Two hundred and fifty young women interested in science and mathematics caste their eyes to the future at the second annual An Eye to the Future: New Choices career conference held Saturday, February 26, 1994, at Augsburg College. Young women in grades five through eight received encouragement about careers in science and mathematics at this special conference. Female students, their parents and guidance counselors were offered fifteen workshops with titles as diverse as "Field Trip to Mars," "How to Grow Granola Bars," "Engineering: How, What and Why -- Golf Carts, Spaceships and Thermostats," "Hand Lotions and Salad Dressing -- They're More Alike than Different," "Bicycles and Boom Boxes: Actual Mathematics Applied," and "To Tell the Tooth." Workshop presenters, all of whom were women, included academic and corporate research scientists, teachers, health care practitioners, an architect, a veterinarian and an insurance company actuary. A special session, "Encouraging Young Women in Mathematics and Science," was provided for parents and other adult conference participants.

This year, for the first time, the program committees of the Eye to the Future and Share the Future conference at Bemidji State University are working together to evaluate participant reaction to both of our conferences. Using the same evaluation instrument, we are collecting data to determine if our conferences are reaching the targeted audience and to better understand the overall impact of the conferences. We plan to use this information to improve the effectiveness of our conferences and share it with the organizers of other similar conferences.

The "Eye to the Future" conference is funded in part by the Twin Cities Urban Mathematics Collaborative, the NASA Space Grant Consortium Program at Augsburg College and the Minnesota Space Grant Consortium.



Space Studies Minor at BSU
The College of Natural and Social Sciences at BSU has successfully implemented a program of instruction leading to a minor in Space Studies with the help of the consortium. The program is inter-disciplinary in nature and is designed to supplement the major sciences, social science, humanities and education fields. The course of study is variable and allows the student to emphasize either science or social science as a major field. The program prepares graduates for careers and graduate study in space-related fields as well as preparing graduates to teach space studies. At present, 18 students are pursing a minor in Space Studies . BSU had seven students graduate with a minor in this area in the past school year; three majored in geology, three in biology, one in math and one in computer information systems. Many students pursuing a minor in Space Studies receive Space Grant Scholarships. This is the first minor of its kind in the Upper-Midwest and our contacts at BSU, John Annextad and Bob Melchior, have done terrific job of developing and implementing this important program. Hats off to BSU!



Additional Program Updates...
Glenn Langhorst at Fond du Lac Community College is making progress on the video documentary for Native American youth designed to encourage their interest in math and science. Most Native American youth feel as if they are restricted and incapable of pursuing careers in math and science; this video hopes to make a difference in that attitude. National distribution of the video to tribal schools is anticipated.

Mark Hollabaugh at Normandale Community College has made some substantial changes in the pre-engineering physics curriculum at that school and is continuing with the goal of bringing the physics courses up-to-date in terms of lab experiments and course content. His work is considered important because many of Normandale's students continue their education at four-year colleges and need a solid background in this area to obtain their goals.

Augsburg College, Bethel College, the College of St. Catherine, Macalaster College and the University of St. Thomas are continuing to work together to develop the first ACTC Space Science Minor. Courses being developed by these affiliates include: planetary geology, remote sensing and astrophysics. Already-existing courses at these institutions will also be included in the course requirements of this minor. With the availability of a minor in this area offered through the ACTC, students from various participating schools in the Twin Cities will finally be able to pursue their interests in the space sciences while attending the college of their choice.