By Sherrie Gulmahamad, Twirlit

I recently wrote for Twirlit about Barbie’s newest career–as a software engineer–but upon a few clicks into the Internet, I learned that this really wasn’t the first choice for the blue-eyed beauty. Girls overwhelmingly chose “anchor woman,” and disappointed adults rallied behind the other job. In the end, Mattel went with both choices.

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Source: Twirlit.com

UH OKs name change for MCC

Switch represents college’s services, programs offered

KAHULUI - No longer Maui Community College, the campus has a new name: the University of Hawaii Maui College.

The UH Board of Regents approved the name change at a Thursday meeting on Oahu. The change was made to "accurately represent the college's programs and services that now include 15 associate and two four-year baccalaureate degrees," according to a news release from the university.

MCC was the first community college in the university system to grant a four-year degree when the bachelor of applied science in applied business and information technology degree was approved in 2005. In May 2009, regents approved a second bachelor's degree of applied science in engineering technology.

"The change will allow the college to be more competitive in the recruitment of students locally, nationally and internationally, as it clearly identifies an institution where students can choose to earn a baccalaureate degree," said UH Maui College Chancellor Clyde Sakamoto.

"As the college expands its partnerships, two- and four-year offerings, and geographical reach, it has become apparent that prospective students are often unaware of the growing degree and career opportunities that we offer," he said.

Sakamoto said his college will continue to develop two- and four-year degree programs while remaining committed to an open admissions philosophy practiced throughout the University of Hawaii system.

The name change will be initiated immediately and be fully implemented in the 2010-11 academic year. Signs at the campus will be temporarily updated until permanent signs can be designed and constructed for the two major entrances into the campus in Kahului.

Similar sign changes are planned for the college's educational centers in Lahaina, Hana, Kihei, and on Molokai and Lanai, and will be made as money becomes available.

Source: Maui News

The Women's Bureau has gone for a year without a director but not without a leader, says the group's deputy director. She credits Labor Secretary Hilda Solis with helping connect female engineers with federally-funded green jobs, Julia Marsh reports today.

WASHINGTON (WOMENSENEWS)--Over a year after President Obama took office, the Women's Bureau in the Department of Labor appears to be getting closer to having a director.

Last fall Obama appointed Sara Manzano-Diaz, 55, to the position. An attorney from Philadelphia, she's worked in city, state and federal government for the past 20 years, most recently as the deputy secretary for regulatory programs for the Pennsylvania Department of State.

A Senate committee approved her nomination without hesitation on Dec. 10 and her name is on the calendar for full confirmation by the Senate.

In the meantime, the bureau, which turns 90 in June and is dedicated to improving the lot of wage-earning women, has been getting what Deputy Director Latifa Lyles calls a strong start under the bureau's chief, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

Solis made a modest increase to the Women's Bureau budget, raising it from about $10.5 million in 2009 to about $11.5 million in 2010. This year she's requested that Congress approve another $1 million increase.

In 2009, Lyles said the bureau raised the profile of female veterans and worked to increase employment for women in areas like green jobs and nanotechnology through targeted programs.

Nanotechnology, engineering at the molecular level, is a growth industry that has led to new devices like the tiny iPod nano. Lyles, a former vice president of membership for the National Organization for Women, told Women's eNews that the bureau's $280,000 nanotechnology initiative, run out of one of the bureau's 10 regional offices, pairs
female college students with mentors to attract more women to the male-dominated field.

At the urging of Solis, who chaired the bipartisan Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues when she was in Congress, the bureau also sponsored 50 seminars around the country on green jobs for female engineers and builders. With about 12 percent of the $787 billion in stimulus funds going to green industries, Solis directed the Women's
Bureau to make sure women would benefit.

Cutting-Edge Sector

The bureau has arranged to publish a green jobs guide this fall that will help groups and individuals around the country go after stimulus funds.

Solis also worked to direct stimulus money specifically to under-represented groups, including women, in green industries. In
November, the Labor Department announced $5.8 million in grants to train groups, including women, who are under-represented in green industries to obtain more work in the emerging sector.

Ariane Hegewisch, study director at the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit the Institute for Women's Policy Research, said the bureau was severely under-resourced during the Bush administration.

Hegewisch commended the Bush-era work of the bureau for advancing work and life balance issues for women. "They were not in favor of regulations, but they produced helpful guidelines," on topics like telecommuting and flexible scheduling, she said.

In the first year of the Obama administration, Hegewisch has noticed a "sea change" in the Women's Bureau's engagement with
women's organizations. She said it has been working "around the clock" to assure that stimulus dollars are being equitably
distributed to men and women.

Commitment to Veterans

Deborah Frett, president of the Business and Professional Women's Foundation, based in Washington, D.C., applauded the bureau's commitment over the past year to female veterans. She participated in one of many listening sessions the bureau conducted to address the challenges facing female veterans, such as homelessness and child care. Frett said the attention received by the sessions was significant since many female veterans don't even consider themselves veterans because they didn't have a combat role.

Frett said she's anxious, though, for director Manzano-Diaz to make her mark on the bureau.

"This past year has been tough," Frett said. "You can have the discussions, but if you really want to look at pushing things
forward and making some changes that is not going to happen until the director gets confirmed."

As a member of the Secretary of Labor's cabinet and a political appointee, the director of the Women's Bureau has a "seat at the table" of an administration's policymaking, said Irasema Garza, who served as the director of the Women's Bureau during the Clinton administration and is currently the president of New-York based Legal Momentum, a women's legal advocacy group.

Research and Data Analysis

The Women's Bureau, which was founded in 1920, also operates as a research body and for at least 70 years has routinely gathered data about the female work force and published special reports.

The bureau's tailoring of general Bureau of Labor Statistics data to focus on female workers has declined over the last 10 to 30 years, said Lyles, though one of the current priorities is to restore the data.

During the Bush administration, the bureau not only stopped its surveys and data collection, it also withdrew research.

In 2004, the New York-based National Council for Research on Women found that the bureau had removed 25 publications on subjects such as domestic violence and workplace rights from its Web site between 1999 and 2004.

"If we don't have the data, oftentimes we aren't taken seriously," said Frett, whose Business and Professional Women's
Foundation helped publish the council's report on the publications that were removed.

Instead, the site appeared to take a more business-friendly stance, offering handbooks on "Women Business Owners" and "Hot
Jobs for the 21st Century."

In 2001 the bureau also drew the ire of women's advocacy groups when it proposed cutting 10 regional offices. The proposed slashing, marked "subject to change" in President Bush's budget, was dropped.

With the administrations of Presidents Nixon, Reagan and George H.W. Bush, the bureau's focus shifted from labor toward business under directors such as Dr. Lenora Cole Alexander, who partnered with private companies to push women into the management ranks.

During Alexander's tenure, from 1980 to 1990, working women saw their annual earnings increase by 11.4 percentage points to 62 cents to the dollar earned by their male counterparts, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Since 1990 the rate has only grown by another 5.5 percentage points. Today women's wages are 80 percent of men's wages.

Julia Marsh is a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent covering domestic and foreign affairs for a Japanese newspaper.

For more information:

Women's Bureau:

http://www.dol.gov/wb/

AFCEA Hawaii is now accepting ACFEA Hawaii Merit Scholarship applications for 2010-2011 Academic Year

Several $2000 scholarships will be awarded and one $3000 scholarship to a student attending a college/university in Hawaii.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: April 1, 2010

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WIT-supported middle-school program has students excited over STEM

One goal is to engage their middle-school students in technology, engineering, design and mathematics. Another is to get them involved with students from other schools, not just as competitors but as peers.

Meeting those goals and seeing their 7th- and 8th-graders excited about what they can accomplish just makes it more satisfying for the teachers involved.

Kalama Intermediate science teacher Maggie Prevenas said she hopes the teachers and Maui Economic Development Board can build on the pilot “Engineering in the Middle” project.

Supported by MEDB’s Women in Technology with funding from Maui County and the U.S. Department of Education, it’s a Maui-based version of the Junior Engineering Expo held annually on Oahu by the University of Hawaii College of Engineering.

The concept of an educational development competition in engineering for middle-school students was developed by the American Society of Civil Engineers, with engineering professionals and students assisting.


Photo (L-R) EIM Advisors, Holly Stockwell (Iao) and Maggie Prevenas (Kalama). Background, students prepare their bridges for competition.

At the University of Hawaii-Manoa, the statewide Expo has teams of middle-school students designing and building structures such as toothpick and popsicle stick bridges that are judged on design and weight-bearing capability. Professional engineers and UH engineering student clubs assist teachers in instructing student teams on elements of structural design.

In past years, Women in Technology funding has supported students from Iao Intermediate, Kalama Intermediate and Lanai High & Elementary School to compete in the Honolulu Expo. But Prevenas said the cost of travel to Oahu limits participation by Maui District schools.

“The engineering symposium put on by the University of Hawaii provided organizations and engineering clubs that were really helpful and provided meaningful experience for the kids,” she said.

“But not every school in the Maui District could afford to participate. When you have funds for schools being cut and the cost of travel is going up, it is only going to be more difficult. So we thought we might be able to create a program here on Maui.”
Supported by MEDB’s Women in Techology program, Prevenas said science teachers from Kalama, Maui Waena and Iao schools put together Engineering in the Middle, with Women in Technology providing the materials, instructions and hosting a competition Jan. 29 at the Donald Malcolm Center.


Photo: 2nd place pasta bridge winners from Maui Waena Justine Hoylman, Kayzel Rose Tabangcura, Rose Vakalahi, and Justin Collado (hidden) prepare their pasta bridge for competition.

“Women in Technology will continue working with these science teachers in promoting STEM education projects in their classrooms and in their schools,” Program Director Leslie Wilkins said. “Their ability to set up and implement the Engineering in the Middle pilot project in such a short time is a testament to their commitment and enthusiasm as professionals. Our dedicated teachers are the most valuable community resource that Women in Technology has/and will continue to encourage and support as an essential component of the MEDB mission of strengthening the STEM education base in Hawaii.”

At Kalama, Prevenas teams with Davilla Riddle to recruit their students for the project. Science teacher Holly Stockwell set up an Engineering Club at Iao Intermediate as an after-school project for students to participate. Teachers Kelly Cole and Vanessa Cannon organized teams at Maui Waena Intermediate.

Stockwell explained that the Maui District science teachers are acquainted through professional development classes and began to discuss among themselves options they had for promoting science, technology, engineering and math education in their classrooms.

Participation in the extracurricular program is entirely voluntary for the students who spent time during lunch breaks and after school to work on their projects for the Engineering in the Middle Extravaganza. The program involved three design events -- a popsicle stick bridge or a toothpick bridge, which were built at school and transported to the competition, and a spaghetti-marshmallow device constructed at the competition to be tested for weight-bearing capacity.

During lunch, the students were introduced to a panel of local engineers who shared how they got their start and why engineering could be for them. These professionals represented various areas of engineering like civil, environmental, renewable energy, physics, and mechanical.

Kalama 8th-grader Ethan Finberg said he was encouraged to participate by his teacher and parents, but finally became involved only a few weeks ago in designing and building a stick bridge and designing his spaghetti-marshmallow structure.
“I wasn’t prepared or anything so I was working on it for a whole week and in the middle, I changed my mind on the design,” he said. “All I learned the whole week is that triangles are the strongest shape.”

He said he likes to design things but preparing for the competition mostly was fun.

“My parents think I should go into architecture. This week, I just had fun building things,” he said.

A 7th-grade team from Iao Intermediate, Temoani Keahi and Amanda Barr, appeared to take the competition a little more seriously as they carefully constructed their spaghetti structure.

Keahi took the lead on design, although she said, “We put in different ideas and tried them out. We had fun trying different things.”

“I like to build things,” Barr said.

Neither was prepared to declare their future as engineers, but that’s okay, a goal of the program is to build awareness that STEM careers are among many future options.

“If we can excite the kids to get into engineering, that’s great,” Prevenas said.

But she said that’s not the only purpose for the teachers who volunteer their time to provide their students an opportunity to explore design and engineering ideas outside of the classroom.

“It gets them to develop creative problem-solving skills. It’s teaching them constantly to bend the rules and engage in innovative thinking,” she said.

Iao School’s Stockwell said she sees significant growth among the dozen students in her Engineering Club.

“They’re learning a lot of problem-solving skills. They’re learning to work together, how to cooperate, teamwork. They’re testing the materials and learning about differences in materials.

”It’s getting them more involved in school,” she said.

Cole said her students met during breaks in the school day to design and build the structures for the competition.

“I really didn’t have to do much. They're seeing what it takes to be an engineer. There was a lot of self-learning,” she said.
“It's been wonderful. Other students seeing what they’re doing have been asking to be involved. We’re getting more kids interested. They see it’s fun and it’s free.”

With the success of the pilot program, initiated in October with the parts all put into place only in December, Prevenas said the teachers are hoping to expand Engineering in the Middle to other schools in the Maui District next year -- with support from Women in Technology. She hoped the Maui District program will include students from the outlying schools in Hana, Lanai and Molokai.

“That would be awesome,” she said.


Photo: Engineer & judge, Daron Nishimoto from PDS Technologies, inspects the construction of Kalama School’s Coleson Costales’ (1st place winner) toothpick bridge. Advisor, Maggie Prevenas is pictured on the right looking on.

Extravaganza Results:
ALL AROUND SCHOOL WINNER (based on highest school average from judging scoring sheet) – Iao Intermediate School

PASTA BRIDGE
• 1st place: Kalama School - Sara Suzuki & Caitlyn Cole
• 2nd Place: Maui Waena - Kayzel Rose Tabangcura, Justine Hoylman, Justin Collado, Rose Vakalahi
• 3rd Place: Iao School - Amanda Barr & Temoani Keahi

TOOTHPICK BRIDGE
• 1st place: Kalama School - Coleson Costales
• 2nd place: Kalama School - Ethan Finberg

POPSICLE BRIDGE
• 1st place: Maui Waena - Justine Hoylman
• 2nd place: Maui Waena - Justin Collado
• 3rd place: Kalama School - Jamielynn Moniz & Persuasion Kawailima


Engineer/Judges:
Audrey Chihara, Brown & Caldwell
Mathew McNeff, Maui Electric Company
Daron Nishimoto, PDS Technologies
Fiona van Ammers, Ronald M. Fukumoto Engineering, Inc.

WAILUKU, Maui, Hawaii - Mayor Charmaine Tavares announced today that the Maui County Committee on the Status of Women will be accepting nominations for recognition during National Women's History Month, honoring women from Maui County that have made accomplishments in the arts, business, community organizations, cultural, education, non-profit, political and religious fields of work or service.

"I encourage people to consider the women in our community who have contributed to making our county a very special place," said Mayor Tavares. "So many deserve to be recognized and honored for their professional accomplishments, community involvement, dedication, and commitment. This is our way of celebrating how important their contributions are."

The theme this year is 2010: Writing Women Back into History. Nominated women who match the criteria for this year's theme will be included in a commemorative booklet celebrating Women's History Month that will be distributed throughout the county.

The nomination deadline for inclusion into the booklet is Tuesday, February 16, 2010.

The celebration and recognition of women's historic achievements began nationally in 1980 when National Women's History Week took effect through a Presidential Proclamation. In 1987, the national celebration was expanded by Congressional Resolution, declaring March as National Women's History Month.

Nomination forms are available on the County of Maui's website at www.mauicounty.gov

For more information call the Office of the Mayor at (808) 270-7105.