The National Engineers Week Foundation is the world leader in attracting and refining the next generation of engineers and celebrating the engineering profession. National Engineers Week Foundation is broadening its annual New Faces of Engineering program, which, for eight years, has honored the nation’s most promising young engineering professionals.

The National Engineers Week Foundation is a partnership of more than 100 professional societies, major corporations and government agencies. It is dedicated to ensuring a diverse and well-educated future for the engineering workforce by increasing the understanding of and interest in engineering and technological careers, according to National Engineers Week. As well as promoting pre-college literacy in math and science among students and young professionals. Engineers Week works to raise public understanding and gratitude to engineers’ assistance to society.

Are you a third, fourth or fifth year engineering student? Are you seeking recognition in your field? Would you love to to be honored for your hard work with a scholarship? Then check out the New Faces of Engineering: College Edition award!

The award, which students can apply for using their Facebook page, aims to recognize “the best and brightest third, fourth and fifth year engineering students, whose academic successes and experiences in the engineering field have positioned them to start making an impact.”

The application form requires the student’s photo (jpg format), list of accomplishments and four short questions. The deadline for submissions is October 21 and winners are announced on December 5. Winners will be featured in the monthly journals and websites of each participating engineering society. Winners’ college and local newspapers will also be notified and the winners will be prominently featured on the Facebook page and may be eligible for a scholarship.

The New Faces of Engineering award creator, the National Engineers Week Foundation, is the world leader in attracting and refining the next generation of engineers and celebrating the engineering profession. The National Engineers Week Foundation is broadening its annual New Faces of Engineering program, which, for eight years, has honored the nation’s most promising young engineering professionals.

The College Edition application will be available August 15, 2011. The deadline for submissions is October 21 and finalists are announced on October 28. Students must also be affiliated with an engineering association.

For more information go to their official site or check out their Facebook page.

Top 10 tips on how to get on the good side of your professors:

1. Try to meet with the professor one on one early in the semester (before you start having problems in the class).
2. Say hi if you see the professor walking around campus. Most students avoid professors or pretend they don’t know them on campus.
3. Do the required assignments. Make sure you don’t show up to class without doing the required reading or without the paper that is due.
4. Turn in work on time. Some professors are really anal about assignments being turned in on time, and may not accept work if it is late.
5. Don’t be late to class. Some professors really get annoyed if you show up after the class has started, make sure you are always a little early to avoid this.
6. Do not miss any classes, otherwise professors will think that you don’t care.
7. Contact the professor ahead of time if you absolutely have to miss a class, and make up a good excuse usually “I had a family emergency” works well (“grandma died” only works twice).
8. Don’t fall asleep in class this really pisses of professors. Bring a soda or coffee to class if this is a problem for you.
9. Ask or answer questions every now and then, this shows you are paying attention (you are probably the only one) and it helps the professor get to know you. Don’t worry about being called a dork or nerd in class, you just need good grades and this is way to do it, plus someone of the opposite sex might notice you know what is going on in class and may approach you to study together.
10. Sit in the front of the class professors get to know the students up in front of class because they are closer and seem more interested to be there. This will also help you concentrate, pay attention, and you actually might learn something.

These are all tips that should help you get to know, and get along with the people who determine your grades. Do everything you can to get on their good side without coming across as sucking up.

Article from: http://www.collegetips.com/

Energy consumption in New York City’s 1,245 school buildings is down roughly 11 percent since 2008, as motion detectors have been installed on classroom lights and unused refrigerators and freezers have been unplugged for the summer.

In Yonkers, energy savings have financed $18 million in new boilers, windows and other capital improvements that the Westchester County district could not otherwise afford.

Schools, once known as energy wasters, are embracing conservation in increasing numbers. A desire to practice the environmentally friendly principles discussed in classrooms has been heightened by soaring energy costs and tighter budgets. With the help of a growing industry of energy consultants, school officials are evaluating every detail of their daily operations, like the temperature of the swimming pool and the amount of electricity the cafeteria ovens use, and are replacing energy-guzzling equipment with more efficient models.

Supporters say that even small adjustments can pay off almost immediately. “If we tested schools in efficient use of energy, many of them wouldn’t get a passing grade,” said C. David Myers, president of building efficiency for Johnson Controls, which has joined with 60 of the 125 school districts on Long Island to reduce energy use by 20 to 40 percent annually.

Nationally, more than two dozen states, including California, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, New Hampshire and Virginia, have used millions in federal stimulus money since 2009 to pay for energy programs and upgrades in school buildings, said Judy Marks, director of the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities in Washington. These efforts include replacing light fixtures, adding solar panels and building geothermal heating and cooling systems.

Some states have also started programs to finance school conservation efforts and to create local contracting jobs. Most recently, Oregon passed legislation in June to provide school districts with low-interest loans and grants for school efficiency improvements; Washington State started a similar grant-based program in 2009.

In some instances, districts like Mount Sinai have appointed an official energy manager — in its case, Chris Heil, an assistant high school principal — to police hallways and classrooms to root out energy waste. Armed with yellow notes, he inspects 100 classrooms a day and “tickets” violators. Teachers have been known to run back to their classrooms when they see him coming. When one instructor refused to shut down his classroom computers at night, Mr. Heil sent him an e-mail calculating how much money was being wasted, and promised to share the next message with the superintendent.

“I’m kind of like the cop who walks around and makes sure people are doing what they’re supposed to be doing,” Mr. Heil said. “As soon as you take me away, people will start their bad habits again.”

Mr. Heil sometimes shows up at schools at 4 a.m. to make sure the custodial staff remembered to turn off the lights. He has rummaged through storage closets to locate switches to shut down rooftop exhaust fans that ran nonstop. Such vigilance has reduced the district’s utility costs by 30 percent since 2007, Mr. Heil said.

As part of the Bloomberg administration’s campaign to reduce the municipal government’s energy consumption and carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2017, the city awarded $100,000 in May to schools that voluntarily decreased their energy use in a monthlong competition. Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus in Manhattan won top honors with a 35 percent reduction. And this fall, rooftop solar panels are being installed on three school buildings.

“We’re focused on energy reduction like crazy,” said Dennis M. Walcott, the city’s schools chancellor, who regularly checks on schools that he sees lighted up at night.

Many districts across the country have financed conservation efforts through so-called energy performance contracts with companies that advise them on how to be more energy-efficient and guarantee them specific savings, either in dollars or kilowatts. If the district’s actual savings fall short, the company writes a check to make up the difference.

With contracts involving equipment investments — which can be $50,000 to tens of millions of dollars, depending on the scope of the projects — districts typically use existing utility budgets or borrow money through third-party lenders, and then pay it back out of their immediate energy savings so that no budget increase is needed.

In Yonkers, the improvements included replacing Lincoln High School’s 60-year-old boilers, which guzzled 137,500 gallons of heating oil a year — “so much fuel that it seemed like we had oil trucks parked out front,” said John Carr, the executive director of school facilities in Yonkers. The new boilers burn only 80,000 gallons.

Three consultants — Johnson Controls, Trane and Energy Education — have reported that their school business has grown by at least a third since 2006. The companies send in engineers and specialists to conduct extensive audits of each district — Energy Education uses a checklist of 1,200 items — and then custom-design conservation programs. “Anything that consumes energy, natural gas or water is going to get evaluated,” said Larry Wash, Trane’s president of global services.

In New Jersey, the schools in Holmdel Township have lowered their electric and gas bills by about half since 2009, to $1 million annually. In environmental terms, that breaks down to 3.5 million fewer kilowatts of power and 240,000 fewer therms of heat a year.

William Balicki, Holmdel’s energy manager, said he kept a tight check on thermostats, and installed automatic timers on outdoor lights in bus yards and parking lots that once stayed on long after the drivers left.

Mr. Balicki also considered placing motion sensors on classroom lights, but instead settled for $75 worth of stickers to post above light switches as a reminder to flip them off.

“Anytime we can ask people to physically do it, we do,” he said. “This is pretty much a people-based program. It’s changing behavior.”

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The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Inc.

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® was founded in 1993 by Evelyn H. Lauder as an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to funding innovative clinical and translational research. In October 2010, BCRF will award $33 million to over 172 scientists across the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia. Currently, more than 90 cents of each dollar donated to the Foundation goes directly to breast cancer research and awareness programs. And the American Institute of Philanthropy has awarded the Foundation its highest possible rating of A+. BCRF is the only breast cancer organization to receive this accolade, and is the only cancerorganization to currently hold this ranking. For more information about BCRF, visit www.bcrfcure.org.

The Breast Cancer Site

The Breast Cancer Site was founded to help offer free mammograms to women in need: women for whom early detection would not otherwise be possible. Every click on the pink “Click Here to Give – it’s FREE” button funds free mammograms for women in need. Visit The Breast Cancer Site and click every day!

When you shop at The Breast Cancer Site store, each item purchased generates funds for free mammograms for women in need — at no extra cost to you! For each item purchased, 3% to 50% of the item’s retail price will be kept aside to be granted to our charity partners through GreaterGood.org.

The chart below shows mammograms generated over the past six months by shoppers at The Breast Cancer Site store. Your shopping here makes a difference — thank you for all you do!

What does an emotionally immature student who really isn’t ready for college have in common with his apparent opposite who’s serious, level-headed and self-motivated? The answer is, they’re both great candidates for a gap year between high school and college.

Previously frowned upon as a risky, wasted year, distracting the student from his education, the gap year is now understood as an excellent opportunity to actually enhance a student’s eventual college education and help form solid values and a strong foundation for the future.

With college such a massive investment – and generally, the last opportunity in life to devote exclusively to education within a community of learners – it makes more and more sense to optimize that experience. For the student who isn’t quite ready to go to college – who isn’t ready to leave home, perhaps, or is burnt out from college prep and only ready for a four-year collegiate vacation – a gap year presents time to grow and mature. For the more self-directed student, the gap year can be a time to regroup, too, and also to pursue special interests that can be studied further at a more advanced level in college. A gap year may make sense economically, as a chance to work and save for a year.

The gap year is perhaps misnamed, because when successful, it is not a gap, but a filler. To ensure that the experience is filled with quality, however, planning is crucial. First, students must decide when to apply to college. The safest way to plan a gap year is to prepare for college admissions as if intending to attend as usual, taking the tests, applying to colleges, etc. Once acceptances are in, you can request a deferral, which most colleges will grant if presented with legitimate gap year plans. Be aware, though, that financial aid awards may change, and merit scholarships will very possibly be lost. These are all things to discuss with the college before making your choice and paying your deposit.

For some students, the gap year influences their goals, causing them to rethink their college choices in this new light. So it may be reasonable to postpone college applications until the fall of the gap year, itself. At that point, the student who has planned a meaningful gap program will have a special experience to relate which generally impresses college admissions officers. It would be wise, though, to complete all SATs and other college prep, short of the applications, while still in high school. Scheduling college applications a year later also frees up time for the over-scheduled student to spread out SATs and other tests, resulting in less stressful junior and senior years, and may thus enhance school and test achievements, as a result.

Although the percentage of college-bound students who take a gap year is still small, it’s growing as students and their parents learn about the benefits of a year spent doing something different. All high school students should at least consider the idea and learn a bit about their options. Even if you don’t end up postponing college, you just might spark an idea that will light up for you in college or beyond.

Gap year opportunities in New York City

Volunteering is a popular gap year activity and in a big city like New York, there are a multitude of opportunities. One terrific option is City Year which operates myriad community service programs in cities throughout the US and abroad. For information on City Year New York, visit their website, or check out their upcoming open house on March 23, 2011.

New York Cares is another community service organization in the Big Apple that welcomes gap year volunteers.

EarthWatch Institute is community of scientists, educators, researchers and volunteers devoted to global environmental sustainability. Students can apply for fellowships here.

Here are some more great gap year resources:

• USA Today, “‘Gap year’ before college gives grads valuable life experience” by Mike Buscher

• The New York Times,”In a Year Off the Beaten Path, a New Direction for Life,”
one student’s gap year story, by Lauren Clark as told to Patricia R. Olson

• The Complete Guide to the Gap Year: The Best Things to Do Between High School and College by Kristin M. White
a popular introductory guide to gap year planning

• Planet Gap Year.com

• Easy Expat.com

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The power to overrule and suspend government, justified by a financial emergency.

Thank you, Rachel Maddow, for those words above. In case you haven’t been fiending for a dose of Tiger blood, busy winning, or worrying about who besides LiLo is heading back to prison this week, you’ve likely heard one or two things about the Midwest (in stark contrast to the Mideast), and how currently they are embroiled in hotter political times than a turkey in a frier at Thanksgiving. We’ve spent that last three years in this country watching poll numbers jump and dive with a frenetic schizophrenia now intrinsically characteristic of the similarly politically unstable stock market, but do the numbers tell the right story? To quote my aunt: “Figures don’t lie, but liars can figure.” 

In the same week that the New York Times published an article that the suprefluously complex statistical confabulation expressly created for the purpose of evaluating a teacher’s ‘value added’ influence to a class had a margin of error of 52%, following hot on the heels of named lists of teachers to potentially go on the chopping block should Governor Cuomo’s budget cuts go into effect, it turns out that under the purported guise of fiscal conservativism, non-Democratic governors have set out to remake the country in their own vision of what a contorted sadistic nationalism might look like. Just at the point when we were succumbing to the delusion that Wisconsin was truly the worst that it was going to get, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder one-ups him on the scale of ideaologues. Amusingly, in a February 26, 2011 article, Washington Post columnist Dan Balz audaciously claimed, “Michigan Gov. Snyder offers GOP a less-confrontational model of governing.” Oh, how the winds of change shift suddenly. 

Governor Snyder recently (note the short time span between the above title and this writing) unveiled a brand new tax measure he intends to enact that would leave the $1.7 Billion state deficit structurally intact, while unnecessarily taxing those in the middle class and below, pensions, eliminating the tax deductions for filming in Michigan, Earned Income Tax Credits, and deductions for donating to public universities, while lowering taxes on those in the upper echelons of the income brackets. The same bill would allow the governor ability to appoint city managers to localities determined to be in financial distress, who in turn would have the authority to disband and eliminate local government and those with whom the city previously held contracts. The shining jewel in this crown of thorns is the fact that not one singular resident, not even Eminem, would be capable of disputing the legislation because of the particular way that the bill has been written. 

Quite possibly one of the most disturbing outcomes of this entire affair is the reality that of the mass media outlets available to report on the issue, only the Detroit Free Press carries any recognizable reporting. The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and the Associated Press all lack any published information of note relating to the theme. The LA Times, predictably, addressed the movie industry’s character assassination upon hearing of the governor’s plans to divest himself of movie industry burden, but they wrote not one line beyond that. 

What is most terrifying regarding both Rick Snyder and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s strategizing is that their manuevering is straight out of a dsytopian epic or Orwellian, later-than-now advanced warning back when such a thing as canonical American literature was taught in high school English classes. Alas, the ascension of testing regimens and a dedication to subjecting state education budgets to the unfeeling scythe of ‘conservation’ has ensured that such indispensible knowledge is, in effect, disposed of in favor of ‘performance.’ To put a finer point on it, allow me to reproduce here an oft quoted poem that used to be studied as a warning, but whose significance seems to have been lost to the sands of time:

When the Nazis came for the communists, 
I remained silent; 
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats, 
I remained silent; 
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists, 
I did not speak out; 
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews, 
I remained silent; 
I wasn’t a Jew.

When they came for me, 
there was no one left to speak out.

(attributed to: Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984))

What all this means, is that in the hyper-media focused 21st century, those in the Midwest have seen images of what has already happened in Tunisia, in Egypt, and is now raging in Libya. What our neighbors and friends in the center of the country are now asking themselves is a question that New York City’s eminent School of Practical Philosphy asked in countless subway ads during the early George W. Bush reign — “Must we dismantle Democracy at home in order to export it abroad?” And quite simply, if the broad-based reaction of unionists, their supporters, writers, intellectuals and others is to be judged as evidence — and well it should — the definitive answer is a resounding “No!” 

Those of us who have studied world history, and have parents who (legally) immigrated here, but remember dictatorships in their countries of birth are now suffering sleepless nights because of this. These types of actions are always predecessors to a dedication to dictatorial rule. ‘Shock doctrine’ and ‘cult of personality’ works when the masses are hungry, uneducated, listless and bored. American Exceptionalism has just definitively marched out the door.

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What do CITI Bank, Colgate-Palmolive, the Museum of Jewish Heritage, Saatchi & Saatchi, and 83 other organizations have in common? All contributed to the long-term success of New York’s youth by hiring teen interns through the amazing Futures and Options program this past year.

Futures and Options empowers NYC’s underserved youth through career development, paid internships with real training and responsibilities, and mentoring and academic support, thereby encouraging teens to reach higher and achieve the dreams more privileged youth take for granted: professional employment, a college education, and a meaningful career.

Since 1995, Futures and Options has served almost 2,000 students from the poorest neighborhoods in New York. With 100% high school graduation and 94% college acceptance in 2010, it’s clear that the program makes a huge difference in these students’ lives. The program also encourages its graduates to keep in touch and helps those who get in to college to follow through and finish.

Futures and Options has recently expanded its staff to better serve students in its programs as well as offer more youth the opportunity to be interns. It’s a fairly selective program; only 175 students will participate this year and most participants are recommended by their school counselors, with some students applying on their own.

Recently hired Senior Program Director Tonya Gayle describes the kind of students who choose Futures and Options as “the go-getters, tapping into whatever we can offer to help them.” Executive Director Patty Machir adds that the essence of the service is their “ability to introduce kids who wouldn’t have a chance to experience professional work environments … to help them learn about the importance of furthering their education, and to open their minds about what’s possible for their future careers.”

For businesses, Futures and Options offers a “pipeline of diverse talent … at an age where their experience impacts their choices,” says Machir. “Our program works because of the strong collaborative relationship with schools and the business community, who understand the importance of an educated workforce … and are eager and ready to contribute.”

It’s truly an inspiring organization, bringing students and businesses together in mutual support of this city’s potential.

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For students with demonstrated need, most standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT offer a wide range of special accommodations such as extra time, a quiet space, use of a computer for otherwise handwritten responses, handicap access, large print, dictation, and more, making it possible for most students to take these tests. And since 2003, the SAT, PSAT and AP test scores of students who take the tests with accommodations are no longer “flagged,” enabling those students to compete on equal footing with every other student.

By far the most common and covetted accommodation is extra time, typically time and half on the SAT and ACT. With ADHD and other learning differences increasingly diagnosed, demand for extra time is higher than ever. According to the CDC, over five million American children have ADHD, 8.6% of the child population. It follows that the standardized test companies are receiving huge numbers of applications for accommodations. As a result, the criteria have become more stringent, detailed and complicated, so it is crucial to get accommodations in place early and to follow the recommended procedures.

The system is far from perfect; many students fall through the cracks through no fault of their own. The student who, though granted extra time at school, has gamely persevered without using that extra time, will be denied it on the SAT or ACT, even though his documentation is in place. In one instance, a student at one of New York’s most competitive high schools, The Bronx High School of Science, had worked extra hard to take tests in school with his classmates, and was subsequently denied the critical recommendation for accomodations from the school psychologist, who claimed that his participation in regular testing negated his disability. Without the school psychologist on board, it is very difficult to prepare a package that the SAT or ACT administration will accept, even with other professional testing results.

Online bulletin boards are filled with pleas for advice from parents of children who merit accomodations but haven’t been accorded them. One problem is that the ACT considers high functioning learning-disabled students’ applications with prejudice because their academic achievements are subjectively ruled sufficient, even though they may be far below that student’s capability when granted the needed accommodation. There is some good news, though. According to an excellent recent article in the New York Times, court rulings and a revised disability law that goes into effect in March 2011 should help some of these students.

The parents of students who need extra time often have to make a tremendous – and sometimes costly – effort to secure their children’s rightful accommodations. In the long run, though, it is more than worth it, as test scores almost always jump up massively with the extra time. For anyone considering applying for accommodations, make this task a top priority in your college preparation.

Here are some excellent resources on testing accomodations:

Extended Time and other Accommodations on the SAT and ACT

New York Times Education section article: Accommodations Angst

The National Center for Learning Disabilities – The SAT: Where It’s At

SAT: The CollegeBoard’s Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD)

Homeschoolers Applying for Accomodations on the SAT

ACT: Services for Students with Disabilities

GRE (also PRAXIS, TOEFL, AP tests, SATs)

ISEE

SSAT

ETS’ advice for test-takers with disabilities

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Research recently reported in the New York Times shows that test taking may be the best learning method, beating out repetition, concept mapping, highlighting and other study techniques.

This should come as no surprise to students of the SAT, ACT and other standardized tests, for whom practice tests are a proven method of raising scores. But just taking a bunch of practice tests is not going to raise your score if you don’t learn from your mistakes. Here are some important things to remember when taking practice tests:

1. Replicate real test conditions as much as possible by timing yourself accurately on each section, doing the test in one sitting with only short breaks, as you would expect on the real thing. Make sure you have set aside enough time to do the entire test – a challenge for long tests like the SAT. Turn off your cellphone and make sure you won’t be disturbed for the entire test. Tear out the bubble answer sheet before you start and mark your answers there, not in the test book.

2. Stop working in each section when time is up. Draw a line under the last question you had time to do and then continue, untimed, in order to gain the experience of the last questions in the section. As you do more practice tests, aim to incrementally increase the number of questions you complete in the given timeframe.

3. Most importantly, go over your errors as soon after you have completed the test as possible. It is key to learn from your mistakes when you can still remember what your thought process was in choosing each answer. Then learn the new vocabulary words, points of grammar, math rules. Notice whether there appears to be a specific kind of question you get wrong: In the reading section, do you regularly miss the questions about author’s tone or those which compare Passage 1′s author’s perspective to how Passage 2′s author would likely feel? Do you miss the harder geometry questions that require you to literally think outside the box? If you find a particular type of question that regularly gives you trouble, then do a lot of those, even under untimed conditions, to drill and hone your skills.

Consider going to a test center to take your practice tests. In New York, Bespoke Education offers mock tests in realistic test conditions at their Manhattan and Westchester centers. While it is not cheap ($125/test including analysis of results), it is a good resource for students who find it difficult to organize this on their own and can’t wait for a free test to be offered elsewhere. Otherwise, check out The Princeton Review and Kaplan websites for their schedule of free practice tests at high schools and at their offices in the New York area and nationwide.

By the way, did you know that according to The Princeton Review, March is “National Free Practice Test Month”? That must beat National Cheese Month for SAT score improvement! But whether you choose to have a parent with a kitchen timer act as your proctor or go to a test center, the more you test and then analyze your results, the better you’ll do on the real thing.

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