Volume IV Issue 2
February 2008 |
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 SCCC
to Cover STEM Associate Degrees
 Recognizing
the broad range of careers that begin with accredited associate degrees
in science, engineering, and medicine, the Sloan Career Cornerstone
Center (SCCC) will be expanding in 2008 to include more resources for
these fields. Over the next year, site visitors can learn about how an
associate degree can lead to interesting careers as surgical
technologists, clinical laboratory technologists and technicians,
nuclear medicine technologists, dental hygienists, veterinary and
science technicians -- among dozens of others.
An associate degree is a
college degree awarded after the completion of about 60 college credits.
That translates into roughly 20 courses. The U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics projects that among the fastest growing occupations and
occupations with plentiful job openings are those often requiring
workers with an associate degree. SCCC already offers extensive
resources on associates degrees leading to the full range of engineering
technology careers. Of course, the SCCC will also continue to provide
career information for science, mathematics, engineering, technology,
computing, healthcare, and medicine careers leading from bachelor's degrees. The
planned expansion comes at the recommendation of high school counselors
nationwide who look to SCCC for career planning assistance for students.
 Find
out more about associate degrees...
Future
City Students Solve Problems
 Seventh-
and eighth-graders in the National Engineers Week Future City
Competition are confronting the world's worst urban disasters. From a
small Kansas town destroyed last year by a tornado, to the war ravaged
Gaza Strip, to Linfen, China, one of the most polluted cities on earth,
Future City students across the country are dealing with real problems,
determined to prevent them and build a better tomorrow.
Future City, in its 16th
year, asks middle school students to create a city, first on computer
and then in a large tabletop model. Students present and defend their
designs before volunteer engineer judges from the community at regional
competitions. More than 30,000 students from 1,111 schools are
participating this year. Working in teams with a teacher and volunteer
engineer mentor, they create their cities using the SimCity 3000
videogame software. Regional winning teams attend the Future City
National Finals in Washington, DC during Engineers Week, February 17-23.
Find
out more about national programs and
projects...
MAYO
Freezes Bone Cancer Tumors
 Cryoablation,
a procedure most commonly associated with destroying kidney and prostate
tumors by freezing them, has been shown to offer durable pain relief of
cancer that has spread to bone. The procedure freezes and shrinks or
destroys cancerous tumors in or near bone.
"Cancer patients are living longer and we need to be able to manage
their pain over a long period of time," says Matthew Callstrom, M.D.,
Ph.D., a radiologist at Mayo Clinic who presented the findings on
cryoablation for pain management at the Radiological Society of North
America annual meeting. Each year in the United States approximately
100,000 people develop cancer that spreads to the bone (metastasizes).
This type of cancer causes extreme pain and often cannot be managed by
standard treatments. New approaches in pain management are needed to
help patients living longer with cancer, achieve a higher quality of
life. In a recent MAYO Clinic study, cryoablation was used to treat 34
patients whose primary cancers had spread to the bone. These patients
either did not have success with conventional pain management treatments
or refused such treatments. Eighty percent of the patients experienced a
clinically significant reduction in pain. The treatment also seems to
have lasting effects: 24 weeks after undergoing the procedure, patients
still reported significantly lower levels of pain.
Find
out more about the research online,
and about careers in medicine...
Degree
Profile: Optometry
 Optometrists,
also known as doctors of optometry, or ODs, provide most primary vision
care. They examine people's eyes to diagnose vision problems and eye
diseases, and they test patients' visual acuity, depth and color
perception, and ability to focus and coordinate the eyes. Optometrists
prescribe eyeglasses and contact lenses and provide vision therapy and
low-vision rehabilitation.
Optometrists analyze test
results and develop a treatment plan. They administer drugs to patients
to aid in the diagnosis of vision problems and prescribe drugs to treat
some eye diseases. Optometrists often provide preoperative and
postoperative care to cataract patients, as well as to patients who have
had laser vision correction or other eye surgery. They also diagnose
conditions caused by systemic diseases such as diabetes and high blood
pressure, referring patients to other health practitioners as needed.
 Most
optometrists are in general practice. Some specialize in work with the
elderly, children, or partially sighted persons who need specialized
visual devices. Others develop and implement ways to protect workers'
eyes from on-the-job strain or injury. Some specialize in contact
lenses, sports vision, or vision therapy. A few teach optometry, perform
research, or consult. The Doctor of Optometry degree requires the
completion of a 4-year program at an accredited optometry school,
preceded by at least 3 years of preoptometric study at an accredited
college or university.
Find out more about careers
as an Optometrist...
NASA
Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory
 NASA
has recently announced the selection of a new mission that will peer
deep inside the moon to reveal its anatomy and history.
The
Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory, or GRAIL, mission is a
part of NASA's Discovery Program. It will cost $375 million and is
scheduled to launch in 2011. GRAIL will fly twin spacecraft in tandem
orbits around the moon for several months to measure its gravity field
in unprecedented detail. The mission also will answer longstanding
questions about Earth's moon and provide scientists a better
understanding of how Earth and other rocky planets in the solar system
formed.
Scientists will use the
gravity field information from the two satellites to X-ray the moon from
crust to core to reveal the moon's subsurface structures and,
indirectly, its thermal history. GRAIL will support NASA's exploration
goals as the agency returns humans to the moon by 2020. In 2008, the
agency will launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, to circle
the moon for at least a year and take measurements to identify future
robotic and human landing sites. The orbiter also will look for
potential lunar resources and document aspects of the lunar radiation
environment. After a 30-year hiatus, LRO represents NASA's first step
toward returning humans to the moon.
Find
out more about the aerospace
industry and careers in
aerospace engineering.
High
School
Math Coursetaking and Achievement
 A
recent study from the National Center for Education Statistics found
that high school students who take advanced courses such as precalculus
and algebra II learn more than their peers who take intermediate courses
such as geometry and those who do not take mathematics courses.
While the study showed evidence of learning gains in mathematics across
the board during the last two years of high school, it found that
students who followed a geometry–algebra II sequence or an algebra
II–trigonometry sequence show the greatest improvement in intermediate
skills, such as operations with whole numbers and basic algebraic
expressions, while students who follow an algebra II–precalculus
sequence or a precalculus–calculus sequence show the greatest
improvements in advanced skills such as multistep analytical problems.
The study is available
online.
Depending upon which degree a student then decides to focus on in post
secondary education, these advanced skills can have a strong impact on
college coursework. For most engineering, science, mathematics,
medicine, and computing fields, it is recommended that high school
students take as many advanced math and science courses as possible
while still maintaining the normal course load.
And, those with an interest in math and science don't need to wait until
junior and senior year to expand coursework and extracurricular
educational opportunities. Many middle and high schools offer expanded
curriculum, and after school courses. Also, students can consider
participating in national programs and projects in math, science, and
engineering that provide hands-on experiences with these fields.
Find
out about other precollege prep ideas...
Planning
& Funding Postsecondary Education
 A
postsecondary education gives you more opportunities. Those who receive
education credentials beyond a high school diploma have more jobs to
choose from and earn much more than those who do not pursue an education
beyond high school. For example, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a
person with a bachelor's degree earns almost double what someone with
only a high school diploma earns.
Pursuing education beyond high school is an opportunity you should not
deny yourself simply because you are not sure what path to take. Many
students aren't sure which career path to follow. But exposure to
different academic subjects, people, and points of view can help narrow
your career decisions. Talking with a counselor is also a good idea. The
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center is also a great place to explore career
paths in science, engineering, mathematics, computing, healthcare, and
medicine.
And, funding a postsecondary education can often be challenging. "Funding
Education Beyond High School," is a new guide to federal student aid
from the U.S. Department of Education. The document helps provide a wide
range of opportunities to help ease the financial aspect of college
planning.
Find
more information about college
planning...
Career Cornerstone News is a publication of the
Sloan Career Cornerstone Center. Click here
to subscribe.
This newsletter may be reproduced in other
non-profit publications with credit and links to
the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center.
It may also be forwarded to internal
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