The Institute of HeartMath http://www.heartmath.org/index.html promotes healthy learning and working which is what we “Good Work” bloggers are all trying to achieve. They are the leading researchers in the link that connects heart to brain communication, emotions, and cognitive functioning. They believe in and have proven that synchronizing the mental, physical, and emotional aspects of a student leads to much, much healthier learning. A healthy environment and HeartMath’s learning strategies lead to better memory retention, overall better school and work performance, and best of all a huge reduction of stress! Heart imaging and the heart-brain communication are used to show that optimal levels of performance and learning can be attained by using the right tools and techniques, such as those of HeartMath. They believe that there is such a thing as heart intelligence or as they like to say “the little brain in the heart”. By connecting lessons taught in class to the students’ values and emotions it creates a healthy learning environment and the students will be prone to paying better attention and better performance.
Tuition: Earn More, Pay More? December 6, 2007
Damast , A (2004, Dec 4). Tuition: Earn More, Pay More?. Retrieved December 5, 2007, from Business Week Web site: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/dec2007/bs2007124_770986.htm
Schools are using differential tuition to charge students who study an area with a larger promise of financial success more; most commonly, the business schools. The people raising the prices believe that because business students will earn more later on they can pay more now. Other schools are raising prices to stay in competition and maintain accreditation with these new standards. With the extra money these colleges are able to recruit better students and hire excellent professors.
This idea of differential tuition can discourage students from studying what they desire, if they don’t have enough money to afford the $500 extra to study in the college of business it could lead to very negative effects on the student and retention rates for the university. Although I agree that generally business students are better prepared to earn higher paying jobs I don’t think it’s right to set them apart from other people at a university.
Kelly Stillman
What Gen Y Really Wants December 6, 2007
Trunk, P (2007, July 5). What Gen Y Really Wants. Retrieved December 5, 2007, from Time Web site: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1640395,00.html
Gen Yers don’t care whether we spend more time at work or home as long as what we are doing is meaningful and useful. We will move back in with our parents if it means we can hold out for a job we want. Where travel was once seen as a negative it now makes the employee well-rounded. Gen Yers want to work with their friends and are more willing to work on the weekends as long as they have flexibility during the week.
This is a great example of the new work-life balance that is emerging in the workplace. I think it also shows how we have the power to dictate what work environment we want to work in. Baby Boomers are retiring and many companies are in need of hard workers, we are in demand!
I like that companies are willing to work with Gen Yers to find a balance that will work with both sides to be the best. If a company is willing to spend money to invest in a career counselor, or mentor for a new employee their going to get a better retention rate and employees who have greater pride in their company.
When looking for your new job remember to not put your values aside, if it was meant to be, things will work out.
Kelly Stillman
Storm Runoff November 16, 2007
Lindell, Jim. "Stormwater Runoff Issues." November 2007. <http://www.greenroofs.com/guest_features.htm> November 14, 2007.
This article covers how building has caused concern for the quality of our drinking water. The problem is that because we have so many surfaces that do not absorb storm water, it runs along these surfaces picking up pathogens, dirt,and metal and then deposits these into our streams and drinking water. The water quality is getting worse as we expand our cities and build more non-absorbant surfaces. Lindell offers a solution by building green roofs which can stop runoff by about 75 percent.
The reason I looked at this article is because when building it is important to take this into consideration to help with these issues. The thought I was having is even collecting the runoff to water the landscape around the buildings.
Brian Carlson
Taking the Lead October 31, 2007
MacDonald, J (2007, January 24). Colleges graded on environmental practices. USAToday,
In a great article from USA Today, they talk about colleges that are graded on environmental practices. Colleges are expected to be some of the top performers when it comes to fighting the battle of global warming. This article contained the Sustainable Endowments Institute’s report card on schools. It is taken from the 100 wealthiest colleges and universities and they are graded on Sustainability. CSU is not on the list, but there were two other Colorado schools that were on the list. This article talks about a movement called Campus Climate Challenge that gets colleges and high schools involved with environmental needs. The most interesting point in this article was a “green fee” which Austin Peay State University in Tennesseeis currently using. The “green fee” is a per-semester fee that is used to create an energy fund. Each student gives just ten dollars a semester to this “green fee.” This is an idea that could be implemented into other colleges around the world. I could handle giving up ten dollars to help the environment. One of the cons here is that many students do not have an extra ten dollars because college is already taking so much money. On the other hand, ten dollars is a very small amount to pay to help restore our environment. This college is doing good work. Colleges are leaders in the community and the students at this school are talking the lead in helping the environment. If other schools want to implement this practice, they would need to keep in mind that they would have to let the fund grow before they could start a green transformation. In addition, they would have to be understanding if a few students could not make the cut or did not support the cause, but in the end, it seems like a good idea because everyone takes advantage of the environment and this would be a way to give back.
Posted By: Sara F.
Is students maternity leave an issue? October 29, 2007
Is students maternity leave an issue?
Kela Harris
Issue date: 10/31/06 Section: News
The Salemite: The Uncensored Voice of Salem College
R. Adam Lininger
This article works more for the balancing our work together and maybe a little of the Spirit of the Worker. It talks about the idea of giving maternity leave to students that become pregnant but more so concentrates on the fact that Salem College, an all women’s college, does not have a maternity program and in fact only requires students to notify health services immediately upon becoming aware of pregnancy. It doesn’t say whether or not the student can remain a student or not either. The article supports creating a program that allows women to stay students and creates an environment that allows them to feel comfortable to come out and ask for help with something that can be very disconcerting. The article doesn’t really give an outline or idea at all for how to go about implementing a plan of action just that one is needed especially since Salem is an all women’s college, they should be leading the way or one of the leaders. I agree and think that something could be done but mostly agree with the statement at the end that perhaps the best option is to let the one affected most decide what to do? The woman should have the ultimate decision and the school should just facilitate the process. They should not prohibit or restrict in anyway the pursuit of education and should only maintain rules like no infants in the dorms for liability and safety reasons. It should be a comfortable environment.
