The Litvak Legacy

I’ve always been intrigued by the subject of intelligence. As a child my mother would refer to me as “smart,” but I quickly noticed that all parents refer to their children as smart. In time I would discover that all children are not smart, just as all babies are not cute. If that were the case, we’d have a world full of beautiful, smart people – which we don’t.

Some of us are smart; but not as smart as we think, and others are smarter than they seem, which makes me wonder, how do we define smart? What makes one person smarter than another? When do “street smarts” matter more than “book smarts”? Can you be both smart and stupid? Is being smart more influenced by genetics or one’s environment?

Then there are the issues of education, intelligence and wisdom.

What does it mean to be highly educated? What’s the difference between being highly educated and highly intelligent? Does being highly educated automatically make you highly intelligent? Can one be highly intelligent without being highly educated? Do IQs really mean anything? What makes a person wise? Why is wisdom typically associated with old age?

My desire to seek answers to these questions inspired many hours of intense research which included the reading of 6 books, hundreds of research documents, and countless hours on the Internet; which pales in comparison to the lifetime of studies and research that pioneers in the fields of intelligence and education like Howard Gardner, Richard Sternberg, Linda S. Gottfredson, Thomas Sowell, Alfie Kohn, and Diane F. Halpern whose work is cited in this article.

My goal was simple: Amass, synthesize, and define data on what it means to be smart, educated and intelligent so that it can be understood and used by anyone for their benefit.

PRENATAL CARE



With this in mind, there was not a better (or more appropriate) place to start than at the very beginning of our existence: as a fetus in the womb. There’s a reason why they call it “prenatal,” which means occurring, existing, or performed before birth.

There is mounting evidence that the consumption of food that’s high in iron both before and during pregnancy is critical to building the prenatal brain. Researchers have found a strong association between low iron levels during pregnancy and diminished IQ. Foods rich in iron include lima beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, spinach, asparagus, broccoli, seafoods, nuts, dried fruits, oatmeal, and fortified cereals.

Children with low iron status in utero (in the uterus) scored lower on every test and had significantly lower language ability, fine-motor skills, and tractability than children with higher prenatal iron levels. In essence, proper prenatal care is critical to the development of cognitive skills.

COGNITIVE SKILLS



Cognitive skills are the basic mental abilities we use to think, study, and learn. They include a wide variety of mental processes used to analyze sounds and images, recall information from memory, make associations between different pieces of information, and maintain concentration on particular tasks. They can be individually identified and measured. Cognitive skill strength and efficiency correlates directly with students’ ease of learning.

DRINKING, PREGNANCY, AND ITS INTELLECTUAL IMPACT



Drinking while pregnant is not smart. In fact, it’s downright stupid.

A study in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research has found that even light to moderate drinking – especially during the second trimester – is associated with lower IQs in offspring at 10 years of age. This result was especially pronounced among African-American rather than Caucasian offspring.

“IQ is a measure of the child’s ability to learn and to survive in his or her environment. It predicts the potential for success in school and in everyday life. Although a small but significant percentage of children are diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) each year, many more children are exposed to alcohol during pregnancy who do not meet criteria for FAS yet experience deficits in growth and cognitive function,” said Jennifer A. Willford, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Paul D. Connor, clinical director of the Fetal Alcohol and Drug Unit and assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington has this to say about the subject:

“There are a number of domains of cognitive functioning that can be impaired even in the face of a relatively normal IQ, including academic achievement (especially arithmetic), adaptive functioning, and executive functions (the ability to problem solve and learn from experiences). Deficits in intellectual, achievement, adaptive, and executive functioning could make it difficult to appropriately manage finances, function independently without assistance, and understand the consequences of – or react appropriately to – mistakes.”

This is a key finding which speaks directly to the (psychological) definition of intelligence which is addressed later in this article.

ULTRA SOUNDS



Studies have shown that the frequent exposure of the human fetus to ultrasound waves is associated with a decrease in newborn body weight, an increase in the frequency of left-handedness, and delayed speech.

Because ultrasound energy is a high-frequency mechanical vibration, researchers hypothesized that it might influence the migration of neurons in a developing fetus. Neurons in mammals multiply early in fetal development and then migrate to their final destinations. Any interference or disruption in the process could result in abnormal brain function.



Commercial companies (which do ultrasounds for “keepsake” purposes) are now creating more powerful ultrasound machines capable of providing popular 3D and 4D images. The procedure, however, lasts longer as they try to make 30-minute videos of the fetus in the uterus.

The main stream magazine New Scientist reported the following: Ultrasound scans can stop cells from dividing and make them commit suicide. Routine scans, which have let doctors peek at fetuses and internal organs for the past 40 years, affect the normal cell cycle.

On the FDA website this information is posted about ultrasounds: 

While ultrasound has been around for many years, expectant women and their families need to know that the long-term effects of repeated ultrasound exposures on the fetus are not fully known. In light of all that remains unknown, having a prenatal ultrasound for non-medical reasons is not a good idea.

NATURE VERSUS NURTURE…THE DEBATE CONTINUES



Now that you are aware of some of the known factors which determine, improve, and impact the intellectual development of a fetus, it’s time for conception. Once that baby is born, which will be more crucial in the development of its intellect: nature (genetics) or nurture (the environment)?

Apparently for centuries, scientists and psychologists have gone back and forth on this. I read many comprehensive studies and reports on this subject during the research phase of this article, and I believe that it’s time to put this debate to rest. Both nature and nurture are equally as important and must be fully observed in the intellectual development of all children. This should never be an either/or proposition – why risk it?

A recent study shows that early intervention in the home and in the classroom can make a big difference for a child born into extreme poverty, according to Eric Turkheimer, a psychologist at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The study concludes that while genetic makeup explains most of the differences in IQ for children in wealthier families, environment – and not genes – makes a bigger difference for minority children in l
ow-income homes.



Specifically, what researchers call “heritability”- the degree to which genes influence IQ – was significantly lower for poor families. “Once you’re put into an adequate environment, your genes start to take over,” Mr. Turkheimer said, “but in poor environments genes don’t have that ability.”

But there are reports that contradict these findings…sort of.

Linda S. Gottfredson, a professor of educational studies at the University of Delaware, wrote in her article, The General Intelligence Factor that environments shared by siblings have little to do with IQ. Many people still mistakenly believe that social, psychological and economic differences among families create lasting and marked differences in IQ.

She found that behavioral geneticists refer to such environmental effects as “shared” because they are common to siblings who grow up together. Her reports states that the heritability of IQ rises with age; that is to say, the extent to which genetics accounts for differences in IQ among individuals increases as people get older.

In her article she also refers to studies comparing identical and fraternal twins, published in the past decade by a group led by Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr., of the University of Minnesota and other scholars, show that about 40 percent of IQ differences among preschoolers stems from genetic differences, but that heritability rises to 60 percent by adolescence and to 80 percent by late adulthood.

And this is perhaps the most interesting bit of information, and relevant to this section of my article: With age, differences among individuals in their developed intelligence come to mirror more closely their genetic differences. It appears that the effects of environment on intelligence fade rather than grow with time.

Bouchard concludes that young children have the circumstances of their lives imposed on them by parents, schools and other agents of society, but as people get older they become more independent and tend to seek out the life niches that are most congenial to their genetic proclivities.



BREAST-FEEDING INCREASES INTELLIGENCE



Researchers from Christchurch School of Medicine in New Zealand studied over 1,000 children born between April and August 1977. During the period from birth to one year, they gathered information on how these children were fed.

The infants were then followed to age 18. Over the years, the researchers collected a range of cognitive and academic information on the children, including IQ, teacher ratings of school performance in reading and math, and results of standardized tests of reading comprehension, mathematics, and scholastic ability. The researchers also looked at the number of passing grades achieved in national School Certificate examinations taken at the end of the third year of high school.

The results indicated that the longer children had been breast-fed, the higher they scored on such tests.

TALKING TO YOUR CHILDREN MAKES A DIFFERENCE



Thomas Sowell, author of Race, IQ, Black Crime, and facts Liberals Ignore uncovered some fascinating information that every parent should take note of. He writes:

There is a strong case that black Americans suffer from a series of disadvantageous environments. Studies show time and again that before they go to school, black children are on average exposed to a smaller vocabulary than white children, in part due to socioeconomic factors.

While children from professional households typically exposed to a total of 2,150 different words each day, children from working class households are exposed to 1,250, and children from households on welfare a mere 620.

Yes, smart sounding children tend to come from educated, professional, two-parent environments where they pick-up valuable language skills and vocabulary from its smart sounding inhabitants.

Mr. Sowell continues: Black children are obviously not to blame for their poor socioeconomic status, but something beyond economic status is at work in black homes. Black people have not signed up for the “great mission” of the white middle class – the constant quest to stimulate intellectual growth and get their child into Harvard or Oxbridge

Elsie Moore of Arizona State University, Phoenix, studied black children adopted by either black or white parents, all of whom were middle-class professionals. By the age of 7.5 years, those in black homes were 13 IQ points behind those being raised in the white homes.

ACCUMULATED ADVANTAGES



At this juncture in my research it dawned on me, and should be fairly obvious to you, that many children are predisposed to being smart, educated, and intelligent, simply by their exposure to the influential factors which determine them long before they start school.

An informed mother, proper prenatal care, educated, communicative parents, and a nurturing environment in which to live, all add up to accumulated advantages that formulate intellectual abilities. As you can see, some children have unfair advantages from the very beginning.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of top-selling book Outliers, wrote that “accumulated advantages” are made possible by arbitrary rules…and such unfair advantages are everywhere. “It is those who are successful who are most likely to be given the kinds of social opportunities that lead to further success,” he writes. “It’s the rich who get the biggest tax breaks. It’s the best students who get the best teaching and most attention.”

With that in mind, we turn our attention to education and intelligence.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE WELL EDUCATED?



Alfie Kohn, author of the book What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated? poses the question, does the phrase well educated refer to a quality of schooling you received, or something about you? Does it denote what you were taught? Or what you remember?

I contend that to be well educated is all in the application; the application and use of information. Information has to be used in order to become knowledge, and as we all have heard, knowledge is power.

Most people are aware of the floundering state of education in this country on some level. We tell our children that nothing is more important than getting a “good” education, and every year, due to government budget shortfalls, teachers are laid off, classes are condensed, schools are closed, and many educational programs – especially those which help the underprivileged – are cut.

The reality is, we don’t really value education. We value it as a business, an industry, political ammunition, and as an accepted form of discrimination, but not for what it was intended: a means of enriching one’s character and life through learning.

What we value as a society, are athletes and the entertainment they offer. The fact that a professional athlete makes more money in one season, than most teachers in any region will make in their careers, is abominable. There is always money to build new sports stadiums, but never enough to give teachers a decent (and well-deserved) raise.

Ironically, the best teachers don’t go into the profession for money. They teach because it’s a calling. Most of them were influenced by a really good teacher as a student. With the mass exodus of teachers, many students are not able to cultivate the mentoring relationships that they once were able to because so many are leaving the profession – voluntarily and involuntarily – within an average of three years.

At the high school level, where I got my start, the emphasis is not on how to educate the students to prepare them for life, or even college (all high schools should be college-prep schools, right?), it was about preparing them to excel on their standardized tests. Then the controversial “exit” exams were implemented and literally, many high schools were transformed into testing centers. Lea
rning has almost become secondary.

This mentality carries over into college, which of course there’s a test one must take in order to enroll (the SAT or ACT). This explains why so many college students are more concerned with completing a course, than learning from it. They are focused on getting “A’s” and degrees, instead of becoming degreed thinkers. The latter of which are in greater demand by employers and comprise the bulk of the self-employed. The “get-the-good-grade” mindset is directly attributable to the relentless and often unnecessary testing that our students are subjected to in schools.

Alfie Kohn advocates the “exhibition” of learning, in which students reveal their understanding by means of in-depth projects, portfolios of assignments, and other demonstrations.

He cites a model pioneered by Ted Sizer and Deborah Meier. Meier has emphasized the importance of students having five “habits of mind,” which are: the value of raising questions about evidence (“How do we know what we know?”), point of view, (“Whose perspective does this represent?”), connections (“How is this related to that?”), supposition (“How might things have been otherwise?”), and relevance (“Why is this important?”).

Kohn writes: It’s only the ability to raise and answer those questions that matters, though, but also the disposition to do so. For that matter, any set of intellectual objectives, any description of what it means to think deeply and critically, should be accompanied by a reference to one’s interest or intrinsic motivation to do such thinking…to be well-educated then, is to have the desire as well as the means to make sure that learning never ends…

HISTORY AND PURPOSE OF IQ



We’ve always wanted to measure intelligence. Ironically, when you look at some the first methods used to evaluate it in the 1800s, they were not, well, very intelligent. Tactics such as subjecting people to various forms of torture to see what their threshold for pain was (the longer you could withstand wincing, the more intelligent you were believed to be), or testing your ability to detect a high pitch sound that others could not hear.

Things have changed…or have they?

No discussion of intelligence or IQ can be complete without mention of Alfred Binet, a French psychologist who was responsible for laying the groundwork for IQ testing in 1904. His original intention was to devise a test that would diagnose learning disabilities of students in France. The test results were then used to prepare special programs to help students overcome their educational difficulties.

It was never intended to be used as an absolute measure of one’s intellectual capabilities.

According to Binet, intelligence could not be described as a single score. He said that the use of the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) as a definite statement of a child’s intellectual capability would be a serious mistake. In addition, Binet feared that IQ measurement would be used to condemn a child to a permanent “condition” of stupidity, thereby negatively affecting his or her education and livelihood.

The original interest was in the assessment of ‘mental age’ — the average level of intelligence for a person of a given age. His creation, the Binet-Simon test (originally called a “scale”), formed the archetype for future tests of intelligence.

H. H. Goddard, director of research at Vineland Training School in New Jersey, translated Binet’s work into English and advocated a more general application of the Simon-Binet test. Unlike Binet, Goddard considered intelligence a solitary, fixed and inborn entity that could be measured. With help of Lewis Terman of Stanford University, his final product, published in 1916 as the Stanford Revision of the Binet-Simon Scale of Intelligence (also known as the Stanford-Binet), became the standard intelligence test in the United States.

It’s important to note that the fallacy about IQ is that it is fixed and can not be changed. The fact is that IQ scores are known to fluctuate – both up and down during the course of one’s lifetime. It does not mean that you become more, or less intelligent, it merely means that you tested better on one day than another.

One more thing to know about IQ tests: They have been used for racist purposes since their importation into the U.S. Many of those who were involved in the importation and refinement of these tests believed that IQ was hereditary and are responsible for feeding the fallacy that it is a “fixed” trait.

Many immigrants were tested in the 1920s and failed these IQ tests miserably. As a result, many of them were denied entry into the U.S., or were forced to undergo sterilization for fear of populating America with “dumb” and “inferior” babies. If you recall, the tests were designed for white, middle class Americans. Who do you think would have the most difficulty passing them?

Lewis Terman developed the original notion of IQ and proposed this scale for classifying IQ scores:

000 – 070: Definite feeble-mindedness 

070 – 079: Borderline deficiency 

080 – 089: Dullness 

090 – 109: Normal or average intelligence 

110 – 119: Superior intelligence 

115 – 124: Above average (e.g., university students) 

125 – 134: Gifted (e.g., post-graduate students) 

135 – 144: Highly gifted (e.g., intellectuals) 

145 – 154: Genius (e.g., professors) 

155 – 164: Genius (e.g., Nobel Prize winners) 

165 – 179: High genius 

180 – 200: Highest genius 

200 -    ? : Immeasurable genius

*Genius IQ is generally considered to begin around 140 to 145, representing only 25% of the population (1 in 400).

*Einstein was considered to “only” have an IQ of about 160.

DEFINING INTELLIGENCE



Diane F. Halpern, a psychologist and past-president of the American Psychological Association (APA), wrote in her essay contribution to Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid that in general, we recognize people as intelligent if they have some combination of these achievements (1) good grades in school; (2) a high level of education; (3) a responsible, complex job; (4) some other recognition of being intelligent, such as winning prestigious awards or earning a large salary; (5) the ability to read complex text with good comprehension; (6) solve difficult and novel problems.

Throughout my research and in the early phases of this article, I came across many definitions of the word intelligence. Some were long, some were short. Some I couldn’t even understand. The definition that is most prevalent is the one created by the APA which is: the ability to adapt to one’s environment, and learn from one’s mistakes.

How about that? There’s the word environment again. We just can’t seem to escape it. This adds deeper meaning to the saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” It means recognizing what’s going on in your environment, and having the intelligence adapt to it – and the people who occupy it – in order to survive and succeed within it.

There are also many different forms of intelligence. Most notably those created by Dr. Howard Gardner, professor of education at Harvard University.

Dr. Gardner believes (and I agree) that our schools and culture focus most of their attention on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence. We esteem the highly articulate or logical people of our culture. However, Dr. Gardner says that we should also place equal attention on individuals who show gifts in the other intelligences: the artists, architects, musicians, naturalists, designers, dancers, therapists, entrepreneurs, and others who enrich the world in which we live.

He felt that the traditional notion of intelligence, based on IQ testing, was far too limited and created the Theories Of Multiple Intelligences in 1983 to account for a broader range of human potential in children and adults.


These intelligences are:

-Linguistic intelligence (“word smart”) 

-Logical-mathematical intelligence (“number/reasoning smart”) 

-Spatial intelligence (“picture smart”) 

-Bodily-Kinesthetic intelligence (“body smart”) 

-Musical intelligence (“music smart”) 

-Interpersonal intelligence (“people smart”) 

-Intrapersonal intelligence (“self smart”) 

-Naturalist intelligence (“nature smart”)

Not associated with Dr. Gardner, but equally respected are:

FLUID & CRYSTALLIZED INTELLIGENCE



According to About.com, Psychologist Raymond Cattell first proposed the concepts of fluid and crystallized intelligence and further developed the theory with John Horn. The Cattell-Horn theory of fluid and crystallized intelligence suggests that intelligence is composed of a number of different abilities that interact and work together to produce overall individual intelligence.

Cattell defined fluid intelligence as “…the ability to perceive relationships independent of previous specific practice or instruction concerning those relationships.” Fluid intelligence is the ability to think and reason abstractly and solve problems. This ability is considered independent of learning, experience, and education. Examples of the use of fluid intelligence include solving puzzles and coming up with problem solving strategies.

Crystallized intelligence is learning from past experiences and learning. Situations that require crystallized intelligence include reading comprehension and vocabulary exams. This type of intelligence is based upon facts and rooted in experiences. This type of intelligence becomes stronger as we age and accumulate new knowledge and understanding.

Both types of intelligence increase throughout childhood and adolescence. Fluid intelligence peaks in adolescence and begins to decline progressively beginning around age 30 or 40. Crystallized intelligence continues to grow throughout adulthood.

SUCCESSFUL INTELLIGENCE



Then there’s Successful Intelligence, which is authored by intelligence psychologist and Yale professor, Robert J. Sternberg, who believes that the whole concept of relating IQ to life achievement is misguided, because he believes that IQ is a pretty miserable predictor of life achievement.

His Successful Intelligence theory focuses on 3 types of intelligence which are combined to contribute to one’s overall success: Analytical Intelligence; mental steps or components used to solve problems; Creative Intelligence: the use of experience in ways that foster insight (creativity/divergent thinking); and Practical Intelligence: the ability to read and adapt to the contexts of everyday life.

With regard to environment, Mr. Sternberg writes in his book Successful Intelligence: Successfully intelligent people realize that the environment in which they find themselves may or may not be able to make the most of their talents. They actively seek an environment where they can not only do successful work, but make a difference. They create opportunities rather than let opportunities be limited by circumstances in which they happen to find themselves.

As an educator, I subscribe to Mr. Sternberg’s Successful Intelligence approach to teaching. It has proven to be a highly effective tool and mindset for my college students. Using Successful Intelligence as the backbone of my context-driven curriculum really inspires students to see how education makes their life goals more attainable, and motivates them to further develop their expertise. Mr. Sternberg believes that the major factor in achieving expertise is purposeful engagement.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE



In his best-selling 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman reported that research shows that conventional measures of intelligence – IQ – only account for 20% of a person’s success in life. For example, research on IQ and education shows that high IQ predicts 10 to 25% of grades in college. The percentage will vary depending on how we define success. Nonetheless, Goleman’s assertion begs the question: What accounts for the other 80%?

You guessed it…Emotional Intelligence. What exactly is emotional intelligence? Emotional intelligence (also called EQ or EI) refers to the ability to perceive, control, and evaluate emotions. Many corporations now have mandatory EQ training for their managers in an effort to improve employee relations and increase productivity.

TACIT KNOWLEDGE aka “STREET SMARTS



You’ve heard the phrase, “Experience is the greatest teacher…”

In psychology circles knowledge gained from everyday experience is called tacit knowledge. The colloquial term is “street smarts,” which implies that formal, classroom instruction (aka “book smarts”) has nothing to do with it. The individual is not directly instructed as to what he or she should learn, but rather must extract the important lesson from the experience even when learning is not the primary objective.

Tacit knowledge is closely related to common sense, which is sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts. As you know, common sense is not all that common.

Tacit knowledge, or the lessons obtained from it, seems to “stick” both faster and better when the lessons have direct relevance to the individual’s goals. Knowledge that is based on one’s own practical experience will likely be more instrumental to achieving one’s goals than will be knowledge that is based on someone else’s experience, or that is overly generic and abstract.

BEING BOTH SMART AND STUPID



Yes, it’s possible to be both smart and stupid. I’m sure someone you know comes to mind at this precise moment. But the goal here is not to ridicule, but to understand how some seemingly highly intelligent, or highly educated individuals can be so smart in one way, and incredibly stupid in others.

The woman who is a respected, well paid, dynamic executive who consistently chooses men who don’t appear to be worthy of her, or the man who appears to be a pillar of the community, with a loving wife and happy kids, ends up being arrested on rape charges.

It happens, but why? I found the answer in Why Smart People Can Be So Stupid. 

Essentially, intellect is domain specific. In other words, being smart (knowledgeable) in one area of your life, and stupid (ignorant) in another is natural. Turning off one’s brain is quite common especially when it comes to what we desire. A shared characteristic among those who are smart and stupid, is difficulty in delaying gratification.

Olem Ayduk & Walter Mischel who wrote the chapter summarized: Sometimes stupid behavior in smart people may arise from faulty expectations, erroneous beliefs, or merely a lack of motivation to enact control strategies even when one has them. But sometimes it is an inability to regulate one’s affective states and the behavioral tendencies associated with them that leads to stupid and self-defeating behavior.

The central character in this book who many of these lessons regarding being smart and stupid revolve around is Bill Clinton and his affair with Monica Lewinksky.

WISDOM & CONCLUSION



My great grandmother, Leola Cecil, maybe had an 8th grade education at the most. By no stretch of the imagination was she highly educated. She was very observant and could “read” people with startling accuracy. Till the very end of her life she shared her “crystallized intelligence” with whomever was receptive to it.

She died at the age of 94. I often use many of her sayings as a public speaker, but most importantly, I use her philosophies to make sure that I’m being guided spiritually and not just intellectually. Many of us who are lucky enough to have a great grandparent can testify that there is somethin
g special about their knowledge. They seem to have life figured out, and a knack for helping those of us who are smart, educated and intelligent see things more clearly when we are too busy thinking.

What they have is what we should all aspire to end up with if we are lucky: wisdom.

Wisdom is the ability to look through a person, when others can only look at them. Wisdom slows down the thinking process and makes it more organic; synchronizing it with intuition. Wisdom helps you make better judgments regarding decisions, and makes you less judgmental. Wisdom is understanding without knowing, and accepting without understanding. Wisdom is recognizing what’s important to other people, and knowing that other people are of the utmost importance to you. Wisdom is both a starting point, and a final conclusion.

“The Elm City” is recognized worldwide as the home of Yale University, the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Silly Putty, lollipops, pizza, the telephone switchboard, automatic revolver, and Erector sets also trace their origins to here.

A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall university. However, the term residential college is also used to describe a variety of other patterns, for example a dormitory with some academic programming.

One of the main advantages of the residential colleges is that it allows you to be part of a smaller community immediately when you enter Yale’s campus. The residential colleges allow students to experience the cohesiveness and intimacy of a small school while still enjoying the cultural and scholarly resources of a large university, fostering spirit, allegiance, and a sense of community.

Residential areas surround the University and also blend into the surrounding towns. The 575 dormitory rooms provided for single students are varied in room types, layout and facilities designed to reflect different life styles and needs.

Amenities in the dormitories include recreation rooms with game equipment, cable TV and VCR, laundry rooms, bathrooms, study areas and small storage areas. HGS, Hadley & 276 Prospect each have a computer room & bike storage area. Room furnishings include a single extra long bed & mattress, bookcase (built-in or free standing), bureau, desk & chair, and lounge chair–this furniture is not to be removed from the room. Residents with private or semi-private bathroom units must clean their own bathrooms. Dormitory rates vary from $3,840 (small-90 – 110 sq. ft) to $6,530 (special). Ethernet data, telephone and cable TV connections are provided in each dormitory room.

Students living in ES Harkness Hall and the Hall of Graduate Studies are automatically enrolled in a dining plan that supports the dining hall located within the building. Dining plan meals or points can be used at many other cafeteria locations on campus and within the city.

Virtual world: Yes its there on the web and it seems to be more exciting and adventurous than the real world. If you want to experience that, you need to look at everquest accounts gaming. This new concept has seen the growth of the lot of internet resellers of EVE online accounts. More than 3000 EVE Online accounts are available with the resellers. With an amazing choice of hundreds of online games; variety of characters; and levels ranging from 55 and 80; you can pick anyone which suits your personality. Pick up any one from priests, warlocks, druids, death knights, hunters, mages, paladins, rogues, shamans warriors on PVE and PVP servers. There is one for everyone. Resellers are willing to sell typeset and EVE online accounts, purchased from their US and Europe owners, who wish to move over to higher levels and complicated games.

Companies help in the relocate process until the purchase is transferred to your new account. You have a wide range of class to choose from. The resellers offer a variety of different level EVE Online account ranging from level 55 till level 80 characters. The variety of accounts available include pre-played, pre-played transferrable, pre-played transferred to new account pending, pre-played transferred to a brand new EVE Online account, premade (built) EVE Online accounts, to build an EVE Online account itself. You will get fascinated with special features of original secure power leveling, leveling 2.0, escort services etc.

The reseller of EVE Online account promises of a life time indemnity cover and 100% agreement. In case the EVE Online account is disabled, lost, found to be compromised, the reseller promises to restore and reopen the account. If they are unable to do so, the customer is promised back the entire purchase amount. Thus you are assured to receive a brand new account promotion at no extra cost plus an additional reimbursement. You are guaranteed a lifetime account, without any commitments. The delivery of EVE online accounts is made within 30 seconds of order. This occurs in as high as 95% of total orders. The entire process is mechanized and automated. But in some cases, where the mechanized process fails (less than 5% of cases), the resellers would manually go in to deliver the account. This takes a little longer to complete. There is a call center to answer any of your queries which you might have.

However there is a word of caution. You should buy your EVE Online account directly from a reliable company from US. The IPs (especially Asian IPs) are tracked and might lead to closure of your EVE Online account. It is worthy to know that most internet resellers buy Lineage 2 Accounts for over 20 different MMO games. You can submit all your EVE Online account information and wait to receive a quote, fill your sequence info. You will receive reimbursement for your account within 1 to 48 hours. Some resellers verify the accounts robotically. So as soon as you submit your account, their systems will login the game, verify your character, and you will get paid in less than 5 minutes.

The Federal Trade Commission, America’s watchdog consumer agency, has issued yet another warning about an education-related scam. Entitled “Diploma Mills: Degrees of Deception”, the FTC memo takes issue with diploma mills, a form of online deception practiced by companies all too eager to exploit the country’s fascination with online learning and online degrees. The companies behind these diploma mills usually approach their prey using an email that promises respondents a degree based on their life experience, all in exchange for a one-time, up-front fee. Instead of setting off alarm bells, the fact that the degree requires little or even no classroom work makes the offer so compelling that some just can’t resist.

Those familiar with the online education phenomenon say diploma mills have been a scam waiting to happen. Distance learning and legitimate online degrees from accredited institutions like the University of Phoenix, Westwood College or Kaplan University have made it easier than ever for Americans to better their lot through education. An online degree is the first step towards better pay and better career prospects.

While legitimate online degrees are now widely accepted by employers as proof of a job candidate’s education qualifications, it’s safe to say employers will not easily suffer the embarrassment of hiring a “diploma mill” graduate. If you get caught with a diploma mill in your pocket when applying for a job or – perhaps even worse – a graduate degree program, expect to be shown the door in no uncertain terms.

The FTC says that diploma mills trolling for “graduates” often set their hook and then reel in their catch using a false claim of accreditation. By claiming to be “accredited”, a diploma mill can easily create a sense of security in its victims.

While many people are aware that American colleges and universities voluntarily have their curriculum reviewed as part of the accreditation process, few are familiar with the approximately six regional and 80 professional accrediting associations in the United States. When a diploma mill makes up an official sounding name for its supposed accrediting association, it’s easy to be fooled. One way to confirm a school’s accreditation credentials is by checking the database of accredited colleges and universities at the website of the Department of Education.

It pays to remember that a claim of accreditation is really just the icing on the cake for diploma mill scammers, says the FTC. If they’re going to take the bait, most recipients of an email offering a diploma mill degree are already hooked by the idea of having their life experience “formally” recognized, especially when there’s no waiting and no attendance requirement. But there are other tip-offs, too, that an email offer of a degree isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.

Topping the list, perhaps, is the ever-present offer of a degree in exchange for a one-time fee. Genuine online colleges and universities charge by the credit hour, reminds the FTC, and not by the degree. Furthermore, an instant degree offer in the form of an unsolicited email or online pop-ups is almost unquestionably a scam. Finally, be on the lookout for imitative names. While not always a dead giveaway – some search engine marketers legitimately target common misspellings of a university’s name – diploma mills like to select names that intentionally mimic the names of well-known colleges and universities, a tactic that goes so far as to proffer on-the-spot degrees from institutions with foreign-sounding names that seem both persuasive and credible.

Troy State University Scholarship, If you have decided that going back to college is a great decision for you, then you need to find a way to fund your decision. This is typically done by locating the appropriate amount of college aid. The problem is trying to find the funding that will get you through the next 2 to 4 years. Here are a few ways that you can find college aid fast so that you can start on your path toward a completed college degree.

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One of the best sources for college aid is a scholarship. Scholarships are typically given by universities or private organizations that are interested in promoting certain individuals through a particular school or degree program because they have shown certain qualifications.

There are a few things you need to consider before randomly applying for every scholarship that comes your way. Here are a few tips on how you should prepare prior to filling out the application.

First, before you apply to any scholarship program, you need to read and understand what the requirements are for that scholarship. If you determine early on that you would not qualify, you will not waste hours if not days of your time filling out and sending in an application that in all likelihood would be rejected.

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Second, once you have determined that you have eligibility for this program, you need to fill it out as thoroughly as possible. This means that for every question that is asked, it needs to be filled in. If you leave any blanks on an application, it will need to a guaranteed delay and you may miss deadlines that may be necessary to meet in order to qualify for that particular program.

Third, while you are filling it out, make sure that you write very neatly. In our information age, more than likely most of the scholarship applications that you fill out will be online. Therefore, you will not have to worry about how legible your writing is. However, some private scholarships in local communities will ask you to fill out paperwork that is physical and needs to be turned in and reviewed by a human being. If it is not legible, it will more than likely be rejected.

Fourth, you are almost guaranteed to be asked to write an essay. Writing an essay will be very easy if the scholarship in the program you are applying for is directly related to your college interest. If you are going for a scholarship in biology, and you have a biology major in mind, you will have no problem writing a great essay. However, if you are going into chemistry, and you are applying for a scholarship in astronomy, not only will you have difficulty writing a good paper, but you will more than likely be rejected because it has nothing to do with the program you are applying for.

Finally, make sure that you keep track of all of your deadlines. In order to get enough money for school focusing only on these programs, you need to keep a file which lists all of them and the deadlines that you need to meet. A great idea is to save a file in Excel on your computer so that you can easily access it from your desktop to keep track of when each application is due.

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Applying for scholarships is one way that you can avoid having tens of thousands of dollars in debt once you have left school. This is usually acquired by taking out multiple student loans to finish your college education. By taking the time now and working hard to get free money for college, you will save yourself years of agony in paying off loans for an education that you needed to have and that will benefit you in the years to come.

Uniqueness in Common

A common characteristic among fashion designers and those employed within the fashion industry is their uniqueness. That sounds strange, doesn’t it? But think about it: those in the fashion industry are unique individuals, and the top fashion design colleges recognize this quality and offer educational and training programs to help develop the skills of their fashion design students. Whether you want to study fashion design from a location close to your home or in a large fashion design metropolis, like New York or San Francisco, top fashion design colleges that will meet your educational needs are located throughout the United States.

You Have to Start Somewhere

Although most fashion designers have a passion for style and design, few are born with an innate ability to design clothes and apparel. Even the world’s leading designers had to learn and develop their skills before realizing success within the fashion industry. They sought training and education from the top fashion design colleges to develop their designing skills and express their visions. Choosing a fashion school, one that fits your particular uniqueness, is very important to experiencing longer-term success in the industry of fashion.

Fashion designers are artistic people who hold within a desire to create new and exciting designs. Combining knowledge and artistic ability, fashion designers turn their ideas into real fashions for merchandising, publications, and the interiors of the homes we inhabit. Many fashion designers are self-employed and provide fashion services for individual clients, while others provide similar services to department and specialty stores. Designers working for apparel manufacturers generally modify fashions created by other designers to meet the needs of mass marketing.

Keep Up With the Changes

Fashion design is a constantly changing industry, and therefore so are its occupations. The curricula of the top fashion design colleges are structured to provide a well-rounded and contemporary educational experience to the fashion design student. Students can learn the most current innovations taking place in fashion design. They are exposed to computer generated fashion design, pattern development and drafting, fashion merchandising, and much more. If you are interested in a career of fashion design, then you should investigate the courses of study from some of the top fashion design colleges in the nation.

Top Fashion Colleges and World Travel

Most top fashion design colleges provide programs that combine traditional skills – like sewing, pattern production and use of fabric – with the standards and trends of today’s fashions. In any one of these colleges, the work performed is geared toward assisting students to build their own fashion design portfolio. Some top fashion design colleges even provide study tours of the world’s leading fashion producers located in cities like New York and Paris. Imagine traveling to Paris, as a student, to study the styles and techniques of some of the world’s most respected designers. You might even have an opportunity to experience the thrill of one of your own designs being displayed on the runway. It’s all possible if you graduate from one of the top fashion colleges!

For busy working adults who want to get a university or college degree, perhaps the best way to do so is to study online.There are many long distance accredited and good online colleges and universities to choose from. Just do a search for online university degrees and you will see many institutions offering online degree courses for basic degrees to MBAs and even Doctorate PhDs in business, wealth management, technology management, information systems, education and even in nursing.

Why study for an online degree? This is because for most working adults, taking time off to go to classrooms or campuses for lessons regularly is almost an impossible task and this is a very important reason why so many working adults are deprived of good university degrees. By giving lessons online, these long distance colleges and universities are able to reach out to these potential adult students who otherwise may never have any opportunities to get a university or college degree.

Since these degrees are long distance online courses, you can simply log on to your computer and start the lessons immediately. The convenience of the Internet makes earning your degree not only possible but much more affordable as well because these universities and colleges do not need to count the costs and overheads they need to incur should you attend classroom on campus lessons.

Many of these universities, for example, The University of Phoenix Online also offer financial assistance and flexible fee payment plans. You may wish to check with the university of your choice on the various types of financial aids available.

Perhaps the most attractive thing about studying for a degree online is that you can study anytime you want to, study where you are without wasting commuting time and for some, there are no timelines for lessons, tutorials, projects and even examinations.

Most online universities and colleges give their long distance learning students the same exacting standard of quality education, curriculum, faculty and resources, the same as those offered at their brick and mortar campuses. You can then have the luxury to complete your education at the time and place most convenient to you. All you need is a computer, a phone connection, and an internet service provider. Most people in developed countries will have no problem setting this up or already have internet connection set up.

With easy to use Internet access software, you have access to lectures, questions and assignments from your professors and then you can print them out and review them off-line. You will also have access to a full range of online research libraries and services.

At the same time, you can also interact with other successful professionals, sharing ideas, debating issues, and learning from their experience.Throughout whatever degree courses you are studying, your instructors will provide guidance and feedback on your progress.

All interaction is conducted online, so you can participate at your own time and convenience. You never have to rush from the office or your home to a night-class or miss a lecture because of some time scheduling conflict.

Want to get an online university degree? Your opportunity may now be here.

Product management is managing of a company’s product through all of its stages starting from designing, on to manufacturing and marketing. This is also known as the lifecycle of a product. Product management is an inbound focus that is made by product managers to maximize the sale and profit of the product and add to the profit of the company or organization. The main focus of product management, however, lies in taking or considering new product for development. According to the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA), the product that adds up to unique benefit and serves superior value to the customers and clients is considered as the highest product of profitability.

Job Responsibilities of a Product Manager

The responsibilities of product managers vary depending upon the size, structure and type of product manufactured by the company. Their key responsibility lies in defining a new product manufactured by the company. They are also responsible for making strategies and policies to consider product life cycle and product differentiation.

Product managers are responsible for product planning and deal with marketing of the product. In planning, a product manager identifies and articulates market requirements and further enhances the basic features and properties of the product concerned so that it meets the needs of customers and clients.

Product managers are solely responsible for setting target demographics and looking at the plans and policies that other production companies have applied to make their product customer friendly. They create and apply new ideas to manufacture and promote a product that suits the company and fits the business model. Product managers have to manage one or more substantial products.

They are required to meet with the product team on a regular basis and get updates on the development of the product. They create product management roadmaps that will detail the ways by which the product will be manufactured and also give an estimation of particular time required.

Sometimes, product managers also have to make hardware, software, mechanical design, user documents, marketing and sales strategies. They also are involved with customer testing activities to promote the product manufactured by the company which make it user friendly.

Education Required to become a Product Manager

The responsibilities of product managers are wholly associated with the production unit and marketing policies of the company. A product manager must have practical knowledge of the current market and also understanding of the policies and strategies of product development. The most desired degree by the product development companies are that of an MBA in product management studies with a focus on economics, accounting, marketing, and business mathematics. These studies enable a student to understand the basic principles of product management and creating new strategies and plans in marketing research.

Online Studies That Can Get You There

Use of internet in our daily life has brought several unimaginable facilities to us. One of these involves getting desired knowledge on any subject from any corner of the world. There are several colleges and universities world wide that offer a variety courses including management studies. To get an MBA degree on product management, online, the following are names of some of the renowned universities and colleges:

Oxford Brookes University Business School Drexel University Ashford University Brown College DeVry University Online Everest University Online Kaplan University Online McCann School of Business and Technology Norwich University South University Online University of Phoenix Walden University

Salary Range of a Product Manager

Salaries are subject to change depending on the assets of the company, the buy and sell strategies, employee strength, geographical position of the company, and also the years of experience. The salary range of a product manager having experience of one year or less, in the Unites States is around $65,471. Persons having experience of five years or more are paid about $72,043 and those having experience of more than 20 years $99,584.

It usually takes most people 4 years to earn a college degree. This can be a long period of time, especially if you need a good-paying job right now. Fortunately, there is another option. If you decide to sign up for an online career training program, you can get a certificate or a diploma in just a few months. Granted, an online career training program should not serve as a substitute for a college degree, but it can be a great way to get the education you need so you won’t have to work a minimum wage job when you are ready to pursue ‘regular’ college.

How does online career training work? Basically, online career training is simply an Internet version of trade school. All of the courses you would take during your online career training would relate to a specific industry. There would be no general education courses, and the material would be given at an accelerated pace. Depending on the school you sign up with, your online career training may be done through both the Internet and printed correspondence. Either way, throughout the whole time you are involved in online career training, you are free to contact the professor through email, the telephone or U.S. postal mail.

In terms of the difficulty of online career training, expect that it will not be an easy ride. Although there are online career training programs that may not even give you exams, you still have to do well enough on your assignments that you can pass. If you do not pass, (usually with a score of at least 70 percent), you may not be allowed to proceed to the next lesson. If you continue to fail, you risk not being able to get your certificate or diploma when your online career training ends. However, if you find yourself in this situation try not to fret as most schools that offer online career training are willing to work with people. The most common solution is extending a person’s online career training until they can successfully pass the courses.

What types of schools offer online career training? The most popular are institutions that are well-known for their online education. Two examples are University of Maryland University College and the University of Phoenix. The next popular are at-home trade schools, such as Stratford University or ITT Technical Institute. If these options are not enough, you can look into what online career training programs your local community college has to offer, or make use of an online college finder.

In conclusion, online career training is an excellent alternative if you’re interested in getting decent employment quickly. Additionally, even when you are able to get your Bachelor’s degree, the certificate or diploma earned from your online career training program will still look very attractive on your resume. Of course, you’ll still need to do a lot of studying and reading during your online career training, but you’ll quickly find the toil was worth it when you are ready to look for a job.

Getting an online university degree from an online degree is more convenient in many cases. Offcourse this issue can vary from person to person. A person who wishes to have a globally recognized degree right from his comfort at home may opt for an online degree from a worldwide reputed online university. There are numerous such universities offering an online degree but some of them may not be globally recognized. So, before opting for any online degree it is very much necessary that one should thoroughly go through the history of information on a particular university. The university directory is of great help to choose an online university with ones personal preference.

Some of the most popular online universities are University of Phoenix, The Art Institutes, and Strayer University, Westwood College, South University etc.

Online universities offers an online degree on a number of subjects like psychology, liberal arts, culinary arts, creative writing, public relation, game art and design, graphic design, interior design, multimedia and web design, engineering studies, gerontology, family and community services, advertising, marketing, information technology, political science, economics, criminology, sociology, hospitality, public relations, human resource and many other streams including management as well. These online degrees are not limited to only certified degree or bachelor degree. One can opt for a master degree as well as a doctorate degree online from a reputed Online University.

The most effective part of these online universities is that they offer a flexible online degree program without any discrimination based on caste, race, or nation i.e. anyone whether he is a as American, Asian, or a African can opt for a online degree course at any stage of his or her life. They can also opt for dual degree program like one can take an online degree in Hospitality as well as in Human Resource. This leaves an advantage on the student’s career where he can be flexible in choosing his job in either hospitality or human resource.

Last but not the least; online universities are the most cost effective universities where we are gratis of hostel fees. Also, we can complete our degree at minimal fees. We have the comfort of home where we can work with our daily life and have our online degree at midnight. These online universities have no doubt simplified education to its highest level that have led to an imperative revolution in the system of education.