Posted by admin on Mar 30, 2009 in
College News Hey, guys. I have a confession to make. I’ve failed you. A lot of news has happened since I last updated the blog and you guys were probably waiting on me to tell you about it and I never did. I’m sorry. I can amit when I have made a mistake. With the posting of this feel good story out of D.C., I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. This is a great read. Who said young people are irresponsible? Talk to you guys later.
Link Source: http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2009/03/02/CampusNews/Students.Rally.For.Environment.In.D.c-3654229.shtml
Forty Brown students associated with emPOWER drove down to Washington, D.C., this past weekend, joining 12,000 college students from around the country in support of the “Power Shift ’09″ conference.
The conference’s main objective is to use the power of the youth to push for new energy legislation, said David Schwartz ’09.5, a member of the Sustainable Food Initiative who attended Power Shift.
Power Shift’s goal is to “hold our elected officials accountable for rebuilding our economy and reclaiming our future through bold climate and clean energy policy,” according to the conference’s Web site.
The group of Brown students – which includes members of emPOWER, the Sustainable Food Initiative and Project 20/20 – left for Washington Feb. 27 and is set to return today. Schwartz said the group has been networking with other students from around the country and attending workshops, “identity caucuses” and keynote speeches.
The identity caucuses, which focused on the specific issues of gender and ethnicity as they relate to climate and energy justice issues, were part of the conference’s increased emphasis on justice over last year’s Power Shift, Schwartz said.
“This is not just about climate change – this is about a whole range of justice issues. What good does it do if we have clean energy if people can’t benefit from it? What good is it that you have good drinking water if it’s not in some communities?” he said. “There’s definitely a broadening of focus this year.”
Schwartz, who gave a presentation on sustainable food to an audience of 150, said the conference was more than meetings and workshops. Power Shift also featured musical performances from Santigold and The Roots, as well as screenings of films about the environment.
Tara Prendergast ’12, who also attended Power Shift, said she first got involved in emPOWER when she signed up at an activities fair. She said she decided to attend the conference because she believes this is a “watershed” moment in the environmental and energy movement.Prendergast attended several workshops over the weekend, including one about regulating corporate carbon emission. She said the workshop discussed different cap and trade ideas and considered the pros and cons of each idea.
“There was a debate about which one we should be supporting, particularly between cap and dividend and cap and invest models,” Prendergast said.
Demonstrating and rallying are also a major part of Power Shift. On Saturday night, 600 people gathered outside the White House to demonstrate, and there is a large rally planned for today in front of the Capitol, Prendergast said.
She said lobbying was also a large aspect of the conference. More than 5,000 students are slated to lobby senators and representatives from their states and districts. The lobbying effort would not only be the biggest in environmental lobbying history, Prendergast said, but also the biggest general lobbying day in history.
Prendergast, who is from Colorado, will meet with the staff of Colorado representatives. She and fellow Brown students will also meet directly with Rhode Island representatives.
The group will lobby for a set of goals laid out by Power Shift and ask for the representatives’ support, she said.
One of the major aspects of the conference, stressed by both Schwartz and Prendergast, was the chance to network with other students and organizers involved in pushing for changes in energy and sustainability policy.
“A lot of it was just hanging out and having fun and networking and meeting people,” Schwartz said.
Schwartz and Prendergast agreed that at least some of the goals of the conference have been met already.
“It’s an incredible symbol” to have “5,000 people lobbying,” Prendergast said. “It’s very visible and really brings that message home that this is an issue that we really care about, and that we really need strong measures.”
Tags: college students, community service, good drinking water, legislation, lobbying, sustainable food
Posted by admin on Feb 11, 2009 in
College News Hey, guys. This article is pretty much hot of the presses. Jobs are being lost, money is lost, endowments are being lost BUT that does not mean YOU have to be lost. This article is going to help students weigh every single option when it comes down on WHERE to go to school. Since resources are tight, I thought this would be a great article for emerging college students, transfers and regular college students in general. ENJOY!
Source Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/story.aspx?guid={DA6C44F8-48A3-4E4C-B5A0-5106CE14081A}&siteid=rss
Cost of living, career prospects should factor into school decision
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (MarketWatch) — When Dan Sharpe was looking at colleges during his senior year in high school, his search led him back to his home town near Columbus, Ohio.
Sharpe, who graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University a few years ago, also looked at East Coast schools but found their cost of living daunting. After two college internships, one of them in the Columbus area, he landed a job as a project manager with the non-profit Columbus Foundation after graduation.
Today, he lives in a spacious loft apartment in the city’s fashionable Brewery District for under $600 a month. Staying in the area during and after college “allowed me to take advantage of lots of internship options and keep my living costs reasonable,” he said.
Tuition, curriculum, and financial aid packages often top the list of considerations for high-school seniors anxiously awaiting college acceptances.
But as Sharpe’s experience shows, location can have a huge impact on college living costs, internships, and post-graduation employment.
“I’ve talked to hundreds of seniors in college who have told me that they didn’t realize how important college location was until they got to school. But it should be one of the top considerations for students and parents,” said Todd Hoffman, a college researcher and consultant who quantifies the comparative merits of various college locations with his brainchild, the College Destinations Index.
Head of the class
Using 12 measures, the index, published by the American Institute for Economic Research, analyzes data from more than 290 cities and college towns to identify 75 of the best places in America to go to school. It includes financial considerations, such as cost of living, job opportunities, and earning potential, as well as other factors such as student diversity and the availability of cultural and leisure activities.
The top 75 locations range from college towns with less than 250,000 people to major cities with populations greater than 2.5 million.
Big-city picks include Boston, New York, and San Francisco. Students who decide to live off-campus can expect to pay about $1,300 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in Boston and almost $1,500 in San Francisco — about twice what they would pay in Cleveland or St. Louis. Assuming two students shared the apartment, the cost difference between the expensive and cheaper locations for each of them would amount to several thousand dollars a year.
Despite their pricey profiles, these big cities rank highly because they offer many internship opportunities that are not available in other parts of the country. For students, the question is whether those opportunities will translate into jobs down the road.
“In a competitive job market, employers view internships as something that sets students apart and makes them more marketable,” Hoffman said.
“You’re not going to have as many of those opportunities in rural settings, even if you are attending a great college or university,” he added.
Post-graduate plans
High-cost cities also tend to have a high per-capita income, which can translate into higher starting salaries for students who decide to stay after graduation.
Of course, if major cities aren’t to your liking, there are plenty of great college destinations in smaller cities or college towns.
The Columbus, Ohio area, where Sharpe attended college, serves as a headquarters location for internship-rich companies such as Nationwide Insurance, Abercrombie & Fitch, The Limited and Bob Evans, and two-bedroom apartments can be had for under $700 a month.
Prospective students should also consider how career plans fit into a college location. Those contemplating a career in technology will probably have more success finding internships and employment in a place with a strong industry presence such as Boston or the San Francisco Bay Area, for example, while someone considering a career in public service might gravitate to a school near a state capital or in Washington, D.C.
Even an area’s real estate values can factor into a location decision. Hoffman said that with property prices at depressed levels, he’s seeing more parents buy a house or condominium, then rent the property to a child and his or her roommates and perhaps even pay the child to manage the property.
The strategy typically works best in areas such as Cleveland where real estate costs are reasonable compared to the price of on-campus housing. Despite the risk of declining property values — parents who bought at the height of the real estate boom may now be regretting the decision — becoming a child’s temporary landlord could save thousands of dollars in living costs in stable or rising markets.
The CDI’s usefulness goes beyond students, since favorable financial characteristics and amenities that create great college locations can also make the areas prime destinations for retirees, tourists, or people thinking about relocation.
Said Hoffman: “Great college destinations are also often great all-around place to be.”
Marla Brill is a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based freelance writer.
Top college destinations
Major cities
1. Boston
2. New York
3. San Francisco
4. Washington, D.C.
5. Atlanta
6. Chicago
7. Seattle
8. Baltimore
9. Los Angeles
10. Minneapolis-St. Paul
Mid-size metros
1. San Jose-Palo Alto
2. Raleigh-Durham
3. Denver
4. Austin
5. Nashville
6. Charlotte
7. Columbus
8. Milwaukee
9. Portland
10. Indianapolis
Small cities
1. Boulder, Colo.
2. Madison, Wis.
3. Anne Arbor, Mich.
4. Princeton-Trenton, N.J.
5. Santa Cruz, Calif.
6. Honolulu, Hawaii
7. New Haven, Conn.
8. Fort Collins, Colo.
9. Worcester, Mass.
10. Lincoln, Neb.
College towns (under 250,000 residents)
1. State College, Pa.
2. Bloomington, Ind.
3. Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
4. Iowa City, Iowa
5. College Station, Tex.
6. Lawrence, Kan.
7. Charlottesville, Va.
8. Columbia, Mo.
9. Gainesville, Fla.
10. Athens, Ga.
Source: American Institute for Economic Research
Tags: anne arbor, athens, atlanta, college destinations, college students, college towns, denver