CorpWatch : US: Outsourcing Is Climbing Skills Ladder: "In a survey of more than 200 multinational corporations on their research center decisions, 38 percent said they planned to 'change substantially' the worldwide distribution of their research and development work over the next three years — with the booming markets of China and India, and their world-class scientists, attracting the greatest increase in projects.

Whether placing research centers in their home countries or overseas, the study said, companies often use similar criteria. The quality of scientists and engineers and their proximity to research centers are crucial.

The study contended that lower labor costs in emerging markets are not the major reason for hiring researchers overseas, though they are a consideration. Tax incentives do not matter much, it said."

Maintaining Competitiveness Requires Diverse Workforce - News - Quality: "The crisis is exacerbated by the inadequate number of underrepresented minority students who are prepared to study engineering and technology at the college level, says the NACME. Ross Wiener, principal partner, The Education Trust, says, “Only 32% of American high school students will graduate from high school with the skills they need to succeed in college or work. Only one of five students of color will leave high school ready for college.”

“Minority students represent a significant resource pool for the engineering and technology workforce,” says Dr. John Brooks Slaughter, NACME’s president and chief executive officer. “Of 659,000 minority high school graduates in 2003, only 26,000 had the requisite preparation in science and mathematics to qualify for admission to study engineering or technology at the college level.”

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HBCU Library Alliance

CNN.com - Harvard study blasts Bush education policy - Feb 16, 2006: "In one example the study cites, states in rural Midwestern regions were granted extensions on deadlines to meet requirements on teacher qualifications that were unavailable to poorer rural regions with greater numbers of black Americans and ethnic minorities in southeast and southwest states.

'The policy is essentially a product of negotiation, of power and discretion, not law,' Gary Orfield, director of Harvard's Civil Rights Project, said in the report.

Chad Colby, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Education, called Harvard's study 'misinformed' and 'flawed'. 'We leave it up to the states to determine how they are going to get there. It's exactly the opposite of one-size-fits-all.'"

civilrights.org: Under Pressure from Justice De...

From civilrights.org

Facing the threat of a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Southern Illinois University (SIU) agreed on February 8 to change three fellowship programs whose recipients have been mainly underrepresented minorities or women.

Under Pressure from Justice Dept., Southern Illinois University Agrees to Change Minority Fellowships
February 15, 2006
civilrights.org
http://www.civilrights.org/library/detail.cfm?id=40552

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Recommended: "Adjust the balance of debt and education"

From The Christian Science Monitor
In the student-loan industry's own estimate, 39 percent of student borrowers have an unmanageable debt burden after college. That figure includes 55 percent of blacks and 58 percent of Hispanics.
By - Anya Kamenetz

WebWire® | Scholarship deadline for minority students studying chemistry is March 1: "February 06, 2006, The American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society, is accepting applications for its Scholars Program, a financial support effort for underrepresented minority students in the chemical sciences. The applications are for the 2006-2007 academic year.

The deadline to apply for the program is March 1. For more details about the ACS Scholars Program and an online application form, visit www.chemistry.org/scholars or call 1-800-227-5558, extension 6250."