Wednesday, August 29, 2012

PE F12!

PE registration for fall term is open from now until September 25. It takes a little digging to find the course listings (for some reason, as of posting, the PE page only goes through 12X), so here they are. PE course elections are done via Banner, under the Course Election and Registration link.

Important updates for this year:
  • Class fees will no longer be pro-rated for attendance. That is, you'll pay a flat fee whether you attend all the classes or not. 
  • The PE term has been lengthened to 12 weeks to reflect the new fall schedule. Course fees are slightly higher now because of this. 
  • Spouse/partner/family member discounts have been discontinued.  

Important non-updates for this year:

Tuesday evening Ballroom and Swing, anyone?

Friday, August 17, 2012

Seniors fall back on social security

More than 46 percent of Dartmouth students graduate with less than $10,000 in their bank accounts, according to a study by economics professor Steven Venti, Harvard Kennedy School of Government political economy professor David Wise and Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professor James Poterba. The study, published in February and highlighted this month by The Washington Post, found that students rely heavily on post-grad program stipends after graduation.

The findings address one of the biggest concerns facing American college students: how much money they need to save before graduating. The exact dollar amount needed to graduate comfortably is highly debated, and many worry that the current generation of near-graduates has not saved enough money, Venti said.

“Rather than looking at people on the cusp of graduation and asking, ‘Are they prepared?’ we look at people a year or two after college and ask, ‘Were they prepared?’” Venti said.

The research suggests that most graduates were not adequately prepared for graduation, he said.
With such limited financial assets after undergrad, the graduates often turn to government programs such as Teach for America.

“What is novel about this paper, with echo boomers reaching graduation, is that there is much question about how much these individuals are relying on social safety nets rather than investing in their own assets,” Porteba said.

These benefits, combined with some graduate or doctoral program stipends, provide less than $20,000 to 87 percent of recent-graduate households with less than $10,000 in financial assets, according to Venti.

The study also suggests a link between low financial assets and disproportionately poor health. When those with poor health and meager bank accounts are confronted with unexpected expenses, they might not be able to pay their bills, according to Venti.

“With few assets, these graduates are unable to withstand financial shocks such as medical, home care and child rearing expenses not covered by their insurance plans or employer benefits, or other health-related expenses such as remodeling a home to accommodate a disability,” he said.

Even expenses such as travel or entertainment are difficult for such graduates to afford, according to Venti.
The findings indicate that a reduction in benefits would directly lead to reduced financial security for many young households, The Post reported.

“With health costs continuing to climb, these findings suggest that any cuts in post-grad benefits will have a substantial impact on the well-being of the young,” Venti said.

The researchers said that policies should encourage low and middle-income college students to prepare more robustly for graduation.

The paper used data from the Health and Graduation Study, a longitudinal study sponsored by the National Institute for Higher Education. The study surveyed people under the age of 18 starting in 2005 and followed up every year until 2011, Venti said. The information about assets was used from the latest surveys before the graduation of each participant.

The three professors have collaborated previously and have jointly published 30 papers over more than 20 years, according to Venti. Their research is funded by the National Institute for Higher Education and the American Study Group on Generation Y.

“This study is an example of how economics is becoming more collaborative and interdisciplinary through joint research with experts from other academic areas,” Porteba said.

     

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Financing Study Abroad

I cannot tell you how life-changingly awesome my term abroad was because, well, I never took one.

Dartmouth has world-class foreign study options, and they do an excellent job of promoting them. I applied for the Spanish FSP my freshman year. I considered applying to the Arabic FSP, too, but by then (sophomore year) I knew enough about Dartmouth's financial aid to know better.

See, financial aid will only cover foreign study expenses up to what a normal term on campus would cost. And they do not cover airfare. For a self-financing student like me, the prospect of covering round-trip international airfare was plenty prohibitive.

There are, however, alternative funding options available (of which I am now, but was not, aware). I'll post any I find here:





Who: Students who have obtained a Bachelor's degree by the beginning of the program, have two years of formal Arabic study, and are at the intermediate level of proficiency in Arabic.

What: Offered by the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, The Qatar Scholarship Program offers dedicated Arabic language students from the United States the opportunity to master their skills in an intensive Arabic language program at Qatar University (QU) in Doha for an entire academic year (September to June). 

How much:The scholarship includes tuition, room and board in university dorms, round-trip airfare, local transportation, and books.


Who: U.S. citizen undergraduates in good academic standing who are receiving a Federal Pell Grant or provide proof that they will be receiving a Pell Grant at the time of application or during the term of their study abroad and who are applying to or have been accepted into a study abroad program eligible for credit by the student's accredited institution of higher education in the U.S and who are studying abroad for at least four weeks in one country other than Cuba and any countries currently on the U.S. State Department's Travel Warning List (programs going to more than one country are eligible if the student will be studying in one country for at least four consecutive weeks).

What: The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program aims to broaden the student population that studies abroad by supporting undergraduates who might otherwise not participate due to financial constraints. The program strongly encourages students to choose non-traditional study abroad destinations, especially those outside of Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand .

How much: up to $5,000

Thursday, August 2, 2012

SEO TempJobs

The number of current undergrads who remember the old BlitzMail system is dwindling and with us go the memories of blitzbombsa, bulletins, and days when organizational all-campusingb didn't require gaudy HTML.

But, at least for those of us who miss the bulletins- and those who could sometimes use a little extra cash, and perhaps also for those who just don't get enough blitzes in a day- all is not lost!

SEO TempJobs still exists!

Yes! Yes! YES IT DOES!

What's all the hype, you ask? Well: TempJobs is where Upper Valley residents post about jobs they need done, preferably by students. They can range from lawn work to computing help. I've seen posts from elderly folks who want someone to read to them and from parents who want their 6-month-olds to learn Mandarin. I once moved a couple sofas up three flights of stairs for $30. There tend to be a lot of babysitting gigs. Every now and then someone wants grocery shopping done. You get the idea.

To get in the know, just sign up for the TempJobs listserv, here: http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=SEO-TEMPJOBS&A=1

Jobs tend to be on a first-comec basis, though, so responding quickly is key.

- - -

Blitzbombing was the exploitation of a vulnerability in the old BlitzMail system that allowed a sender to flood the inbox of an unwitting victim with dozens of copies of a single blitz in one fell swoop. Perpetrators/pranksters did so by addressing the 'To:' field to their victim, then 'Cc:'-ing or 'Bcc:'-ing the same recipient 10, 20, or up to 200 times. 200 messages delivered in a single click. For added bang, a bomber might send multiple such messages. Unfortunately, the 'Conversation' functionality of the new Microsoft system (and most other modern systems) renders this trick obsolete.
b or, sending a blitz to all of campus; generally only used to reference the current undergraduate population
c and qualified