The Huffington Post released an article recently discussing the importance of the ever growing number of Latino students in America. In the article they touch on many things, including why it is important that more Latinos start earning their degree. I have included an excerpt of the article below and you can follow the provided link below to read the whole article.
Perez sees the dilemma his family faced as one confronting many Latino families. Especially during a rough economic times, the short-term gains of an immediate paycheck can often outweigh the longer-term benefits associated with a college degree. While unemployment rates for college graduates remain lower and starting salaries are higher than for those with only a high school diploma, rising amounts of student debt, combined with low graduation rates for many Hispanic students enrolled in college, are of concern to many weighing whether or not to make the investment.
The current statistics for young Latinos are particularly grim: Almost one in four school-aged American children is Latino, but a report released earlier this year by the White House showed those children achieve "the lowest education attainment levels" in the country. One out of every three will finish high school, and one out of every eight will graduate from college.
A recent Pew report found not only do Latinos have a significant high school dropout rate -- 18 percent -- they are also least likely to opt for the GED, which is a vital "second chance" credential when it comes to increasing college-going numbers. Only one in nine Latino dropouts will go on to earn a GED.Continue reading...
Though you’d never know it by watching Jersey Shore, higher educational institutions originated in Italy. I know, right? It’s true, though. The Salerno School of Medicine was established in the 8th Century and the University of Bologna followed at the end of the 11th Century. Fast forward approximately 600 years, and Harvard University was founded as the first college in America. And now, here we are in the 21st Century with … well, a LOT more. And with the continued additions of colleges and universities and institutions of higher education comes the evolution of their focus, student populations, and more.
For instance, in the 13th Century, students could study pretty much one of three areas: Rhetoric, Logitech and Latin. Now, the options are pretty much limitless. From puppetry to enigmatology (Yep, Indiana University offers a degree in the creation and solution of puzzles), if you want a degree in something, you can probably find it. There are, of course, the popular choices, too. Top 10 degrees include biology, business, communications, computer science, criminal justice, education, marketing, nursing, psychology and political science. To this day, no one’s sure what political scientists actually do. There’s a major dedicated to the study of it. Just kidding on that last part.
Another thing that’s changed drastically is the gender breakdown of each year’s crop of college enrollments. As you might imagine, for a long time women weren’t encouraged to get education. Since the fall of 1970, though, that trend has fallen by the wayside. From just over 3,500 enrollees then to a fall 2007 total of almost 10,500, female enrollment has increased at a much higher rate than male (5,044 to 7,816 in the same date range). Girl power! And 10,000 more people enrolled in college in 2007 than in 1970.
But what about degree types? In the 13th Century, to go along with their Rhetoric, Logitech and Latin coursework, students were awarded one of three “grades” upon completion – Scholar, Bachelor or Master. A hundred years later, “Doctor” replaced “Master” even though those silly French were still using it in the 16th Century. In the 1600s, the Bachelor of Science was just an introductory public test and the Mastership of Arts was a 2-year program. Then, in the late 19th Century, Germany got all revolutionary and scrapped the Bachelor of Arts, instead using Mastership of Arts but calling it “Doctor of Philosophy.” Along that same time, America was devising their own system of degree levels, ending up with the still-intact Bachelor, Master, Doctorate hierarchy. Hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Long story short, education has changed a LOT over the past 1,300 years, but has remained something we all need to have fulfilling careers we can succeed in. And with so many options, why not check something out? Maybe you already have a bunch of degrees. What’s one more? As my friend’s grandma used to say, “Once you learn something new today, you can go back to sleep.” So, I’d say it’s naptime.
A week in the life of a college student can feel like an eternity, and it can be complicated. Thankfully, there is a limitless supply of useful apps to help get you through week. Your lifestyle and personal preferences will dictate what you need to survive. But if you’re a little clueless, or just curious, here are some suggestions to get you through the week.
Monday – CNN mobile. Face it. You didn’t watch the news over the weekend. That’s why politicians always make apologies and give bad news on Fridays. They know you’re thinking about that hot date or that party you got invited to – as you should be. But come Monday, you might accidentally get cornered into a conversation about something newsworthy. Have this app ready, even if you just scan the headlines and improvise. Who knows, you might meet someone who’s attractive and smart, in which case this app might come in handy.
Tuesday – ScoreMobile. I know, it’s only Tuesday, but you’re already thinking about your fantasy team, or you’re following March madness and every other sport you can think of. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be glued to your TV or computer to know the latest scores, stats, or upcoming game times. With ScoreMobile, you can follow: NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, NCAAB, NCAAF, CFL, PGA, NASCAR, EPL, Champions League and MLS soccer.
Wednesday – Lose it! By mid-week you’re already looking forward to eating 50 wings while watching the big game. But that feeling of guilt creeps in that reminds you how long it’s been since you showed up at the gym or ate a salad. With this app you can track your nutrition and explore a database of recipes, exercises and activities in the palm of your hand. You can even share how motivated and disciplined you’ve been with your friends on Facebook and Twitter. There are so many features and benefits to this app – order a pizza and check it out!
Thursday – Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies. Okay, the weekend is getting really close. You can almost taste those hot wings, hear the laughter of your friends, and envision your team winning the big game. So what do you need to control the fire burning in your soul? A game that lets you kill Nazi zombies who have no souls. With this app you can meditate on shotgun blasts, splattering brains and the moans of the undead. Also, you can play with friends who are might be just as bored in class as you are.
Friday – Bartender’s Encyclopedia. (For 21+ College Students of course) You know what day it is. It’s time to relax and blow off some steam. Let’s say you’re trying to impress a date by making a martini (which you’ve never made before), or your at a bar and you want to order something different but you’re not sure what. This app boasts almost 25,000 different drink recipes. Drinks can be sorted by name, ingredient and in alphabetical order – depending on your need. This app even includes other information such as setting up a bar and techniques for quality assurance.
Saturday – Dinner Spinner Pro. So that girl you talked to last night? Um, yeah, you told her you could cook and that you’d make her dinner tonight. I know! How could you have done that? Thank goodness you have this app that lets you search by name, ingredient, cook time – you name it. You can even create a shopping list (because we both know you don’t have anything except beer and leftover pizza in your fridge). This app is handy for novice and experienced cooks. Why clutter your bookshelf with recipe books when you can have them all on your phone?
Sunday – HomeWork. Where did the week go? It’s Sunday and you can’t believe another week is about to begin. More than that, you can’t believe that you haven’t studied since last Sunday night. Some things never change. If this describes you, then download this app and start keeping track of your classes and homework. You won’t have to rummage through your notes (which are poorly taken) to figure out what your priorities should be.
Who knows what apps you’ll need next week? But rest assured there’s an app for everything (except time travel) and everyone.
Video games have been around for a long time, but how many of them have been successful and educational at the same time? This question intrigued us enough to compile a list of the best of the best that we believe accomplished this goal.
Without further ado, here are our Top 5 Video Games that Taught Us Something:
1. Star Wars DroidWorks
Created by Lucas Learning in 1998, this games purpose was to create a droid using the many different parts that were provided. After the droid was created the user was to complete specific missions and that's where the educational portion comes into play. The missions consisted of puzzles that taught the user energy, force, simple machines, light, magnetism, and motion.
2. Donkey Kong Jr. Math
Also known as Donkey Kong Jr.'s Calculation Game, Nintendo released this game in 1983 for the original NES console. This was the main "educational" related game created by Nintendo for North America. The game unfortunately was noted as one of the worst video game launches ever made.
3. Mario Paint
This game was created by Nintendo in 1992 and required the user to have a special SNES Mouse to play the game. Mario Paint was very well known because it needed the extra device to play the game. The game taught users to be creative while playing games in the early 90's. Mario Paint was ahead of its time until Microsoft Paint came out.
4. Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space
Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space also known as BARIS, was a big feat for the MS-DOS OS in 1993. BARIS simulated space exploration and was a strategy game. The object of the game was to have a successful manned moon landing.
5. Acme Animation Factory
Created by Sunsoft in November of 1993 for the Super Nintendo console. This video game taught children the skills to be creative and learn animation. The game consisted of giving the user a series of tools for them to create his or her own cartoons from the Looney Tunes crew.
Word came down this week that Harvard University will be inviting back ROTC to its campus for the first time in 40 years. What caused the sudden change? The armed forces can thank Congress for repealing its ban this week on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military.
This change will end a 40 year old stalemate between the military and one of the country’s best universities. Some quick history on this, the Vietnam War was the catalyst of the initial change and it continued over the last few decades due to student, faculty and Harvard administrators believing that it was unfair that the armed forces were discriminating against gays and lesbians. This has some profound implications on the military now that it will be able to recruit some of the brightest young minds in the country on campus.
University administrators will start up talks soon with high ranking military officials about the timetable for getting them back on campus. It seems as if the “don’t ask, don’t tell’’ policy was the last hurdle they needed to overcome to get Reserve Officers’ Training Corps started up at Harvard again.
Here is what Drew Faust, the president of Harvard had to say; "I look forward to pursuing discussions with military officials and others to achieve Harvard’s full and formal recognition of ROTC," and, "I am very pleased that more students will now have the opportunity to serve their country." So it looks like school officials are definitely on board with this. One thing is for sure, the brain trust in the military is about to get that much smarter over the next decade or so.
“Remember remember the 5th of November…” Students of Washington State University sure will. A student turned hacker, turned V from V for Vendetta, hacked the school’s academic media system which controls all the in-classroom presentations and distance learning technology. The still yet to be identified culprit(s), programmed the projector screens to automatically deploy and play the 5 minute video message every hour on the hour.
The V wannabe, brandishing a Guy Fawkes mask just like in the movie, used their 5 minute video to criticize the IT department and to encourage the student body to lead a revolt against the squirrels that live on campus grounds. “V” believes that the squirrels are freeloaders and do nothing but “eat, drink and breed”. It is unclear at this time if his message resonated with any of the students in the 12 or so classrooms that were affected. The leader of the squirrels was unavailable for comment when asked about the incident.
Darin Watkins, a spokesperson for the University stated that the school administrators were not amused, and that “Childish pranks don’t have a place anymore”. He would go onto say that “What may have been seen as cute and clever years ago, really doesn’t get that kind of reaction today.” He also believes that the perpetrator(s) would face “serious charges” once they were identified.
In the movie V for Vendetta, “V” channels his inner-Guy Fawkes to lead a revolution against the sitting British government that that ruled the public with serious fascist undertones. V’s antics, which ultimately lead to violence against the government, made school officials fear that the hackers could possibly be up to more than just hacking a dozen projectors. In the post-9/11 era, they were not going to take any chances and went into full alert to bring an end to the hack. They were able to shut it down after a few hours and one official was quoted as saying that it “was a rather sophisticated program” and at some point they just started unplugging hard drives to get the video shut down.
It seems as if most of the students that saw the video were more amused than worried. In fact, it has brought about a spirited discussion about current issues on campus. Some of those topics include tuition increases, the cutting of courses and overall university governance. Whether or not the video message will evoke any actually change to any of that listed topics is yet to be seen.
The full fallout of this escapade has yet to be realized, but rest assured, the 5th of November will always be remembered on the campus of Washington State. Or as their resident V might say, “Remember, remember the 5th of November. The media projector hack, and plot. I know of no reason why the media projector treason should ever be forgot.”
To find a college where you can experience interesting occurrences such as this one, visit AnyCollege.com.
one’s sure what political scientists actually do. There’s a major dedicated to the study of it. Just kidding on that last part.
This change will end a 40 year old stalemate between the military and one of the country’s best universities. Some quick history on this, the Vietnam War was the catalyst of the initial change and it continued over the last few decades due to student, faculty and Harvard administrators believing that it was unfair that the armed forces were discriminating against gays and lesbians. This has some profound implications on the military now that it will be able to recruit some of the brightest young minds in the country on campus.
