NYTimes Series: Global Classrooms

College and Company Link Up to Lure Foreigners By TAMAR LEWIN 08/08/08
Northeastern is using Kaplan Inc. to find students for, and help run, a special program for international students.August 8, 2008EducationSeries

‘Sisters’ Colleges See a Bounty in the Middle East By TAMAR LEWIN 06/03/08
Five leading women’s colleges have gone recruiting to a place where single-sex education is more than a niche product.June 3, 2008EducationSeries

Matching Newcomer to College, While Both Pay By TAMAR LEWIN 05/11/08
Agents who recruit international students for American colleges are paid by both sides, raising questions about whose interest is being served.

In Oil-Rich Mideast, Shades of the Ivy League By TAMAR LEWIN 02/11/08
Education City, the largest enclave of American schools overseas, has become the elite of Qatari education.

U.S. Universities Rush to Set Up Outposts Abroad By TAMAR LEWIN 02/10/08
The American system of higher education, long the envy of the world, is starting to become an important export.

Boston Globe: 2 articles about rising fees

Money tight, some finish college in 3 years By Tracy Jan, 08/24/08
For most students, college is a four-year rite of passage - a time to dabble in multiple subjects before settling on a major or a chance to spend a semester abroad - with frat parties sprinkled in between.

From activities to parking, schools raising student By Katheleen Conti 08/24/08
Activities fees? Shouldn't public school be free?

Science Friday 082908

As Arctic Sea Ice Melts, Experts Expect New Low By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The coverage of sea ice in the Arctic could break the record low from last September, scientists said.

Technology That Outthinks Us: A Partner or a Master? By JOHN TIERNEY, NYTimes
Vernor Vinge has been urging his fellow humans to get smarter by collaborating with computers.
New Sphere in Exploring the Abyss By WILLIAM J. BROAD, NYTimes
Scientists are hard at work on the tiny submarine that will replace the legendary Alvin.
Graphic: Upgrading Alvin

Israel to Display the Dead Sea Scrolls on the Internet By ETHAN BRONNER, NYTimes
Each piece of the Dead Sea Scrolls is being digitally photographed with the aim of putting the entire file online.

SLIDE SHOW: Icy Moon, Mysterious Jets, NYTimes
Something strange and unexpected is going on below the surface of Enceladus, a tiny moon of Saturn. Related Article: NASA Has Its Closest Look at Geysers on Saturn Moon

Wheel woes send rover to edge of Mars' crater, SFGate
The plucky Mars rover Opportunity is driving out of a giant crater nearly a year after a dangerous...

Telescope puts never-seen objects in view, SFGate
A new space telescope, launched less than three months ago and now flying in orbit 350 miles above the...

Worlds of wonder at new Academy of Sciences, SFGate
With only a month to go, the $484 million California Academy of Sciences building hardly appears ready for anything - living, stuffed...

The Jordan River Needs Resurrecting, Time
The river’s pollution and decline has had profound social and environmental consequences for the Jordan Valley Related: Making the Deserts Bloom Once More

The Geography of Personality, Sharon Begley, Newsweek
The Swiss rate themselves as highly conscientious; Indians and Canadians see themselves as agreeable.

NYTimes: A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash

A Teacher on the Front Line as Faith and Science Clash By AMY HARMON 08/24/08
David Campbell is bringing Florida’s mandate to teach evolution to many students raised to take the biblical creation story as fact.
Video: Teacher's Approach
10 Questions, and Answers, About Evolution

More NYTimes articles about the Evolution Debate in the Classroom.

NYTimes: At School, Technology Starts to Turn a Corner

At School, Technology Starts to Turn a Corner By STEVE LOHR 08/16/08
As a new school year begins, the time may have come to reconsider how large a role technology can play in changing education.

This I believe: When my high school English teacher assigned Shakespeare

When my high school English teacher assigned Shakespeare by Susan, Ephora KS
When my high school English teacher assigned Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, I thought the play was boring, too difficult to understand, and wished we could have read something easier. . .

Newsweek's Kaplan College Guide

Brand Name or Investment? Daniel Gross 08/18/08
Sticker shock: it's really both. Families who pay huge bills for college educations can take some consolation knowing the degrees yield lifelong dividends.

Or Maybe Major in Comp Lit? Sharon Begley 08/18/08
Workplace doomsayers keep predicting dire consequences from a looming shortage of scientists and engineers. Yet the real numbers tell another story.

The 12 Top College Rivalries in the Country 08/09/08
Harvard and Yale officially deny any competition between the two Ivies. Ditto Annapolis and West Point. But Ohio State and Michigan invite students to bring it on. Who's really the best? You decide.

Why Competition Is Good for U.S. Colleges by Richard C. Levin 08/09/08
Because it can prosper from the rise of the rest in higher ed.

Campuses in the Sand by Zvika Krieger 08/15/08
New York University is partnering with Abu Dhabi to create an international campus in the Gulf. President John Sexton talks about the project's potential, and its challenges.

Asia and the Mideast Gain Ground in Higher Ed by Zvika Krieger 08/09/08
The geography of higher ed is changing fast, with Asia and the Mideast coming on strong.

Oil States Are the New Centers of Mideast Learning
War, chaos and repression are driving the decline of the once great Arab centers of learning.

Reinventing the Global University by Stefan Theil 08/09/08
To better compete, a few bold leaders are rethinking their schools from the ground up.

Engineering Success by Barrett Sheridan 08/12/08
An entrepreneur turned academic argues that to compete globally, American institutions should act more like Indian ones.

A Financial Earthquake by Arian Campo-Flores 08/09/08
Harvard dramatically overhauled its aid rules. Other colleges had to follow to compete for top students. How to make sense of it all.

My Real Hollywood Ending by Dan Payson-Lewis 08/09/08
First Person: Romance led this former East Coast student to the harmonies of a cappella. The SoCal VoCals turned out to be life-changing.

Back to School in Santa Clara County

Mon, Aug. 25: Berryessa, Cambrian, Campbell, Evergreen, Loma Prieta, Los Gatos, Oak Grove, Saratoga and Union elementary districts; Campbell, Fremont and Los Gatos-Saratoga high school districts; Milpitas Unified District

Tue, Aug. 26: Lakeside and Mountain View-Whisman Elementary; East Side Union High School District; Palo Alto, San Jose and Santa Clara unified districts

Wed, Aug. 27: Alum Rock, Mount Pleasant and Orchard elementary districts

Thu, Aug. 28: Sunnyvale Elementary District

Tue, Sept. 2: Luther Burbank District

To see 2008-09 school year calendars, go to the Santa Clara County Office of Education's Web site and scroll down to "Districts' Yearly Calendar."

Head's Up!

Register by Sept 9 for the SAT Oct 4 test .
See Collegebard for more SAT test dates & details.
PSAT is Wed Oct 15 or Sat Oct 18.

US News & World Report: America's Best Colleges 2009

US News & World Report Annual College Survey online or buy the print edition at your local book score.

• America's Best Colleges
• Harvard Takes No. 1
• National Universities
• Liberal Arts Colleges
• How to Use the Rankings
• Video: What's New in 2009
• Student Center

Science Friday 082208

Teens help Chabot shed light on black holes Chronicle 8.17.08 4:00 AM
In science, there's hot, there's very hot, and then there are black holes. Black holes are so hot that they are cool, particularly to...

'Big Pig Dig' was treasure trove of fossils Chronicle 8.17.08 4:00 AM
The Big Pig Dig is just about dug. The fossil field formally known as the Pig Wallow Site at Badlands National Park will close for...

Bigfoot's jaw or a tortilla, reporter asks Chronicle 8.15.08 3:25 PM
Irrefutable evidence came to Palo Alto on Friday. It was brown and fuzzy and looked very much like irrefutable evidence of a man in a...

S.F. Exploratorium's window on climate change Chronicle 8.15.08 4:00 AM
In Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, near the largest and fastest-moving glacier in the world, paleontologist Billy D'Andrea drills ice cores...

The Struggle to Measure Cosmic Expansion By DENNIS OVERBYE, NYTimes
Astronomers have made the most precise measurements yet of the Hubble constant, which expresses how fast the universe is growing.

A Trained Eye Finally Solved the Anthrax Puzzle By NICHOLAS WADE, NYTimes
Scientists used techniques not invented in 2001 to trace anthrax to its source, a flask in Bruce Ivins’s custody.

An Advocate for Science Diplomacy: A Conversation With Nina V. Fedoroff By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
Nina V. Fedoroff is science adviser to the secretary of state and contends that genetically modified foods help the environment.

Presidential Physics Quiz BY John Tierny. NYTimes
1. How does the amount of energy per gram of TNT compare with the energy per gram of a chocolate chip cookie?

Enough is enough for bird-friendly town: Egrets and herons make sickening mess By Steve Chawkins, Los Angeles Times 08/17/08
"The rights of birds are outweighing the rights of humans."

Nanotech boost for chemotherapy By Will Oremus, Bay Area News Group, 08/18/08
Nanotubes may lead to smaller doses.

NYTimes: A Teachable Moment

A Teachable Moment By PAUL TOUGH 08/14/08
Hurricane Katrina wiped out the New Orleans public schools. It also created a rare chance to build a system that might solve the biggest problem in urban education — how to teach disadvantaged children.
Video Feature: School Days
Times Topics: Hurricane Katrina

INTERACTIVE FEATURE: In New Orleans, One School Begins and Another Ends
Three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city’s school system, Rabouin High, in downtown New Orleans, is on the road to recovery. In the Lower Ninth Ward, Lawless High wasn’t so lucky.

NYTimes: Student Files Are Exposed on Web Site

Student Files Are Exposed on Web Site By BRAD STONE 11:08 PM ET
The Princeton Review, the test-preparatory firm, accidentally published the personal data and standardized test scores of tens of thousands of Florida students on its Web site, where they were available for seven weeks.

NYTimes: Protest 101

Protest 101: Nicholas D. Kristof tests the limits of freedom in China by applying for a protest. (video)

NYTimes: A Taste of Failure Fuels an Appetite for Success at South Korea’s Cram Schools

A Taste of Failure Fuels an Appetite for Success at South Korea’s Cram Schools By CHOE SANG-HUN 08/12/08
South Koreans say their obsession to get their children into top-notch universities is nothing short of “a war” and are turning to intense, regimented campuses.
Slide Show: Appetite for Success
IHT.com Video: A South Korean Cram School

Recent Articles on Financial Aid

SFGate: Student aid requests soar as economy plummets 08/11/08
Record numbers of college students are lining up for financial aid - and asking for more of it ...

NYTimes: House Acts to Overhaul College Loan Regulations By TAMAR LEWIN 08/01/08
The House overwhelmingly approved an overhaul of the nation’s higher education law, adding dozens of provisions and programs to help families with soaring college costs.

Boston Globe: Paying for college 101
Sally Donahue, Harvard University's director of financial aid, answered questions about how to pay for college.

SFGate: Living on Campus

Dorm decor ideas 08/09/08
Mills College in Oakland uses its spacious dorm rooms as a recruiting tool. Hopefully we aren't spoiling the surprise when we note...

Designing your dream dorm room 08/09/08
In the coming weeks, thousands of college freshmen will step out of their parents' SUVs and into dorm rooms just slightly bigger than...

Around the House: Affordable desks 08/09/08
Students living in dormitories this fall will have no need of a desk - they're standard issue, along with a desk chair, bed, dresser...

Address book 08/09/08
Here are the URLs for housing information for eight of the Bay Area's live-in colleges and universities. Some might be helpful to...

The worst roommates ever 08/09/08
At most Bay Area universities, freshman roommates have already texted each other, checked one another out on MySpace, or maybe even...

Science Friday 081508

NYTimes: Space Probe Pinpoints Origin of Vapor Jets on Saturn Moon By KENNETH CHANG
New images of one of Saturn's moons will provide clues in solving how a 310-mile-wide ice ball could possibly be shooting geysers of vapor and icy particles.

NYTimes: Graves Found From Sahara’s Green Period By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
The first complete report from the largest known graveyard of Stone Age people reveals 200 graves, some filled with ornaments and pottery. Slideshow: Stone Age Graveyard

NYTimes: Rapid Growth Found in Oxygen-Starved Ocean ‘Dead Zones’ By BINA VENKATARAMAN
Researchers report that the coastal seafloor of many of the worlds oceans can barely sustain marine life due to human activity.

NYTimes: Two Large Solar Plants Planned in California By MATTHEW L. WALD
Two California companies plan to build solar power plants 10 times larger than the largest now in service, creating the first utility-scale use of technology mostly confined to rooftops.
Dot Earth: Solar Panels by the Square Mile in California
Times Topics: Solar Energy

NYTimes: What to Do With Traumatized Elephant Stirs Up Dallas By JAMES C. McKINLEY JR
Beyond the debate about what to do with the elephant lies a larger struggle between zoos and animal rights groups who would rather see a world without elephant exhibits.

NYTimes: Come Up for Air? Not These Insects, Which Carry a Bubble as a Lung By KENNETH CHANG
Some insect species are able to swim underwater because of the personal air bubbles they carry with them.

NYTimes: Surpassing Nature, Scientists Bend Light Backward By KENNETH CHANG
With what could lead to more powerful microscopes, scientists have found new ways to bend light backward.

NYTimes: How the First Farmers Colonized the Mediterranean By NICHOLAS WADE
Using a new set of criteria, researchers have determined that animals were domesticated much earlier than previously thought.

NYTimes: Visual Science The Genetic Map of Europe By NICHOLAS WADE
Biologists have constructed a genetic map of Europe showing the degree of relatedness between its various populations.

SFGate: Does Bigfoot exist? These men have evidence
Irrefutable evidence came to Palo Alto on Friday. It was brown and fuzzy and looked very much like...

NYTimes: Seniors See Summer School as an Opportunity to Get Serious and Graduate

Seniors See Summer School as an Opportunity to Get Serious and Graduate by JENNIFER MEDINA 08/11/08
Nearly 7,500 seniors enrolled in summer classes at dozens of the city’s high schools hope to graduate in August.

Next Step Magazine

Next Step Publishing™ helps students plan for life after high school. Check out the Step by Step planning "tool," especially Step 6: Prepare for the SAT & ACT (pdf).

Newsweek: Test Anxiety

Test Anxiety Kurt Soller and Sophie Grove 07/25/08
Did the company that administers the SATs mess up their chance to go global?

Grading the Test Pat Wingert 06/18/08
Research shows that the controversial SAT writing exam is a good predictor of academic success, but only slightly more so than the math or critical reading portions.

SFGate: Primed to Apply: Decoding the five stages of the college application process

Primed to Apply: Decoding the five stages of the college application process by Risa Nye
Sunday, August 3, 2008
I am a short-term crisis counselor. For more than 15 years, I've guided high school seniors through applications, personal statements...

NYTIMES: China and the Beijing Olympics

NYTIMES: China and the Beijing Olympics: Lessons, Historical Articles and Other Resources for Teachers, Students and Parents

Get ideas for your SAT Essays from the news stories of the Beijing Olympics.

NYTimes: First It Was Song Downloads. Now It’s Organic Chemistry

First It Was Song Downloads. Now It’s Organic Chemistry. By RANDALL STROSS 07/27/08
Between used books and pirated copies offered for illegal download, the textbook industry has begun to transition to other models of distribution and sales.

Science Friday 080808

The Long Passage of the SAT Critical Reading Section often features exerpts from science and technology texts. In honor of Science Friday, here are links to ten interesting articles on science and technology.

BG: Red Planet research culminates his dream Billy Baker 08/04/08
One year ago today, chemist Samuel Kounaves stood on a jetty in the predawn stillness of a Florida morning, and waited for his moment.

BG: Cheap solar at night? MIT may have answer Elizabeth Campbell 08/01/08
MIT researchers say they have discovered a way to use solar energy cheaply even after the sun goes down, which could make it a mainstream source of power within the next decade. Video

NG: "Emotional" Robots Debut 07/30/08
A childlike robot and six-legged machine display the latest in human-robot interaction in London. One responds to touch with its "heart.

NYT: Fingerprint Test Tells What a Person Has Touched KENNETH CHANG 08/07/08
With a new technique, a fingerprint can identify what a person has touched — like drugs, explosives or poisons.


NYT: The Nose, an Emotional Time Machine NATALIE ANGIER 08/05/08
Olfaction is an ancient sense and in many ways our sense of smell stands alone.


NYT: Speak Up, a Computer Is Listening DAVID POGUE 08/06/08
Using software to tell the computer what to do in conversational English.

Science Daily: Olympic Games: Researchers Explore What Makes Better Athletes, The Physiology Of Performance, And More 08/06/08

SFG: Scientists reply to Web gossip on Mars find 08/05/08
It seems every space junkie who thumbs a BlackBerry or hits the keys on a laptop has a rumor to share these days about life on Mars...

SFG: '6 degrees of separation' backed Researchers study distance between any 2 strangers.
Turns out, it is a small world. The small world theory, embodied in the old saw that there are just "six degrees of separation...

WSJ: Stem Cells' New Sugar Daddy ROBERT LEE HOTZ 08/07/08
California is the first state in the U.S. to use public bonds to fund stem-cell research, and researchers there have already transformed how controversial biomedical research is sustained.

SJ MercuryNews: Students recruit minorities to UC in ways institution can't

Students recruit minorities to UC in ways institution can't By Lisa M. Krieger 08/06/08

State law bans the state's public universities from recruiting students based on race. But it can't stop student volunteers.

For more, see Special Report: The Achievement Gap

CollegeBoard: The Essay

CollegeBoard has expanded their Essay section to include sample scored essays.

• Practice Essay Prompt--go to the bottom of the page to see the sample scored essays
• Strategies
• Effective Writing
• How the Essay is scored
• After the Test: SAT Essay Prompts

NYTimes Education Life Special: The Green Revolution on College Campuses

Green, Greener, Greenest By KATE ZERNIKE 07/27/08
With students demanding environmentally friendly campuses, colleges and universities are racing to be the greenest of them all.

The Sustainable Hampton By ANTHONY DePALMA 07/27/08
The State University of New York is rebuilding a campus and curriculum around sustainability.

The Urban Environment By ABBY SCHULTZ 07/27/08
A New Haven charter school where city youth learn to turn off the lights and open their eyes.

Catalysts for Change 07/27/08
Seven grass-roots efforts from a generation of environmental caretakers.

NYTimes: The Endless School Year

The Endless School Year By LAURA PAPPANO 07/27/08
Summer school isn’t for laggards anymore. Colleges now grab May to August for serious academics.
Graphic: Why the Calendar Matters

New Harry Potter Book Dec 4, 2008!!!

THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD will benefit JK Rowlings' charity Children's Higher Level Group.

Containing clues that were to prove crucial to Harry Potter’s final mission to destroy Lord Voldemort’s Horcruxes, The Tales of Beedle the Bard is the volume of five wizarding fairy tales left to Hermione Granger by Albus Dumbledore in the seventh and final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Only one – The Tale of the Three Brothers – is recounted in the book. In The Tales of Beedle the Bard, the four remaining stories are revealed for the very first time. A collector's edition and a standard edition of the book will be published.

NYTimes: House Acts to Overhaul College Loan Regulations

House Acts to Overhaul College Loan Regulations By TAMAR LEWIN 08/01/08
The House overwhelmingly approved an overhaul of the nation’s higher education law, adding dozens of provisions and programs to help families with soaring college costs.

Science Friday 080108

The Long Passage of the SAT Critical Reading Section often features exerpts from science and technology tests. In keeping with the NPR tradition of "Science Friday," this blog will link to some scientific articles of interest, and post a new collection weekly on Fridays.

Science sites for families
The biggest local science event of the year will be the Sept. 27 grand reopening of the California Academy of Sciences in San... Chronicle 7.27.08

Science in the movies
Below are a few of our favorite science movies of all time. Comedies were included and films that explore modern science issues were... Chronicle 7.27.08 4:00 AM

The Nature of Glass Remains Anything but Clear By KENNETH CHANG NYTimes
Peer into its molecules, and glass is indiscernible from a liquid. So how can it be hard? And how does it get that way? For scientists, the puzzle persists.
Read More at TierneyLab Graphic: Glass, Up Close

Test of Mars Soil Sample Confirms Presence of Ice By KENNETH CHANG
A sample of soil being analyzed by NASA’s Phoenix Mars lander let out a puff of vapor, providing final confirmation that the lander is sitting over a large chunk of ice.

First Stars Were Brutes, but Died Young, Astronomers Say By DENNIS OVERBYE
The first stars in the universe were short-lived brutish monsters that changed the nature of the cosmos forever, new computer simulations suggest.

Discovering How Greeks Computed in 100 B.C. By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
The Antikythera Mechanism organized the ancient Greek calendar in the cycles of the Olympiad, researchers say.

Deep under New Mexico is a cave like no other Explorers have tracked one...
Hundreds of feet beneath Earth's surface, a small group of seasoned cave explorers venture where no human ever has set foot. With each... Chronicle 7.27.08

Watching the eclipse
He calls it "the Super Bowl of Science." And when the next super solar eclipse happens this week, the Exploratorium's Paul Doherty is... Chronicle 7.27.08

S.F. scientists in China to Webcast solar eclipse
Scientists from San Francisco's Exploratorium, after hauling a thousand pounds of telescopes and computers by truck, are camped on the... Chronicle 7.26.08 4:00 AM

Students get hired to capture the breeze by Blake Nicholson, Associated Press 07/27/08 Schools work to fill growing need for trained wind techs.