“Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.” Albert Einstein

The Center for the Study of Collegiate Mental Health (CSCMH) collected a wealth of data from 15,000 random people from 66 random colleges. Well, not that random. CSCMH only polled students who visited counseling centers during Fall of 2008.  Nevertheless, researchers discovered an eye-opening trends that lingered in the numbers.

• Students who abused alcohol USUALLY got the lower grades.

And the difference between one drink every two-weeks and NO drinks every two-weeks is a 3.11 and a 3.19… so it’s possible that

• the more alcohol these students drink, the lower their GPA will be.

To sum it all up, their research gave us a glimpse of what might actually be happening to college students who attend similar types of institutions – they’re drinking themselves dumber. But until the researchers complete a bigger study, we cannot say what the numbers are really telling us. CSCMH researcher Jeffrey Hayes knows this:

“We suspect that the relationship between binge drinking and academic performance would be even stronger in the general student population than in this sample of students who sought help at university counseling centers.”

Genius! If there is REALLY an INVERSE relationship between drinking and a student’s grade point average, then even including people into the study that DON’T visit the counseling centers should not make the numbers say anything different. In fact, no matter how big our random sample should get, the numbers should always point towards an inverse relationship. Otherwise, the picture is simply more complicated than we expected. There is only one way to find out!

“This year, we will be conducting another nationally representative study to test that hypothesis,” Hayes said.

He and his colleagues hope that they can follow the light to the source.

No doubt that the new studies results will be dramatic. On one hand, If we also see an inverse relationship between instances of drinking and GPA existing in the bigger population sample, our conscience should be giving us yet another reason to be more kind to our livers. But until the score are in, we can only be certain that an inverse relationship at least exists amongst students who benefit from the psychological services offered by their college or university.

Because hey, who knows, people with certain psychological conditions may be more prone to abandoning the books for the bottle. What if some of the centers visitors didn’t feel comfortable answering certain survey questions accurately given their particular situation or condition? OR, what if stress and peer pressure that commonly plagues college students not only brings  them into the psychological help centers, but also to the liquor shop? This year’s more inclusive study should cover all those corners and many more.

Meanwhile do what still academically works for YOU: hit the books, find study groups, attend office hours, or hide helpful hints in your graphic calculator because replacing the Thirsty Thursday 12-pack with a stack of books doesn’t necessarily mean higher grades.

Till next time, cheers! And don’t forget that 9:00 AM you scheduled on your precious Fridays!

Zum insgesamt sechsten Mal möchten wir Euch  zum Treffen der Mediengruppe Online einladen – zu einem netten Abend zwischen Erfahrungsaustausch, Vernetzung, Fachsimpeln und Smalltalk – aber nicht nur:

Diesmal freuen wir uns, dass Franz C. Bauer, Vorsitzender der Journalistengewerkschaft in der GPA-djp, mit uns diskutieren wird.

Er wird uns informieren über die laufenden KV-Verhandlungen und die Bestrebungen der „Hineinnahme“ der „Onliner“ in den Journalisten-KV – und er wird sich allen Fragen von Euch stellen.

WANN?

Mittwoch, 25. November 2009, ab 19 Uhr

WO?

7*stern. (http://www.7stern.net/), Veranstaltungssaal, Siebensterngasse 31, 1070 Wien (NICHT zu verwecheln mit dem 7sternBräu!)

ANMELDUNG?

Für eine perfekte Organisation der Veranstaltung bittet die Mediengruppe Online, sich anzumelden: Einfach ein Mail mit Betreff “JA” und deinen Namen und Medium an info@mediengruppeonline.at

RAHMENPROGRAMM?

Gemütliches Zusammensitzen und Gedankenaustausch bei Tanzmusik nach der Diskussion mit Franz C. Bauer

Wir freuen uns!

Die Mediengruppe Online

Mehr zum Thema:

Das war das fünfte Medientreffen

Die Umfrage zum Online-Journalismus in Österreich

Online-Journalisten bleiben Thema bei KV-Verhandlungen

Wie verändert sich der Journalismus? Interview mit Franz C. Bauer

Last week, Gossip Girl sparked a national controversy with its highly publicized threesome episode. The ménage a trois between Dan, Vanessa, and Lizzy McGuire wasn’t rated NC-17, but it did prompt the Parents’ Television Council to release the following statement: “The CW Network’s behavior was grossly irresponsible by adding a story line where a sexual threesome was to be celebrated as some sort of ‘rite of passage’ for teenagers.”

The PTC, of course, assumes that TV can compel teens to have grossly irresponsible, drunken threesomes with former Disney stars. (This is the same group that blames violence on cop shows, and homosexuality on the purple Teletubby).  But, if TV can force savvy teenagers into triple sex with Triple Sec, then just imagine what it can do to soft-brained children!  The entire fate of our kids’ future could be determined by remote control roulette: if the channel lands on Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, our kids will end up with 4.0 GPAs and full rides to college… if the channel lands instead on Keeping up with the Kardashians, they’ll end up with huge asses and gold chains.

In my own personal experience, I attribute my Commie ties to hours of watching Sesame Street when growing up (“sharing is caring”).  My adoration for Ernie and Bert, the ambiguously gay duo, also led me to have a soft spot for guys with clashing outfits.  And from watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, I naturally grew trusting of old men in cardigans who wanted to be my neighbor. (“Let’s watch Mr. Rogers slowly take off his cable-knit sweater!  Isn’t this fun?”)

So understandably, I fell victim to the power of television once again — after last week’s Gossip Girl episode, I immediately googled Shia LaBeouf to see if he might be interested in accomplishing a rite of passage.  I found out that the pilot episode of LaBeouf’s Disney hit Even Stevens was called “Swap”…  So, he’s in!  Anyone want to volunteer to be #3?

Recently, I’ve been thinking about taking my GPA of 7 to companies to get a summer vacation job, but I’m having difficult deciding between which engineering design studio to work for.

The ones that have particularly caught my attention are:

• SRI (Stanford Research Institute) International
• PARC (Xerox Corporation Palo Alto Research Center)
• MIT Media Lab

Not only are they all first class research institutions, but they have their claims to fame.

Stanford is also nearby to Palo Alto, and one of the most prestigious private co-ed Universities in the USA.  They have an excellent medical center, and has a distinguished faculty, including Nobel prize winners Milton Friedman (economics), U.S. Supreme Court Justices, and strangly enough… Tiger Woods!

Xerox was the company behind the first personal computer; the first graphical user interface; the first laser printer; and the Ethernet networking technology.  Based in Silicon Valley, this location would also be good for my transportation needs.

MIT, although based in Massachusetts on the other side of the US (North Eastern), is also well known particular for the computer sciences.  The Media Lab name is also fantasticaly attractive.

So there you see my dilemma.  By transport needs, it was going to be either Stanford or Xerox.  More recently Xerox has sold a technology to 3M, but it’s still awaiting to cross the chasm, so there I thought, SRI was probably the best choice.

However, I then had another friend who recommended Disney Research, which I thought would be particularly interesting considering my involvement with Disney’s other commercial interests, particularly in the area of film and radio.  Recently, I was so honored to talk with Raffay Hamid from Disney Research, who gave me a bit of a recommendation regarding the very secretive (but strategic!) Imagineering area of The Walt Disney Company.

I remain to see to it though, that I choose the best option for the indicia cards that I draw out.

So that time of year is creeping up on us. The time when we must throw some clothes into duffel, fill the rest of the bag with dirty laundry, kiss our roommate and our bottle of vodka goodbye, and head home for fall break.

Yes, there are many up-sides to this little trip: we get a break from all the homework, we get to eat something other then cafeteria mystery meat for a change, and we get to curl up with Scruffy on the couch for a couple of days.

But with the comfort of being home comes a few downers as well. And I’m not talking about being woken up at 9am on a Saturday or having to empty the dishwasher. It’s those little comments from mom and dad that really get under your skin. And no matter how hard you try to be nice, you just can’t help but snap, say something mean and beeline to the car/airport (clean clothes and leftovers in hand, obvi) as soon as humanly possible.

Here are a few of the worst offenders:

“Honey, your pants look a little tight”
Yes mom, I realize that drinking 5 days out of the week and eating delivery pizza has done a number on my waistline. Am I happy about it? No. Do I know it is there? Yes. Is it helping that you pinch the muffin top and poke the underarm flab? Absolutely not!

“Have you found a nice boy yet?”
If by “nice” you mean “a tall pre-med student who considers hanging out in the library fun,” then no, dad, I have not found your ideal son-in-law quite yet. But I have hooked up with a couple of the guys on the football team who can barely form coherent sentences but have 8-pack stomachs you can bounce a quarter off of, if that counts for anything.

“Are you getting straight A’s?”
Don’t you think if I was acing every test I probably would’ve mentioned it to you in our weekly phone calls? It’s the fact that I am failing Bio miserably and barely ever making it to the 9 a.m. calculus lectures that has kept this topic out of our discussions. Maybe next semester. Keep praying, I know I am.

“We’re not just your ATM, you know.”
Ok, so they’re right about that, but between classes and everything else I’m doing on campus (napping?), I just don’t have the time to call and chat every day. Hell, they should be happy they hear from me at all.

“We saw your pictures on Facebook, you look like you are having…a lot of fun”
Get off Facebook! This is not a tool to stalk your children and befriend your old high school classmates and catch up. This is my website where I stalk my ex boyfriends and post sloppy pictures of myself, neither of which I would like you to monitor.

“Why can’t I see your Facebook pictures anymore?”
I have no idea, mom; Facebook must be crashing. It’s been having a lot of issues you know, giving people viruses and stuff. You should really terminate your account.

“We are still trying to plan that visit”
Oh goody. I can cancel all the party invitations for a 4-day weekend filled with quiet dinners, giving campus tours, and being yelled at for living in a pigsty. Wonderful. I’ll just pray you don’t find the handle of rum under my bed, or the textbooks still in their wrapping in the desk drawer.

What else do your parents pester you with over break that drives you crazy?

Wo sind die Mrd. die die Metallwirtschaft jährlich generiert? Wohin verschwinden die Gelder die in ÖSterreich die Kaufkraft stärken sollen?

Heuer hat erstmals der Handel mehr Chancen einen KV – Verhandlungserfolg einzufahren als die Metaller. Das Problem wird sein das die Handelsgewerkschaft (gpa-djp) zu Schwach ist für konkrete Verhandlungen.

Um für alle so wenig wie möglich Schaden zu generieren müssen die Lohnverhandlungen schnellstmöglich zum Abschluss gebracht werden.

Hirnfreie Aussagen wie – Dann müssen halt mal die Wirtschafter Streiken – sind dem ganzen nicht förderlich.

MEINUNG:
Ich will am ende des Gehaltes kein Monat mehr übrig haben. Vor allem muss es sein für Arbeit einen FAIREN Gehalt zu erhalten. Welcher Manager arbeitet für 10.Mios im Monat? Ich kenne einige Familien die zusammen 10 mal mehr arbeiten und mit netto € 2.500,- ex. WHG auskommen müssen.

Ich fordere: Stützung der Firmen und Rekapitalisiserungsbeschränkung!

Der Rachen-Putzer

34% of Oregon schools are “outstanding”

61% of Oregon schools are ”satisfactory”

5% of Oregon schools are failing

Let’s do the math to find out our state’s GPA:

.34 * 4.0 + .61 * 2.0 + .05*1.0 = 2.63

That’s good enough to get into community college and maybe SOU… but not any other state universities. Hm.

"Ok, so I'll do all the work and you'll take all the credit. Sound good?"

Your midterm is assigned and not only is it a group project, but you can’t even choose who you’ll work with. Your T.A. reads off your group of four then gives you the last half of the class to discuss your ideas. You pull your desks together in a mini circle and start the introductions.

It only takes you five minutes to realize that this group is not going to work.  Between the kid who’s only showed up to class twice and the girl who speaks maybe three words of English, it’s going to be a disaster.

With only two weeks to complete both a four-page paper and a 5-minute presentation, you need to get to work quickly. The group spends ten minutes coming up with a topic and the next twenty trying to find a time to meet that works for all of you. Unsuccessfully. One kid holds an on-campus job at the library, one girl is heading out of town for the weekend and you all have 3 other midterms that you need to somehow complete.

The rest of the class starts packing up and – seeing a giant D in your near future – you decide to take charge.

“Ok, we’re going to break up the work. We’ll each take a portion of the paper and we’ll put it together at the end. Then we’ll use class time next week to write up our presentation. Good?”

The group agrees – most likely because they don’t want to spend another second in this classroom. You get everyone’s email address, divvy up the sections of the essay and go on your way.

You do your research and whip up your part of the essay the night before the next class. Only when you show up you learn you’re the only one with anything done. The boy doesn’t even bother to come, one girl was too busy to get her part done and the girl with the language barrier? You’re not even sure she understood the assignment.

You freak out. You only have a week left and half of today’s class to get the project done. While the T.A. drones on about that week’s reading assignment you zone out, thinking about your grade. “WTF? How is it fair that my grade depends on the other people in this group? I’m gonna have to do all the work myself. And then they’ll get my A? Ugh. But what else would I do? Let them ruin my GPA? I’m not gonna get a bad grade in a class this easy.”

Finally, she stops talking and you’re given the rest of the class to work with your group. Unable to count on anyone to get anything done out of class, you decide to use the time to write a script for the presentation. You’ll just do the paper on your own later. Do you want to? No. Do you have the time? Barely.

Do you trust these idiots to do anything worthy of your academic standards? Yeah right.

Thirty minutes is not nearly enough time to finish your presentation so you try once again to find a time to meet out of class. And, again, it’s a big fat fail. So, again, you offer to collect everything via email and send out a final document before the big presentation next week.

You spend your entire weekend writing the paper, sending passive-aggressive emails to the group to get their stuff to you, taking the crap they wrote and turning it into something worthy of a passing grade and complaining to your roommates. Then you put it all into a Power Point with some fun clip art (Clip Art makes everything look better) and beg everyone to meet you 10 minutes before class to go over the plan.

When everyone finally shows up – even MIA Boy – you explain everyone’s parts to them. You run through it once then, of course, get called on first to present. You turn in your paper to the T.A., take your place with your group and pray everyone in your group knows how to read aloud.

The presentation goes well (obviously – you did the entire thing) and a week later you learn your group has earned an A. All four of you.

Yeah, we’ve all been there.
Why anyone is still assigning group projects in college is beyond us too.

I’m a total college girl. I love wearing college sweatshirts, cheering at basketball (so much so that I cheer for the school I transferred from and the one I currently attend) or hockey games, partying at all times, supporting student government, loving the gym and dining halls, repping NU right here on CollegeCandy, playing on intramurals and familiarizing myself with all the fun trivia about my school. Example: Did you know that Northeastern University is really the first place that the Red Sox played? Yep, the Red Sox didn’t always play at Fenway. Back when they were the Pilgrims/Americans, they played at the Huntington Avenue Grounds, which is now part of our campus. The area is immortalized with a bronze statue of Cy Young.

Yes, I love college. Probably more than Asher Roth. The experience of being at a University is incredible, my social life is banging, my sister goes to school right around the corner at BU, and I live in the “big city” version of a college town. The Boston area is home to over twelve major universities and I’m familiar with all of them. Or at least their frat houses.

Here’s the thing though, I hate SCHOOL. Ever since I was a little girl I was constantly reprimanded for not focusing and not living up to my full potential. I’ve always tested well, but I hate sitting in a classroom. I love to read, but if someone gives me a reading assignment it’s like pulling teeth to complete it. I’m a bright girl, but I find that I do the bare minimum to skate by with a B- average.

To make it even worse, my father is in academics, my mother is a librarian, both have Master’s degrees and my honor-roll little sister racked up more college credits by taking APs her senior year than I did in my freshman year. In actual college. Basically, she cries if she gets an A- and I cheer for a B+. And most of my friends adore classes and wouldn’t dream of missing a day.

I just don’t get it.
I heart my campus, but I hate the classroom.

However, I have always been super into working. Even when I wasn’t old enough to work, I was always trying to scam people into buying my old toys or writing newsletters to my mother with “WANTED” ads asking her to hire me to clean the house, for a price. I started babysitting at a very young age and then moved into administrative work, photo technician, being a teller at a bank and then steadily working retail from age 16 until my sophomore year of college.

So, my life has taken a crazy turn. I fell in love with my 6 month-internship (Northeastern calls them co-ops) and I have an opportunity to extend my work even further, for another 12 months, to be exact. I’ve been working in the marketing department for a beauty company and I adore it. I thrive in a work environment. I’ll half-ass any project for Sociology but at work I’m on my grind, putting in the long hours and tackling projects. The company I work for inspires me and going to work makes me happy, unlike going to class.

I know I need my bachelor’s degree, but converting to a non-traditional education might be the right road for me. My school offers an online program where I can finish my bachelor’s degree away from campus. However, in doing so, I’d have to give up my senior year experience, the flexibility and the general awesomeness of school for a full-time job and online business classes, all at once.

And I’m not sure what I should do. I love my job and I’m honored to be considered, but is it enough to give up my last year of college? Do I suffer through the classes to get one more year of the good life, or take this job (we all know how hard they are to come by these days) and kick-start my real life now?

I have a week to make my decision so any and all advice is welcome. Help!

Applicants to our medical program who have completed or are about to complete a graduate program receive a separate review in our process.  For these applicants we have set a lower minimum undergraduate GPA requirement of 3.0/4.0.  This is because an emphasis is placed on their academic achievements in graduate study, particularly research productivity.  (As an aside, MCAT minimums remain the same for everyone.)

For these graduate applicants, our assessment includes not only all of the usual pieces of the application also provided by undergrads, but also graduate course grades, research productivity, and extra reference letters related to their graduate work.  We do not calculate a graduate level GPA, as for most programs there are very few courses taken.  But we do review the graduate transcript and consider each course individually, with the expectation of maintaining A level work

We get a lot of questions about the extra reference letters.  The most important thing is to ensure that your graduate supervisor has provided a letter that speaks to your productivity and excellence in your graduate program, as well as confirming your completion date. (Completion prior to June 30, 2010.)  This could be in one of the 3 OMSAS letters or as one of the allowed extra three letters in the supplemental package.  Really important to note that we do not require an extra three letters of graduate applicants.  These are optional, but we are willing to consider up to three extra letters (so, up to 6 total).  That one of your references be a  supervisor’s letter is the only requirement.

So, if I don’t have to send in the extra letters, why would I?  Well, simply put, the more people who can sing your praises to the Admissions Committee, the better for you.  If you have two or three people who can write strong, detailed letters about your graduate performance, then why not ask them?  It can only strengthen your application as the letters will help us to understand your academic accomplishments.  And, maybe your supervisor did send in one of the initial OMSAS letters.  But that was in September.  But maybe by November there have been some advances in your research, or you’ve gotten a paper accepted at a conference. Perhaps your supervisor would like to write a second letter with these additional details.  It can’t hurt to ask.

The supplemental package is due in our office (not to OMSAS) by Dec. 4, 2009. The extra reference letters can come in your package (sent by you) so long as they are enclosed in sealed envelopes with the writer’s signature over the seal.  We’ll also accept them sent separately.

And I have one favour to ask.  When you put your supplemental package together, please don’t use binders or report covers, or plastic sleeves.  We copy the packages for our committee and all of that “packaging” has to be removed and discarded. It really adds to our work (and to my RSI), and is, frankly, money and time you don’t need to spend.

Full details on what goes in the supplemental package, and where to send it, are available on our website:
http://tinyurl.com/ylkkd36

GENERAL POWER OF ATTORNEY

Power of Attorney(G.P.A OR S.P.A) is a deed or document executed by a person in favor of another person entrusting with him a specific task like conveying an immovable property or properties, completing a project like house building or renovation, conducting a court proceeding and its connected activities and collection of debts etc. The person who executes the deed of Power of Attorney is known as the principal and the person in whose favor the power is executed is known as the Power of Attorney or the Power Agent.

Without knowing the nuances of creating or entrusting power and understanding its legal implications, many of us become victims by becoming a party to a Power of Attorney. They are often misguided by the non-professional people called document writers and self-styled village lawyers, who are utterly ignorant of the legal principles involved in a Power of Attorney.

When a person is handicapped by virtue of his age, distance and preoccupations, he/she executes a Power of Attorney in favor of another person, who is his/her close confident. If the power entrusted is for a specific purpose or task, say for building a house or conveying an immovable property, it is known as Specific Power of Attorney or Special Power of Attorney If the power conveys general powers and duties in favor of a person, it is known as the General Power of Attorney. While the Specific Power of Attorney ends as and when the task is completed, the General Power of Attorney comes to an end when the principal is dead or when the principal cancels it by issuing a notice to his agent.

In some special cases, an Irrevocable Power of Attorney is created in favor of an agent and the power given is coupled with an interest. If the principal entrusts a power of collecting a debt from a third party to his agent and also entrusts to him to discharge the debt of yet another party to which he (principal) owes a debt, the power entrusted to the agent is irrevocable until the principal’s debt is discharged. It requires no consideration in creating an ‘Irrevocable Power of Attorney’.

The cardinal principle of a Power of Attorney is whatever the agent does it is deemed to be the act of the principal as if he or she does it personally.

Here lies a source of conflict or dispute, when the Power of Attorney or Power Agent sometimes transgresses his or her limit and also fails to honor the terms of the Power of Attorney.

Though the Power of Attorney does not require registration, when the power agent is entrusted with a power of submitting a document for registration, then the Power of Attorney requires registration. Normally an unregistered deed of power of attorney is executed in one hundred rupees stamp paper and notarized.

Therefore, before executing a power of attorney, it is always advisable to consult a lawyer than fall a prey to unscrupulous people who have very little knowledge about the salient features of a power of attorney.

I’m very happy to report that everything is going well for me. I attained a 3.75 for this semester (missing the 4.0 with Engineering Theories, but oh well). I was fairly well encouraged with my goals by a professor at my university of choice. My hiatus from school due to finances has actually come at a good time. I will use the down time to study for the GREs and to beef up my knowledge on areas of my schooling that I feel are weak.

My job continues to be fulfilling, despite the stress that the flu season is bringing my small office. I’m still going to apply for other positions elsewhere, but I love what I’m doing now. That in and of itself may just make this whole killing myself worth it.

2.5 in English to a 3.75 in Engineering. Proof positive it can be done.

Goals are a part of life, whether you are the type of person who keeps them taped to your mirror or stored in the back of your mind. There are big goals, small goals, important goals, “wishful-thinking” goals (Chris Pine will be mine…), etc. Regardless of the type, all require a certain amount of thought, effort, and organization. Goal-setting is not only a blueprint for your own success but also a powerful tool in motivation–who doesn’t need that?

Everyone struggles with motivational issues at some point. With so many stressors and distractions constantly vying for our mind’s attention (alcohol, TV, alcohol again), feeling motivated to complete tasks can be REALLY difficult. However, it is important that goal-setting be a regularly-used skill in our daily lives. Being a serious procrastinator myself (hey, America’s Next Top Model reruns can be a little distracting, OK?), I have found that setting goals have made my thoughts and actions more organized, efficient, and clear-cut.

So how do you maximize the ability of your goals to motivate you?

Dr. Edwin Locke, a pioneer in the research of motivation and goal-setting (and probably a guest star in one of your PSY101 lectures), provides five characteristics of goals that each contribute to the goal’s effectiveness of promoting motivation. You wanna be successful (uh, duh!), take these into consideration:

Clarity
Goals that are clear are ones that are straightforward, able to be measured, and cause you to take action! Being specific is key—adopting a definite time set for a goal and an detailed description of what you want to achieve allows for a better understanding of potential rewards. Vague goals such as “Lose weight” or “Get ahead on schoolwork” are unlikely to motivate. However, goals such as “Lose 30 pounds by September 1st,” or  “Finish 3 assignments for next week before going out to the keg race,” are more likely to create a more tangible ending, therefore boosting motivation.

Challenge
It has been proven that more challenging goals are more motivating. We are often driven by things that challenge us (it’s true–despite how much you argue that sitting on the couch eating PB&J is better), so a more challenging goal equates to a higher level of satisfaction when completed. Also, the difficulty of the goal goes hand-in-hand with the level of reward on the other side, leading to increased potential rewards, as well (yay!). However, keep in mind that challenging goals also have to be realistic. Setting the bar too high (“Fit into a size 4 by tomorrow morning”) can lead to disappointment and, understandably, a decrease in motivation. However, setting the bar high enough to require extra effort and investment into the outcome will encourage commitment and passion for success.

Commitment
Commitment to personal goals can be difficult because most of the time we tend to be our worst managers (to put it lightly–we suck–way too many excuses!). However, by making the goal challenging, telling others about the goal (“I have to get my paper done by Thursday, so do NOT let me go out tonight!”), and setting checkpoints at which you assess your progress (use that pretty paper you bought at Barnes & Noble for a to-do list), the accountability and commitment will increase the likelihood of success.

Feedback
Feedback provides opportunities to do a “check-up” on how realistic our expectations are, adjust the difficulty of the goal, and gain recognition. As mentioned in the commitment section, it is important to create checkpoints for self-assessment and feedback. This helps to define progress and mark specific success along the way, making intermediate milestones within close reach (1 page, 2 pages, 3 pages– wait, is this supposed to be double or single-spaced?!). For example, if you are trying to lose weight, take pictures or weigh yourself every week!

Task Complexity
Goals need to be broken into specific expectations. Building your own expectations at the beginning of the process is helpful in carrying out and completing the tasks involved. Make sure that, if the task is difficult, to give yourself enough time to carry out all areas needing to be completed (“getting into a size 4, and getting Chris Pine to marry me by tomorrow” is not a suitable option). Also, give yourself enough time to learn any new skills that are required to achieve your goals. Learning to run properly, for example, is important to accomplish before being able to accomplish a goal of running a marathon.

By reviewing these factors while goal-setting, you are able to better create goals that improve motivation and, in turn, increase the chance of success. A helpful website for setting goals is Goalforit.com— you can set goals and sub-goals, add friends for accountability (ouch, embarrassment is a good motivator for me), and create your own personal profile. Also, if you are more adventurous, StickK.com allows you to wager bets with friends or “pay up” to a charity or “anti-charity” (an organization you despise) every time you do not meet a checkpoint on the way to your goal.

Here’s to going for the “goal-d”!

the last two days have been significant to me because it’s the first time in the 15 month history of blank label that we made revenue on two consecutive days. i should also try and put the 15 months into context. this was a 15 months were i did almost everything wrong. i’m a  guy, who only 24 months ago, was certain that i wanted to spend the rest of his life in the corporate rat race, aspiring to become an investment banking superstar. i knew nothing about technology, knew nothing about supply chain/fulfillment, knew the wrong things about e-commerce. as a ‘business guy’, i was supposed to understand strategy. what strategy? the learning curve is steep, being analytical is useful. i have my parents to thank for a good work ethic, my mother to credit for being somewhat sociable, and my father to blame for the genetic flaw of being in love with risk taking.

now besides the fact that for the last 15 months until yesterday i had no real idea of what i was doing, and today i think i’m even more lost than i was yesterday, the 15 months have to be discounted for ’school months’. it hasn’t really been ’serious heart and mind’ until probably a few weeks into the summer where i wasn’t distracted by settling into a new country, meeting new people, being fascinated by a white powder falling from the sky, covering the grounds. since then, i’ve really discovered a new sense of commitment, more profound than anything else i have in my life previously. being closed into a high volume of aspiring student entrepreneurs at babson and olin college, it’s actually interesting to observe the relatively strong reverse correlation between gpa and business traction (especially revenue). both schools have a policy that they teach ‘entrepreneurial thought and action’ which is a nice way to say that it’s okay if they don’t produce entrepreneurs out of college, it’s more important that they teach students how to think ‘entrepreneurially’ for the rest of their lives, i.e. something that’s vague and impossible to track. but this is not the place for such a dialogue. in any case, treading the borderline of passing and failing as never been better for business, and i only wish i had realized this earlier.

so if you haven’t caught on yet that blank label had our lean launch on saturday, yes we were working all day halloween (in fact i was getting text messages around 11pm from our chief interweb builder as i had finally started to relax and thought i could enjoy a couple of hours of my first halloween). of course there are errors, and yes there are bugs, and we know about the glitches, but we’re real, and i can’t tell you how good a feeling that is. wow! i highly recommend it. but being in the real world also brings in real world implications, real world responsibilities. these next few weeks are going to be absolutely crucial for us. the last thing we want to be is the one night fad that didn’t capture any momentum. we have to be smart with our analytics, we have to spread out our publicity traffic, we need to keep building and fixing, we need to make sure fulfillment is executed without any delays. is it strange that all these challenges sound awesome to me?

The Official Journal of the European Union(OJEU) is the gazette of record for the European Union. It has been published in 22 official languages (23 when Irish is required) of the member states, every working day since the Treaty of Nice entered into force on 1 February 2003.  The OJEU superseded the earlier Official Journal of the European Community (OJEC) with the establishment of the European Union.

The Official Journal comprises three series:

• The L series contains EU legislation including regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions.
• The C series contains EU information and notices including the judgments of the European Courts, calls for expressions of interest for EU programmes and projects; public contracts for food aid; etc.
• The supplementary S series contain invitations to tender and is the series of most interest to users of Tenders Direct and so is the one I’ll concentrate on here.

Supplement S contains invitations to tender for the following:

• Contracts for works, supplies and services from public sector organizations in all EU Member States;
• Contracts from utility companies operating in the water, energy, transport and telecommunications sectors;
• Contracts from EU institutions;
• European Development Fund contracts (ACP countries);
• Phare, Tacis and other contracts from central and eastern Europe;
• European Investment Bank, European Central Bank and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development financed projects;
• European Economic Area contracts (Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein);
• Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) from Switzerland;
• Notices concerning European economic interest groups (EEIGs);
• Public contracts for air services.

All three series of the OJEU are published every working day (5 days a week). Approximately 160,000 invitations to tender are published each year, of which more than 14,000 are from the UK or Ireland. Unfortunately these contracts are all categorised using the Community Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes, which as my colleague Hailey Thomson pointed out in her recent article are ‘In principle brilliant, in practice, hopeless.’

The Publications Office of the European Union (L’Office des publications de l’Union européenne, or OPOCE) is responsible for the production of the OJEU. OPOCE is based in Luxembourg and employs a staff of 655. Supplement S (OJS) was originally produced as a hard copy booklet, which was then distributed by post to subscribers throughout Europe. Towards the end of the 90’s this became unmanageable and so it is now only available as a CD/DVD or online via the TED website. The method of collecting the information that is published in the OJS has also changed out of all recognition in the last 7 years. In 2002 OPOCE were receiving between 700 and 1,000 notices for publication every day. 95% of these were being submitted by post or fax, which then had to be laboriously entered into the production system. The remaining 5% of notices, primarily from Sweden and Norway, were being submitted in an electronic format.

The impending accession of 10 new member states to the European Union in 2004 (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) presented a major problem to OPOCE, not only because the volume of contract notices would increase but the number of official languages was also going to increase at the same time. It was inevitable that the existing production system for the OJEU would simply not be able to cope with the amount of work required. 

In 2002 the TED unit within OPOCE, headed by the far sighted Philippe Lebaube, launched a pan-European project to develop an electronic message format that could be used by agents within each member state to submit contract notices directly into the OJEU production system. The initial participants in what became known as the eSender project were a relatively small group of member state administrations and commercial companies including Millstream, the parent company of Tenders Direct. The eSender format was finalised by May 2002 and was incorporated into the production process by the beginning of 2003. Uptake of the new format built steadily and relatively quickly to the level that more than 90% of contract notices are now submitted through the eSender process.

There are now 59 eSenders in production, i.e. actively sending contract notices to OPOCE for publication in the OJEU. Millstream currently operates 3 public procurement portals for member states to collate contract notices (Ireland’s eTenders, Norway’s Doffin and Scotland’s Public Contracts Scotland) and uses the eSender system to publish just over 8% of all the OJEU contract notices.

Millstream also manages the Tenders Direct service which enables businesses (one man SME’s to multi-national corporations) to find details of the contract notices published in the OJEU as well as a multitude of contracts that aren’t so widely published.

So midterms have come and gone. Whether your calling home boasting to mom and dad about how well you’re doing on their $40,000 a year, or crying your eyes out at the thought of failing out of freshman math, everyone is glad to be out of those couple weeks of hell.

For those of us who haven’t aced all of our tests, we have no calm after the storm. We are just hit by another what-if-I-fail-out-of-school-what-will-everyone-think whirlwind.

Our friends at CollegeNews gave some suggestions on what to do to overcome a midterm crisis, which includes talking to your professor and your advisor and re-evaluating your study habits. But what if that’s not enough? What if striking up a convo with your prof during office hours doesn’t change anything? And what does it mean to re-evaluate your study habits?!

Your GPA is the most important thing you’ll take with you when you leave college (well, that and a box full of free t-shirts), so it’s imperative you pick that up and pick it up fast. We’ve compiled a comprehensive list of important things you can (and need to) do now to turn double up that 2.0 and turn it into something worth boasting about.

You know, so your family doesn’t disown you come Christmas.

Cut Thirsty Thursday Out of Your Schedule

Let’s make that any weeknight partying. You’ve had your fun, but some people just don’t have the ability to balance partying and studying, and if you bombed your midterms you’re probably one of those. As hard as it may be you’re going to have to decline party offers and send your roommate in a panicked search for a new pong partner. You can always make yourself a virgin daiquiri while you study to ease the pain.

Add in Study Spurts

Just because you cut out the weeknight partying doesn’t mean you are going to have any more time on your hands. We know your schedule is packed full and that isn’t very conducive to studying. That’s why you’re going to have to get creative. Review notes on the elliptical at the gym. Make flashcards that you can read through on your walk between classes.  You’ll retain more information from these study spurts than you think, which will make the process much easier when you sit down at the end of the day to do last minute cramming.

Make Friends With Scribble Hands

You know that person that never puts their pencil down? They’re going nuts on that notebook and you chuckle at them every once in a while. Well, now the jokes on you because I’m pretty sure Nancy Notetaker aced her midterm. Perhaps you didn’t do so well because your notes are sub par. If you just aren’t capable of taking notes extensive enough to fill their own textbook, your next move is making friends with this note freak. Believe me, no topic will go uncovered, her notebook is a student goldmine…and you need a little gold right now. (Note: no one is gonna give you their notes if you don’t show up to class. The key is to show them how hard you work so they’ll help you…not just give you all the answers.)

Show A Little Love

Yes the majority of us tend to go under the radar. We don’t want to be singled out in class, we don’t want to be best friends with the professor; we just want to get our attendance check and leave. If you bombed your midterm, this is no more. Chances are your professor now knows you anyway (as the girl who got the giveaway question wrong), so you might as well turn it around and have him know you for being the girl who cares about her grade and is trying to make an effort. Show up early to class to clarify any questions you had from the last lecture. And actually participate. Professors have been known to boost a student’s grade when they know they have been working hard and participating in the course, and that 10 percent could keep you from retaking economics next semester.

What other suggestion do you guys have for making the second half of the semester end better than the first?

The other half of my 30 respondents to the above T/F question had admitted True to the statement: “Laziness is a problem for me.”  My listening students continued to write about what grade they think they deserve at the end of this semester long, academic course:

One hardworking female student wrote:  “I believe I deserve a good grade, because I try to come to each class, I was always listening.  I love foreign teachers, I was pleased to be in this class.  Of course everyone wants an excellent pass grade, but as I figured out, you are very fair person and will do all the work honestly.  I know I could do better, all problems were from illness, lack of time and maybe some laziness.” 

A male student claimed: “I tried to be realistic during my whole life and I do not like to lie to myself.  When I feel that I’m not deserving a mark, I will work to correct such thing.  I’m absolutely sure, that I’m not a perfect student, which deserves “A+” I also know that working out of deadlines is not a typical to “A” student.  But I think the effort I’m trying to put in my studies and researches is at level of “B” which I think, in future, will give me a boost to further academic success.”

Another self-admitting lazy male student with the ability to get an “B” grade wrote this:  “To be honest, I should deserve fail or D- because I missed many classes because of my illness.  Despite this illness, I tried to study my missed classes but I’m not tried enough.  But I hope that if will do my best at final presentation and final exam, I could get D.”

One male student who got a D- at midterm but probably doesn’t even know it because he missed the day I was doing one-on-one conferencing wrote the following: “I believe that my grade will be B.  Because I have some mistakes in this course, but after I could understand that it’s important and need to me!  If my grade will be B, it’s for me would good news and help to me studing better and better!”  Another delusional student like the one I mentioned yesterday but at least this one admits he is lazy.  He also came to my office begging for mercy which I have little patience for.  I only do office hours for those who are seeking help on their assignments, not from lazy students who can’t take responsibility for their own laziness.

Another female student who admits to being lazy wrote this:  “To be honest, I know that I can’t have A+ [that’s an understatement!!!] because I missed classes and sometimes I was too lazy in my self-working to have A.  I should be at all classes and do all my work.  I understand all responsibility for my absence and understand that my fall studying wasn’t good.  But I hope that I could have B or B- or C…because this lessons wasn’t just a credit for me.  And at the moment when I was in the classes, I was working as hard as I could. But I regret that I miss a lot of classes and therefore had low quality of my grade.”

This next response was a surprise, he strikes me as the type who seems to listen but still doesn’t get it.  He admits to being lazy but still thinks he should get an A because of perfect attendance:  “I believe that I can get A, A- or at least B+ because I never missed classes.  I do maybe not all, but almost all homework.  I know it depends on my final paper and ppt presentation.  Also I don’t want to fall my GPA. Now I have 3.5 and I’m going to improve.”  He is one of those goof-off guys who will be in for a big surprise when he gets his final grade at the end of this term.

Finally, this female student knows how to articulate her thoughts and I despair that she didn’t perform better in this class.  I believe she was surrounded by a bunch of students which did nothing to motivate her to excel. Something needs to be done about the collective force when they have a negative influence on the above average or good students who could do better given the right circumstances.  She wrote:  “I think at the end of listening classes I deserve about 70% of my grade.  I didn’t do my best, unfortunately.  I was able to get higher grades, because I got passion about learning English.  But my laziness spoils everything.  I am able to impress teacher because I’m not stupid and I want to learn more.  But I didn’t have enough skills to express my feelings and thoughts.  That makes me sick and I can’t stand it.  I’m sure if I got opportunity to express myself in Russian, I would get the highest mark.  But I’m just learning and I am sure mistakes I did in this class gave me a lot of experience.”

Sadly, I will have to fail about half of this particular class because of their non-compliance to the rules of my class and their not doing their homework or showing up for class.  Maybe that will teach them to take their education more seriously and not to tease the good students who are trying to work the best they know how to do.  Often I see these lazy students playing cards or sitting around and talking when they should be at the library studying and preparing for their other classes.  Laziness is a sad affliction amongst student and teacher alike in Kazakhstan.

I MISS his cheeky-looking, yet-so-innocent, small smile
I MISS him being spontaneous enough to always let me take photos with/ of him randomly
I MISS putting my arms over his shoulder to take a pic
I MISS e times we watched channel u 4.30pm drama serials tog
I MISS playing poker tog during CNY tog with his step-sis & hubby
I MISS him sms-ing me in chinese whether I wld be home for dinner after work
I MISS him coming to me seeking help/ asking abt his hp functions & feeling so apologetic for disturbing me
I MISS e gpa who doted on me so much, like I were a darling princess
I MISS my smart gpa, who was consider so hp-savvy as he knew how to operate e functions, add photo image to contact, org his contacts in a v organised manner, set diff profiles, take photos, send sms in chinese etc
I MISS hearing his dedicated ringing tone, Shanghai Tan, when he calls me
I MISS his cute & bubbly personality
I MISS ppl praising abt him when they c his photos/ I tok abt him & feeling so proud tt I have such a gpa

I MISS. 陈福成.

I REMEMBER he somehow decided to quit smoking partly/ because of me
I REMEMBER he used to bring me & pick me up from pri sch
I REMEMBER he doesn’t like “bai guo” like me
I REMEMBER he always orders “钓鱼” & wld order it in hokkien
I REMEMBER him being v organised & neat always, & does housework to keep e house spick & span
I REMEMBER he would translate & tell ah ma wat is gg on on TV as she didn’t understand Chinese v clearly
I REMEMBER he wld help ah ma scratch her hand willingly
I REMEMBER he dresses smartly, shirt tucked in, belt, hp pouch @ his waist
I REMEMBER e nights he cldn’t get to slp when he will be traveling e next day
I REMEMBER him getting all excited & laughing so happily when he wins with a bigger card in poker
I REMEMBER he doesn’t let us “tao kai” in poker no matter how big u place e bet
I REMEMBER this video of mine saying “Ah Gong Ah Gong Ah Gong” recorded using his hp which made him laugh so brightly
I REMEMBER when he struck 4D & off-we-went to a gd meal
I REMEMBER him getting all excited abt new models of Nokia hps
I REMEMBER he loves e wanton mee @ Bedok North & comments tt it was e best in his opinion
I REMEMBER he almost wanted to buy a new pair of specs before he knew he was ill

And then
I REMEMBER e initial period when he was told e op didn’t work
I REMEMBER he told me, he felt sad for nt being able to watch me get married
I REMEMBER he called us to his room to 交待 things & had so many things he was worrying abt & 放不下心
I REMEMBER we had dinner @ Soup Rest in adv as his bday celebration as he was starting his therapy
I REMEMBER he always had to stay in hos & spent a long time in there
I REMEMBER he showed me his DIY belt head design by placing a heart sticker over it
I REMEMBER he was so upset & flared up when we had to separate our clothings with his as a health precaution when he was undergg therapy
I REMEMBER him telling me tt he wants to share some of my dinner to be bought at e hos canteen/ food court
I REMEMBER my aunt sms-ing me tt he is waiting patiently for e hot dog tt I will buy & bring along to e hos to him
I REMEMBER he wanted to drink a little of my carrot red apple juice tt I bought & he loved it
I REMEMBER him listening to my mp3 player, to 97.2fm, his fav radio station
I REMEMBER him teaching me in Malay, gchildren, daughter, gpa & gma & he said I teach him Eng/ Chi & he cld teach me Malay
I REMEMBER he told me my black strap watch was nice & if I cld get 1 for him
I REMEMBER he showed proudly to e nurses/ docs tt he got a new watch & it’s from me
I REMEMBER he asked for my red bead bracelets & so I gave him half (3pcs) while I wore e other half
I REMEMBER e day he was emotionally unstable & cried for forgetting many things
I REMEMBER he suddenly wanted to eat Bak Gut Teh & mummy & daddy bought it for him soon enuff & he ate 1 pc of e meat
I REMEMBER he literally said “Yeah!” & raised up his both arms in joy tt he is completing e therapy, finally
I REMEMBER him asking me, y still dun get married, & I told him no money, & he smiled/ laughed lightly
I REMEMBER I asked him if he liked wp, & he replied, “Suka…” (meaning like in chinese)
I REMEMBER he told ah ma “一人一半” in hokkien when she asked him to drink bird’s nest, so that “感情不散”
I REMEMBER he coughed badly during e so-called final period during his hos stay

And then
I REMEMBER he told me, now he is just waiting to die
I REMEMBER he lost hope & didn’t want to eat/ talk much in e final days
I REMEMBER he cldn’t talk already during his last day & cld only look at us
I REMEMBER his look in his eyes before he closed his eyes
I REMEMBER I still harbored hope when I saw e meter twitching slightly
I REMEMBER his lifeless body when he stopped breathing
I REMEMBER him lying in e coffin, dressed up smartly with e new cap I bought for him

I REMEMBER his 活到老,学到老 attitude
I REMEMBER he values family ties greatly & wld definitely like to keep this strong & going
I REMEMBER his pain tt he has gone thr, physically & emotionally
I REMEMBER his fighting spirit even when e odds r bad
I REMEMBER him being optimistic & strong & to be able to fight his illness
I REMEMBER he gave up in e end & wanted e doc to give him a jab to die

I REMEMBER. IT’S NEVER-ENDING.

I REMEMBER. SO MUCH. IT HURTS.

I HATE myself for being so selfish & nt spending more time with him (e fam)
I HATE myself for nt gg with him (them) to dinner @ Bedok North then when he specially came into my room to jio me to go tog, to acc him
I HATE myself for making him so worried & frantic when I wailed loudly in my room with e door locked
I HATE myself for feeling abit irritated when he kept coming to me to ask abt e hp functions
I HATE myself for nt having hugged him & only tot of doing so when he was ill
I HATE e fact tt I won’t hear e Shangtai Tan ringing tone anymore
I HATE e fact tt it has happened
I HATE e fact he got ill
I HATE e fact tt I cld only c him in my dreams now

I HATE. 命运.

“I’ve got the world on a string/What a world, what a life–I’m in love”

When I finished my first year with an astounding 3.97 GPA, my honors adviser hailed my entrance into her office like I was some sort of prodigal child. She beamed at me, asked me a million questions, where I was going in life, what I wanted to do (with those grades, I apparently could do anything). She shoved information sheets on scholarships I should apply to, honors courses I would be fascinated in, and even a packet about the requirements and benefits of becoming a Rhodes Scholars after I graduated. I smiled bashfully, made chit-chat, and patted myself on the should for what a valuable asset I was to the University. They made the right choice accepting me, and now they were bearing the fruit of their labor.

Looking back since that overly chipper part of my life, it’s apparent that there has been a serious lack of continued effort on somebody’s part. Most of the blame most definitely falls upon me. I rarely if ever attend lectures, I never seem to get all the required assignments done, and I put the least amount of effort into what I actually need to do for the sole reason that I can get back to my agenda–laying on my ass, reading, listening to music, or doing all three. I also have a fine proclivity towards getting drunk with a few other degenerates and enjoy taking smoke breaks during the middle of the few lectures I actually attend (if you’ve never tried it, that mid-class nicotine buzz is a great pick-me-up).

As absurd as such a lifestyle is, as much of a recipe for academic disaster it should be, I have never done poorly in school, even after I gave up somewhere around the end of sophomore year. My lowest grade so far is a B-, and that occurred only once. Within my major I still maintain a 3.92 GPA despite my every effort to fail out of school. How is this happening? In what sick, twisted world can a man with as little motivation as me perform so well while others who work themselves into oblivion never seem to be able to claw there way up in the world. How does that make any sense whatsoever, on any level? If life had any coherence at all, I would be picking up quarters in the sewers to get my next meth fix while that nice gentleman who works every day of his life at the grocery store should be lounging in a seaside villa somewhere. That is how things should work. Fortunately for me, this is not the case, and I get the luxury of living in absurd comfort while being showered with praise for my supposed efforts in school from friends and family.

As selfish as it may sound, I really don’t believe I am at fault for my obscene laziness. I used to try, and I tried damned hard. School used to be my life, something I took genuine pleasure in. I had friends then too, I was no nerd by any stretch of the word, but I truly enjoyed to waste away my weekday reading up on Little Albert, the symptomatologies of the DSM-IV TR, and the intricacies of the dopaminergic reward system in the prefrontal cortex  (I am a psychology major if you haven’t figured out by now–God help you if I actually achieve my license one day).

But then…something changed. I wanted to learn more and more, but the academic world wasn’t giving it to me. All my classes seemed to have far too much overlap, and the material was so simplistic that there wasn’t even a need to be taught. Since I didn’t need to be taught, why go to lecture? Why care? I started questioning my smart decision to go to college and pay thousands of dollars to learn what I could learn by myself for the relatively cheap price of a few textbooks. To be honest, I haven’t really found an answer besides the overly cynical and childish “The only point of college is to get a sheet of paper to validate yourself!” It’s not adequate, to me at least. There must be another actual reason. But that is a musing for another time.

“And this sentimental movie marathon has taught us one thing/The opposite of true love is as follows: Reality!

I guess what I’m saying in the end is that I’m a fraud who was created, not born. When I entered college, I was an optimistic idealist who had the world on a string, a potential Rhodes Scholar who could “make big waves in the next few years,” as my overly zestful adviser said to me. It did sting when one day, after I got grades back and received my first B, she didn’t mention that I should look for that scholarship. That black stain on my record ruined my opportunity at excellence, at least for her. And probably a little bit for me too. It was the final excuse to just give up, quit. What was the point anymore? Should I just bust my ass to get somewhere I can just as easily get by doing next to nothing? As much as it truly and deeply saddens me, this is the perspective I had accepted into my worldview. Gone in the that young adult in love with the world of academia and grinning ear to ear at his next 10 years of it getting a PhD, now replaced with a demoralized realist who dreads the long road ahead of him.

1988 Lambarene Fellow Dr. Scott Cohen (pictured above volunteering in Guatemala) has been named a "Pediatric Hero" by the AAP.

In 1988, Dr. Scott Cohen followed in Dr. Albert Schweitzer’s footsteps, traveling to the Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, Africa and spending three months delivering medical care to area residents in acute need.

According to the Bangor Daily News, as a Schweitzer Fellow, Cohen

saw firsthand how a lack of medical resources, which are readily available in the United States, can mean a death sentence.

He watched helplessly as children died and it changed him, his parents, Honey and Lester Cohen of Bangor, said during the lunch.

“He said to me, ‘I didn’t go to school for all those years to go home and count my money. I became a physician to help people,’” Lester Cohen recalled.

And that’s exactly what Cohen has done. Since returning from Lambaréné, he has dedicated his life to improving the health outcomes of people living in developing countries.

In these countries, access to formal health services is often limited, and medical care is largely delivered by lay practitioners. Cohen looked at this situation and saw an opportunity: why not provide those  lay practitioners with training, and in doing so empower them to dramatically and sustainably improve the quality of care for women and children?

In 2002, Cohen seized that opportunity and founded Global Pediatric Alliance, which “seeks to promote grassroots empowerment and improve child and maternal health by providing educational, technical, and financial support for community-based health projects in Latin America.”

For his unyielding commitment to this mission, Cohen (a pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente in San Rafael, CA) has been named a “Pediatric Hero” by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The award — for which over 400 nominations were received — was given last month to Cohen and three other pediatricians “who exemplify what it means to be a hero to children.”

According to the AAP’s press release, a “Pediatric Hero” is

a pediatrician who provides exceptional care for patients and parents, speaks up for the underprivileged and underserved, and makes a commitment to children and to lifelong learning.

Cohen certainly fits the bill. As he told the AAP, “There is no greater privilege than to practice medicine as a pediatrician. It offers a chance to build close trusting relationships with patients and their families, which enables one to advocate in a meaningful way for children. Whether our work takes place domestically or abroad, pediatricians should honor and embrace this unique opportunity.”

Click here for a Marin Independent Journal feature on Cohen.