Clear Advantages to Studying Abroad: So Why Aren’t Students Enrolling?

Today’s employers are looking for graduates who possess technical skills, work effectively in teams, think critically and communicate effectively, especially across cultures in addition to other qualities. One of the most important skills a person needs in order to be successful in today’s global economy is understanding and working with different cultures. To begin to understand cultural differences, it is important to have cultural training and to experience another culture in that particular country. One of the best ways for students to experience another culture is to take part in a study abroad course and to immerse themselves in another country’s traditions and customs. The Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Fellowship Study Abroad Program Report concluded, “What nations don’t know can hurt them. The stakes involved in study abroad are that simple, that straightforward, and that important. For their own future and that of the nation, college graduates today must be internationally competent.” 5 Not only should graduates be internationally competent, research indicates links between studying abroad and improved graduation rates, as well as employability. 13 While the total number of students in the US studying abroad is still relatively low, at approximately 10% of the total student population, this number is actually at all-time high, which also takes into count students at community colleges. Another study, Gaining an Employment Edge: The Impact of Study Abroad on 21st Century Skills and Career Perspectives, indicated that with “study abroad there was a positive impact on the development of a wide range of the 21st century skills, expands career possibilities, and has a long-term impact on career progression and promotion.” 14 Currently, at the author’s institution 9% of the total enrollment studies abroad. This number is close to the national average of 10%, however, in the School of Engineering and Technology only 1.8% of the total student population currently studies abroad. Why are the national numbers so low and even much lower in Engineering and Technology? This paper will explore what employers are looking for in graduates, how can study abroad help students achieve success, and the benefits of studying abroad for both the employer and the student. The paper will look at some reasons why students might not take advantage of study abroad programs and what can be done to change the attitudes of faculty and students on the value of studying abroad to increase the preparedness of students for a career in the 21st Centur

Industry Advisory Board Assessment and Evaluation

Virtually all academic programs in any given discipline have an Industry Advisory Board (IAB) whose purpose is to add value to the academic program. It must be noted that the term “IAB” is generic in nature and refers to any Industry Advisory Board, Committee, Council, or otherwise named advisory group. An IAB exists to advise, assist, support, and advocate for their associated academic program and the constituents of that program. Similar to what accreditation requires of an academic program, an IAB must periodically assess and evaluate their performance, which can lead to corrective actions and have a profound impact upon an IAB and the academic program. The contents of this paper describe two methods that an IAB can use for assessment and evaluation, namely IAB Self-Assessment and IAB Benchmarking

Human Dimensions of Marine Fisheries: Using GIS to Illustrate Land-Sea Connections in the Northeast U.S. Herring, Clupea harengus, Fishery

Geographic Information Systems can help improve ocean literacy and inform our understanding of the human dimensions of marine resource use. This paper describes a pilot project where GIS is used to illustrate the connections between fish stocks and the social, cultural, and economic components of the fishery on land. This method of presenting and merging qualitative and quantitative data represents a new approach to assist fishery managers, participants, policy-makers, and other stakeholders in visualizing an often confusing and poorly understood web of interactions. The Atlantic herring fishery serves as a case study and maps from this pilot project are presented and methods reviewed

Factors Associated with Colorectal Cancer Screening among Younger African American Men: A Systematic Review

Of cancers affecting both men and women, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cancer killer among African Americans in the U.S. Compared to White men, African American men have incidence and mortality rates 25% and 50% higher from CRC. Despite the benefits of early detection and the availability of effective screening, most adults over age 50 have not undergone testing, and disparities in colorectal cancer screening (CRCS) persist. Owing to CRC’s high incidence and younger age at presentation among African American men, CRCS is warranted at age 45 rather than 50. However, the factors influencing young adult (i.e., age \u3c 50) African American men’s intention to screen and/or their CRCS behaviors has not been systematically assessed. To assess whether the factors influencing young adult African American men’s screening intentions and behaviors are changeable through structured health education interventions, we conducted a systematic review, with the two-fold purpose of: (1) synthesizing studies examining African American men\u27s knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors regarding CRCS; and (2) assessing these studies’ methodological quality. Utilizing Garrard’s Matrix Method, a total of 28 manuscripts met our inclusion/exclusion criteria: 20 studies followed a non-experimental research design, 4 comprised a quasi-experimental design, and 4, an experimental design. Studies were published between 2002 and 2012; the majority, between 2007 and 2011. The factors most frequently assessed were behaviors (79%), beliefs (68%), and knowledge (61%) of CRC and CRCS. Six factors associated with CRC and CRCS emerged: previous CRCS, CRC test preference, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, CRC/CRCS knowledge, and physician support/recommendation. Studies were assigned a methodological quality score (MQS – ranging from 0 to 21). The mean MQS of 10.9 indicated these studies were, overall, of medium quality and suffered from specific flaws. Alongside a call for more rigorous research, this review provides important suggestions for practice and culturally relevant interventions

The Mobile Generation: Global Transformations at the Cellular Level

Every year we see a new dimension of the ongoing Digital Revolution, which is enabling an abundance of information to move faster, cheaper, in more intelligible forms, in more directions, and across borders of every kind. The exciting new dimension on which the Aspen Institute focused its 2006 Roundtable on Information Technology was mobility, which is making the Digital Revolution ubiquitous. As of this writing, there are over two billion wireless subscribers worldwide and that number is growing rapidly. People are constantly innovating in the use of mobile technologies to allow them to be more interconnected. Almost a half century ago, Ralph Lee Smith conjured up "The Wired Nation," foretelling a world of interactive communication to and from the home that seems commonplace in developed countries today. Now we have a "Wireless World" of communications potentially connecting two billion people to each other with interactive personal communications devices. Widespead adoption of wireless handsets, the increasing use of wireless internet, and the new, on-the-go content that characterizes the new generation of users are changing behaviors in social, political and economic spheres. The devices are easy to use, pervasive and personal. The affordable cell phone has the potential to break down the barriers of poverty and accessibility previously posed by other communications devices. An entire generation that is dependant on ubiquitous mobile technologies is changing the way it works, plays and thinks. Businesses, governments, educational institutions, religious and other organizations in turn are adapting to reach out to this mobile generation via wireless technologies -- from SMS-enabled vending machines in Finland to tech-savvy priests in India willing to conduct prayers transmitted via cell phones. Cellular devices are providing developing economies with opportunities unlike any others previously available. By opening the lines of communication, previously disenfranchised groups can have access to information relating to markets, economic opportunities, jobs, and weather to name just a few. When poor village farmers from Bangladesh can auction their crops on a craigslist-type service over the mobile phone, or government officials gain instantaneous information on contagious diseases via text message, the miracles of mobile connectivity move us from luxury to necessity. And we are only in the early stages of what the mobile electronic communications will mean for mankind. We are now "The Mobile Generation." Aspen Institute Roundtable on Information Technology. To explore the implications of these phenomena, the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program convened 27 leaders from business, academia, government and the non-profit sector to engage in three days of dialogue on related topics. Some are experts in information and communications technologies, others are leaders in the broader society affected by these innovations. Together, they examined the profound changes ahead as a result of the convergence of wireless technologies and the Internet. In the following report of the Roundtable meeting held August 1-4, 2006, J. D. Lasica, author of Darknet and co-founder of Ourmedia.org, deftly sets up, contextualizes, and captures the dialogue on the impact of the new mobility on economic models for businesses and governments, social services, economic development, and personal identity

The Impact of Rules of Origin On Trade Flows

Within any preferential trade agreement (PTA) origin rules exist in order to prevent third countries from taking advantage of the PTA concessions. The rules thus are there to preserve the existing external protection of countries within the PTA. However, depending on their formulation, they can also increase that level of external protection, resulting in trade suppression and trade diversion. This paper provides the first serious empirical examination of the possible impact of rules of origin on patterns of trade in the European context. The methodology employed is that of an augmented gravity model where we focus on the impact within the Pan-european system of cumulation. The results suggest that rules of origin do indeed restrict trade, that the cumulation of such rules could increase trade in the order of 50%, and that the impact is greater on intermediate than manufacturing trade.international trade, rules of origin, gravity model

Next-Generation Media: The Global Shift

For over a decade the Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program has convened its CEO-level Forum on Communications and Society (FOCAS) to address specific issues relating to the impact of communications media on societal institutions and values. These small, invitation-only roundtables have addressed educational, democratic, and international issues with the aim of making recommendations to policy-makers, businesses and other institutions to improve our society through policies and actions in the information and communications sectors.In the summer of 2006 the forum took a different turn. It is clear there is a revolution affecting every media business, every consumer or user of media, and every institution affected by media. In a word, everyone. FOCAS sought to define the paradigm changes underway in the media, and to identify some of the significant repercussions of those changes on society."Next Generation Media" was a three-day meeting among leaders from new media (e.g., Google, craigslist, and Second Life) and mainstream media (e.g., The New York Times and Time), from business, government, academia and the non-profit sector, all seeking a broad picture of where the digital revolution is taking us.This report of the meeting, concisely and deftly written by Richard Adler, a longtime consultant in the field, weaves insights and anecdotes from the roundtable into a coherent document supplemented with his own research and data to form an accessible, coherent treatment of this very topical subject.The specific goals of the 2006 forum were to examine the profound changes ahead for the media industries, advertisers, consumers and users in the new attention economy; to understand how the development and delivery of content are creating new business models for commercial and non-commercial media; and to assess the impact of these developments on global relations, citizenship and leadership.The report thus examines the growth of the Internet and its effect on a rapidly changing topic: the impact of new media on politics, business, society, culture, and governments the world over. The report also sheds light on how traditional media will need to adapt to face the competition of the next generation media.Beginning, as the Forum did, with data from Jeff Cole's Center for the Digital Future at the University of Southern California, Adler documents the increasing popularity of the Internet for information, entertainment and communication. Users are increasingly generating and contributing content to the web and connecting to social networks. They are posting comments, uploading pictures, sharing videos, blogging and vlogging, chatting through instant messages or voice over Internet (VoIP), or emailing friends, business colleagues, neighbors and even strangers. As Cole observes, "Traditional media informed people but didn't empower them." New media do.The report describes three of the Internet's most successful ventures -- Wikipedia, Second Life, and craigslist. Wikipedia is a prime example of how an Internet platform allows its users to generate content and consume it. As a result of "wiki" software technology anyone can contribute or edit existing information free of cost. Second Life, a virtual world, sells virtual real estate where subscribers, in avatar form, can conduct conversations, go to lectures, even create a business. Craigslist, a predominantly free online classified site with listings in every major city in the United States, has become so popular that it is posing a significant threat to newspapers as it competes with their classified ad revenues.As a result of these and other new media phenomena, not the least being Google and Yahoo, print publications are wrestling with new business models that could entail fundamentally restructuring the way they operate. For instance, reporters are now expected to report a story on multiple media platforms and discuss them online with readers. Newspaper publisher Gannett is exploring the incorporation of usergenerated news or "citizen-journalism" into its news pages.In an era of abundant choices marketers have an even greater challenge to figure out how best to appeal to consumers. The report explores how marketers, e.g., of Hollywood movies or pomegranate juice, are moving from traditional or mainstream media to viral and other marketing techniques.For much of the world, the mobile phone rather than the computer is the most important communications device. Users depend on their phones to send and receive messages, pictures, and download information rather than just talk. In developing countries mobile phones are having an exceptional impact, penetrating regions which are not being serviced by land lines. Thus we are seeing new uses daily for this increased connectivity, from reporting election results in emerging democracies to opposing authoritarian governments in order to bring about new democracies.Meanwhile, the report discusses the need for the United States to develop a new form of public diplomacy rather than the traditional top-down approach to communicating to foreign citizens. This topic has been a recurring theme at FOCAS conferences the past few years, this year calling for more citizen diplomacy -- that is, more person-toperson contact across borders through uses of the new media. Indeed, Peter Hirshberg suggested that American leaders should listen more to the outside world to effectively manage what he called "Brand America."Finally, after acknowledging the detrimental effects that new technologies can bring about, the report discusses what role those technologies could play in expanding freedom and opportunity for the next generation. As a conclusion, FOCAS co-chair Marc Nathanson proposed adding a ninth goal to the United Nations Millennium Goals, namely, "to provide access to appropriate new technologies.

An evaluation of water treatment technologies piloted at LANL to improve cooling tower water efficiency.

This paper presents an evaluation of three technologies piloted at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for improving cooling tower water efficiency. High silica content (average of 88 mg/L) in LANL source water requires frequent blow down in cooling tower systems to avoid accumulation of silica scale on heat transfer surfaces. At concentrations above 150 mg/L, silica scaling on heat transfer surfaces can occur to the extent scale causes a reduction in cooling effectiveness and can lead to system shutdown. The pilot project evaluated two chemical treatment processes and two silica removal processes for a period of 4 months in a full-scale pilot. The chemical treatment processes were not successful in meeting reliability standards while meeting the 75 percent efficiency goal (-350 mgIL), while the filtration technologies demonstrated over 90 percent efficiency, where efficiency is defined as the percent of expected vendor process water usage to current LANL water usage in cooling tower systems. This paper discusses the results of the field test. and evaluates performance, reliability, and regulatory compliance, of the processes and presents an evaluation for full implementation options

Dietary guideline adherence for gastroesophageal reflux disease.

BackgroundGastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is the most common gastrointestinal disease, and the cost of health care and lost productivity due to GERD is extremely high. Recently described side effects of long-term acid suppression have increased the interest in nonpharmacologic methods for alleviating GERD symptoms. We aimed to examine whether GERD patients follow recommended dietary guidelines, and if adherence is associated with the severity and frequency of reflux symptoms.MethodsWe conducted a population-based cross-sectional study within the Kaiser Permanente Northern California population, comparing 317 GERD patients to 182 asymptomatic population controls. All analyses adjusted for smoking and education.ResultsGERD patients, even those with moderate to severe symptoms or frequent symptoms, were as likely to consume tomato products and large portion meals as GERD-free controls and were even more likely to consume soft drinks and tea [odds ratio (OR) = 2.01 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.12-3.61; OR = 2.63 95% CI 1.24-5.59, respectively] and eat fried foods and high fat diet. The only reflux-triggering foods GERD patients were less likely to consume were citrus and alcohol [OR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.35-0.97 for citrus; OR = 0.41 95% CI 0.19-0.87 for 1 + drink/day of alcohol]. The associations were similar when we excluded users of proton pump inhibitors.ConclusionsGERD patients consume many putative GERD causing foods as frequently or even more frequently than asymptomatic patients despite reporting symptoms. These findings suggest that, if dietary modification is effective in reducing GERD, substantial opportunities for nonpharmacologic interventions exist for many GERD patients

Developing a "High-Impact" Industry Advisory Board

Virtually all academic programs in any accredited discipline are required to have an Industry Advisory Board (IAB). It must be noted that the term “IAB” is generic in nature and refers to any Industry Advisory Board, Committee, Council, or otherwise named advisory group. The sole purpose of any IAB is to add value to their associated academic program. An IAB has no legislative, administrative, or programmatic authority. The role of an IAB is advisory, exclusively. IAB members are volunteers who work cooperatively with the academic program and administration in an effort to share their expert knowledge of career-related tasks and professional competency requirements within the academic discipline. However, not all IAB’s operates at a high-level of effectiveness or efficiency. In general, a “High-Impact” IAB has the required organizational structure to effectively develop and deliver their “best practices” with associated quality systems for the benefit of the academic program and the IAB. In order to clearly define and quantify IAB organizational structure and operating procedures, the IAB Growth Management Model (GMM) has been developed which is based on fundamental management and organizational theories and leadership/management models. The basic hypotheses of the IAB GMM state that: 1.) IAB Outcomes are a function of IAB Managerial Proficiency, 2.) IAB Outcomes are defined as the number and quality of “best practices” conducted by an IAB, 3.) Managerial Proficiency represents the IAB Organizational Structure and Staffing, the IAB Planning Systems, and the IAB Quality Systems; and 4.) an increase in IAB Outcomes or quality of IAB Outcomes necessitates an increase in IAB Managerial Proficiency. The contents of this paper are dedicated to a critical examination and evaluation of IAB Managerial Proficiency. Suggestions, guidelines, strategies, procedures and recommendations concerning IAB Organizational Structure and Staffing, IAB Planning Systems, and IAB Quality Systems are also presented. The ultimate goal of this paper is to provide a means by which an IAB can achieve meaningful results to greatly improve their overall performance