New Chinese Language Courses Offered at Spelman 

Statistics show Chinese language widely spoken in the world 

Chinese New Year Parade in Hollywood, Calif. 2007 (Saharra Jovan White/ White Media & Communications)

        “The establishment of the Lehman Brothers Center and the Chinese language offerings is a very foresighted endeavor that will provide great opportunities for the College, especially for our students,” said Lu. “I am proud to have been chosen to help launch this exciting new program.”

 Kids: Eat Smart to be Smart

Newswise — Food does more than satisfy hunger; it provides fuel for the body and mind, too. So as you make a list of school supplies to buy for the upcoming school year, don’t forget to consider the items at your local supermarket
that can also help prepare your child Catherine
Kraus, RD, M.Ed, CHES, a dietitian at the University of Michigan Health System, says that a balanced, healthy diet enables chemical messengers in the brain — known as neurotransmitters
— to function more efficiently. This produces
better concentration and memory.
Parents can take several steps to create well-balanced meals and snacks that provide children the energy and nutrition
they need to perform well at school, notes Kraus, a member of the Pediatric Comprehensive
Weight Management
Center at U-M C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.
Breakfast. Research has demonstrated that students who skip breakfast in the morning don’t perform as well as students who do eat breakfast. Kraus recommends serving a healthy breakfast that consists of a whole grain cereal, oatmeal or bread with a form of protein, such as peanut butter or a hard-boiled egg.
Pairing the meal with whole fruit instead of a fruit juice offers
a way to add more vitamins,
minerals and fiber into a diet. Kraus adds that dairy products are an acceptable addition
to your child’s breakfast, as long as they are in the form of fat-free or low-fat milk, yogurt
or cheese.
Lunch. While many schools are making efforts to include healthier items on lunch menus, high-calorie items still exist — including pizza, nachos and sweetened drinks. If you are concerned about your child’s cafeteria choices, Kraus recommends packing a lunch.
“When children consume a high-fat, high-sugar meal, their bodies will crash, and they will be come very tired and lethargic — which is not going to help them perform at their best level in school,” explains
Kraus.
When packing a lunch, variety
is best; choose an assortment
of fruits and vegetables in various colors and sizes. This ensures that kids receive a mix of vitamins and minerals,
and it will prevent them from becoming bored with the same packed lunch routine every day. Kraus recommends including a type of whole grain product in the meal, such as tortillas or bread, with a lean protein, such as tuna, turkey or chicken.
She also notes that sweetened beverages are full of empty calories and don’t provide any nutritional value. Opt for a beverage that does not contain added sugars — such as water, fat-free or low-fat milk, or 100 percent fruit juice.
Snacks. When it comes to snack foods, Kraus says that the proper adage to follow is, “Out of sight, out of mind.”
“When you are grocery shopping, keep in mind that if a snack is in the home, your children will likely eat it. So keep healthy food in the house at all times to ensure that they will always have healthy snack options. If you keep candy bars and fruit in the home, most children would pick the candy bar. So just keep it out of the house,” she says.
Focus on finding snack foods that will keep your kids satisfied
until dinner and energized for homework and studying. For optimal energy and hunger
satisfaction, Kraus recommends
pairing protein with a high fiber carbohydrate; serve up string cheese or peanut butter
with whole grain crackers or prepare a half-sandwich made with whole grain bread or pita. Another tasty treat option
is creating a homemade smoothie by blending yogurt and fruit together.
She also suggests that parents take time each day to wash and slice fresh fruits and vegetables. Remember to place the produce on the counter
or at eye level in the refrigerator
so it is more accessible to children.
Dinner. “A smart dinner will help your child’s brain function.
If they are satisfied after dinnertime then they will sleep through the night, and a child needs at least eight to nine hours of sleep a night in order to function while in school the next day,” explains Kraus.
She says that half of a “smart” dinner plate should be made up of fruits and vegetables,
and a quarter of the plate should consist of a lean protein. Fill the remaining quarter with whole grains, such as brown rice or whole wheat pasta.
Overall Kraus says that encouraging
your children to eat smart during the school day can help them develop healthy habits for life.
“Childhood is a crucial time when bodies are growing and brains are developing,” she says. “It’s so important to fuel the body with good nutrition, and teaching children smart eating habits at a young age is a great idea. It starts with the parents serving as the role model.

High School Seniors: Online Tools Help Find Schools

(NewsUSA) - Thousands
of high-quality colleges and universities exist across the country, so finding the right college can prove daunting.
Some high school students hire consultants to match them with schools, but there’s no need to hire a professional if teenagers do their homework.
Sallie Mae, the nation’s leading saving-and-paying-for-college company, offers these tips to students and families as they begin the college selection process:
- Develop a Target List. Applying to the right schools involves finding the ones that work best for you. This involves identifying your criteria and determining what is most important to you when it comes to curriculum, location,
size, campus life, athletics,
housing, cost and more. Visit www.CollegeAnswer.com/schoolsearch and narrow
your search by finding the schools that meet your interests.
- Decide Where to Apply. Once you have a list of potential schools you are interested in, it is time to decide
where you want to apply. Manage your search by filing information by school and by keeping a calendar of all deadlines.
Visit www.SallieMae.com/organizesearch for more information.
- Explore How to Pay. A new tool, available at www.SallieMae.com/Plan, lets students and families build a customized plan to pay for college. Students and families can estimate and compare total education costs at over 5,500
High School Seniors: Online Tools Help Find Schools
colleges and graduate schools and develop paying-for-college
plans for each of the schools on their short list.
Sallie Mae encourages
families to use its 1-2-3 approach to paying for college:
First, use free money. Fill out the FAFSA to access need-based grants, and research and apply for scholarships. Consider
supplementing with current
income, college savings, and an interest-free monthly tuition payment plan.
Second, explore federal
loans. Available to both students and parents, they can offer low, fixed interest rates and flexible repayment options.
Third, fill any gap with private education loans. They are convenient and designed to help students meet the total cost of college.

Finding the Right Major Without the Stress

(NewsUSA) - The pressure to choose a career path can start as early as junior high, but there’s no reason to force the issue. College students
routinely explore three to four majors before graduating,
and adults often switch careers.
Choosing a major doesn’t lock you into one profession.
Whether you don’t know your interests or feel like you enjoy too many activities to narrow down your options, there’s no reason to hyperventilate.
Take a deep breath, then follow these tips when choosing
a major:
- Know your options.
A literature degree won’t limit you to academia -; in fact, English majors learn skills that can be useful in a wide range of jobs, from administrative work to teaching to technical editing.
Some online tools help students learn about the options available to them during
school and after graduation. One Web site, RoadMap4Life.com, questions users about their interests, then matches any one of 2,300 possible careers
to their profile. Users can discover information about careers they hadn’t even heard about, but that would perfectly suit their interests.
RoadMap4Life allows
users to download “roadmaps,”
which offer a comprehensive
overview of different career options, including the recommended major and educational
path for students hoping
to enter a particular field.
Explore. Believe it or not, taking an introductory
course won’t teach you anything about career fields -; a basic biology course, for example, won’t give you a taste of the math and chemistry
involved in completing a biology major or going to medical school. Join clubs, talk to professors and work internships to get a better idea about the work involved in the majors that most interest you.
- Know yourself. Maybe you love to write but need a regular sleep schedule. Or maybe you love to work with people but want to live an affluent lifestyle. In the first case, a journalism career -; and the deadlines that come with it -; might become too stressful.
In the second, a career in social work might pay too poorly. So, talk to your career counselor about careers that match your interests with the kind of lifestyle you can lead

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