Economic crisis turns women away from "niche" schools

Laptop Girl
Public Domain photo from Flikr

Opinion
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As the economy continues to plummet, so does the appeal of private "all girl" schools to women, an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education said.

Last week Carnegie Communications released the results of an online poll they conducted in August of 860 high school students nationwide that documented this, according to the article.

Out of the high school students who said they plan to go to college, 90 percent said they would be very likely to apply to public institutions. In comparison only 10 percent of women surveyed said they would apply to women's colleges, the article said.

With the costs of tuition rising and budget cuts private institutions are becoming less of a reality for students who do not have financial support for school in the upcoming semesters.

Women's colleges need to find a way to appeal to young women if they are going to keep up in the education race this year.

Men might be the cure for holiday woes

Opinion
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Traditionally women have been accused by society as being frivolous spenders. The mall is always full of them and husbands commonly complain about their wives expensive habit.

However this holiday season the roles have been reversed.

Retailers like Bloomingdale's and Saks Fifth Avenue are expanding their men's departments in hopes that men will save the holiday shopping season, an article in the Wall Street Journal said.

While the sale of women's apparel continues to decrease, the numbers for men's apparel are actually rising, the article said. Store owners are choosing to target men instead of women for the first time, in hopes that they will make it through what is predicted to be a grim holiday season this year.

It has been perceived that women are always the ones spending money on a whim and binge shopping whenever they have a bad day, while men are the more cautious spenders not likely to randomly stop by the mall and do some damage. This article suggests that this is not necessarily true.

My interview with Alvaro Monge

Opinion
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Last week I sat down with Alvaro Monge, computer science advisor, for a discussion about the presence of women at Cal State Long Beach in the computer science department.

Our talk went well and it was shocking to see the schools enrollment statistics presented that showed how bad it actually is getting. At CSULB this fall only 35 women were enrolled in the computer science program and 308 men.

Monge showed me how his department is dealing will this huge gap between the women and men in the computer science classes.

Before computer science classes were for the most part very dull and text driven in the lower level classes, they did not leave room for students to be creative, Monge said. Now he has rearranged the classes and offered some that allow his students to be much more involved.

Monge showed me colorful pictures that the students had taken or found in which they manipulated the photo using the skills they had learned in class. This was a big hit with the students, he said.
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To view some of Monge's students work visit The Picture gallery

2008 Women’s Research Colloquium at CSULB

Children's books
Originally uploaded by wtorbeyns

Children's books and Jordanian women peak the intrest of CSULB's faculy.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Nov. 18, 2008)--Deborah Hann and Lina Kawar are set to speak at Cal State Long Beach tomorrow for the 2008 Women's Research Colloquium, according to a press release on the CSULB Web site.

Hann will be talking about maps in children's literature and how they help expand children's imagination and Kawar is speaking about why Jordanian Immigrant Women are not participating in breast screening, the article said.

The the Women’s Research Colloquium was created in 1986 to showcase research of CSULB women faculty, according to the release. The conference will start with a buffet dinner at 5 p.m. and the presentations will begin at 5:30 p.m. Cost is $20 for all guests.

The colloquium is sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center and the Office of University Research, the press release said .

For additional information the release says to contact Cynthia Angiuli in the CSULB President’s Office at 562/985-1688.

CSULB women engineers reach out to youth

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Nov. 15, 2008)--The College of Engineering at Cal State University Long Beach hosted its eight annual engineering education conference last week, according to an article on the CSULB Web site.

Over 200 elementary and middle school girls attended the hands on convention which encourages girls to consider engineering as a future area of study, the article said.

Currently women only comprise less than 15 percent of the student engineering population, the article said, making the goal of this conference to introduce and increase participation of young girls in the engineering and science fields.

This conference is important because it educates women at a young age about computer science and engineering, two majors that have seen a drastic decrease in female participation, computer science advisor at CSULB Alvaro Monge said.

McCain barely passes women's issues test

Barack Obama
Originally uploaded by Domain Barnyard

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Oct. 27,2008)--The Economists' Policy Group for Women's Issues gave a progress report on how well Barack Obama and John McCain are addressing the 10 issues they feel are most important to women, on Thursday.

The issues ranged in topics from health care to poverty.

The EPGWI was formed in 1992 and are committed to evaluating presidential candidates on how they address issues considered to be major concerns for women, according to their Web site.

In the evaluation McCain trailed significantly behind Obama in every category. Earning a failing grade in both pay and employment equity and reproductive rights.

Women and children are going to be the hardest hit by the current recession because they already account for the majority of U.S. citizens living in poverty,the EPGWI said on their Web site, that is why it is important to look at how these candidates are planning on helping American women.

Neither candidates did outstanding, but Obama received a B overall, while McCain averaged out at a D.

Related article: Economists Grade McCain and Obama on Issues ‘Vital to Women’.
This article was published online by Grace L. Williams for the Wall Street Journal. It goes more in depth into were the EPGWI got their information, and how they feel about the presidential candidates.

Suicide rates increase for women

LONG BEACH, Calif. (Oct. 27,2008)--A 2005 study shows that suicide rates for middle-aged white women have increased significantly over the past decade.

The report by Johns Hopkins School of Public Health found that suicide rates overall have increased for the first time since 1999.

Traditionally self help groups have targeted teens and elderly males who have previously held the highest rates of suicide, but now the research shows that a new group has rates on the rise, according to Johns Hopkins Web site.

There has been no explanation by the institute for this change, but they did say that the rise in mid-life crisis' could be a factor in the statistics.