Ohio State University students kicks in $5M for study abroad scholarships

Another of Ohio State University own is contributing to a $2.5 billion fundraising campaign that is expected to enter its public phase next year.Ohio State’s foundation director Keith Monda, former president and COO of New York-based Coach Inc.NYSE: COH, and his wife, Linda, are kicking in $5 million for endowed study abroad scholarships, the university said Wednesday.

The endowment is expected to provide 50 students a year in the College of Arts and Sciences with scholarships that average $6,000 toward an international study program, the university said. The average study abroad program costs between $5,000 and $7,000, according to a press release.Ohio State gave me the disciplined, analytical thinking skills to solve complex business problems, said Monda, an OSU alumnus.If you learn how to think about things in the proper manner, you will use those skills throughout your career.

Ohio State has been in quiet phase of a $2.5 billion fundraising campaign since the spring, but the university’s senior vice president for development, Jeff Kaplan, said at a board of trustees meeting that the campaign likely will go public next year.At a September board meeting, the university said it raised nearly $408 million, including a $100 million gift from trustees chairman and Limited Brands Inc.

Fog causes delays flights to San Francisco

Soupy fog created a few hurdles Tuesday for airline passengers flying in and out of Sacramento International Airport, authorities said.Such weather-related interruptions are rare because of the airport's sophisticated landing systems so rare that less than one-third of 1 percent of flights in the last year were affected, said spokeswoman Laurie Slothower.However, nearly a dozen flights between midnight and Tuesday morning were canceled or delayed after visibility at the airport dropped below the 700-foot threshold needed for the airport's system to work, Slothower said. At times, visibility dipped to 400 feet.

United Airlines had to cancel eight arriving and departing flights, Slothower said. An Aeromexico flight en route to Sacramento was diverted to San Francisco, and a Delta flight was diverted to Reno for refueling. Slothower knew of one delay for Southwest Airlines.Windy, sunny and colder weather is forecast for today and Thursday. In Sacramento, today will begin with breezy conditions that will step up to steady winds of about 25 mph gusting to 38 mph.

Insurance for scholarship students

Students studying abroad under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program will soon get medical insurance coverage, according to Dr. Ahmad Al-Saif, deputy higher education minister.
This was announced at a meeting in Riyadh between officials of the scholarship program and the Minister of Higher Education. The insurance covers 70 percent of students in America, Canada, Australia, Britain and France, he added.

Al-Saif added that medical insurance costs have risen for Saudi students in America. Because some students misunderstood insurance regulations in the United States, insurance fees for Saudis were raised from SR5,000 to SR8,000. This is because 65 percent of Saudi students miss medical appointments and go to emergency rooms when it’s not needed.

Cancel more flights over UK strike

Owing to the nationwide strike by British public sector employees on Wednesday, national carrier Air India has cancelled all its four flights to and from London for the day. Jet Airways, meanwhile, has advised passengers to rebook their flights to UK to avoid inconvenience.Air India announced cancellation of its flights as early as Saturday, asking passengers to rebook their travel through the airline or their respective travel agents without any additional charges. The scheduled flights cancelled by the state-owned airline are: Amritsar-Delhi-London (AI-115), London-Delhi (AI-116), Delhi-London (AI-111) and London-Delhi (AI-112), an AI spokesperson said on Tuesday.

A Jet spokesperson said its flights were not being cancelled, though they have advised passengers to rebook their travel to avoid inconvenience at London’s Heathrow Airport. A statement issued by the private airline said due to the 24-hour industrial action by public sector unions, including the UK Border Agency staff, the airline has advised guests travelling to UK on November 30 to rebook their flights to avoid any inconvenience and immigration delays at London’s Heathrow airport.

The Ministry of Higher Education has been awarded a prize for digital excellency

Two-hundred-and-fifty electronic services are offered to students inside the Kingdom and on scholarships study abroad, pointed out Deputy Minister of Higher Education Dr. Ahmad Al-Saif during a reception organized by the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology in Riyadh last Tuesday.Al-Saif expressed the ministry’s gratitude after receiving the prize, considering it an incentive for honest competition between various sectors of the society to build a civilized and informed community.The overall goal of the prize substantiates the Ministry of Higher Education’s aspiration to head towards an information society, the foundation for all developed countries to achieve civilization and prosperity in the new age, said Al-Saif.

The Ministry of Higher Education, indicated Al-Saif, works closely with other government institutes to provide information.The Kingdom is the container of Saudi creative abilities; therefore it has the responsibility of preparing individuals to become effective and active members of society,said Al-Saif, concluding that such a prize supports inventiveness and creativity and enhances the basis for development and progress.

El Al rescheduled flight to London ahead of UK strike

El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. has rescheduled its flights to London for Wednesday November 30 ahead of an expected strike by UK passport control officials.Flights LY 315 and LY 317 from Tel Aviv to London and flights LY 318 and 316 from London to Tel Aviv on November 30 will be cancelled. Instead those flight numbers on Tuesday November 29 and Thursday December 1 will enlarged to accommodate all those who had planned flying on Wednesday.

However, easyJet, which flights between Tel Aviv and Luton, has said that flights will go ahead as scheduled on November 30 but that passengers should expect delays at passport control in England.

Academic condemns tortuous university admissions

Mary Beard, the Cambridge University classics professor, said the admissions system employed in Britain was more difficult and stressful than it should be.She also condemned the shameless self-marketing candidates committed on their application forms, suggesting many personal statements were copied from the internet.In further comments, the academic rejected criticism of the notoriously tough Oxbridge admissions process, saying that common attacks on the system by politicians of all parties were misguided.

The comments were made after the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service proposed a sweeping overhaul of the current system.They are planning to allow students to apply for places after receiving their results for the first time in a move that would lead to A-levels being brought forward and candidates choosing courses over the summer. Writing for the BBC News website on Sunday, Prof Beard said that the changes would involve more upheavals than you can imagine” but insisted it could take the unnecessary heat out of the whole process.

The whole business of university applications in this country, for any university, is needlessly tortuous,she said.The end result might be OK happily many kids get where they want to go.But the route they have to take is more difficult and stressful than it should be.It relies on ridiculously minute distinctions between exam grades, it demands shameless self-marketing from the students on their application forms, and it operates according to a timetable that any outside observer would say was plain bonkers.Prof Beard, classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement and presenter of the recent documentary series Pompeii: Life and Death in a Roman Town, said many universities now relied on students’ A-level grades and their personal statement instead of an interview to select candidates.

But she insisted:Today's statements are much less concerned with good works, and are often uncomfortably corporate in style - weaving together clever quotations from Shakespeare and Aristotle with carefully constructed personal anecdotes, to create an implausibly perfect impression.They're so professional that they have to be put through "plagiarism detection software which apparently many fail.Currently, students are supposed to apply to Oxbridge by October – around a year before courses start and to other universities in January. Candidates are then given provisional offers based on the proviso that they gain predicted exam grades the following summer.Those who fail to score high enough in A-levels and other qualifications are eligible for clearing the system that matches students to spare places.

But writing on BBC online, Prof Beard said:More than anything, it is the bizarre timetable that makes the application process so preoccupying.When we say in January or February that someone ‘got in’ to their chosen university, we don't actually mean that. We mean that they will have got in if they achieve the grades demanded by the university in their summer exam, which even if all goes well, drags out the nail biting for a good six months.She added:If it doesn't go well and they don't get the grades, they enter a whole new round of applications in August.This is a frenetic process, with applicants tracking down the remaining unfilled places by email and phone then being given maybe a few hours to accept a place for a course they haven't really explored at a university they know little about.

Flights to Mauritius launched by British Airways

British Airways is changing its Mauritius timetable to give customers an extra day in the sun this winter.Flights back from the Indian Ocean isle will take off 12 hours later than at present, creating more time for relaxation before travellers have to get their flights to London.The better timing coincides with the route being switched from Heathrow to Gatwick, further strengthening the airline’s premium leisure programme at the airport. British Airways has recently opened the new state-of-the-art terminal extension at Gatwick, which will be home to all British Airways flights at Gatwick. It is designed to give customers more control of their journey, as well as providing an innovative travelling experience using the most advanced technology and a new approach to customer service.

The new British Airways terminal extension allows passengers to do more for themselves, from checking-in and choosing seats to printing their own bag tags.Silla Maizey, director of Gatwick, said:We have a strong premium leisure strategy for Gatwick we want it to be a hub for great high-end holiday destinations. Moving the Mauritius flight here helps us to strengthen this position as it will now sit alongside destinations such as the Maldives and the Caribbean.We’ve listened to feedback from our customers about the timings of the flights to Mauritius so it’s great we’ve been able to design the new schedule around their needs. This new timing has an evening departure from Mauritius and an early morning arrival into Gatwick, giving back customers a full day at their destination when they would otherwise have been flying.

A full BA honours degree in business and management will be offered to students in Guernsey next year

The Guernsey Training Agency (GTA) said the degree delivered by lecturers from Bournemouth University will be available from January.It will be the first time islanders have been able to study for a full honours business degree without leaving Guernsey.The degree will take three years to complete.Sue Warnock, a tutor at Bournemouth University, said: It is an exciting development to be able to extend the range of courses offered on island to include an undergraduate degree programme.

I'm really looking forward to working closely with the GTA on this degree course and spending more time with the island's undergraduate students.The course will be run on a part-time basis to enable students to continue working alongside their studies if they choose.After completing a two-year foundation programme, students will be given the opportunity to specialise in the third year through a number of optional modules.GTA spokesman Simon Le Tocq said with the rising cost of university fees, it recognised the need to offer viable alternatives.It is an ideal choice for prospective students looking for a course that offers a wide range of business subjects and covers areas such as marketing, human resource management, finance, management and law, he said.

SEAIR increase flights to Hong Kong Christmas season

South East Asian Airlines (SEAIR) announced that it will increase the number of its Hong Kong flights this Christmas season.Two flights from Clark to Hong Kong and vice versa were added on Fridays and Sundays, the airline said.An extra flight on Saturdays will also be added starting December 3, 2011.Hong Kong is a very important destination for Filipino migrant workers and tourists alike, especially at this time of the year when families are gathering together for the holidays,said SEAIR president Avelino Zapanta in a press statement.

SEAIR, which currently has the most flights from Clark to Hong Kong and Macau, will have one roundtrip Clark to Hong Kong flight on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and two roundtrip flights on Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the holiday season.Airfares for Clark to Hong Kong flights are priced at P1,299 until November 30, 2011 for travel until July 31, 2012.SEAIR uses the 144-seater Airbus 319 for its international flights.

Women rising to the challenge

University of Queensland graduate and academic, Dr Kate O'Brien and UQ graduate Associate Professor Karen Hapgood are raising awareness of the universal issues facing professionals, particularly females, who work part-time.Although the numbers of women in science and engineering courses and postgraduate studies have increased markedly in recent decades, women tend to leave these professions at greater rates than men, a phenomenon often referred to as the leaky pipe.

Dr O'Brien and Associate Professor Hapgood believe removing the barriers to part-time work and career interruptions are vital for addressing this problem.As a lecturer within UQ's School of Chemical Engineering, Dr O'Brien has recognised a need for more family friendly practices within the workplace, so that women and men who work part-time or take time off to raise their families can still remain engaged with their profession.Although the university sector is commonly perceived as a very flexible work environment, like many other professions the paradigm is full-time, continuous employment, Dr O'Brien said.

Those who do work part-time generally do so in isolation, with few role models.Formerly a male dominated career path, engineering has seen a marked increase in recent years in the number of female enrolments.In 2011, the number of female students enrolled in UQ's Bachelor of Engineering stood at 19%.UQ's percentages are even higher in specific engineering disciplines.As a top specialisation for enrolments of female students, Electrical Engineering,Chemical Engineering and related specialisations stands at 40%, meanwhile Environmental Engineering is approximately 60%.While there is a lot written about trying to get more women in science and engineering, there is very little written about working part-time, a key factor to retaining women in these professions.

In order to address this, Dr O'Brien and Associate Professor Hapgood wrote the article 'Part-time balance', which was published in the journal, Nature.It takes a lot of courage to work part-time within a full-time environment and encourages those doing so to keep finding ways to make the system work for them, all the while recognising the obstacles they face, Dr O'Brien said.While focussed on academia, the article will have relevance for those working part-time in many other professions.It is much easier to work part-time when you are well established in your field. However in professions with long training times, like academia, it's difficult for women to become well established before they have children.For women who want to re-enter the workforce in a part-time position, Dr O'Brien advises them to be strategic in how they undertake this unusual career path.Although challenging, it is possible to pursue a part-time career in scientific research while devoting time and creative energy to raising children,Dr O'Brien said.Choose a role that lets you maintain and build your skills and define your success on your own terms.

O’Hare International Airport starts flights to Cuba

A charter flight service between O’Hare International Airport and Havana, Cuba, began Friday.For the time being, one flight is scheduled to arrive at O’Hare and another set to leave Cuba Fridays, according to the city’s Department of Aviation.Starting Jan. 9, C&T Charters are expected to add an additional flight on Mondays. C&T flies a Boeing 737-400, which seats 150 passengers.O’Hare was one of several airports authorized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in March of this year to host charter flights to Cuba, according to the Aviation department. Previously, flights between Cuba and the United States were restricted to Miami, New York and Los Angeles airports.

“With growing demand by Americans to visit Cuba, we’re pleased that President Obama took the bold step of making this country more accessible to Chicagoans who want to fly directly to Cuba from O’Hare to visit family, pursue research and education, or for business reasons, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. “Chicago’s ability to now offer air service to Cuba demonstrates our city’s competitiveness in the global marketplace and it furthers our mission to provide direct connections to Chicago from all around the world.

Educators, lawmakers encourage international scholastics

When the 9/11 Commission sought to find out how such an attack could have taken place on the United States, one of the areas they looked at was America’s engagement with the broader world. They reached a shocking conclusion: Americans were largely insular, ignorant of the world at large. The Commission gave the United States a ‘D’ for global literacy.While there have been efforts to improve since then, more needs to be done at the higher education level, says Sen. Richard Durbin.

America’s future leaders need to understand other cultures. They need to be able to speak other languages. American students today are under-performing in both areas, he told a forum organized by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, at Capitol Hill earlier this month.Ignorance of the world at an age of global interconnectedness is a national liability Durbin said, not only in terms of business but also national security.According to the 2011 Open Doors report on international student exchange, around 270,000 U.S. students studied abroad in 2009–2010, but that is only 1.3 percent of all college students enrolled at any one time in the United States. In addition, around half of those students go to Europe or English-speaking countries only.

We should be placing students in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—regions that will be increasingly important to our future,Durbin said.Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), honorary co-host of the NAFSA event, says the learning curve that travel abroad affords students is critical, taking students beyond books and what you can Google.When students first start to travel they learn about other cultures, about history, and “that the world isn’t really flat, Mikulski said, but then they go deeper and it gets personal.They learn how the world sees us, she says adding, That is probably the biggest culture shock that it is not hurrah, hurrah, hurrah.
Learning about other democracies and the value of allies, as well as emerging democracies and their struggle to gain basic human rights, is a potent mix for new and older generations, she said.
Durbin summed it up with the old adage,You don’t appreciate another country till you visit it, you don’t appreciate your home till you leave it.

Academic Performance Improves
Recent studies show that students who study abroad tend to improve in academic performance upon their return home, gain higher GPAs, and broaden their awareness of different cultures.According to a 10-year study done across the 35-institution University System of Georgia, gains from study-abroad experiences were most noticeable amongst African Americans, their graduation rates on four-year courses 31 percent higher than control groups.
African-Americans and ethnic minorities are chronically under-represented in study abroad groups. According to the latest Open Door survey report, white populations accounted for over 80 percent of the total number of students participating in a study-abroad program in 2009–2010.

Challenges
Sanford Ungar, a co-host of the NAFSA event, is president of Goucher College, the first college in the United States requiring students to have a compulsory study-abroad component.Highlighting recent NAFSA study research, Ungar said three-quarters of students interviewed expressed interest in studying overseas, but only 1 percent actually ever made it. How to change that is now the focus.The challenges however are great. Convincing students, their families, academics, and school boards of the benefits of studying abroad is difficult, say educators. Dr. Mary Spangler, chancellor of Houston Community College, said most of her students are in two-year degrees, studying part-time with jobs and families to juggle, and accordingly limited resources. Explaining how to fit study abroad into their lives is difficult, she told the NAFSA forum.

Some have never been on an airplane, some have never even been out of the state,she said.
Dr. Paula Allen-Meares, chancellor of the University of Illinois, agreed, saying of the 27,500 students at her university, 50 percent are from ethnic and/or racial minority groups.Preparing student and families to see how a study abroad is valuable is sometimes a hard sell given the pressure on the families,she said.Peter McPherson, president of the Association of the Public and Land-Grant Universities, and former president of Michigan State University, said while they had worked hard at Michigan to cut cost down to 50 percent, and in some cases to cover the cost of travel and accommodation altogether, study abroad was still too expensive.Study abroad costs too much.You can’t get this done unless you grind down the cost, he said.All agreed, however, that there were ways to share the cost with private and non-government organizations. More data highlighting the academic and career benefits of study abroad would facilitate that support.Sen. Durbin is hoping to have a bill passed by this Congress that will see in place a competitive grant model to “incentivize greater commitment from academic institutions.Named after Durbin’s mentor and the former senator of Illinois, the Paul Simon Study Abroad Bill aims to have one million U.S. students studying abroad within the next 10 years.

Lao Airlines start Flights to Singapore and Vientiane

Lao Airlines has launched thrice-weekly flights between Singapore and Vientiane.Lao Airlines will operate the new route with its brand new A320 aircraft in a two-class 142-seat configuration.The service will depart Vientiane on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at 15:05, arriving at Changi Airport at 18:30 on the same day.The return flight will depart Changi at 19:40 and arrive in Vientiane at 21:05.Lao Airlines’ direct service comes on the back of strong bilateral ties between the two countries. Singapore is among Laos’ top 10 foreign investors, with investments in sectors ranging from manufacturing to hospitality.

In the first nine months of this year, bilateral trade saw a substantial growth of 40% year-on-year to reach about US$29 million. Singapore and Laos have also been regular cooperation and exchange partners since Laos joined ASEAN in 1997, across areas such as education, healthcare and tourism.In terms of air traffic, the number of passengers travelling between the two countries has grown steadily over the last five years. During this period, Singapore visitor arrivals into Laos grew about 8% annually to about 6,100 in 20102, while the number of visitors from Laos increased by some 25% every year to about 5,200 in 2010.

Culturally rich Laos, is home to many ancient wonders. From Vientiane where many ancient temples are sited, tourists can journey onward to several old world charms in neighbouring provinces, such as the mysterious Plain of Jars and the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Luang Prabang and the Vat Phou Temple complex.On the other hand, travellers from Laos can visit Singapore for tourism, medical and education activities, as well as use Singapore as a stopover point to other destinations.

University offer free Computer Science Courses

Stanford University is offering the online world more of its undergraduate level courses. These free courses consist of You Tube videos with computer-marked quizzes and programming assignments.Programmer ran a news story in August about Stanford's free online classes in artificial intelligence, machine learning and database which seem to be setting a trend.The ball had been started rolling by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig's free online version of their Stanford AI class, for which they hoped to reach an audience in the order of a hundred thousand, a target which they seem to have achieved.

Then two more courses were announced for the Fall 2011 Semester and now we have news of another batch of courses that will follow the same model for the forthcoming Spring Semester, starting in January or February 2012.The model is that courses are delivered as lecture videos, which are broken into small chunks some of which will contain integrated quiz questions. There will be approximately two hours worth of video content per week over 10 weeks.There are no textbooks to buy, although there may be some recommended reading; and no tuition, although there will be forums for asking questions and receiving feedback and answers.Among the courses on offer is Professor Andrew Ng's Machine Learning, which is currently being delivered in this way to tens of thousands of online students - so if you missed its initial interactive presentation there's another chance to join in.

A further eight Computer Science topics are on offer. You can meet the professors who will be teaching the courses in the following videos and follow the links to find out about the prerequisites for each course and to sign up for them.Currently we have some unanswered questions - in particular will there be an advanced track with exams and a certificate for completion of the course as there is for the current three courses, including the AI Class.

Flights to Abu Dhabi launched by Afghan airline

Safi Airways, the private Afghan airline with offices in Dubai, will begin flights from Abu Dhabi to Kabul next year in a bid to boost its network of routes and destinations.Flights from the oil-rich emirate to the Afghan capital will commence on January 5 with four services a week, as part of the carrier’s ongoing expansion plan.The new flight to Abu Dhabi shows our commitment to growth within the GCC region,said Hamid Safi, CEO, in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

With the new addition of the A320, we are determined to keep adding more routes under Safi Airways’ destination list.In October this year, Safi Airways acquired its second Airbus A320 in view of increasing its regional connectivity.The privately-owned airline, which competes with state-backed carrier Ariana Afghan Airlines, was founded in 2006 by entrepreneur Abdul Qudos Safi.It currently serves Kabul, Delhi and Dubai with weekly A320 services, after dropping flights to Kuwait last September as part of a company restructure, and ceasing flights to Frankfurt late November due to safety reasons.In 2012, the carrier is expected to announce a slew of new routes across the GCC and elsewhere.

Study abroad in China

Representatives from the Wisconsin China Initiative and other University of Wisconsin departments are traveling to China to meet with education, government and business leaders in an effort to explore options for establishing a UW facility in Shanghai for students and faculty.
According to Wisconsin China Initiative Chair John Ohnesorge, the facility would act as UW’s base in China in the hopes of encouraging study abroad participation and would create cultural ties between the two countries.

We’ve been thinking of it as a multi-faceted sort of hub,Ohnesorge said.It’s kind of the Wisconsin Idea extended to China to help the state, help the business community and help the students.UW College of Engineering Dean Paul Peercy said his department is interested in providing new opportunities for engineering students in China because of the country’s rapidly growing economy and the lack of study abroad opportunities currently available for engineering majors.The bottom line is that engineering is the same around the world,Peercy said.If you design a bridge, that bridge won’t look very different if you build it in Madison versus if you build it in Beijing.Peercy added that the College of Engineering is looking at a variety of opportunities for the students in China.

He said he hopes the facility would provide more chances for engineering students to learn about cultural differences and global challenges.What we’re really interested in doing is educating what has lately been called the ‘global engineer,Peercy said.By that we mean an engineer that can work in any other culture around the world and make a positive impact on the economy of that culture.Ohnesorge said the discussions this week as to the logistics of the facility will involve UW, Jiao Tong University and government members in the district of Shanghai where the office would be located.

He added that multiple American universities, including New York University, Cornell and University of California-Berkeley, are opening facilities in China while Chinese university administrators explore academic options at universities in the United States.Peercy said UC-Berkeley’s College of Engineering worked with partners in Shanghai last week in order to open a center in the area, collaborating on research and academics.Allowing UW students to study in China, Peercy said, would make them more competitive and knowledgeable about global cultural issues.Ohnesorge added that Jiao Tong University is in a prominent location as well, with a local humanities university nearby in addition to several multinational corporations that could offer internships to UW students, including Microsoft and Intel.

According to Ohnesorge, the facility could also be used to offer short courses and training programs as part of a trend to reach out to a business community throughout the state of Wisconsin that is increasingly interested in learning about China.This has always had a big student component because that’s one of the main things that the China Initiative was created to do: help us focus on teaching Wisconsin students about China,Ohnesorge said.

Delta restart flights to New York

Delta Air Lines is to resume its seasonal route between Shannon and New York next year, it was confirmed yesterday. The daily service, which is being operated with partner Air France KLM, will begin again on May 1st and operate throughout the summer to JFK Airport.The service has been timed to connect with other US destinations.The news is a boost to the airport, which has suffered a number of setbacks in recent years. In 2009 and 2010, Shannon Airport recorded combined losses of €16 million, and is headed for an €8 million loss this year.

Besides offseting energy costs at schools, solar panels are providing hands-on learning for students

School solar projects offer students hands-on opportunities to learn about green technology.At informational kiosks on the Las Positas Community College campus in Livermore, students can find out how solar power works and track how much energy it generates, said Jeffrey Kingston, vice chancellor of facilities. The kiosks were part of the solar project built by Chevron Energy Solutions.Several high school engineering courses have come on field trips to the site,Kingston said.

Pacific Gas &Electric has developed a Solar Schools program that includes lesson plans developed in partnership with the National Energy Education Development project. Since 2004, the company has distributed educational materials to 3,000 teachers in 125 schools serving about 200,000 students.SunPower also plans to create lessons with Project Lead the Way engineering academies in California high schools, said Bill Kelly, the company's managing director.

Students are really anxious to learn about the technology and career options that are available in clean technology,he said.This past summer, the company piloted a Solar Academy internship for 16 high school students in the San Ramon Valley district, which celebrated the completion of its 3.3 megawatt project on five campuses in October.During the two-week program, professionals from various departments in SunPower including engineering and finance explained how a project is developed from beginning to end, Kelly said.The program included a field trip to SunPower and $1,000 scholarships for each participant, district spokesman Terry Koehne said. In addition, the SunPower Foundation and other organizations have created a 100 People Under the Sun lesson plan for elementary students.Teens in science classrooms in San Jose's East Side Union High School District use solar energy kits provided by Chevron to learn how the photovoltaic panels on their campus carports work.It's particularly useful in physics classes,said Frank Biehl, school board vice president.You've got photons coming from the sun. They're measuring them. It makes it real, rather than just theoretical. It's actually something you can see the effect of the laws of the universe.

Flights between Turkey and Iraq restart

Flights between Turkey and Iraq will resume as the two neighbours try to sort out a debt row that led to tit-for-tat bans on air traffic, the Turkish trade minister said late Monday.The Iraqi civil aviation authority has removed the ban on Turkish aircraft for one week. Upon this development, planes from both countries are allowed to fly, trade minister Zafer Caglayan said in a statement carried by Anatolia news agency.

The minister said he planned to hold talks with officials from Iraq and Turkish air firms to try and resolve the dispute.He said that Iraq has owed $20 million to four Turkish air companies since 1990 and that the firms had applied to confiscate Iraqi aircraft in lieu of the unpaid bills. Two of the firms had since dropped their bid, Anatolia quoted Caglayan as saying earlier in the day.On Saturday, Iraq announced that Turkish aircraft would be banned from landing at Iraqi airports from Sunday, in response to an earlier decision by Turkey to ban Iraqi flights.

Universities are to slash 5,000 courses endangering subjects such as history, nursing and philosophy

There will be 12 per cent fewer courses next autumn, according to the admissions service Ucas and current students may find themselves on courses that are winding down.Tutors’ body Supporting Professionalism In Admissions said 38,147 courses will be on offer in 2012, compared with 43,360 this year.Janet Graham of the SPA said: We have record numbers of students but a downward trend in degree courses.

English universities are receiving 10 per cent less state cash and consultants the Parthenon Group found that 50 UK institutions face financial ruin.London Metropolitan University has cut course numbers from 557 to 160, with history, business and philosophy the worst hit.Nursing courses will be slashed from 2,000 to 1,580 after NHS London decided to withdraw funding and the University of East Anglia music school is to close.

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Singapore now served new flights by B777-200ER Features new Business Class seat and innovations in all cabins.Starting on 28 May 2012, Air France will be operating three additional round-trip flights between Paris and Singapore, giving travellers more options and flexibility.The three new flights by Boeing 777-200ER are in addition to the daily round-trip flights currently operated by Air France between Paris and Singapore and will increase flight frequency to ten times a week.

The Boeing 777-200ER seats 309 passengers in a 4-cabin configuration:
· First - 4 seats
· Business - 48 seats
· Premium Voyageur – 24 seats
· Voyageur - 170 seats

The aircraft is equipped with the new Air France Business Class seat. With a fixed shell seat guaranteeing the passenger’s privacy, the seat structure and environment have been redesigned to offer:A seat bed whose dimensions make it one of the most spacious and most comfortable beds on the market (2-metres long – 61cm wide)
multiple positions with the new relaxation position, with legs extended on the new fixed footrest including during the take-off and landing phases, among the most highly appreciated
simpler and more practical controls
New, more spacious storage areas

The aircraft also offers a raft of other innovations, including an inflight entertainment system (IFE) developed exclusively for Air France and new bar areas in each cabin.The launch of these new flights is a significant step forward for Air France in strengthening its position in Australia. From 28 May, 2011 Air France will connect via Singapore to these flights from the major Australian cities in cooperation with our code-share partner Qantas and our Interline partner Jetstar. These extra flights will give Australian business and leisure travellers more opportunities to connect to our worldwide network.said Tom Reeves, Regional Manager for Australia and New Zealand.

GREATER numbers of Scottish students are to be encouraged to study abroad as part of their university degree

The Scottish Government has announced funding of £200,000 to promote opportunities that currently exist for students to study overseas, as well as developing new ones.Michael Russell, the Education Secretary, also said the Government would look at setting up bursaries for those wanting to travel during part of their degree.

PIA flights delays

PIA flight operation remained disturbed on Saturday wherein number of flights got late due to certain reasons.As per details, a domestic flight PK 309 operating between Islamabad Karachi could depart with the delay of one and half hour.Tow international flights operating Islamabad Dubai sector could take off eight hours beyond its scheduled time.

Opportunities for Study abroad

The Center for International Education has been hectic these last few days, wrapping up Orientation Week and launching International Education Week, which started Monday.The purpose of both of these events is to better equip students to travel abroad an experience that can be daunting, life-changing and, in the words of Madeline Brown,absolutely worth it.During my five months abroad in the Netherlands, I learned more about myself and the world than I had in my two and a half years at UT,Brown, senior in journalism and electronic media, said. The anxiety that comes with being in a foreign country soon wears off and before you know it, you’re having the most interesting and thrilling time of your life.

Some of this initial anxiety can be avoided if students are informed about the culture they are about enter and what they can expect during their travels. This is where the orientation and international education weeks come into play.Pre-departure orientation is mandatory for all students before they study abroad,Anne Hulse, Programs Abroad coordinator, said.We go over health and safety, which are of the utmost importance, but we also talk about ways to make the most of their stay.Students are divided into groups based on the region they are traveling to and meet with either a peer adviser who has already studied there or an exchange student from that region.

For students who are going to England, for instance, they can receive the best advice on how to live there and what to expect because they are talking to a person who is actually from there, Demi Venkov, senior in theater, said.And as a peer adviser who studied in England, I give the perspective of an outsider who assimilated into their culture.Venkov, who spent a year studying drama in Manchester, U.K., listed England, Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Australia,Austria, Asia, Africa and South America as some of the destinations orientation participants will be traveling to for Spring Semester.There’s a lot of people who go in the spring and our numbers are increasing every single year,Venkov said.More than 800 students studied abroad last year, and the numbers are growing. This increase in popularity is well deserved, said Rochelle Breen, senior in linguistics who spent a year in Tokyo.

Studying abroad is such an incredible experience,Breen said.It shows you how big the world is and yet how small it is. There are so many different people and different cultures and different ways of doing things, but then when you get to the human level, it’s all the same.Beyond providing students with a new life perspective, studying abroad can also have a significant impact on their future careers.It helps make you more marketable for jobs and grad school in the future,Hulse said.Study abroad students gain skills that any employer would value, like being able to take on new challenges, being creative, stepping outside of your comfort zone, working with people who are different from you, problem-solving and, for some, having learned another language. It helps students to grow as a person, become more independent, and grow in confidence in themselves.

If one is considering working internationally, studying abroad is an excellent way to test out living in a foreign country, she said. Others choose to study in a location where ancestors lived.It’s like tracing your history and seeing the culture up close,Hulse said.With so many reasons in favor of studying abroad, why don’t more students do it? Finances largely seem to be the answer.I think a lot of students don’t realize how affordable it can be,Venkov said. Especially since at UT, our exchange program allows you to pay UT tuition overseas. That’s huge. And since you can also use your scholarships, it turns out to be really affordable.Students can also receive full class credit for courses taken abroad, meaning that they can stay on track toward graduation. And, according to Brown, everyone can find a program to enjoy.You can study abroad for as short as a few weeks in the summer or do a semester or full year,Brown said.We have programs in 54 countries. There are also semester-long programs directly related to one field of study mine, for example, was a journalism program.For those interested in learning more about studying abroad, the Programs Abroad Office holds information sessions from 2-4 p.m. on regular class days.I had the time of my life living as an international student and making friends from all over the world,Brown said.It’s an experience everyone should try.

More international flights begin from New Year

In a development which will cheer up the travel industry, at least two new international flights beginning the New Year will start services from the 'underutilized' Sanganer airport here.The Thai Orient airlines based in Thailand and the Silk Air of Singapore have showed keen interest in operating from the Pink City,Sanganer airport director R K Singh said.Both the airlines have already completed their preliminary survey on the feasibility of this market.

The newly constructed Jaipur airport offers many facilities required for operating international flights. Both airlines have found suitable conditions for their operations,Singh said.They found that a good number of Jaipur-based businessmen settled in South Asian countries. In the absence of any direct flight, they travelled either from Delhi or Mumbai to reach Thailand and Bangkok.Both the operators are low-cost airlines and have extensive experience in providing air service among the South Asian countries.The conditions here are very ideal as both the airlines are left with one or more destinations to start operations in India.Under the bilateral ties with the ministry of external affairs, every airline has been given number of destinations to operate within India. Luckily, both the airlines have one each destination left for their operation in India," a source said.

College offers free online course

For the first time, Nunavut Arctic College is offering a free online university course to residents of the territory.In co-operation with the University of the Arctic, the college is making the Introduction to the Circumpolar World course available free-of-charge.If you've ever thought about taking a university course or if you have taken university courses but you'd just like to have a university-look at the Arctic, this is a good opportunity,said Jack Hicks, university studies co-ordinator with Nunavut Arctic College.

Hicks said the college also offered the course last year, but at a cost, and the school now wants to see if that prevented anyone from taking the course.Introduction to the Circumpolar World is a broad, survey course on the Arctic, its environment, people and issues. It's a first-year university level course and is the pre-requisite for taking further University of the Arctic courses in circumpolar studies.Students can complete the 13 modules at home but there will also be weekly group sessions in Iqaluit. The course runs from the end of January to the end of April.
The University of the Arctic, created in 2001, is a collaboration of 120 colleges and universities across the globe. Earlier this year, the Government of Canada cut three-quarters of its funding to the University of the Arctic, to about $150,000 from more than $700,000.

Hong Kong Airlines to Launch daily non-stop Flights from London and Hong Kong

Hong Kong Airlines is to launch an all Club Class service, flights daily non-stop between London and Hong Kong on 8 March, 2012.The new flights will be operated with a dedicated fleet of three brand new Airbus A330-200s, featuring a unique all Club Class seating configuration of just 116 seats.Each of the aircraft will showcase two premium cabins: ‘Club Premier’ and ‘Club Classic’, both of which have been created to deliver the airline’s exceptional signature service.

Club Premier will include 34 suites with fully flat 6’1 beds configured 1-2-1 in the two forward cabins; a fine dining service with individual table settings, superior wines and champagne; turndown service with duvets, pyjamas and slippers and luxury amenity kits.Club Classic will feature 82 cradle seats configured 2-2-2 over two cabins with a 51 seat pitch with 22 width and superior dining. All cabins come complete with Wi-Fi, AVOD, digital magazines and high definition 16:9 ratio widescreens; 15.4 in Club Premier and 10.4” in Club Classic.

Flight HX 875 will depart Hong Kong at 23:50, arriving at London Gatwick Airport the following day at 05:55.The return service, flight HX 876, will depart from London Gatwick, North Terminal, at 21:30, arriving in Hong Kong at 18:05 the following day.We have gained a reputation for outstanding service over the past five years and we look forward to extending this to our new flagship route, connecting two global business capitals of the world, said Gerard Clarke, General Manager UK for Hong Kong Airlines.The concept for the all Club Class aircraft will provide passengers with a private jet style ambience and an exceptional crew to guest ratio, and we are confident that we have the right knowledge and experience to make a success of the new all Club Class daily service.Hong Kong Airlines was established in 2006 and currently serves a route network of 25 cities in Asia and Europe with a fleet of Airbus A330-200s and Boeing 737-800s, as well as large orders for next generation aircraft.

Britain will grant 100 scholarships to bright Indian students in Queen’s University

Britain will grant 100 scholarships to bright Indian students enrolling in post-graduate engineering, science and technology programmes in the Queen’s University in Northern Ireland from September 2012.Under the scholarship scheme, christened after India’s former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Queens University will offer scholarships valued at 253,427 pounds ($400,000) to 100 Indian students enrolling in postgraduate courses, British Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts told reporters Wednesday.

The Belfast-based Queen’s University is one of the 20 leading research intensive institutions in Britain and rated as ‘world leading’ in all areas of research.Each eligible student will be given 2,500 pounds ($4,000) for pursuing post-graduate courses in electronics, electrical engineering, computer science, mechanical and aerospace engineering, chemistry and chemical engineering, planning, architecture and civil engineering, Willetts said.The university has 17,000 students from 80 countries, 3,500 faculties and about 100,000 graduates worldwide.In a related development, the University of Oxford signed an agreement with the premier Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on affordable healthcare.

The initiative brings together the complimentary scientific capabilities of Oxford and IISc in biology and engineering. It will involve Bangalore hospitals and scientists from Indian universities and experts from the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore (IIM-B), Willetts said.As part of collaborations in science, innovation and education between the two countries, joint funding between British research councils, Indian partners and third parties has grown to 80 million pounds in the past three years.The British biotechnology and biological sciences research council and the Indian department of biotechnology have agreed to jointly fund five million pounds on research projects in bio-energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, Willetts pointed out.Similarly, joint projects at changing water cycles to improve predictions on future patterns of flood and drought in the context of climate change will be undertaken with 2.5-million pounds funding from the British natural environment research council with matching grant from the Indian ministry of earth sciences.

Hawaiian Airlines to start nonstop flights between Honolulu and New York City in June 2012

Hawaii’s largest carrier will be launching nonstop flights between Honolulu and New York City starting in June 2012.Daily service between Honolulu International Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport will begin June 4, Hawaiian Airlines announced Wednesday.Currently, Continental Airlines offers the only nonstop flight between the Aloha State and the East Coast with a daily flight that serves Honolulu and Newark, N.J.Hawaiian, which provides service between the islands and the West Coast, has been expanding in Asia.New York is an important part of our growth strategy,said Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO.Adding service to the largest market in the eastern U.S., Hawaii’s second-largest tourism market, was a logical step, he said. The New York flights will add more than 100,000 new air seats annually from the East Coast.

The new service will generate an estimated $156 million in direct visitor spending, and $17 million in state tax revenue annually for the tourism economy in the islands, said Mike McCartney, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.The flight is of strategic importance to promoting the Hawaiian Islands brand to our second-largest market, and we look forward to welcoming our guests, he said.U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said the flight contributes to Hawaiian becoming a leading global carrier.The opportunities this new route creates for Hawaii residents are endless and our visitor industry will expand and become more accessible to those U.S. residents who live farthest from Hawaii, he said.On June 4, the inaugural Flight 50 playing off the television show “Hawaii Five-0 will depart Honolulu at 3:05 p.m. and arrive in New York City at 6:55 a.m. the following morning. On June 5, Flight 51 will depart Kennedy airport at 10 a.m. and arrive in Honolulu at 3 p.m.Hawaiian is offering introductory fares of $212 each way in economy class and $808 each way in first class, which the airline notes is a nod to the New York’s 212 area code and Hawaii’s 808 area code.

Study Abroad experience in Spain and Morocco

Alfred University professors Laura Greyson, social sciences, and Susan Morehouse, English, will present the next Bergren Forum program,Crossing Boarders: to Spain and Morocco and Back Again" on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 12:10 p.m. in AU’s Nevins Theater, Powell Campus Center. The program is open to the campus community and public free of charge.The program will also feature students from the Study Abroad course Crossing Borders: Islam and the West,which Greyson and Morehouse coordinated. The group will discuss their experiences in Spain and Morocco in summer 2011.

Greyson earned at Ph.D. at Rutgers University and her undergraduate degree at the University of California-Santa Cruz. During her career she has taught courses in political theory, American politics, women and politics, and Constitutional law.Morehouse’s teaching interests include autobiography, creative non-fiction, fiction writing, women’s writing, play writing, and women’s studies.The Bergren Forum, sponsored by the Alfred University Division of Human Studies, meets Thursdays during each academic semester at the University when classes are in session. Participants are encouraged to bring a lunch; coffee and tea will be available.

Qatar Airways launch flights to Perth from Doha

Qatar Airways, one of the world's fastest growing airlines, will launch services to Perth from Doha within two months.Chief executive Akbar Al Baker said that Perth was one of 12 cities the airline would service next year.Yes we are coming to Perth,Mr Al Baker said.We will give you details shortly and will start within a couple of months.By the end of next year Qatar, which was named Airline of the Year for 2011 by Skytrax, will serve 119 destinations with a fleet of 120 planes.

It has another 200 planes on order worth over $40 billion.For Perth travellers Qatar will offer one-stop connections to a host of European destinations including Bucharest, Budapest, Brussels, Stuttgart, Berlin, Sofia, Stockholm and Oslo as well as traditional destinations such as London and Paris.Qatar will also offer services from Perth to the US, Canada, Africa and the Middle East.Qatar is expected to operate Boeing 777-200LR planes to Perth with first, business and economy class seats.It is expected to be a daily operation within six months.

American students are studying abroad in record numbers.

The Institute of International Education, 270,604 American students studied abroad for academic credit in the 2009-2010 academic year, an increase of nearly 4 percent over the previous year.This figure has more than tripled in the past two decades, with the number of students studying abroad increasing every year. The 2008-2009 academic year was a notable exception, which the IIE, a Washington-based nonprofit educational and cultural exchange organization, attributed to world economic conditions.The IIE’s findings were released in its annual Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. IIE and US officials indicate that the long term trend shows more importance being placed on students gaining international experience.

For American students to be competitive in today’s globalized world, international experience is critically important,Ann Stock, assistant secretary of State for educational and cultural affairs, said in a press release.Young people who study abroad gain the global skills necessary to create solutions to 21st Century challenges.Britain, Italy, Spain, France, and China remained the top host destinations, but more students are going to countries that aren’t on the usual list. Fifteen of the top 25 destinations were outside of Western Europe and nineteen were countries where English is not a primary language. More than 14,000 students studied in China this past year, contributing to the country’s rising popularity as a destination for US students. There was also a 44-percent increase in students going to India. Israel, Brazil, Egypt,Sweden and New Zealand also showed large percentage gains.

So what explains this phenomenon? Peggy Blumenthal, senior counselor to the president of the IIE, says seeking experiences abroad is directly linked with expanding opportunities at home.
As the fields diversify from which American students come, so will the diversity of destinations as well,says Ms. Blumenthal in a phone interview.Thirty years ago, students would go abroad to study art in Italy or history in France, but now students want to study every field where the action is and do it on the ground; that means going to a whole new range of different countries.

According to the report, the most common fields of study for US students abroad are social sciences, business management, humanities, fine and applied arts, and physical and life sciences. Blumenthal says the chief motivation for US students traveling abroad is to augment the degrees they started to pursue at US schools. Americans are not going abroad for the degrees, they’re going abroad to enhance their degrees to see how engineering or physics is taught in a different place and to learn from that experience.But as IIE president and chief executive officer Allan E. Goodman notes, the number of American students abroad represents only a small fraction of those enrolled in US higher education.

We are encouraged to hear that campuses are seeing their study abroad numbers rise, he said in a press release.However, with a total higher education enrollment of over 20 million, there remains a huge unmet need to expand American students’ international experience, and an even greater challenge to ensure that access to study abroad is available to all.The number of international students enrolling at US institutions is also at a record high, the Open Doors report found, having increased by 32 percent over the last decade. Currently, 723,277 international graduate and undergraduate students study in the US.California, New York, Texas, Massachusetts and Illinois continued their reign as the top five host states. The University of Southern California, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, New York University, Purdue University, and Columbia University were the top five US institutions hosting international students.

By a wide margin, China sends more students to the US-157,558 , about 22 percent of the total than any other country. India sends the second largest student cohort, 103,895.According to the US Department of Commerce, international students contribute more than $21 billion to the US economy through their expenditures on tuition and living expenses.Blumenthal says the American and international students studying outside their home countries are looking for essentially the same thing.Students know their careers are going to be global. It used to be possible to have a career where all of your colleagues would be one nationality; it’s not anymore,she says.People realize their lives will be greatly shaped by how well they understand what’s going on everywhere, not just by reading about it, but by firsthand experience.

RwandAir announces flights to Dubai

The Rwandan national airline, RwandAir, has just announced that they will commence flights to Lagos Nigeria as of December 3 this year. Departure and arrival times of the flight have been tuned to allow easy connections to onward flights to Dubai via Mombasa, Nairobi, and Entebbe, from where passengers can now reach Lagos by alternative means.The flights, to be operated by RwandAir’s new B737-800 Sky Interior aircraft, will initially fly the route three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Departure time from Kigali is at 1100 hours local time and the flight arrives at 1410 local time in Nigeria, while the return flight leaves Lagos at 1455 local time and is due to land in Kigali at 2005 hours local time.

Meanwhile, it was also announced that Rwandair operated a special charter from Kigali to Asmara/Eritrea carrying the Rwandan national football team and staff for the FIFA 2014 World Cup qualifier against Eritrea.RwandAir is also due to make an announcement soon on their next stage of rolling out their strategic plan, when announcing details on the likely acquisition of larger Bombardier jets in a trade off for their current two CRJ200 aircraft.

ASU named one of the top producers of Fulbright award scholars, to research and teach abroad, by The Chronicle of Higher Education

Arizona State University has been named one of the top producers of Fulbright award scholars, to research and study abroad, by The Chronicle of Higher Education.This year, eight faculty members will travel to six different countries to carry out their work. The grants placed ASU third in the nation for Fulbright Scholar awards, behind Pennsylvania State University at University Park and the University of Kansas.The Fulbright Program is the premier fellowship program of the U.S. State Department. Its aim is to increase mutual understanding between the United States and other countries, while helping develop creative responses to problems as serious as climate change and pandemics.

The winners are:

LaDawn Haglund will be conducting research on Law, Courts and the Human Right to Water in Brazil.

James Elser, whose specialty is in environmental sciences, will lecture and research in Argentina on advancing ecological stoichiometry in South America.

Glenn Hurlbert will use his knowledge in mathematics to lecture and research on external set theory and network optimization in Argentina.

Paul Hirt will be lecturing in Slovenia on American History and American Studies.

Chris Iheduru will travel to Ghana to research and lecture on the topic of private authority and regional integration in West Africa.

Keith William Kintigh will be identifying productive contexts for digital humanities in Ireland.

Mary Stokrocki will travel to Taiwan to lecture on cross-cultural explorations in second life.

Victor Teye will be lecturing and conducting research in Ghana on motivations, expectations and experiences of study abroad students in Ghanaian Universities.

ASU has also been named a top producer of students who win Fulbright awards. This year 17 students won awards to study in 13 different countries. Read more about the winners.

Emirates airline restart flights to Baghdad

Dubai’s Emirates airline on Sunday resumed flights to Baghdad after a 20-year hiatus, when an Airbus A-330 landed at the Iraqi capital’s airport, a transport ministry statement said.I insisted on opening this line in order to strengthen the links between the two brotherly countries after a suspension of at least two decades, due to the policies of the former regime of Saddam Hussein, Transport Ministry Hadi Al Amari said in the statement. Iraqis travelling on Emirates from Baghdad are to receive a free visa to the UAE for a one month period. According to Emirates’ website, there will be four flights between Baghdad and Dubai per week. Emirates has flown to the south Iraq port city of Basra since February.

Science in Girls' Hands

It was all about the numbers at UW Fox Valley Saturday. For the third year in a row, aspiring scientists, web designers and mathematicians spent the day in the lab. But for this event, no boys are allowed.The third annual Girls in Engineering,Mathematics and Science fair is an opportunity for aspiring young girls to make their mark in an industry that will eventually need them.

The girls at the fair have their own reasons for being there.I like math a lot, says eighth grader Celia Rettle. "I'm in geometry this year.Because it's fun and my mom knows I like mixing stuff, says Emma Pauls, a sixth grader.The intention is fun but the implication is more, as courses focus on everything from inventions to bones to science.Research has shown that the students, as they're going into elementary, they're on an even balance with boys and then something happens when they get into middle school,explains Cathy Payner, Director of Continuing Education at UW Fox Valley.All of a sudden we see grades maybe falling a bit, they're not choosing the math, science, engineering courses.And engaging girls into those fields is the lasting impression not only for the industry but for them.It's one little thing we can do and it sure focuses on the positive for girls,adds Payner.

Air Zimbabwe restart flights to Beijing, London

AIR Zimbabwe resumed overseas flights on Friday after resolving a payment dispute with its fuel suppliers.The airline cancelled flights to China and London last weekend over a debt thought to be in excess of US$1 million.President Robert Mugabe was on board the Harare-Kuala Lumpur-Beijing flight on Friday as he travelled to China on an official state visit.

An Air Zimbabwe spokesman confirmed the Sunday day flight from Harare to London would go ahead as scheduled, with the return flight on Monday evening.The state-owned airline has struggled to stay afloat in recent years owing to old aircraft, poor management and declining passengers. A strike by pilots over pay between July and September this year cost the airline millions of dollars.Last week, ministers announced that the government was assuming Air Zimbabwe’s US$140 million debt to clear the way for talks aimed at finding an international partner for the airline.

Online course starts Sunday

Students will receive an email through ACES Sunday with a link to complete student surveys for all current courses at the Alamo Colleges. The survey will end on Dec. 18.Vice President Jessica Howard said a new program, Class Climate, will be used to allow students to complete the survey through ACES email.Class Climate is a software that collects students evaluation and information,Thomas Cleary, vice chancellor for planning, performance and information systems, said Nov. 9.Gary O‘ Bar, district director of purchasing, said the cost of the Class Climate software was $47,000.

Howard said House Bill 2504 requires the district to update new programs such as Class Climate and ACES to meet uniform standards for publishing cost of attendance information, to conduct student evaluations of faculty, provide a syllabus and to make certain information available on the Internet within three clicks of the homepage.Students with mobile devices and access to the Internet should be able to fill out the survey,David Wood, director of institutional research planning and effectiveness, said.Faculty will be encouraged to have their students take the survey through SACALL emails,Wood said.Paper surveys to be tallied by scanners were used prior to the online survey.Wood said Class Climate contains the same questions as the paper survey.Students will get a prompt from every class to complete the survey,Howard said. She said she hopes that students will do the survey and not ignore the prompt.

She said reports will be generated for department chairs and instructors to show results of the student surveys.Howard said she was unsure how long it would take for the results to be tallied.
These are sophisticated reports that show their marks in relationship to others who teach the same course and to the institution as an average,Howard said.In fall 2010, Northwest Vista College ran a pilot for the Class Climate program.About 30 classes took the survey,Elizabeth Lopez, statistical research specialist at Northwest Vista, said Nov.10.They could use their computer desktop, iPad, iPod, iPhone, or laptop, to fill out the survey.

She said the pilot results were sent to administration for review.Another test was conducted in fall Flex 1 courses at this college.Wood said the results showed bugs in a data block cell that it has been fixed.Howard said eventually, students could use the results from the surveys to select a professor and course by clicking on a button on the school home page.She said the link would show the total score for the professor for all the classes they taught for the semester and would allow students to cross check them on eSyllabus.Results should be available for students to use to register for fall 2012.

Flights to Taipei and Seoul negotiated

Direct flight service between Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) and Gimpo airport in Seoul, South Korea, has finally become a reality after Taiwan signed an aviation pact with South Korea yesterday.The service was part of President Ma Ying-jeou’s campaign promises of building a Golden Aviation Circle in Northeast Asia to connect Taipei, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul.Sources within the Civil Aeronautics Administration had indicated that South Korea had been unwilling to negotiate direct flight service because it was requesting that Taiwan give South Korean flights the right to fly to a third country after they arrive in this nation, also known as the fifth freedom of the air.Both sides had been unable to reach consensus on the issue.

Civil Aeronautics Administration Director-General Yin Chen-pong said that the negotiations were this time limited to passenger flight services between the two airports. The parties did not talk about the possibility of granting the fifth freedom of the air, he said.According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the direct flight service between the two airports will begin in March next year, when the International Air Transport Association starts to implement its summer scheduling.Each side is allowed to dispatch seven flights a week, and the governments on both sides can assign specific carriers to offer the direct flight service, using aircraft that can carry 200 passengers or less.

The capacity for the flight service between the Taoyuan and Incheon airports, on the other hand, has been increased from 4,500 seats to 5,500 seats a week.Like Songshan, Gimpo is located in its country’s capital. According to the administration, passengers arriving at Incheon airport spend about 80 to 90 minutes on the road before they reach downtown Seoul. Travel time will be reduced by about 20 minutes if they arrive at Gimpo airport.Statistics from the Ministry of Transportation and Communications showed that South Korean visitors to Taiwan had increased from about 167,600 in 2009 to about 216,900 last year. Taiwanese visitors to South Korea had also risen from about 380,500 in 2009 to 406,300 last year.

CIEE announce the launch of its Global Access GAIN, which, by committing $1 million annual to scholarships

CIEE is excited to announce the launch of its Global Access Initiative, which is designed to overcome the main barriers to study abroad, namely, challenges of cost and curriculum requirements. GAIN will expand the opportunities for students from all backgrounds and all majors to participate in study abroad programs.Through GAIN, CIEE is committing one million dollars each year to students who are economically challenged, are pursuing intensive international experiences, or are otherwise limited by their major or student activities. CIEE will provide grants and scholarships to students for full-year, semester, and summer programs.

GAIN will launch in summer 2012 and provide access to study abroad programs for students unable to attend due to financial constraints. Grants and scholarships will be available for the 36 CIEE summer programs offered in 21 countries. GAIN will also provide grants and scholarships to students who are selected as awardees by the highly respected Benjamin A. Gilman and David L. Boren Scholarship programs.Research shows that students who participate in study abroad programs graduate faster, experience benefits in career development, and find their overall experience to be the single most positive element of their time in college. GAIN was created to ensure that study abroad is available to all students.

For nearly 65 years, CIEE has been the leader in providing access to high quality study abroad programs around the world. Today, with 136 programs in 41 countries, CIEE offers more summer, semester, and year-long academic programs in more cities than any other international education organization and is committed to offering high quality programs that are available to every student, regardless of economic means or academic major.

British Airways begin flights to Italy

BA will launch a new flight to Bologna in Italy next April and increase frequency to a number of other European hotspots from Heathrow.The new service, which goes on sale today, will start on April 29 and will be in addition to BA's flights to Bologna from Gatwick.The airline will also offer additional flights from Heathrow to Barcelona, Brussels, Amsterdam and Rome during the peak summer season.

BA has already announced that it will be investigating more than £5bn in new aircraft, refurbished cabins and lounges over the next five years.From next week, it will be rolling out iPads to 2,000 crew members to provide them with up-to-the-minute information on passengers, following a successful three-month trial of the tablets.Crew will be able to get the latest information on passenger preferences, their previous travel arrangements and any special requests. The iPads will replace the long scrolls of paper normally handed to crew immediately prior to departure.

New Courses Offer Added Skill Sets for Professionals Seeking to Enhance Career Opportunities

University of California, Irvine Extension announces two new course additions to the Optical Engineering Certificate Program for the winter quarter.According to Indeed.com, the national salary average for an Optical Engineer is $93,000, which means today's optical engineers must take advantage of technology and trends in order to stay ahead of the competitive market,said Dr. Dave Dimas, director of UC Irvine Extension's engineering, sciences and information technology programs.Participating in continuing education with top-notch industry professionals is the most effective way to remain in the forefront of the industry. We always strive to bring courses that deliver the advanced skill sets that help these professionals move forward in their career.

New online courses, scheduled from Jan. 9 through Mar. 25, include:Optical Mechanical Component Design.This introductory course fills the gap between optical and mechanical engineering. Students will learn how to insure designs are reliably manufactured, how to integrate optical and mechanical components into subsystems and much more.Introduction to Fiber Optics With an emphasis on properties of light, light emitting diodes and fiber optics, topics from this course will include system analysis and design, light coupling to fiber, fiber waveguide dispersion, and other concepts related to fiber optics.

A free webinar, titled Optical Engineering and Optical Instrument Design: Education Planning Session,is scheduled for Nov. 29. Participants will hear about the newest trends and technology available to optical engineers and the benefits of the certificate program. Information on payment options including student loans, state and federal funding, and other career planning resources will also be presented. To register for the webinar, visit extension.uci.edu/events.

About UC Irvine Extension: University of California, Irvine Extension is the continuing education arm of UC Irvine. Through thousands of courses and programs offered on campus, online and on site, UC Irvine Extension helps adult learners reach their career advancement and personal enrichment goals and is celebrating 50 years of providing universally accessible, university-level learning to local, regional, and global communities.About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UCI is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Led by Chancellor Michael Drake since 2005, UCI is among the most dynamic campuses in the University of California system, with nearly 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students, 1,100 faculty and 9,000 staff. Orange County's largest employer, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $4.2 billion.

Qantas to start flights to Hong Kong

Qantas will fly its flagship Airbus A380 from Sydney to hong Kong as of January 2012.The A380 will replace the current Boeing 747-400 on the morning QF127 service as of Sunday January 15, 2012, and the companion QF128 flight from Hong Kong to Sydney, for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each week.The remaining days will see the Boeing 747-400 in service; Qantas' other daily Sydney-HK flight, QF87/QF88, will remain an Airbus A330.

Qantas also plans to increase A380 services between Melbourne and Los Angeles to a daily basis from January 17, up from the current four flights per week, while December will see Melbourne to London via Singapore also move to daily from the current six flights per week.To make the most of your trip, check out our guide to the best seats on the Qantas Airbus A380 as well as the seats to avoid for business class and premium economy.And if you're heading onwards from Hong Kong to London with British Airways, you'll want to choose the best BA flight for your connection see our guide to the best BA flights from Hong Kong to London.

Study abroad remains affordable

Courtney Handy, a junior majoring in history and English, hoped to study abroad in Ireland. She had chosen a program she thought she could afford, at Trinity College in Dublin. When she went the Center for Global Education for a second consult about her trip, she discovered that it would be out of reach.The University of Tulsa charges students TU rates for room and board, regardless of the cost at the host university. Courtney, who lives off campus, said,It’s really not okay with me. The CGE needs to tell people up front. It’s ridiculous. Not only do I have to live at home, I can’t even study abroad.

Laura Semenow, director of CGE, explained the university’s policy.If the program costs less than TU tuition, students will only pay TU tuition and not room and board,she said.If the program abroad costs more than TU tuition we will charge room and board. If students live at home, don’t pay TU room and board, and don’t want the extra expense, they should choose programs that cost less than TU tuition.The goal is to equalize costs for everyone, but students like Handy often feel penalized, since they do not pay room and board unless they study abroad.

According to Open Doors Report on International Exchange,the number of college students studying abroad fell from 262,416 during the 2006–2007 academic year to 260,327 during the 2008–2009 year. The economic downturn is largely to blame, but Semenow emphasized that study abroad is still affordable for most students.For those programs that exceed TU tuition, everyone pays the same tuition, room and board,she said.While some programs cost less than that, others cost more, but TU doesn’t penalize students for that and we won’t charge the difference, up to around $3,000.

Faculty-led programs are another option for students concerned about the costs of study abroad. These courses often include short trips abroad during breaks. Semenow said that participation in these types of programs has been rising.Dr. Steve Steib underscored the benefits of studying abroad.Studying abroad lessens the provincialism that other cultures are like our own, or inferior, he said. Steib said he had noticed the change in perspective of economics students returning from foreign countries. Their experiences often change their views on foreign economics and currencies.Senior Sean Fuentes studied abroad in Costa Rica. He said that his experience enriched his education, and that I left Costa Rica with amazing friendships that I never want to lose, a language I can actually use now, and the knowledge of what it is like to live in a place that is different from the United States.

Flights to Cape Town launched by Swiss airline

Swiss airline Edelwiss Air launched its maiden flight to Cape Town from Zurich last week.Edelweiss, using its Airbus A330-200, is scheduled to fly the new route non-stop twice weekly, on Tuesdays and Fridays.It becomes the second international carrier to launch flights to Cape Town this year, following Air France's new seasonal non-stop flights to the city out of Paris as of 3 November.

However, Air France has said it would consider extending its newly launched seasonal Cape Town Paris service to a year-round operation if demand remains consistent through this summer season.The airline last week inaugurated the first flights operated between the two cities since 1999.Senior Vice President Air France/KLM: Middle East and Africa, Pierre Descazeaux, said bookings had so far been strong with the Boeing 777-200 aircraft used on the route offering a good balance of product for the leisure and business traveller.The first flights are full and forward bookings are good. We know it will be a success and customers out of South Africa seem to be booking the destination Paris early,he explained.Mr. Descazeaux added Air France could consider utilizing larger aircraft on the route and could also increase frequencies, depending on demand.

Many students from New Orleans colleges are studying abroad

As she moved from table to table, scanning the glossy brochures touting faraway lands at Tulane University's Study Abroad Fair, Alle Ehrhardt was clearly a woman on a mission. The freshman biology major didn't know where that mission would take her Ireland, perhaps, or South Africa or Paris, to name a few possibilities but she knew she had to go somewhere.I want to go badly, horribly, said Ehrhardt, who became more excited by the moment.My dad said, Alle, I missed out on this opportunity in college. You have to go.'She is hardly alone. As a result of a combination of factors, including the Internet and the rise of global economy, more U.S. students than ever are heading overseas as part of their college education.

In the decade ending in the 2008-09 academic year the latest term for which data are available the number of American collegians studying abroad rose by 81 percent, from 143,590 in 1999-2000 to 260,327.The latter number represents a small drop from the preceding year. While experts attribute the decline of 0.8 percent to the economic downturn, they say it is too early to tell how long that effect will last.Despite that surge, the number of students traveling to foreign lands is still small about 1.4 percent of the total number of college students in the United States, according to NAFSA, a national organization of educators who run international programs. Assuming that most students spend four years at college, that means roughly 6 percent of students spend time abroad during their college careers.

The number tends to be substantially higher at private schools.In Louisiana, the proportion of students who went abroad in 2008-09 was less than 1 percent. Experts give several reasons, including Louisiana's relative poverty and the body blow that Hurricane Katrina dealt to local colleges and universities. In the wake of the storm, both Xavier and Dillard universities shut down their study-abroad programs.While international study always has been viewed as a plum for the wealthy, there have been attempts to make it more accessible to students with lesser means, such as offering semester-long or summer programs in addition to the traditional year abroad. According to the Forum on Education Abroad, a private organization that sets standards for overseas study, 56 percent sign up for no more than eight weeks.

And students in many foreign programs pay the same tuition their home schools charge.Despite such modifications, this is still an expensive enterprise. For a summer in Innsbruck, Austria, under the auspices of the University of New Orleans, Rachel Trice, a junior, took out a $3,000 loan to supplement a scholarship she received.She had no regrets.It was great,Trice said.It fostered independence.

Locally, Loyola tops the area in the percentage of its student body that studies abroad, at about 8 percent each year, or 400 students. That means roughly a third of Loyola's students take part in a study-abroad program during a typical four-year career. UNO and Tulane, which have bigger enrollments, send around 500 each year, and LSU sends about 600, according to those schools.Most students who travel abroad are white, according to data from the Institute for International Education, a private, nonprofit organization. During the decade that the institute surveyed, the proportion of white participants was never below 80 percent. In New Orleans, two of the city's historically black universities, Dillard and Xavier, are still attempting to rebuild their study-abroad programs.

Social-sciences and language majors account for most students who go abroad, NAFSA spokeswoman Ursula Oaks said,but we are seeing some upcreep in sciences and law and health.At LSU, officials established Encounter Engineering in Europe because it has been found that engineering is the profession most likely to send people overseas, said Harald Leder, director of Academic Programs Abroad at the Baton Rouge campus.

For years, studying abroad also meant studying in Europe. That continent remains the dominant destination for American collegians, with the United Kingdom receiving about one-third.But China holds the No. 5 spot on the Institute of International Education's list of most-favored destinations, followed by Australia in sixth place, Costa Rica in 10th and South Africa in 13th.Alex Guillory, a Tulane sophomore studying public health, plans to go to Africa because he is interested in improving health in Third World countries.

I can get a trial run so I can see if I like what I'm doing before I commit to living in the Third World, he said.At Loyola,they go all over, including Chile, Turkey, Estonia, Argentina, Bulgaria and China, said Debbie Danna, director of the Center for International Education.Mary Jameson, a junior journalism major, went to India. During her month there, she saw grinding poverty close-up, and she traveled with a monk who had escaped from Tibet.It was an entirely different plane of existence,she said.It's one of the best experiences I've ever had.Such unconventional travel will pay off, Danna said.I tell students that research has shown that if an employer sees two résumés, the one with broad experience will get a foot in the door.