• A new survey of 500 top colleges found that 10% of admissions officers acknowledge looking at social networking sights such as MySpace and Facebook to evaluate students. 38% reported that what they saw “negatively affected” their views of the applicant. Wall Street Journal

• Student Select is a new SAT program that begins with the March 2009 test date. Student Select gives students the opportunity to determine which set of SAT scores they want to send to a college. Currently, when a student sends one set of scores to a school, the school is able to see all of their SAT results.

• College Board says that their newest test, RediStep, will help prepare 8th graders for rigorous high school courses and for college. Critics, however, are calling this test a pre-PSAT. The 2-hour test, which will be given for the first time in the fall of ‘09, is divided into three 40-minute, multiple-choice sections: critical reading, writing skills, and mathematics. Education Week Oct 29, 2008

• 10 of the 20 fastest growing occupations are in health services. US Dept of Labor

• Almost half of the 40,000 people employed by the wind power industry were hired in the past year. “The demand for wind technicians is such that some colleges have been trying to keep companies away because they want everybody to graduate first.” American Wind Energy Assoc.

• In 1964, around 50% of new female college graduates accepted teaching positions. Today that figure has dropped to 15%. Washington Post

• Medical procedures are now being offshored, and the trend is being pushed by some health insurance programs. It costs as much as $130,000 for a heart bypass operation in the U.S., compared to $11,000 in Thailand and $10,000 in India. Business Week

Cyberbullying is the use of communication technologies to willfully, deliberately, and repeatedly inflict harm or fear. Below are some of the ways that people cyberbully.

Stickam (pronounced Stick-cam, www.stickam.com) is a social networking site whose popularity is growing. Stickam does everything MySpace does and more. For example, users can broadcast live video of themselves and conduct face-to-face video chats with other users. Stickam's chief executive admits that because users' broadcasts are live, their rules forbidding "obscene, profane, and indecent" behavior are unenforceable. The New York Times has revealed that the company behind Stickam also runs pornography web sites.

• To help motivate students, implement a TAD (tardy, attendance, discipline) program. At the end of 9 weeks, reward students who have no tardys, perfect attendance, and no dicipline problems with a pizza party, movie, etc. Presented at the 08 ASCA conference

• To decode abbreviated teen messages (LOL, POS, etc.) go to www.teenchatdecoder.com.

• Lucy - On the cruise ship of life, would you rather have a deck chair facing forward or backward?
Charlie Brown - On the cruise ship of life, I can't even get my deck chair open.
In every school there are lots of students who are having problems just "getting their deck chair opened."

• People with goals succeed because they know where they're going. Earl Nightingale

• Life isn't about the breaths we take, it's about the moments that take our breath away. Author Unknown

InfoGuides
Our new InfoGuides make great handouts, and our InfoGuide displays are perfect for any office, waiting area, library, career center, or classroom. Each InfoGuide is 6 panels, 3½" x 8½"

Career InfoGuides - 6 titles - Careers in English, Careers in Math, Careers in Science, Careers in the Arts, Careers in Foreign Language, and Careers in Social Studies.

College InfoGuides - 6 titles - Choosing a College, Paying for College, College Admissions, College Tests, College Visits, College Timeline.

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