools were closed in this school year altogether.
"This is scary," said Kathryn Marchuk, a nurse whose son attends St. Charles East High School outside Chicago, which closed for three days last week after about 800 of its 2,200 students called in absent. "So many people are sick. It's just everywhere."
Many school officials said they were afraid the virus would spread faster if they stayed open. They feel shutting down is the only feasible option.
Despite the exceptional spreading speed of the H1N1 flu pandemic in the flu season, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Margaret Chan said a day before in a conference in Havana that the A/H1N1 pandemic would reach its natural end when enough people are immunized.
VietNamNet

EPA Finds Manganese Threat at 2 Schools

2009-10-29T15:13:00.000-04:00

Regulators have found high levels of neurotoxic manganese in the air outside two schools in Ohio and West Virginia, the latest results of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to check for chemicals outside schools across the nation.
Government scientists have determined that long-term exposure to manganese can cause mental disabilities and emotional problems, especially in kids.
The preliminary results, to be released today, found average manganese levels at least 70% higher than what the EPA considers safe for long-term exposure outside Warren Elementary School in Marietta, Ohio, and Neale Elementary School in Vienna, W.Va. The schools are about 10 miles from each other.
USA Today

School chooses Kindle; are libraries for the history 'books'?

2009-10-28T15:15:00.000-04:00

Critics see the value — and inevitability — of increasing libraries' digital collections but say that to remove virtually all printed materials is a mistake.
"This is not necessarily a model for other school libraries," says American Library Association President Camila Alire. "It's a private prep school, it's a residential campus, and they also have the funds to do things like this."
Actually, Tracy says, that's the point: The school can afford it, so why shouldn't it? He wants to share what he learns with other schools — and is partnering with Oxford University to offer any materials it develops as a free, open-source guide.
As for the students' ability to pay for the gadgets, Tracy says, that's an even stronger argument. Though many are on financial aid, his students, for better or worse, are "going to have disproportionate influence" on the world. What better place than Cushing to teach them how to navigate the world wisely and with "humanizing values?"
Cassandra Barnett, president of the American Association of School Librarians, says most reference materials are going online, but she wonders how Cushing librarians will attract kids to books they might not otherwise seek out. "I can't display … a whole bunch of Kindles with the covers of books."
USA Today

Women's Soccer: Squad Nabs Regular Season Conference Championship

2009-10-28T14:15:00.001-04:00

Notre Dame (14-3, 11-0-1 Big East) ended the regular season on a 12-game unbeaten streak and a six-game winning streak to claim its 12th conference title in its 15 seasons in the league.
"[Winning the Big East title] is hard to put into words because we always talk about the standard that this program has set for itself," Irish coach Randy Waldrum said. "It is something we don't take for granted by any means, but it is certainly one of the goals we have every year.
The Observer
University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

Atheism: frequently unanswered questions

2009-10-28T13:45:00.002-04:00

Let me start off by saying that my intent here is not to proselytize but to give a better understanding of atheists and our values. I'm not here to tell you that your beliefs are wrong, or that atheists are somehow more correct in our thinking. What I do want to make a point of is that every time I tell someone I'm an atheist, I get pelted with questions.
"Why are you an atheist?" "Did your parents not take you to church?" "What do you think happens when you die?"
And, of course, my favorite: "where do you get your morals?"
I intend to answer some of these.....
...Atheism is similar to Christianity in one way: there are tons of sects and nobody can seem to agree on the "right" way to go about things. The spectrum goes from militant atheism all the way to secular humanism.
Atheists who prefer to be moral and decent would call themselves Secular Humanists. We are good for goodness sake and don't follow any code. Think of it as a common good that lies in nature. We are all born grasping, hungry and selfish. Nobody is born with morality.
Gateway
University of Nebraska, Omaha, Omaha, NE

Word of mouth makes 'Paranormal Activity' a Scream 3 out of 5 Stars

2009-10-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

America's most frightening "home video," "Paranormal Activity" is a movie everyone is talking about, but few will dare to see.
Making $22 million this past weekend, "Paranormal" came in number one at the box office, outranking "Saw VI," which came in second with a disappointing $14.8 million, and "Where the Wild Things Are," which, after dominating the box office on its opening weekend, came in third at $14.4 million.
For those who get a thrill out of ghosts, demons and haunted houses minus the gore, this horror film takes supposedly innocent nighttime noises and reveals them to be the products of other-worldly mischief....
....This past Friday, the "mock-doc" expanded from 760 theaters to 2,000. It has been compared to the 1999 "Blair Witch Project," which earned $29 million after expanding to just over 1,000 theaters. Since its Sept. 25th limited release, "Paranormal" has earned an overall $62.5 million. With the Halloween weekend yet to come, it is predicted that if word-of-mouth continues to favor Paramount's micro-budget horror flick, then earnings could reach as high as $100 million. Paramount acquired the rights to the movie at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2007, originally intending to allow Peli a re-shoot with a bigger budget. But after seeing the success of its raw and unaltered version, the studio decided to release "Paranormal" in all its homemade glory, and test audiences continued to respond well in screenings. Subsequent success was then left to the circulation of online blogs and tweets (mostly from college students) that spread news of the creepy ghost story.
With a slow incline in terror throughout the entire film, "Paranormal Activity" scares in small doses and then shocks at the end. A perfect fit for the easily scared.
East Carolinian
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

College Tuitions Rise Again

2009-10-27T16:30:00.000-04:00

The report, released Tuesday by the non-profit College Board, analyzes annual trends in college prices and student aid. While findings provide insight into how the recession is affecting students and institutions, they also underscore the complex relationship between what colleges charge and what families pay. "We really have to figure out how to make it simpler and more transparent," says author Sandy Baum.
Among factors that influence cost to students:
•Institution type. Community colleges posted the fastest one-year growth but remain the most affordable option. Sticker prices are highest at private institutions, but their students also get the most aid. (Average cost to low-income students, after calculating grant aid, declined from 2003-04 to 2007-08 in inflation-adjusted dollars.)
•Geography.New England posted the highest average tuition, room and board at public four-year colleges ($18,394); the South had the lowest ($13,026).
•Family income. Average grant aid at public four-year institutions ranged from $1,340 for students with parent incomes below $32,500 and $900 for students whose parents' income was $100,000 or higher.
•Debt. For-profit schools have lower sticker prices than private non-profit colleges, but median debt was higher for bachelor's degree recipients at for-profit schools ($31,190 vs. $17,040).
USA Today

Board of Regents discusses stem cell research

2009-10-27T16:00:00.000-04:00

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents met on Friday to settle the debate over embryonic stem cell research within the NU system.
The reversal of former President George W. Bush's restrictions on stem cell research has opened the door for universities across the country to resume their own research.
James B. Milliken, president of the University of Nebraska system, said NU needs stem cell research to become a nationally respected center for research.
"Embryonic stem cell research holds enormous promise, and if the University of Nebraska is to be a leading research university it should be appropriately engaged in this research," Milliken, a non-voting member due to his board position, said in a statement. "The guidelines for that engagement are now set by federal law and regulations, state law and board policy. I believe that to do otherwise would unnecessarily limit the opportunities for discoveries to save and improve lives. In my view, it would also risk great harm to the reputation of the university and damage our ability to recruit and retain outstanding research and clinical faculty.
Gateway
University of Nebraska, Omaha, Omaha, NE

Med school enrollment up 11th year in a row, still 70% white

2009-10-27T14:55:00.001-04:00

U.S. medical school enrollment is up for the 11th consecutive year as colleges seek to meet a growing demand for physicians.
First-year enrollment climbed 2% over 2008, and now totals nearly 18,400 students. The number of applicants remained mostly stable at around 42,000. Four new medical schools opened their doors this year; several others expanded class size.
USA Today

Forest service 'jump starting' with $10.7M

2009-10-26T14:08:00.001-04:00

Citing the worst decline in the lumber industry, exacerbated by the widespread beetle kill problem in Colorado, Colorado State Forest Service officials are looking to a $10.7 million jump start in the form of federal stimulus money to stay afloat.
Applications have been flowing into the service from industry entities across the state, and a forest service panel began reviewing them late last week. Officials said it would release its decisions this week.
The money, part of a national forest service package of $1.5 billion, will be directed toward job creation and retention for forest service districts across the state.
Four committees made up of CSFS officials and will meet later this month to review proposals from organizations from the across the country looking to implement forest service projects in the 17 Colorado districts that the program oversees, with a strong focus on the Front Range.
The grants are divided into two separate categories:
-About $6.25 million will go to programs focused on forest restoration and fuels mitigation, and
-About $4.75 million will go to programs focused on wildfire prevention and wood manufacturing industries in Colorado.
Rocky Mountain Collegian
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

The social and personal-development needs of students who study for higher degrees must be taken more seriously

2009-10-26T14:00:00.001-04:00

Postgraduates are our future. Without them, the academy is unsustainable: they are the teachers and researchers of tomorrow. But even beyond that, educating postgraduates is important for the future prosperity of the nation. First Secretary Lord Mandelson, who knows a good business opportunity for UK plc when he sees one, announced a review of postgraduate provision this summer, describing it as "a major export earner for the UK, and one which we have perhaps taken too much for granted".
Indeed. In the UK, postgraduate needs often go unheard amid the clamour over undergraduate education, unlike in the US, where they are often accorded a higher priority. With jobs in short supply, the numbers wanting to take postgraduate courses have increased; even before the downturn, they had grown by more than 64 per cent in ten years. But it is vital that universities have the structures in place to support their postgraduates properly.
The arguments over the practical issues - whether students should have a masters before embarking on a PhD and whether three years is long enough for a doctorate - are well rehearsed. But what about the social and personal-development needs of doctoral students, which can make or break an academic career? These are arguably as important. Getting the wrong supervisor, for whatever reason, can make all the difference between completing and not completing, and changing supervisor can be very traumatic.
Times Higher Education

Go back to school to smooth career changes But experts suggest doing a little homework before signing up for classes

2009-10-25T16:00:00.001-04:00

Extra education -- whether an advanced degree, a seminar or a series of classes leading to certification -- can pave your career transition path or help those returning to work after several years' absence, career counselors say. It also may be helpful for some lateral moves in competitive fields.
"It is sort of a strategic decision -- education," said Bill Stokes, an executive recruiter and chairman of the Washington Networking Group. "The smarter, long-term, strategic thinking person does it" and adds to their talents and their networks with every class or seminar.
If you're currently employed, find out what your employer thinks is important for your advancement. Or check your organization's Web site -- many government agencies and some other employers have fairly specific career development plans. Knowing what is on that ladder will make your class selection easier.
Before you sign up for a class, ask yourself some questions about your career and career goals, said Dennis Sullivan, a career counselor at Northern Virginia Community College. Among the questions he recommends: "Is it time for me to change careers or to shift? Is there another skill set or competency that would make me more employable with this company?"
A big question often hits people as they're facing a layoff: "Is it time to go back and complete the degree I didn't finish?" When their job is in jeopardy or disappearing, they suddenly realize they may not be qualified to get in the door for a similar position elsewhere, Sullivan said.
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Sullivan helps individuals plan their studies at Northern Virginia and update their skills. He and Stokes suggest three areas that are ripe for a career-enhancing class or two:
-- Computer and technical training, whether advanced or basic. "You can't have too many technical skills for today's workplace," said Sullivan.
-- Foreign language or ESL classes. Brush up on your second language or add a third. Sullivan suggests that professionals who grew up in another country ask the college to benchmark their English-speaking skills and then sign up for English as a Second Language classes to improve.
-- Professional certifications. A growing number of professions -- from project management to human resources -- offer advanced training and certifications that can help open doors.
Washington Post

School sports' cuts have off-the-field impact, group says

2009-10-25T13:44:00.002-04:00

A new report says that $2 billion in cuts to school-based sports and physical education programs are contributing to a range of problems afflicting the nation's youth, including obesity, violence and academic failure.
The report by Up2Us, a New York City-based coalition of groups lobbying to save such programs, was released last week as more than 150 researchers, coaches and leaders of nonprofit groups gathered in Washington for a conference on the fate of youth sports in an age of budget cuts.
"Youth sports is in serious decline in this country," said Brian Greenwood, co-author of the study and an assistant professor at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. "We can't afford that potential negative impact. If a kid doesn't have somewhere to go, something to do to occupy their time, unfortunately what they do more often than not is they end up in trouble."
Washington Post

Twitter Lessons in 140 Characters or Less

2009-10-25T12:58:00.001-04:00

The Twitter feed for Lucas Ames’ class in American history has shown some lively exchanges of ideas and opinions among students at the Flint Hill School. One day this month, 11th graders at the private school in Oakton, Va., shared articles on the separation of church and state, pondered the persistence of racism, and commented on tobacco regulation in Virginia now and during the Colonial period—all in the required Twitter format of 140 or fewer characters.
Those are exactly the kinds of interactions Mr. Ames had hoped for when he decided to experiment with the microblogging tool in his classroom this school year.
He and other teachers first found Twitter valuable for reaching out to colleagues and locating instructional resources. Now, they’re trying it out in the classroom as an efficient way to distribute assignments and to foster collaboration among students.
Education Week

Students for Safe Choices host Alcohol Awareness Week

2009-10-24T17:00:00.000-04:00

One thousand seven hundred college students die annually in alcohol related incidents. One million college students are injured or assaulted every year in alcohol related incidents. Think it can't happen here? Think again.
This semester alone, there have been 20 students evaluated for intoxication. Seventeen of those students were transported to the emergency room according to Brad Holmes, director of Public Safety. The Assumption College Department of Public Safety's Annual Security Report indicates that in the 2008 calendar year, there were 347 disciplinary and judicial referrals as a result of liquor-law violations.
Le Provocateur, Assumption College, Ma

CDC Guidance for Responses to Influenza for Institutions of Higher Education during the 2009-2010 Academic Year

2009-10-24T15:35:00.000-04:00

This document provides guidance to help decrease the spread of flu among students, faculty, and staff of institutions of higher education (IHE) and post-secondary educational institutions during the 2009-2010 academic year. The guidance expands upon earlier guidance for these settings by providing a menu of tools that IHE and health officials can choose from based on conditions in their area. It recommends actions to take now (during this academic year), suggests strategies to consider if the flu starts causing more severe disease than during the spring/summer 2009 H1N1 outbreak, and provides a checklist for making decisions. Detailed information on the reasons for these strategies and suggestions on how to use them is included in the Technical Report. Based on the severity of 2009 H1N1 flu-related illness thus far, this guidance also recommends that students, faculty, and staff with flu-like illness remain home until 24 hours after resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications.For the purpose of this guidance, IHE will refer to public and private, residential and nonresidential, degree-granting and non-degree-granting institutions providing post-secondary education in group settings regardless of the age of their students. Portions of this guidance pertaining to dormitories and residence halls may serve as a useful supplement to residential (boarding) schools providing primary and secondary education, with adaptations as needed for their younger population. This guidance represents the CDC’s current thinking on this topic. It does not create or confer any rights for or on any person or operate to bind the public.
CDC

Are Today's Grads Unprofessional?

2009-10-24T12:22:00.000-04:00

Today’s college graduates do not exhibit as much professionalism as their employers expect of them, according to a new study from York College of Pennsylvania.
As part of the small liberal arts college’s effort to rebrand itself as a place where “professionalism” is cultivated, its newly created Center for Professional Excellence commissioned a survey of more than 500 human resources professionals and business leaders to gauge not only what they think “professionalism” means but also how well the recent college graduates they have hired exhibit it.
The results of the survey, released Friday, suggest that colleges need to change how they prepare their students for the working world, particularly by reinforcing soft skills like honoring workplace etiquette and having a positive demeanor.
Inside Higher Education

Online and in Exile

2009-10-24T12:21:00.001-04:00

In what some believe could be a landmark case in state oversight of online colleges, the Maryland Higher Education Commission this week barred the University of Maryland University College from offering an online doctoral program in community college administration to state residents, citing rules against “unnecessary duplication” of existing programs at historically black institutions.
The ruling still permits UMUC to offer the program to out-of-state residents, creating an unusual circumstance in which a state agency has forbidden a public university from serving its own residents.
Inside Higher Education

Eradicating Racism Student Union for Racial Equity finds grassroots at SIUE

2009-10-23T14:20:00.000-04:00

The fact that racism does exist is the foundation of a wide-spread need for interracial communication according to Grant Irvine, Student Union for Racial Equality treasurer and senior mechanical engineering major.
SURE is a recent addition to SIUE's student organizations. According to Andrew Heffron, junior mechanical engineering major and SURE vice president, the group is aiming to initiate greater communication among differing races.
"The group seeks to eradicate racism and other forms of discrimination and to build better understanding between people of different backgrounds," he said.
The Alestle
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL

Travel Bug Bites Students in Study Abroad Programs

2009-10-23T14:00:00.000-04:00

The SIUE Office of International Programs hosted the Study Abroad Fair in the Morris University Center's Goshen Lounge Tuesday showcasing various programs and universities that offer opportunities to travel for one's education.
SIUE Travel Study Programs, including Italy, Turkey and Argentina, provided information regarding their respective opportunities. Professor Lucian Stone heads the Istanbul Travel Study and said she believes that its focus on philosophy creates a unique selling point.
The Alestle
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL

Will Indian Students Continue to be the Largest Group in Global Classrooms?

2009-10-23T13:15:00.000-04:00

Over the last couple of years, Indian students made news on international campuses and emerged as the biggest group the world over, going past even the Chinese.
In America, India remained the leading country of origin of foreign students for the seventh consecutive time in financial year 2008, increasing by 13% to 94,563 students, according to the Open Doors report - published annually by the Institute of International Education (IIE) with support from the US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. In all, over 2 lakh Indian students studied overseas last year.
And the attraction of global campuses is not just because of problems at home - such as not enough seats for professional courses or the reservation system. Overseas education is considered a ticket to global careers - and Indian professionals are among the most sought after in the overseas job market.
The Economic Times

Morton: Ala. Teachers Should Help with Budget Cuts

2009-10-23T12:43:00.002-04:00

Alabama schools Superintendent Joe Morton unveiled a plan to deal with budget cuts for fiscal year 2011 partly by making teachers pay more for health insurance and retirement benefits.
....But the Alabama Education Association voiced less enthusiasm for other parts of his plan, which would:
-Freeze state funding to the Public Education Employees' Health Insurance Plan at the FY 2010 level and direct the plan's board to develop a program to match available funds
-Raise the amount of experience required for future education employees to retire from 25 years to 30 years
-Increase the amount education employees pay into their retirement plans from 5 percent to 6 percent
-Raise the minimum age for future participants in the Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP, to 30 years of service and 57 years of age
Speaking to the State Board of Education at its monthly K-12 worksession, Morton said he thinks the amendment basing funding on enrollment "is the only thing that would save K-12 education."
It "cuts right to the heart of the matter and we don't caught up in bickering," Morton told the board.....
Washington Post

Orange Grove: After-school programs bright idea

2009-10-22T17:32:00.000-04:00

Today we celebrate "Lights On Afterschool," a nationwide rally to draw attention to the need for, and proliferation of, after-school programs. After-school programs emerged over the past two decades in response to changes in our society – particularly the move of women into the workplace. Approximately 70 percent of households with kids in school have two parents working or are headed by single parents.
Orange County Register Communications

SAFRA to provide better, more affordable facilities

2009-10-22T16:25:00.001-04:00

SINGAPORE: SAFRA is looking into providing better and more value-added facilities for NSmen and their families from next year.
It is looking to invest in pre-school education. There are also efforts to make facilities more affordable.
The plans were announced during the official opening ceremony of the new SAFRA clubhouse in Jurong. Dubbed the "Playground at The Canopy", SAFRA Jurong is the largest of SAFRA's five clubhouses.
It houses Singapore's first purpose-built children's gym and offers interactive water features. Since its soft launch in May, the club has achieved an average of more than 70,000 visitors a month.
Channel News Asia

Kindle craze spreads to Point Park

2009-10-22T11:30:00.001-04:00

Whether your reading is done at the local coffee shop, on the bus or on the toilet, you now have the option of doing so with a whole new degree of sophistication. Since it was first introduced in November of 2007, the Amazon Kindle has kept both gadget gurus and bookworms alike swooning over its techno-chic design and electronic ease.
The Kindle is an e-book reader that offers users access to a virtually endless supply of text-based media. Everything from New York Times bestsellers to magazine and newspaper subscriptions can be purchased and downloaded to the Kindle, turning it into a library's worth of reading contained in one device weighing about a pound.
Three years and three models later, the Kindle continues to attract consumers because of its cost effectiveness and environmentally friendly concept. A recent search at Amazon.com found that most books listed for sale were less than $10 - nearly half the cost of an average paperback. Publishers are able to sell their titles for less due to the elimination of all printing costs, which in turn also reduces the amount of paper consumed.
The Globe
Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA

Apple iPhone: changing lives

2009-10-22T10:30:00.000-04:00

Now one year old, Apple's iPhone app store boasts 75,000 mobile applications, and the company's television commercials claim that iPhone users can find "an app for that," no matter what "that" may be.
Recently, Vonage released a VoiP app for the iPhone, enabling users to make free or low-cost phone calls over a Wi-Fi connection or via the cellular voice channel.
The Cambridge, Mass.-based car-sharing service, Zipcar, also launched an app that allows a customer to use an iPhone to locate and reserve a vehicle and unlock it. It is the first app of its kind to control the operation of a car.
With the release of these two high-profile iPhone apps, it is clear that iPhones are no longer limited to being cell phones. They are multi-purpose tools that have the ability to suit themselves to any hobby, career or lifestyle.
Point Park University's computer labs use some Apple computers and software, and the Cinema and Digital Arts Department depends exclusively on Apple workstations. Such an Apple-devoted campus was the ideal spot to put the company's claims of "an app for everyone" to the test. Students and faculty alike, it turns out, have already found out just how much more convenient life can be with an app-loaded iPhone in hand.
The Globe
Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA

Reduced operations suggested for Virginia Tech game

2009-10-22T09:33:00.000-04:00

The Chancellor's Executive Council has strongly encouraged ECU faculty to end classes and operations at 3 p.m. on Nov. 5, prior to the nationally televised football game between ECU and Virginia Tech.
In an e-mail that was sent to ECU faculty, provost Marilyn Sheerer said, "We expect traffic to begin increasing in the early afternoon with high volumes by 3:30 p.m. and the peak around 5 p.m. This event will create a serious traffic and operational effect on our university resulting from the arrival of thousands of fans in the city at the same time students and employees are exiting the campus."
East Carolinian
East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

'Fat list' embarrasses, outrages dance majors told to lose weight

2009-10-22T09:30:00.000-04:00

For dance majors in the Conservatory of Performing Arts (COPA), one of the most intense days last year was when a list was posted outside of Studio 204 in Lawrence Hall asking certain students to see Peter Merz, an associate professor of dance.
After they met with him, it became the general consensus that everyone on the list was asked to lose weight.
The list became known among students in the department as "the fat list," and many were outraged.
"I can assure you we are not here to publicly embarrass people, and if some students were embarrassed - that was never the intention," Susan Stowe, chair of the dance department and associate professor, said. "From now on we will find other ways of talking with students about their weight."
The Globe
Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA

Inaugural International Education Month Set for Oct. 27-Nov. 19 at SUNY Cortland

2009-10-21T15:15:00.000-04:00

Catherine Porter, president of the Modern Language Association of America (MLA), an international organization serving English and foreign language teachers, will deliver the keynote address during SUNY Cortland’s first International Education Month, which runs from Tuesday, Oct. 27-Thursday, Nov. 19.
Porter, a professor emerita of French at SUNY Cortland, will present “English is Not Enough” at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 5, in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge.
SUNY Cortland

Anti-Semitism Goes to College

2009-10-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

I try to not overreact at isolated anti-Semitic incidents, but enough "isolated" occurrences have taken place at Rutgers University in the past year that warrants a strong public reaction. Despite the large Jewish population at Rutgers, - approximately 3,000 - this year Jewish students have had to deal with several anti-Semitic attacks, ranging from verbal challenges to vandalism. It has reached the point where even the most skeptical and naïve guardian against the classic knee-jerk reaction, like myself, has to realize and speak out against a continuing trend of anti-Jewish sentiment that is apparent at Rutgers.
Rutgers sophomore Molly Salovitz a few months ago said that she was horrified in her off-campus house one night when she heard several drunk students outside her porch saying "this is where the Jews live" late one evening. Upon later inspection she found that her porch had been damaged.
That same night, a Jewish house down the street had a window damaged. These two seemingly unrelated events could easily be explained by juvenile and/or drunken behavior that is common for college students, yet this seems too coincidental.
The Jerusalem Post

Accreditation at risk in dispute Picketing feared at Marlborough High

2009-10-21T13:15:00.000-04:00

Union unrest could cause Marlborough High School to lose its accreditation, school officials say.
School Committee member Margaret Dwyer said the school system has until noon tomorrow to alert the New England Association of Schools and Colleges about whether teachers plan to picket a visit scheduled for next week by the association as part of the accreditation process.
Dwyer said the schools association has said that if there is picketing, members will cancel the visit because they will not cross a picket line.
If the visit is canceled, Dwyer said, it may not be rescheduled for as a long as a year, which would leave the school without accreditation and jeopardize students trying to apply to colleges.
The Boston Globe

Healthier US School Meals Boost Costs -Study

2009-10-21T12:38:00.001-04:00

A report from the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academies, proposed updating school meal programs to meet nutritional needs and foster better eating habits, but recognized healthier, fresher ingredients would boost costs, especially at breakfast where fruit servings would increase.
"It will cost a little more," Virginia Stallings, a professor at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and chair of the group that conducted the study, said in an interview. "But this will be a very wise investment in children's health," she added.
Reuters

Must-Read Book: Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism

2009-10-20T14:43:00.004-04:00

"A new online friend that I met on twitter recently asked me about the best book to read regarding bilingual and multilingual education. I told her without hesitation that a must-read book is Colin Baker’s Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. The book is currently in its fourth edition and I just can’t get enough of the book. I have read each edition, and the fourth edition is absolutely the best!! This book has invaluable information to both bilingual ed neophytes, as well as experts in the bilingual education community."
Multilingual Mania
Giveaway: One Lucky Reader Will Win A Copy Of This Book!!
Enter today - Ends Sunday, October 25, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
The winner must be located in the United States.

Medical Marijuana Proponents Breathe Easier Under New Guidelines

2009-10-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

Feds Won't Prosecute Medical Marijuana Users if They Comply with State Laws
New Medical Marijuana Guidelines
Proponents of medical marijuana say the new policy is long overdue.
"What you have now, finally, after all these years is a federal government, which is not at war with its own states and not at war with suffering sick people in these states," Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, told ABC News. "It is the most positive and significant development on federal medical marijuana policy since the Carter administration."
But opponents have expressed concern that such a policy could also lead to more illegal drug use and sales. According to the Justice Department, marijuana distribution in the United States remains the single largest source of revenue for Mexican cartels.
ABC News

Officials: 250,000 Teaching Jobs Aided by Stimulus

2009-10-20T10:15:00.000-04:00

The Obama administration says spending aimed at boosting the economy has created or saved 250,000 teaching or other education jobs this year.
A White House report released Monday concludes that money from a $787 billion stimulus package has helped states fill budget gaps that would have cost teachers their jobs in school districts and public universities across the country.
Washington Post

German Team Shines in Solar Decathlon

2009-10-20T09:40:00.000-04:00

The U.S. Department of Energy announced today that Team Germany is the winner of this year's Solar Decathlon, in which 20 teams of college students from the USA, Europe and Canada competed to design the best solar house.
The German team scored 908.29 out of 1,000 possible points. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign came in second, with 897.30 points and Team California placed third, with 863.08 points.
USA Today

College Green Building Teams Compete in 'Solar Decathlon'

2009-10-20T09:30:00.001-04:00

What might look like a quirky 20-home subdivision that has sprung up on the National Mall between the U.S. Capitol and the Washington Monument is actually the Solar Decathlon, a college competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy every two years.
Teams from across the USA, Canada and Europe are competing to design and build the most attractive and efficient solar home.
USA Today

Girl in Tuxedo Denied a Place in School Yearbook

2009-10-19T14:30:00.000-04:00

Veronica Rodriguez describes her daughter, 17-year-old Ceara Sturgis, as "a perfect child": a straight-A student, a goalie on the soccer team, a trumpet player in the band and active in Students Against Destructive Decisions.
Sturgis also is gay and feels more comfortable in boys' clothes, her mother says. So Rodriguez supported her daughter's decision to wear a tuxedo, rather than the drape customary for girls, when she had her senior portrait made in July. Now she is battling officials at Wesson Attendance Center in the Copiah County (Miss.) School District. Rodriguez said she received a letter from the school in August stating that only boys could wear tuxedos and have since refused to include the photo in the school yearbook.
USA Today

Education (VCs Pledge to Enhance Quality of Teaching and Research)

2009-10-19T10:34:00.000-04:00

Higher Education Commission (HEC) will meet the challenging targets for higher education as put forth in the National Education Policy-2009. This was stated by Dr. Javed R. Laghari, Chairman HEC here Friday while addressing a media conference at the conclusion of the two-day Vice Chancellors Committee Meeting hosted by the HEC.
Further, the Vice Chancellors of public and private universities also pledged to enhance teaching quality and research despite the financial crunch that faces them.
Individual

Profs Ponder Print Costs

2009-10-19T10:10:00.000-04:00

A professor asks his students to print off a 23-page journal article to bring to the next class. In student speak, 23 pages means $1.15 worth of the $10 printing balance students receive at the beginning of each semester. $10 may seem like a sufficient amount. But, that gets students a mere 200 printed pages, which may not be enough for an entire semester of classes.
It's a struggle many UP students face, but what about the professors? If they do not have limits on printing, what encourages them to restrict their paper use in class?
The Beacon
University of Portland, Portland, OR

Student Enrollment Balanced Across Colleges

2009-10-19T09:30:00.000-04:00

The College of Arts and Letters noticed a drop in enrollment this year, but this decrease actually marks a success for the University as it creates more balanced numbers among the various colleges - a priority outlined in the University's 2003 strategic plan.
Less students enrolled in the College of Arts and Letters because more chose the College of Engineering and the College of Science, two programs that the University sought to expand.
The Observer
University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

Orbis Breaks Down Health Care Reform

2009-10-19T01:06:00.000-04:00

An overview of the issues before Congress
What is really going on with health care reform? Many people have become increasingly confused over the country's health care debate amidst conflicting reports on the bills making their way through Congress.
So what is being proposed? There are a number of bills currently under consideration, with a variety of ideas designed to reform our ailing system.
The Orbis
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Tweeting for Votes

2009-10-18T15:12:00.001-04:00

IN OLDEN DAYS, elections were waged by supporters who mobilized door-to-door campaigns and used phones to get a candidate's message to voters.
The olden days were about two years ago.
Candidates still go door to door, especially in local elections, but new battle lines are being drawn on the Web, especially through social-networking sites Facebook and Twitter.
Media, academic and many elected officials say Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized politics on the national and local levels. Many pundits credit President Barack Obama's daily use of Facebook and Twitter as contributing to his victory.
Richard Hanley, assistant professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University, said he believes it's a major mistake for political candidates to ignore the new mediums.
"They need to be everywhere where eyeballs are," Hanley said. "It's a very cheap and an efficient way to get information to voters engaged in that space."
Individual