WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has a message for the unemployed: More help is on the way.

The president was outlining steps Friday to help the jobless pursue education and training, and keep their unemployment benefits, too.

Currently, people who are out of work and want to go back to school have to give up their monthly unemployment check. And if they decide to return to school, they often don’t qualify for federal grants because eligibility is based upon the previous year’s income.

The president was announcing the new measures hours after the government reported that the economy shed 539,000 more jobs in April, driving the unemployment rate to 8.9 percent, the highest level since late 1983. Still, it was the fewest jobs lost in six months.

Under the measures Obama was scheduled to outline, according to the White House:

• The Labor Department will encourage states to update rules during economic downturns so that the unemployed can enroll in community colleges and other education or training programs without giving up their benefits. States generally require people who collect unemployment to be actively looking for work, which can make it difficult to sign up for school or job training. Going to school will satisfy the requirement that they be actively seeking new employment.

• The Education Department will encourage colleges to increase financial aid packages for the unemployed. Colleges can consider an unemployed worker’s situation and make them eligible for Pell Grants, which help low-income students afford college, and other aid. An unemployed person could get a Pell Grant and use it to pay for education or job training without giving up unemployment benefits. Beginning in July, the maximum Pell Grant will be boosted by $500, to $5,350.

“Our unemployment insurance system should no longer be a safety net, but a steppingstone to a new future,” Obama said in remarks prepared for delivery Friday. “It should offer folks educational opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have” and give them skills they need to “get ahead when the economy comes back.”

Obama has directed Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to implement the changes. Both departments also have launched a new Web site, www.opportunity.gov, to help get the word out to the public.

States also will send letters to every unemployment recipient describing available training opportunities and financial support.

The $787 billion economic recovery package Obama signed into law in February gave states billions of dollars to provide extended benefits to the unemployed.

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ON THE WEB

Labor & Education site: www.opportunity.gov

WASHINGTON — Wading into the politically charged immigration debate, a group of colleges and universities is urging Congress to give illegal immigrants tuition aid and a path to citizenship in light of efforts in several states to block them.

The College Board, made up of 5,000 schools and best known for its SAT college admission tests, released a report Tuesday that cites a need for federal legislation that would open up in-state college tuition, financial aid and legal status to many illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Speaking publicly on the issue for the first time, the board is making its push after states in recent years have moved to bar illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition and, in some cases, enrolling in their public colleges. It also comes as opponents are warning that immigration reform now could reduce already-scarce jobs and college enrollment slots in the ailing economy.

“This is a new area for us, but it was an easy call,” said Thomas W. Rudin, a senior vice president for the College Board.

He noted the contradiction in which illegal immigrants who are legally entitled to a K-12 public education suddenly hit barriers when applying to college, even when many are “honor roll students, athletes, class presidents and valedictorians.”

“We absolutely believe it’s important for opening up economic opportunities,” Rudin said.

Under House and Senate bills known as the Dream Act, illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. as children — defined as age 15 and under — and have lived here for five years could apply to the Homeland Security Department for conditional legal status after graduating from high school.

Such legal status would make the immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition rates and some forms of federal financial aid. Then, if they attend college or participate in military service for at least two years, the immigrants would qualify for permanent legal residency and ultimately citizenship.

The legislation, which has been introduced in various forms since 2001, comes as President Barack Obama is preparing to address the contentious issue of immigration reform later this year. The Dream Act has previously passed the Senate but failed to become law as it was folded into proposals for more comprehensive reform.

“It’s a straightforward test of what America is about: Do we punish children for the actions of their parents?” said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. “If, as we try to pursue comprehensive immigration reform, we can’t get this simple element done, I don’t know what we can get done.”

Opponents disagree.

“It’s a massive amnesty effort being laid for this fall,” said Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which seeks to restrict immigration. “Since many of these illegal aliens and their families are overwhelmingly on the lower end of the economic scale, they’re going to take the lion’s share of need-based financial aid.”

Among the College Board’s findings:

—About 360,000 illegal immigrants who have a high school degree could qualify for the tuition aid. Another 715,000 immigrants between the ages of 5 and 17 would also benefit if they are motivated to finish high school and pursue a college degree.

—States that offer tuition aid to illegal immigrants generally saw increased college revenue by enrolling these additional students, rather than financial burdens caused by an influx of immigrants paying cheaper tuition.

—An estimated 5 percent to 10 percent of the 65,000 illegal immigrants who graduate from high school each year go to college. Their ability to receive a higher education and move into better-paying jobs would help the U.S. economy in the form of increased tax revenue and consumer spending.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that illegal immigrants are entitled to a K-12 public education, but federal law is silent as to their college rights. As a result, states have been divided over providing benefits, and in many cases leave it up to individual colleges to decide.

South Carolina bans illegal immigrants from enrolling at any of its public colleges, and Alabama blocks them from its two-year colleges. Missouri and Virginia are also considering laws that deny enrollment.

At least four states — Georgia, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona — generally prohibit illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates.

The nine states that offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants are California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Texas, Utah and Washington. New Jersey is now reviewing whether to offer in-state tuition, while California is considering whether to let immigrants compete for financial aid.

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ON THE NET

College Board: www.collegeboard.com

WASHINGTON — Wading into the politically charged immigration debate, a group of colleges and universities is urging Congress to give illegal immigrants tuition aid and a path to citizenship in light of efforts in several states to block them.

The College Board, made up of 5,000 schools and best known for its SAT college admission tests, released a report Tuesday that cites a need for federal legislation that would open up in-state college tuition, financial aid and legal status to many illegal immigrants in the U.S.

Speaking publicly on the issue for the first time, the board is making its push after states in recent years have moved to bar illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition and, in some cases, enrolling in their public colleges. It also comes as opponents are warning that immigration reform now could reduce already-scarce jobs and college enrollment slots in the ailing economy.

“This is a new area for us, but it was an easy call,” said Thomas W. Rudin, a senior vice president for the College Board.

He noted the contradiction in which illegal immigrants who are legally entitled to a K-12 public education suddenly hit barriers when applying to college, even when many are “honor roll students, athletes, class presidents and valedictorians.”

“We absolutely believe it’s important for opening up economic opportunities,” Rudin said.

Under House and Senate bills known as the Dream Act, illegal immigrants who entered the U.S. as children — defined as age 15 and under — and have lived here for five years could apply to the Homeland Security Department for conditional legal status after graduating from high school.

Such legal status would make the immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition rates and some forms of federal financial aid. Then, if they attend college or participate in military service for at least two years, the immigrants would qualify for permanent legal residency and ultimately citizenship.

The legislation, which has been introduced in various forms since 2001, comes as President Barack Obama is preparing to address the contentious issue of immigration reform later this year. The Dream Act has previously passed the Senate but failed to become law as it was folded into proposals for more comprehensive reform.

“It’s a straightforward test of what America is about: Do we punish children for the actions of their parents?” said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. “If, as we try to pursue comprehensive immigration reform, we can’t get this simple element done, I don’t know what we can get done.”

Opponents disagree.

“It’s a massive amnesty effort being laid for this fall,” said Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which seeks to restrict immigration. “Since many of these illegal aliens and their families are overwhelmingly on the lower end of the economic scale, they’re going to take the lion’s share of need-based financial aid.”

Among the College Board’s findings:

—About 360,000 illegal immigrants who have a high school degree could qualify for the tuition aid. Another 715,000 immigrants between the ages of 5 and 17 would also benefit if they are motivated to finish high school and pursue a college degree.

—Roughly 10 states that offer tuition aid to illegal immigrants generally saw increased college revenue by enrolling these additional students, rather than financial burdens caused by an influx of immigrants paying cheaper tuition.

—An estimated 5 percent to 10 percent of the 65,000 illegal immigrants who graduate from high school each year go to college. Their ability to receive a higher education and move into better-paying jobs would help the U.S. economy in the form of increased tax revenue and consumer spending.

The Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that illegal immigrants are entitled to a K-12 public education, but federal law is silent as to their college rights. As a result, states have been divided over providing benefits, and in many cases leave it up to individual colleges to decide.

South Carolina bans illegal immigrants from enrolling at any of its public colleges, and Alabama blocks them from its two-year colleges. Missouri and Virginia are also considering laws that deny enrollment.

At least four states — Georgia, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona — prohibit illegal immigrants from paying in-state tuition rates.

The 10 states that offer in-state tuition to illegal immigrants are California, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Washington. New Jersey is now reviewing whether to offer in-state tuition, while California is considering whether to let immigrants compete for financial aid.

DEARBORN, Mich. – Two students were killed Friday in an apparent murder-suicide at a community college, police said.

The bodies of 28-year-old man and 20 year-old woman were discovered in a room at a Henry Ford Community College building after police responded to an emergency call of a gunshot on campus, said Dearborn Deputy Police Chief Gregg Brighton.

As officers entered the MacKenzie Fine Arts Center, they heard another gunshot, Brighton said.

The man used a shotgun to kill the woman and then turned the gun on himself, he said.

Brighton declined to release their names but said they took at least one class together, which had met earlier in the day Friday.

The school, which has about 17,000 commuter students, sent alerts through an e-mail and cell phone system and locked down the campus, said Marjorie Swan, Henry Ford’s vice president/controller.

“Nothing like this has ever occurred on campus,” Swan said.

She said the school west of Detroit wasn’t as busy as usual because the shooting happened on Good Friday.

Christian Plonka, a 12-year-old who attends a theater program in the building, said he heard “one gunshot, and I saw someone getting pulled back into the room they were in.”

Plonka and other students in the program ran into a parking lot at the adjacent University of Michigan-Dearborn campus, where they waited until police allowed them to leave.

Earlier Friday, a 19-year-old gunman wounded three people at a vocational training college in Athens, Greece, before killing himself, authorities said.

The shootings came a week after a man walked into the American Civic Association center in Binghamton, N.Y., and killed 14 people before turning the gun on himself.

Colleges focus more on services, computer centers

Most of the nation’s colleges are gradually paring back their investments in classroom teaching, an analysis of federal data shows.

And all colleges have in recent years been spending a greater share of their revenue on expenses other than instruction, including computing centers, student services, administrative salaries and lawn care.

Those are among findings of a report released Thursday that sheds light on where various types of colleges and universities get their money and how they spend it. While instruction remains the largest share of education and general spending at most colleges, much of the revenue raised by increasing tuition is not going to that core function of higher education, it concludes.

With one notable exception, “Students are paying for more and arguably getting less, particularly in the classroom,” says Jane Wellman, director of the Delta Cost Project, a Washington-based nonprofit that released the report. It is based on federally reported data from 2002 to 2006 of nearly 2,000 public and private institutions that enroll about 75 percent of all college students.

The exception is private research universities, which spend more per student than any other sector, but which enroll fewer students overall than most other institutions.

The report found that total spending on education and related services, including academic and administrative support, remained flat or declined between 2002 and 2006 everywhere but at those institutions, which can draw from more sources, including endowment income.

That could change as more private research universities, including Cornell, Harvard and Yale, see precipitous drops in their endowments.

At public colleges and universities, much of the decline in instruction spending, which is primarily faculty salaries and benefits, can be linked to a decline in state appropriations.

“I don’t think institutions have decided to disinvest in instruction,” Wellman says, but their spending patterns do show “a lack of a strategic approach.”

“The quickest place to cut costs is in instructional programs. When the primary focus is on balancing the budget from year to year, you grab what you can and spend where you must,” Wellman says.

Existing data can’t speak to the quality of education, nor is it detailed enough to determine whether specific spending is justified. A key goal of the report is to encourage institutions and policymakers to be more transparent about their finances.

“Policymakers and the public are showing increasing skepticism about spending in higher education, questioning whether tuition increases are helping to expand access and improve quality,” it says. “The data in this report show that this is a valid question.”

Kara Pennino, who attends The Harley School, a private high school in Brighton, N.Y., was accepted at Drew University.

With the hospice care volunteer work she’s done in Belize, Kara Pennino is one of those millions of youngsters challenging the myth of the selfish teenager.

But while the Rochester, N.Y., high school senior always figured her service work might impress a college, she never imagined it could help make college more affordable.

So she was stunned earlier this month when she got her acceptance letter from Drew University in New Jersey. She stopped reading after “Congratulations” to celebrate with her teary-eyed mom. It was mom who noticed the second letter — telling Kara she’d won a new community service scholarship Drew was offering that would cover her full tuition, which runs just under $36,000 this year.

“With the economy and the stock market, they’re very happy,” Pennino recalled of her parents, still giddy herself two days after getting the news. They started joking Kara deserved a new car, and she’s hoping they weren’t kidding.

Ask college administrators about what sets this generation of current and aspiring college students apart and they’ll quickly bring up their volunteer spirit. An estimated three-quarters of high school students do some volunteering, and the rapidly growing number of college students who volunteer is estimated at around 3.3 million.

But while college admissions offices like to see service work from applicants, they’ve rarely rewarded it with financial aid — or at least not the way they do for star athletes and students with high SAT scores. Of the $29 billion U.S. colleges and universities awarded in institutional grants last year, only a tiny fraction goes to service scholarships.

In the short-term that may not change much, with colleges squeezing their aid budgets to help students in sudden financial need because of the economy.

But longer-term, service-based merit aid looks like an idea with momentum. Colleges are catching up to the interests of an especially civic-minded generation of students, building curricula around service-learning and eager to attract the most ambitious students. And backers are excited about the election of Barack Obama, who made federal financial aid in exchange for community service his centerpiece college affordability campaign proposal.

The federal work-study program now requires schools to use 7 percent of their funds paying students for community service work. But more schools are now putting up some of their own aid dollars.

Seventy-nine colleges match tuition awards students earn through AmeriCorps, the federal community service program. In November, Drew announced plans to spend $1 million annually supporting 12 service-minded students per incoming class. The College of New Jersey and Tufts University are among schools with similar programs, and 27 colleges partner with an organization called the Bonner Foundation to provide four-year service scholarships to about 1,500 students (the foundation also works with about 50 other institutions in a separate but related program). Other schools, like Duke, offer scholarships that are at least partly service-based.

Wayne Meisel, president of the Bonner Foundation, says he’s been challenging higher education leaders to develop 50,000 service-related scholarships by the end of the decade (though it’s unclear exactly how many there are now).

“I’ve had these conversations with college presidents, and they say that’s the kind of financial aid package we provide our football players,” Meisel said. “I’m like, ‘Exactly. That’s the idea.”‘

Administrators emphasize such programs shouldn’t just be one-time prizes to reward students for their good deeds in high school. The new ones are actually not unlike college sports scholarships — the time commitment to earn back the scholarship starts when you get to campus. Requirements can include up to 300 hours per year and a commitment to projects that tie the service work back to classroom learning.

But it’s not just a campus job. Ideally, it’s a key educational experience.

The new Drew Civic Scholars will experience special classes and off-campus programs, part of a larger commitment to learning through civic engagement that will set the school apart from peers, said president Robert Weisbuch. The first class of scholarship recipients will help define how exactly the whole school will make that happen.

“We thought, ‘How do we get people to know that we want to attract … pragmatic idealists to Drew, that this is the student we’re especially looking for?”‘ he said.

One answer: The university announced the scholarships to guidance counselors with a letter that included an Old-West-style poster saying, “Wanted. Students Who Serve. Reward Offered.”

“It’s a competition, with the notion that it’s not just an award,” Weisbuch said. “It’s a challenge: You’ve done some great stuff in high school. Now we want to see you make a commitment in college and thereafter.”

About 50 miles south, outside Trenton, The College of New Jersey runs essentially its own version of the Bonner Scholarship program, spending about $360,000 of its own money annually to aid 65 students who perform service work on 13 issue-based teams.

Pat Donohue, who directs the program, says for now he recruits from lists the admissions office provides of students who have already applied and may be a good match. But he wants to move more toward the model college coaches use, identifying their own talent, and going out and recruiting prospects to the school.

“This is giving the taxpayers a return on their investment,” Donohue said, noting TCNJ is a public college. “We’re probably mobilizing students and spending in excess of 25,000 hours a year helping our community partners.”

Kristina Merced, a TCNJ freshman from Hoboken, spends time at least three days per week tutoring and mentoring at a Trenton high school that prepares students for careers in the medical field. She also works with them on their own service projects and college prep.

She wasn’t aware of the program when she applied to TCNJ but was thrilled to learn she would get 100 percent of her tuition covered for something she planned to do anyway.

“It really helps draw people into TCNJ, especially if you didn’t get a big financial package,” she said. “Any little dollar helps.”

Fred Derilus, a fourth-year TCNJ student from East Orange, said his financial aid came in the nick of time; he picked up a community service scholarship just as a two-year state grant ran out. He works at a Trenton academic sports academy and considers the work an essential part of his education. And he likes what the program — which has ties to the Bonner Foundation and has taken that name — says about TCNJ’s values.

“Like the athletes, the Bonners are really recognized on campus,” he said. “Similar to like how you’d point out the point guard on the basketball team, people say, ‘That’s a Bonner.”‘

Donohue emphasizes it’s not just about rewarding high-achieving students who happen to have a long high school record of service work. Sometimes he’s looking for students who really need the high level of engagement the program provides.

Service work helps students “feel more connected to the institution, and I think is one more reason for them to stay and get to the finish line and graduate,” he said, adding several high-risk students he’s brought in told him they stayed because of the program.

Depending on institution and program, financial need is often factored into such scholarships. But they may also be awarded essentially as merit scholarships to better-off students.

Pennino, the Rochester high school student, said her parents had told her not to pick a school based on cost. But with two older siblings, Pennino, whose father is a surgeon, said the offer is a relief.

She has a few other applications in and hasn’t made up her mind, but she likes what the program says about Drew.

“During the college application process I got more and more stressed out about my SATs and GPA, and I’ve always thought, ‘This is just a letter or a number, what does this ‘B’ really represent?”‘ she said. “‘Does it say who I am?’ What I’ve always thought matters most about me is what I do.”

“I love seeing Drew has looked at another side of life, saying it’s not all about grades,” she said. “It’s about what you do in the community. I really hope other schools catch on.”

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On theWeb

http://www.drew.edu

http://www.tcnj.edu

Americorps: http://www.nationalservice.gov/

Bonner Foundation: http://www.bonner.org/

Other service scholarships: http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/service.phtml

Pell

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Claiborne Pell, the quirky blueblood who represented blue-collar Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate for 36 years and was the force behind a grant program that has helped tens of millions of Americans attend college, died Thursday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 90.

Mr. Pell, a Democrat, died at his Newport home just after midnight, according to his former assistant, Jan Demers.

Mr. Pell was first elected to the Senate in 1960. The skinny son of a New York congressman, Pell spoke with an aristocratic tone but was an unabashed liberal who spent his political career championing causes to help the less fortunate.

He disclosed he had Parkinson’s in 1995 and left office in January 1997 after his sixth term.

Members of Rhode Island’s all-Democratic congressional delegation lauded Pell’s legacy.

“Senator Pell was a remarkable statesman and legislator who worked tirelessly to promote peace and expand opportunity through education,” Sen. Jack Reed said in a written statement.

“We will all miss him deeply, and long benefit from the works of his farseeing soul,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said. And Rep. Jim Langevin called Pell a “gentleman and champion for those who needed their voices heard.”

When asked his greatest achievement, Mr. Pell always was quick to answer, “Pell Grants.”

He sponsored legislation creating the Basic Educational Opportunity Grant program, which passed in 1972 and provided direct aid to college students. The awards were renamed “Pell Grants” in 1980. By the time Mr. Pell retired, they had aided more than 54 million low- and middle-income Americans.

“He believed strongly that a good education could open infinite doors of opportunity, and he has transformed the lives of millions of young people who have been able to go to college because of the grant that rightly bears his name,” said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Thomas Hughes, chief of staff for Senator Pell from 1975 until his retirement, said Pell believed financial aid should be given directly to students rather than distributed by colleges and universities.

“He always had this view that the federal government should help young people be able to have an education beyond high school,” Hughes said.

Quiet, thoughtful and polite to a fault, Mr. Pell seemed out of place in an era of in-your-face, made-for-television politicians. A multimillionaire, he often wore old, ill-fitting suits and sometimes jogged in a tweed coat.

Though criticized by some for his fascination with UFOs and extra sensory perception, he was best remembered for his devotion to education, maritime and foreign affairs issues.

Mr. Pell also shared a strong interest in the arts, and was chief Senate sponsor of a 1965 law establishing the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Mr. Pell was well-liked among peers from both political parties, who respected his non-confrontational style. “I believe in letting the other fellow have my way” was a favorite refrain Pell used to refer to his negotiating skills.

Born in 1918, Mr. Pell came from a political family and was a descendant of early New York landowners who lived among the old-money families in Newport. Five family members served in the House or Senate, including great-great-granduncle George M. Dallas, who was a senator from Pennsylvania in the 1830s and vice president under President James K. Polk in the 1840s. His father, Herbert Claiborne Pell, was a one-term representative from New York.

Mr. Pell graduated from Princeton in 1940, and served in the Coast Guard during World War II. He remained in the Coast Guard Reserve until retiring as a captain in 1978.

He participated in the 1945 San Francisco conference that drafted the United Nations charter and was a staunch defender of the institution throughout his life.

He served in the foreign service for seven years, holding diplomatic posts in Czechoslovakia and Italy, then returned to Rhode Island in the 1950s. He was elected to the Senate in 1960 after defeating two former governors in the Democratic primary.

Despite his peculiarities, he became the most formidable political force in Rhode Island. In his six statewide elections, he received an average 64 percent of the votes.

“I attribute (my popularity) to one reason, and that is I have never critically mentioned my adversary,” Mr. Pell would say.

The late Republican Sen. John Chafee of Rhode Island once said Pell’s popularity was due to the state’s overwhelmingly Democratic leanings and Pell’s honesty and integrity. Voters embraced Pell’s quirkiness and, to a certain extent, his distance from common people.

A story from Pell’s 1972 Senate campaign was a favorite in Rhode Island and was told often to illustrate his isolation from the average Joe.

Pell was campaigning in Providence when it began raining. Pell, who had a formal evening engagement, had forgotten his galoshes. An aide was dispatched and returned with a pair.

In his very formal manner of speech, Pell asked the aide, “To whom am I indebted for these fine rubbers?”

“I got them at Thom McAn, senator,” the aide answered, referring to the budget shoe store chain.

“Well, do tell Mr. McAn that I am much obliged to him,” Pell said.

A dove who vigorously opposed the Vietnam War, Pell in 1987 became chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. He was considered a weak chairman, and he lost the job to Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina when Republicans gained a majority in 1994.

Pell considered retiring in 1990, but was persuaded by party leaders to run. He easily defeated then-U.S. Rep. Claudine Schneider despite making a monumental gaffe during a televised debate in which he was asked to identify a piece of recent legislation he had sponsored to help Rhode Islanders.

“I couldn’t give you a specific answer,” Pell said. “My memory’s not as good as it should be.”

Pell was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in December 1994 and disclosed the condition the following spring. He insisted the disease had nothing to do with his retirement.

“There is a natural time for all life’s adventures to come to an end and this period of 36 years would seem to me about the right time for my service in the Senate to end,” he said in September 1995.

When attending a July 2006 ceremony in his honor in Newport, Mr. Pell did not talk, letting his wife, Nuala, speak on his behalf.

He and his wife, who married in 1944, had four children. Their daughter Julia died of lung cancer in 2006 at age 52.

Get glasses at Flandrau Science Center, Starizona

Follow the link below for more images and information on how to get 3-D glasses.

High resolution 3-D images of the Martian surface have been made public by the University of Arizona-led High Resolution Science Imaging Experiment.

HiRISE has been taking 3-D images from aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft since November 2006, said Eric Eliason, mission co-investigator and operations manager.

He said 362 of the 3-D images were posted on the mission’s Web site Monday.

The images may be found at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/anaglyph

Another 600 are slated to be released by March, he said.

The color images show fractured mounds, canyons gullies and mountains on the planet’s surface.

Inexpensive two-color filter glasses are needed to view the images, he said.

Glasses may be obtained at UA’s Flandrau Science Center, 1601 E. University Blvd. and Starizona, 5757 N. Oracle Road, Suite 103. The HiRISE Web site offers information on purchasing glasses.

The 3-D images, called anaglyphs, are a result of using HiRISE to collect data for digital surface elevation models, he said.

Human eyes, separated by a few inches, provide the brain with 3-D images.

HiRISE paired images of a point on Mars, taken from slightly different angles, to come up with the 3-D images, he said.

The paired images could be separated by 100 or more orbits of the planet, he said.

Because the convergence angle, or the angle between the two observation points and the spot being photographed, range from 20 to 30 degrees, the topography portrayed can be exaggerated, he said.

“Those craters you see are not as deep as they look,” he said. “Typically there can be two to three times exaggeration.”

While the surface elevation data provides specific numbers of how tall or long surface features are, there is great qualitative scientific value in the anaglyphs, he said.

“You get a great idea of the surface relief,” he said. “That’s why we have two eyes. We see in stereo and we can make more sense of the world with two eyes.”

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RELATED

HiRISE image site: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/anaglyph

Tucson Citizen Mars page: www.tucsoncitizen.com/mars

Tufts University junior Dean Ladin expected to owe as much as $40,000 in student loans upon graduation and assumed he’d need to postpone for years his dream of working in youth services.

But now he’s planning to apply for a low-paying teaching job in a high-need setting. By doing so, he will become eligible for a program, launched earlier this year, to help Tufts graduates pay down their debts if they go to work in a public service field.

The program has “put the notion into my mind that I might be able to do something other than big business,” the political science major says.

Eager to encourage public service and give debt-burdened graduates more options, several colleges and universities are trying new initiatives.

This fall, for instance, eight 2008 Princeton University graduates are the first group to begin two-year, federal jobs as a pre-condition for pursuing a free Princeton master’s degree.

Harvard Law School said earlier this year it will, starting in 2010, waive one year’s $41,500 tuition for third-year students who commit to work five years in government or non-profit fields. Tufts became the nation’s first university this year to offer loan repayment assistance to all its graduates, not just those from a particular professional school.

Recruiting students for Uncle Sam

Undergraduates at 15 colleges are for the first time this fall receiving stipends to discuss their federal internship experiences and recruit classmates to work for the federal government. Meanwhile, the year-old Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program eventually will discharge outstanding balances on federal student loans for anyone who, after October 2007, works full-time for 10 years in government or non-profit groups.

Supporters of new initiatives say the programs are necessary to create opportunities for students and society alike. The average new college graduate owes almost $22,000 on student loans, a 63 percent inflation-adjusted increase from 1993 when the average graduate owed $9,300.

“We’ve heard nothing but concern,” says Christine Lindstrom, director of higher education for U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. “Some say, ‘I want to be a teacher, but if I’m staring at $600 worth of loan repayments a month, maybe that’s not a good idea.’ ”

Public service fields also need to recruit fresh talent. Public schools must attract 2 million new teachers over the next decade, according to federal projections. The nation’s nursing shortage could reach 500,000 by 2025, says a 2008 Vanderbilt University report. And the federal government, facing a wave of baby boomer retirements, is trying to fill nearly 200,000 jobs in two years.

“The cost of education is a major barrier to the pursuit of government jobs and public service professions,” says Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a non-profit that encourages careers in government. “When you don’t have the right talent in government, you don’t get good government. And we’re seeing demands on government that are extraordinary,” such as management of the financial industry bailout.

Program benefits still unclear

Not everyone is convinced, however, that financial incentive programs have a big impact on career decisions. Don Heller of the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University reviewed scholarly literature on the subject last year for the College Board and found evidence to be inconclusive. It’s unclear “whether … all you’re doing is forgiving the loans of students who would have gone into (a public service) profession anyway,” Heller says.

Some graduates pursue public service jobs despite heavy debt burdens. Ivy Hest, a 2007 Brandeis University graduate, didn’t let $36,000 in student loans scare her away from a job as a political organizer at Rosie’s Place, a Boston shelter for poor and homeless women. She has worked three jobs and has three roommates in order to pay down principal each month. But she says she’s not tempted to take a higher-paying job.

“I feel I need to be working right now with people who are low-income and underserved because I don’t want them to feel lost,” Hest says.

For Tufts senior Jennifer Bailey, however, the arc of her public service career is determined largely by financial incentives. She’s a Truman Foundation scholar, which means she’ll receive up to $30,000 toward a master’s degree in exchange for working three years in public service after graduate school. Knowing grad school won’t require huge loans, she says she can afford to teach for a year or two after college and forgo a higher-paying job.

Institutions supporting new public service initiatives hope others will follow their leads. Princeton, for example, last year brought together representatives from 24 colleges and universities to encourage wider adoption of the programs.

But because private incentives are costly to endow and replicate, some who dream of a public service renaissance have set their sights on Congress. A “Roosevelt Scholars” bill, which would create an ROTC-type program to make college less expensive for future civil servants, is pending in the House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor.

The number of foreign students enrolled in U.S. colleges surged 7 percent last year to 623,805, an all-time high and the largest one-year increase on record. It is the strongest sign yet that post-9/11 declines are history.

Enrollments of foreign undergraduate and graduate students just starting to pursue their degree are rising even faster — 10.1 percent last year — suggesting growth will continue, says the report, issued Monday by the non-profit Institute of International Education, which tracks international education trends for the U.S. State Department.

“These numbers are truly historic,” says Goli Ameri, assistant secretary of State for educational and cultural affairs. “We haven’t just covered lost ground … we have now surpassed” previous records.

The total number for the 2007-08 academic year is 6 percent above the previous high, set in 2002-03. While enrollments reached 586,323 that year, they were up just 0.6 percent over 2001-02. Enrollments declined slightly for the next three years, then rebounded in 2006-07 when enrollments increased 3.2 percent.

Institute president Allan Goodman credits the turnaround primarily to efforts by the U.S. government and colleges in recent years “to ensure that international students know they are welcome here.”

Much of the dropoff was blamed on lingering concerns about visa delays and denials, and continued tension between the United States and much of the world. Between 2000 and 2006, the global share of international students in U.S. institutions dropped from 25 percent to 20 percent, says the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The State Department has responded with efforts including an expanded network of advisers worldwide and a more streamlined visa application process.

A survey in October of 778 colleges and universities suggests another potential factor: Of 432 schools that said international enrollments are up this fall, 19 percent said the weak U.S. dollar made tuition costs more attractive. That survey was conducted by the institute and seven national higher education organizations.

In addition to the cultural and educational assets such students bring to U.S. campuses, the report says, they also contribute about $15.5 billion to the economy. About 62 percent pay their own way, it says; U.S. universities are the main funding source for 25.9 percent, mostly grad students in science, math and engineering.

Immigration researcher David North calls the financial benefit “a phony argument” based on flawed methodology. His research, based in part on National Academy of Sciences data, suggests that the institute’s annual reports understate how much U.S. higher education spends on foreign graduate students.

In 2006, U.S. universities were the primary source of graduate-level financial aid for 90.7 percent of foreign students, compared with 64 percent of U.S. citizens. He argues that the presence of foreign graduate students is lowering wages for all students in grad programs.

“That, in turn, discourages Americans (from going) into some of these fields,” North says.

Goodman disagrees. “We just don’t have enough Americans going into science, math and engineering, and the foreign graduate student often is the teaching assistant we badly need,” he says. “We want them because one of them is going to cure cancer or invent the vaccine for HIV.”

While many community college students say their coursework is challenging, there is “ample evidence” colleges can do more to help more students do their best work, a report says.

“No one rises to low expectations,” says Vincent Tinto, a Syracuse University education professor and advisory board member of the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, which released the report today.

The report, including findings from a survey of more than 343,000 students on 585 community college campuses in 48 states, aims to help colleges assess the quality of education their students receive. Questions are based on research showing that the more engaged, or actively involved, students are in their schoolwork, the more likely they are to meet educational goals.

Of this year’s respondents, 59 percent said their primary goal is to receive an associate’s degree, and 52 percent planned to transfer to a four-year college. Nationally, about 36 percent of community college students earn a certificate or an associate’s or bachelor’s degree within six years, according to a federal data analysis by the Community College Research Center at Teachers College.

Many said they were working hard, but overall findings offered a mixed picture of the intersection between student effort and faculty expectations.

For example, 49 percent of students said they often or very often worked harder than they thought they would need to meet an instructor’s standards, and 68 percent described their exams as being more than moderately challenging.

Yet 67 percent of full-time students said they spend 10 or fewer hours preparing for class in an average week, and 24 percent said they always came to class prepared. Among full-time students, 29 percent said they have written four or fewer papers of any length during the current school year.

“Students aren’t going to learn to write well at that rate,” survey director Kay McClenney says.

When her organization asks students in focus groups about their academic experiences, she says, “one of the more poignant things we hear, and we hear it relatively often, is: ‘They don’t expect enough of me.’ ”

Colleges that keep expectations high also need to create an environment that enables success, the report says.

Studies consistently show, for example, that community college students who participate in orientation programs are more likely to be engaged in their studies. Yet 60 percent of students surveyed said they have not participated in such a program and don’t plan to.

The survey found comparable — or lower — participation rates in other programs known to enhance student engagement, including courses that teach study skills such as time management, and “learning communities,” in which groups of students study multiple subjects together.

Similarly, 39 percent of students say peer or other tutoring is very important, but 7 percent say they use tutors often, and 46 percent never do.

Many community colleges “are doing some things that are very helpful (for) small numbers of students,” McClenney says. “One of the challenges is how to (make) those kinds of experiences the norm for the way we work with students, rather than the exception.”

That’s not to suggest scaling up programs would be easy. Most community colleges operate on shoestring budgets. And the typical community college student is a time-pressed part-timer who juggles multiple responsibilities such as jobs or family.

But more institutions are taking steps to raise expectations and increase support, says George Boggs, president of the American Association of Community Colleges, a non-profit organization that represents 1,200 institutions.

“A lot of our students are coming into college not prepared to succeed,” Boggs says. “We’re not doing them any good by letting them fail.”

Suit alleged non-Mormon counselors penalized

PHOENIX – The University of Phoenix will pay nearly $1.9 million to settle a religious discrimination lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The EEOC alleged that the private university discriminated against enrollment counselors who were not associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The suit alleged that non-Mormon counselors were given fewer new student recruiting leads and more reprimands.

The EEOC says $1,875,000 will be paid to 52 counselors as part of the settlement announced Monday. The University of Phoenix agreed to adopt a zero-tolerance policy toward religious discrimination and hire a diversity officer.

The University of Phoenix is owned by the Apollo Group Inc. It did not admit wrongdoing.

Nearly one in five college seniors and 25 percent of freshmen say they frequently come to class without completing readings or assignments, a national survey shows. And many of those students say they mostly get A’s on their report cards.

The survey doesn’t address whether those students are lazy, busy, intimidated, bored or geniuses. But it supports other studies that suggest a disconnect between what college professors expect from students and what students actually do.

“College learning is a two-way street,” says Indiana University professor Alexander McCormick, director of the National Survey of Student Engagement, which conducted the study. “The purpose here is not to dump on faculty, but when a substantial chunk of students come to class unprepared, it suggests that they can get away with it.”

Findings, out today, are based on surveys this spring of nearly 380,000 randomly selected freshmen and seniors at 722 four-year colleges. Participating schools generally reflect the diversity of U.S. higher education.

Colleges use the survey to help evaluate the quality of their undergraduate education. Among findings:

— Students report spending about 3.5 hours a week preparing for each class. That’s about half of what instructors expect: 6.8 hours a class.

— 59 percent of seniors and 55 percent of freshmen said they frequently worked harder than they thought they could to meet an instructor’s standards.

— Of those who frequently didn’t do homework, 30 percent of freshmen and 36 percent of seniors got mostly A’s.

Those findings echo observations of Northern Arizona University anthropology professor Cathy Small, who spent a year living in a dorm and attending classes alongside freshmen as part of research for a 2005 book.

Many students cut corners as a way of managing the demands of student life, when “there were no consequences and no rewards for doing or not doing” homework, she says.

Small has since cut back on required reading, and ties homework directly to discussions, quizzes or exams. “Part of accountability meant you created readings that were realistic in terms of the goals of the class.”

CHICAGO – The University of Chicago announced Thursday that an alumnus has given its business school a $300 million gift, a record sum that comes as many universities worry they’ll see donations dry up amid the financial meltdown.

The unrestricted donation by David G. Booth, chairman and CEO of Dimensional Fund Advisors, and his family is the largest individual gift ever to a U.S. business school and the largest in the University of Chicago’s history, said Dean Edward Snyder.

The school will be renamed the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said Snyder, whose announcement was met by a standing ovation and cheers from students and faculty assembled at a news conference.

“I cannot adequately express the deep gratitude that we feel toward David and Suzanne,” Snyder said, referring also to Booth’s wife.

The money will “attract star faculty” and possibly expand the school’s international presence, Snyder said. The school also has campuses in London and Singapore.

The previous record for a business school was a $105 million gift to Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business in 2006 from Philip H. Knight, founder and chairman of Nike Inc., Snyder said. The largest to the University of Chicago was a $100 million gift from an anonymous donor in 2007.

Booth, who previously gave the business school $10 million, said the first course he took with professor Eugene Fama was a “life-changing” event for him. He earned a master’s degree from the university in 1971 and founded Dimensional Fund Advisors, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based asset management firm, in 1981.

“It’s not a gift … it’s the University of Chicago getting its due for helping me out all along the way,” Booth said.

Booth’s gift from the Booth Family Trust is a combination of an upfront payment and interest in part of the trust’s shares in Dimensional Holdings, Inc., parent company of Dimensional Fund Advisors, the school said in a statement. The business school will receive income from the shares and the value of the shares if they are sold.

University President Robert J. Zimmer called the gift “extraordinary in both its generosity and its endorsement of the university’s mission.”

About 3,100 students attend the business school. It has about 42,000 alumni worldwide, according to the school’s Web site.

Associated Press writer Sophia Tareen contributed to this report.

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On the web

The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business: http://www.chicagogsb.edu/

Two Arizona schools have made the annual list of 100 Best Values in Public Colleges. The University of Arizona is ranked No. 96 and Northern Arizona University is No. 97 by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.

The top school is University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

The annual list ranks four-year schools that combine top-notch education and affordability.

The rankings take into consideration several factors, including student-faculty ratio, graduation rates, SAT scores, tuition cost and average debt a student carries upon graduation.

More than 500 schools were evaluated this year.

A full listing of the schools is available at www.kiplinger.com/money/collegevalues.