October, 2010
29
Oct 10
Halloween: A Few Fun Facts
Halloween Origins
Halloween is on October 31st, the last day of the Celtic calendar. It was originally a pagan holiday, honoring the dead. Halloween was referred to as All Hallows Eve and dates back to over 2000 years ago.
Halloween Commercial Success
In the U.S., Halloween is the 2nd most commercially successful holiday after Christmas. During a “Halloween Season” Americans spend around $2.5 billion on decorations, costumes, candy and party goods.
Carved Pumpkin
A jack-o’-lantern is a carved pumpkin. It was named after the phenomenon of strange light flickering over peat bogs, called jack-o’-lantern. The world’s largest jack-o’-lantern was carved in 2005 in Pennsylvania, from the world’s then-largest pumpkin weighing in at 1,469 lb (666.33 kg).
Trick-or-Treat
93% of American children, under the age of 12 go out trick-or-treating every year. An average Halloween trick-or-treat bag can consist of sweets containing as much as 6,653 calories. The tradition of trick-or-treating comes from a Scottish and Irish practice called “guising”. Children collecting treats would only receive the prize if they did a “trick” such as song or dance.
Candy
One quarter of all of the candy sold in the United States every year is purchased before Halloween. Chocolate makes up about 75% of it. Peanut and chocolate bars are among most popular candy for trick or treaters. Candy corn also popular around Halloween was created in the XIX century. The National Confectioners Association estimates that 20 million pounds (9000 tons) of candy corn are sold annually. Candy apple is made by coating an apple with a sugar layer and its popularity is associated with the fall of an annual apple harvest.
Costumes
Dressing up in costumes and going “guising” was popular in Scotland and Ireland at Halloween by the 19th century. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in stores in the 1930s. Traditionally the most common costumes are vampires, ghosts and skeletons, but more recently pop culture-inspired characters are gaining popularity. The most popular 2009 Halloween costumes were Michael Jackson, Sarah Palin, Transformers, Hannah Montana and Barack Obama.
Source: Wikipedia
25
Oct 10
American Sign Language – Course of The Week
The "I Love You" sign
American Sign Language (ASL), a visual-gestural language with its own vocabulary and grammatical structures, is said to be the fourth most commonly used language in the United States. A universal sign language does not presently exist, and thus different sign languages are used in different countries. British Sign Language (BSL), for example, differs from ASL.
Sign Language is offered at many universities as a foreign language and has gained popularity among hearing college and high school students, since many American colleges and universities have accepted American Sign Language as an option to fulfill the language entrance and exit requirements. Sign Language can be useful for anyone who has contact with the deaf public in their work place or personal life. Fluency in ASL can also allow you to be an ASL/English interpretor, and is important if you aspire to become an educator, or social worker.
California State University at Fresno awards a Certificate in Conversational American Sign Language to students who complete the 12-unit program.
Deaf Studies Certificate Program at Hofstra University Continuing Education in New York is delivered by instructors that are both hearing and deaf. Courses may be taken on an individual basis without participating in the certificate program.
The American Sign Language Program at the Northeastern University in Boston will provide you with a wide array of course offerings as well as volunteer, internship and practicum opportunities.
Northeastern University’s Master of Science in Interpreter Pedagogy (MIP) is primarily offered online, using web-based courses. It will prepare you for interpreting, with a focus on reflective teaching and active learning.
Source: The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), USA
22
Oct 10
You May be Addicted to Love…
According to a new study conducted by Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University in the U.S., you really can be addicted to love. Fifteen college-age male and female heterosexual volunteers were recruited and tested to prove this hypothesis. All of them were agonizing over a recent break-up but were still in love with the person who had rejected them. The average length of the relationship was about 2 years, and about 2 months had passed, on average, since the relationship ended. Participants viewed images of their ex-partners as researchers scanned the brain. The regions of the participant’s brains that lit up were the same ones associated with cocaine and nicotine addiction, physical pain and distress. Therefore it was suggested that recovering from a break-up is like a kicking an addiction to a drug.
The study also revealed that time seems to heal a broken heart. The more time since the breakup, the less activity there was in a brain region associated with attachment.
Conclusion of the study: if love really is an addiction, you have to treat it as an addiction, scientist Helen Fisher advises. She says that instead of staying connect through emails or phone calls, it is better to just keep your distance.
The results were published in the July issue of the Journal of Neurophysiology.
Source: LiveScience.com and ABCNews.com
21
Oct 10
Meet Prabhu Mohan Raj
Prabhu in our office garden
Educaedu is expanding to Asia and as a result of this expansion our team is growing too. Prabhu Mohan Raj has recently joined our team in Buenos Aires as a Content Manager for India. He proudly admits that India has one of the largest higher education systems in the world hence there are loads of challenges ahead of him to develop the Indian education directory and deliver it to our global community users. Prabhu was born in Bangalore, India’s third most populous city. Bangalore is home to many of the most well-recognized colleges and research institutions in India. Prabhu graduated from the Bangalore University with a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science and is currently studying to complete a MBA Degree in International Business at Alagappa University. He used to play cricket in the university and his only worry today is whether he can keep playing cricket in Argentina.
Pure at heart and noble in action is his life motto. He aims to live his life to the fullest and to enjoy every moment of it, so when the opportunity to come and work in Argentina presented itself, he had no doubts whether to take it or not. He simply went for it! Prabhu is an open-minded, curious, cheerful guy who is amused by both Argentina and the cultural melting-pot that is our office, and he hopes to learn a great deal from both.
Favorite song: I’ve got a feeling by Black Eyed Peas
Favorite book: Wing on Fire by Dr A.P.J Kalam
Favorite dish: Anything from his Mom’s kitchen
Favorite game: Cricket, represented university level matches as a Bats man
Welcome Prabhu!
18
Oct 10
Enology – Winemaking – Course of The Week
Have you ever wondered what sort of magic is necessary for producing a fabulous bottle of wine? Perhaps you´ve dreamed of buying a vineyard somewhere out there in California or South Africa and making the wine yourself? Does that seem a little out of reach? No worries, the first place to start is with a little education. We recommend looking into an enology (wine-making) or viticulture (grape-growing) university program that will provide you with the strong background in all aspects of wine production, including site selection, planting material, vine management, harvest parameters, grape handling and fermentation chemistry. Some programs will also provide additional business and marketing courses to help you sell your wines.
Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga Campus in Australia offers Bachelor of Wine Business, which is designed to develop knowledge and skills in winemaking, wine science, viticulture, wine appraisal and business. Students can complete their studies while working in the wine industry, or by interchanging full-time study with distance education.
Students interested in pursuing a career in sustainable viticulture practices might take a Bachelor of Science in Viticulture awarded by the California State University, Fresno, USA. Their Viticulture and Enology Research Center provides world-class education, research, and outreach programs in sustainable and value added viticulture and enology.
For spanish speaking students, Centro Internacional de Estudio del Vino (International Wine Study Center) in Mendoza, Argentina (oh, Malbec!) offers a 6-week distance course in Elaboration of Wine and Wine Slyles. In a short time you’ll learn to identify the importance of terroir and the activities carried out in the vineyard.
You can brose our directories www.educaedu.com for more enology and viticulture courses in the wine regions around the world. You migh also be interested in one of our earlier posts Wine Sommelier – Course of the Week.
Enjoy!!
15
Oct 10
National School Lunch Week in the USA
The week of October 10 – 16, 2010, was proclaimed as National School Lunch Week in the US to remind Americans about the importance for children to have access to nutritious and balanced meals. Eating a healthy school lunch is essential to help them get the most out of their active day. Most of all, it is an opportunity to reflect on the critical role the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) plays in promoting the health and well-being of children. NSLP and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) are operating in public schools across the country with the intent to serve nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to 31 million children each school day. However, according to a recent study children who eat school lunches that are part of the federally sponsored meal program are more likely to become overweight.
Today, one in three children in the US is overweight or obese. According to a report by the U.S. Task Force on Childhood Obesity, 94% of school meals failed to meet nutritional standards, mainly because they exceeded the limits for fat, saturated fat and calories.
The average school lunch is far from perfect and improving its quality will continue to be a challenge. Changes in diet and habits is not only the responsibility of the school system, but a colaborative effort that also depends on the support and participation of parents.
Source: FoodSafetyNews.com and ScienceDaily.com
14
Oct 10
Pupils in Scotland Are Given Lessons in How to Sleep
According to the recent study one in four teenagers are not getting the appropriate nine hours of sleep at night. What’s more, it was suggested there was a link between lack of sleep and obesity, lower academic achievement and even depression.
In March, pupils in Scotland took lessons in how to sleep as part of their curriculum. The charity Sleep Scotland has provided classes free of charge in a pilot program at three local schools in Scotland to raise awareness of the importance of sleep for emotional and physical wellbeing. The “Sound Sleep” pack will be offered to schools across Scotland next year as workshops for groups of 20 secondary school pupils, with an after-school session for parents and staff advising how to support teenagers to get good sleep.
Here are Sleep Scotland’s top tips for better sleep:
• Restrict homework, exercise and computer games to the early evening.
• One hour before bedtime use to relax and bath
• Switch off TV and PC. Try listening to music or reading a book.
• Avoid chocolate, caffeine, additives, alcohol and nicotine before bedtime. Have a warm milky drink instead.
• Keep to a regular bedtime. Have a set waking time.
Source: SleepScotland.org and Guardian.co.uk
8
Oct 10
Columbus Day, Día de la Raza
Next Monday, many countries in the “New World” and elsewhere are going to honor the explorer Christopher Columbus, who first landed in the New World on October 12, 1492. The day is celebrated as Columbus Day in the United States, as Día de la Raza in many Latin American countries and as Día de la Hispanidad in Spain. The first Columbus Day celebration was held in New York City on October 12, 1792. Today, in many towns in the U.S., special parades and large events are organized to celebrate the struggles and triumphs of immigrants who helped build the United States, and its cultural wealth. Columbus Day celebrations, however still bring about controversy due to the fact that a very large portion of the native populations perished due to wars and illness brought by the immigrants.
In countries such as Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico, Dia de la Raza is a celebration of the Latin America’s hispanic heritage. It commerates the diversity that evolved due to the European immigration, and celebrates the melting-pot society that exists today.
6
Oct 10
Schools in Australia Listen to Their Students
In August, the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) revealed the results of the country’s biggest national student survey on school education. It was also the first survey in Australia to ask students what success at school really means to them. 7000 students across Australia participated in the survey via Facebook and school events, and these are some of the findings that have been revealed:
- Nearly half of students said they don’t participate in deciding how their school runs.
- Only four out of ten students agreed that their school listens to what they have to say.
- More than half of students want to be recognize for what they do beyond the classroom.
- Majority of students want to be more involved in what happens in their school.
- They want to have more influence on their education to improve Australian education system.
- More than half of the surveyed students (57% ) agreed or strongly agreed that school helped them reach their full potential.
- 57% agreed or strongly agreed that school helps them develop their most important skills.
The Foundation for Young Australians (FYA) wants to run the survey annually with the hopes to further involve the students in the educational decisions for Australia.
To find full FYA survey results click here
4
Oct 10
Personal Shopper – Course of The Week
Do you enjoy strolling through the mall window shopping, comparing prices and sale hunting? Are you satisfied and fulfilled when you finally get home with some newly purchased clothes, accessories or home decors? Have you ever thought of making it your profession to do the same for other people as a Personal Shopper? In our busy world an increasing number of people need to hire professionals to assist them in their shopping, putting this profession in growing demand. As a Personal Shopper you may work both for individual clients and for organizations, such as boutiques, shopping centers and department stores.
The Personal Shopper 3-month course offered by the European School of Economics in London, UK covers topics of vital importance including the skills employers and clients are looking for in a personal shopper, how to get insider knowledge of products and trends, identifying a client’s needs and finding the appropriate products.
Creativa Buenos Aires, in Argentina offers a program “Personal Shopper – Shopping Advisor.” During your studies you will learn market and consumer trends, negotiation and legal aspects of shopping, as well as the importance of verbal and nonverbal communication.
So what do you think? Shopping anyone??
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