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Robert R. Taylor Network, Inc.
LAIV* Wire
Volume 2 Issue 7 - July, 2011
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We, at the Robert R. Taylor Network, are proud to bring this e-publication to your desktop. This is the seventh issue of LAIV Wire, a monthly compilation of what is new in the world of black culture in architecture, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (ASTEM).
*Leadership, Archives, Institute, Ventures and Network. |
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A monthly compilation of articles on black culture in ASTEM.
1. The Road To Success: NSBE flips the script on lagging recruitment and retention
2. Brazil and Africa Ready to Do the Samba
3. Museum project may be a mix-up
4. Massive Genome Studies Identify Genetics Behind White Blood Cell Counts
5. Are African Americans Afraid of Science?
6. Miami Gardens educator makes science a blast
7. You Can't Fight Poverty If the Kids Can't Read
8. The Ed Tech Boom
9. FORENSIC FORCE: Are Nigerians getting dumber?
10. Minority U.S. schools have inexperienced teachers: report
11. Center for Research Excellence Builds Competitiveness
12. Civil rights survey: 3,000 US high schools don't have math beyond Algebra I
13. Is Grade 8 too early for algebra?
14. Space Exploration To Embark On A New Beginning
15. Eight New Distinguished Research Chairs Join PI
16. Engineering Education "Today in History" Blog: The Real McCoy
1. The Road To Success: NSBE flips the script on lagging recruitment and retention
By Chris Levister
23 June, 2011
(NNPA) - In 1971, during the civil rights movement, Arthur J. Bond a student leader at Purdue University led students to demand that the engineering and science powerhouse open up its engineering schools to more Blacks and women. Fredrick L. Hovde, Purdue's president at the time, was sympathetic to the cause. He appointed Bond to a steering committee, which organized the first national effort to increase minority participation in engineering. Read Me: GreaterDiversity
2. Brazil and Africa Ready to Do the Samba
By Servaas van den Bosch
WINDHOEK, Jul 1, 2011 (IPS) - African trade with India and China flourished over the past decade but, with unemployment rising and industrialisation failing to take hold, cracks are appearing in Africa's much-vaunted "Look East" doctrine. Meanwhile, from across the Atlantic, Brazil is making inroads into the continent.
Could relations with the Latin American powerhouse present a more viable alternative to the East in Africa's South-South relations?
Read Me: IPSNews
3. Museum project may be a mix-up
By Johnny Edwards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
July 2, 2011
The project ranks high on north Fulton leaders' gripe list - a $5 million museum at Fulton County Airport-Charlie Brown Field honoring the Tuskegee Airmen, the World War II black fighter squadron, which has no direct tie to the airport. Read More: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
4. Massive Genome Studies Identify Genetics Behind White Blood Cell Counts
ScienceDaily
(July 1, 2011)
- A trio of large-scale genome-wide association studies, or GWAS, have identified more than 15 gene variants responsible for the diversity of white blood cell counts among whites, African-Americans, and Japanese. Supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, each study examined the genomes of tens of thousands of people. Combined, the studies offer the first comprehensive analysis into why some people, and some populations, have more or fewer white blood cells than others. Read More: Science Daily
5. Are African Americans Afraid of Science?
Noted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson discusses lack of minority representation in his field
by Alan Hughes
June 30, 2011
Over the years, Neil deGrasse Tyson has become perhaps the most recognized scientist in the country. As the host of PBS' NOVA scienceNOW, and a regular guest on such popular shows as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the Colbert Report and Jeopardy! the astrophysicist continues to bring his own brand of scientific enlightenment to the masses.
BLACK ENTERPRISE recently spoke with the Director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City to discuss African Americans in the sciences. Read More: Black Enteprise
6. Miami Gardens educator makes science a blast
A new program is aimed at teaching black children they can grow up to be astronauts, architects and any other professional who uses math and science.
By Latoya Burgess
07.01.11
Fewer than 20 percent of NASA workers are African-American, but a science educator is hoping her new math and science program that teaches kids to build pyramids from mathematical equations and gumdrops will change that.
Read More: Miami Herald
7. You Can't Fight Poverty If the Kids Can't Read
When it comes to the matter of the role of high-quality education in stemming poverty, the thoughtlessness on the subject is rather bipartisan. Bring in the question of whether every child should be given a rigorous, college preparatory education, along with the idea that every child should attain postsecondary education, and the mindlessness becomes astounding. This truism was proven once more this week amid the publication of Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce's latest report on the need to increase the number of college-educated American children.
Read Me: Dropout Nation
8. The Ed Tech Boom
Technology creating new paradigm in the classroom
By NorthStar News Staff
June 30, 2011
Gone are the days when chalk dust floated through the air as teachers outlined their lessons on blackboards. The classroom of yesterday is slowly giving way to a new setting where electronic devices loaded with software applications will be the standard, replacing the chalkboards and textbooks that were familiar to generations of Americans. Already whiteboards or smart boards are replacing the old blackboards and some school districts are beginning to phase-in tablets to eliminate the necessity of students trudging through hallways with a backpack full of books. Read Me: Northstar News
9. Forensic Force: Are Nigerians getting dumber?
By Salisu Suleiman
July 1, 2011
As a primary school pupil in the 1980s, my classmates and I could take dictations with relative ease. Our teachers didn't have to repeat themselves too many times and only spelt out words we were not familiar with. Some 20 years later as a PhD researcher in one of Nigeria's 'top' universities, I got the shock of my life when lecturers (including some professors), began dictating notes to the class - and got told that they were dictating too fast! This is not fiction. It really happened. And because not much has changed since then, I believe those professors are still there, dictating worthless notes to new doctoral researchers. Read More: Next
10. Minority U.S. schools have inexperienced teachers: report
Washington
Jun 30, 2011
(Reuters Life!) - U.S. schools with African-American students are twice as likely to have teachers with little experience as majority white schools in the same district, according to new data released on Thursday.
The recently expanded Civil Rights Data Collection is a biennial survey of differences in educational opportunities and resources.
Read More: Reuters
11. Center for Research Excellence Builds Competitiveness
CREST fosters cutting edge research for underrepresented groups
June 29, 2011
By Marlene Cimons, National Science Foundation
Few African Americans earn doctorates in physics. The class of 2007, for example, produced only 13 nationwide, according to the American Institute of Physics. Remarkably, five of them came from Florida A&M University (FAMU), whose program only began in 2001. Read More: US News
12. Civil rights survey: 3,000 US high schools don't have math beyond Algebra I
The latest Civil Rights Data Collection shows, as never before, the education inequities that hold various groups of students back.
By Stacy Teicher Khadaroo
June 30, 2011
To better diagnose achievement gaps and help education leaders tailor solutions, federal civil rights officials on Thursday released an expanded, searchable set of information - drawn from schools in more than 7,000 districts and representing at least three-quarters of American students.
Read More: Christian Science Monitor
13. Is Grade 8 too early for algebra?
By Rob Kuznia
07/09/2011
The Manhattan Beach Unified School District boasts the third-highest test scores in the state of California. So it would be natural to assume that a relatively large share of its eighth-graders are on the accelerated track in mathematics.
Read Me: Contra Costa Times
14. Space Exploration To Embark On A New Beginning
by NPR STAFF
July 11, 2011
Host Michel Martin's talk with Bernard Harris is the first part in our series called "Flying High: First In Their Class ," in which we speak with astronauts and other pioneers of space exploration who have broken new ground.
Bernard Harris was the first African American to walk in space. He's also a physician and trained flight surgeon, and the founder of The Harris Foundation. That's a non-profit organization that provides education in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math to students, particularly minorities and those who are economically or socially disadvantaged.
Read More: National Public Radio with AUDIO link
15. Eight New Distinguished Research Chairs Join PI
WATERLOO, Ontario, Canada,
July 11, 2011 - Dr. Neil Turok, Director of Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI), is pleased to announce the appointment of eight more outstanding international scientists as Perimeter Institute Distinguished Research Chairs.
In making the announcement, Dr. Turok stated, "We are thrilled to welcome these eight world-leading scientists to PI's research community. Science is an inherently human process, and bringing the right people together is often the key to success. Each of these new DRCs will bring significant new ideas and expertise to PI. We cannot tell exactly what they will do, but based on their past record we know it will be very exciting."
Read More: Perimeter Institute
16. Engineering Education "Today in History" Blog: The Real McCoy
by Chad-Eric Montomergy:
July 12th, 2011
Today in history - July 7, 1872 - Elijah McCoy created an invention that has made him arguably the most notable African American inventor ever. His birth date is still unknown although the date is speculated by many sources ranging from March 27, 1843 to May 2, 1844. His story would not have been possible if not for his parents. They were former slaves who fled from Kentucky to Canada by way of the Underground Railroad. Read More: The National Science Digital Library |
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