The art exhibit is curated by TS + Projects. Probably named with an allusion to a show presented last year by New York’s New Museum entitled ‘Younger than Jesus,’ where all of the featured artists were under the age of 33 (the age at which Jesus died), ‘Younger than Moses’ features artists who are all younger than 120.

Notable artists include Ryan Shultz, who submitted ‘Facebook Pills,’ a three-piece oil-on-canvas painting depicting yellow, blue and purple pills embossed with the popular social networking site’s familiar logo, and Deniz Ozuygur, whose resin sculpture ‘Stuck’ offers a creative take on a common cause of teenage embarrassment. Established artist Travis Childer also contributes to the exhibit. ‘Staplerscape,’ 2010, is an artificial landscape set atop a common stapler using modeling materials usually reserved for constructing miniature railroads.

As a fan of contemporary art, I would say the art exhibit is worth seeing. Some of the artworks can be quite awe-inspiring, and all of them can provide great insight on the condition of today’s younger generation. Some of the artworks, such as the little paper-folded tanks showcased in one of Travis Childer’s installations, are even up for sale, creating an excellent opportunity to patron a young artist.

Catch the art exhibit at the Benrimon Contemporary, located in the Chelsea-Manhattan area.

One such example comes from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. With its “Good Neighbor, Great University” program, it offers financial aid to incoming freshmen who have graduated from high schools in Evanston and Chicago. Through this program, student loans and the pressure to take on a summer job or a work-study job are eliminated. Barriers on affordability are eased and students will not have to face the challenge of paying a student loan debt, which is one of the significant hurdles to promoting college education.

By offering its “Good Neighbor, Great University” program, Northwestern University acts on a key recommendation of an all-University task force on diversity and inclusion. It hopes to increase diversity in the student population, making it easier for families of low to middle incomes to afford an education.

Also, by focusing on the immediate area of Northwestern’s campus, the program hopes to reach out to the students there. The school plans to begin providing this improved financial aid to 100 students in the Fall of 2011. And hopefully, in the future, this could be increased to 200.

Aside from Northwestern, other private schools have been reaching out to their own locales. Since 2008, colleges and universities have been making the move to offer a more affordable education to those in their areas. One of these is College of Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, which has been offering free tuition to city residents whose families earn less than $50,000 a year.

This change of attention to local education serves as an answer to merit-based scholarships from comparable and lesser schools which easily plucks away prospective students from institutions such as Northwestern University. But aside from that, I believe that this paradigm shift for colleges and universities is a turn for the better, given the projected dip in high school graduates over the next five years. Changes like these make education worth its salt for the common person.

According to a March 2010 report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory financed by the Energy Department, the sector devoted to energy efficiency has an estimated growth of as much as fourfold in the next decade to some 1.3 million people. Already, the federal government has poured $500 million into training for the industry. Educational institutions have picked up on this growth as well.

At community colleges, managers can look into programs to train them for the industry. Among those available are two-year degrees in environmental management and certificates for those who want to include green qualifications into their resumes. Depending on the college, these courses and other similar ones are available both on campus and online.

One such college offering training in the green industry is Lane Community College in Eugene, Oregon. Among its offerings are two year programs for associate degrees in applied sciences. These degrees include a choice of energy management, renewable energy or water conservation. The college also offers other continuing education courses that include cross-disciplinary ones such as natural resource economics, global ecology and environmental politics.

Last year, the federal government awarded grants to Lane Community College and 10 other community colleges across the country to begin or enhance their programs in energy management over a three year period.

But it isn’t only colleges in the city that are offering these training courses. Rural areas also provide training through online environmental degrees and certificates. Four year degrees directly relevant to the energy efficiency sector are also available in about two dozen colleges and universities across the country.

With the growing strength and importance being placed on environmental sustainability, I believe it is only natural that training and education has developed to follow suit and prepare managers to handle the changes that science has uncovered. Through training programs such as these, I think that today’s managers are able to adapt and begin thinking with an environmentally-conscious mindset, making it possible for industries to make the full shift to greener practices.

Having an official fan page on Facebook is great for creating a niche for students, faculty, alumni and other members of the school population. However, these sites are hard to monitor and actively maintain, and they may not have all the features that a school might need. One new app from San Francisco-based firm Inigral, Inc., allows colleges to create student-oriented social networks within Facebook. The application, called “Schools on Facebook,” is currently free for users.

“Schools on Facebook” enables colleges and universities to form private online communities that give students school-specific profiles that are separate from their original Facebook accounts.

Another budding web-based service called Foursquare is also providing an aid for educational institutions. It provides a mobile app that allows students to keep up to date with the latest events going on around campus as well as find other students.

Many schools see the integration of social networking tools into their campus culture as an effective way to increase enrollment and retention. A student that has been accepted into a college can be given access to the app even if he or she is still deciding whether or not to enroll there. This can allow the potential student to interact with other students and build friendships before fully committing to study in that particular institution.

Currently, 16 of the country’s colleges and universities are using the “Schools on Facebook” app, including Arizona State University, Columbia College Chicago, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Harvard University, once home to Facebook’s creator Mark Zuckerberg, is one of the first to integrate Foursquare as a tool for student updates and campus communication. Schools will undoubtedly save on other communication costs when the trend solidifies.

During the International Tiger Summit Partners Dialogue and Meeting recently held in Bali, Indonesia, it was announced that the Sumatran tiger population is slowly increasing. According to Bengkulu Natural Resources Conservation Board (BKSDA) Chief Andi Basrul, numbers are expected to increase by 20% by 2014.

Constant promotion of environmental conservation as well as local and international efforts to save the Sumatran tiger are starting to pay off. Stricter enforcement of laws against illegal poaching has also kept the endangered species protected from deliberate harm or malice.

The Sumatran Tiger is not the only species with a hope to make it onto future centuries. All tiger populations in the wild are steadily increasing. During the summit, 13 countries that serve as natural habitats for various tiger species vowed to take more aggressive action toward the conservation of the remaining big cat population. These countries are China, Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Russia and of course, Indonesia.

Chief Basrul claims that hunting remains the leading threat to the Sumatran tiger species’ survival. The big cat’s vibrant striped pelt fetches a handsome price in the black market. Conflicts with humans in the forest also pose a great threat. Several communities in Indonesia, such as the Seluma and Kaur districts have houses and plantations that located close to the tigers’ habitat. As a result, it is common for tigers to enter the residential areas, lured by the livestock, which they prey on.

Luckily, the local government seems to have matched its efforts with the level of urgency felt by environmentalists and conservationists world-wide. Endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, this unique tiger is not only a tourist drawer, but a cultural heritage that the country has been given the responsibility to protect.

The Bike Share Project is not a new idea. Several bike-friendly cities, such as Hangzhou, China and Paris have been implementing a public bicycle sharing system for several years now. Closer to home, Denver, Colorado has rolled out its bike share with 400 bicycles.

New York is proud to jump on the bandwagon. The New York Bike Share project proposes the initial release of 10,500 bikes across the city, further expanding to 49,000 over time. Bicycle kiosks will be placed in a number of sidewalk corners and users can rent one of the public bikes with a simple card swipe or cellphone call.

New York City resident, Ryan Rzepcki contributes to the project by creating a wireless system that tracks, finds and unlocks the public bicycles using a smart phone app. Known as the Social Bicycle System (SoBi), the system utilizes GPS, mobile communication and a specialized, secure lock that can attach to almost any bicycle and lock to any bicycle rack. Since there are no separate instruments, save the user’s mobile phone, SoBi costs one-third less than previous existing bike share systems.

Not only is this an affordable mode of transportation but bicycles also help to reduce carbon footprints and promote a healthy lifestyle.

Implementing a communal bicycle program can provide several benefits to the buzzing Big Apple. With proper enforcement, bicycles can be an effective form of intermodal transportation. They make for an easily accessible alternative to motorized travel. Over time, the program may actually keep the streets less congested.

Mr. Harris does this by making a point: “When you do the right thing, you get rewarded, and when you don’t do the right thing, you get to watch.” By holding events such as the year-end barbecue for students who have done well in the past school year, Mr. Harris makes a point to draw attention to students for doing a good job. This is in contrast to being called out for causing trouble, which happens far too often.

Even in the past year, Mr. Harris made waves in the district by starting a fancy dinner for honor roll students and their families. This has become a popular social event. Already, there are more in the works, including movie showings and pizza parties.

This change of attitude in education has made an impact on students. For example, from a high school culture known for fights, students have recently been getting along better. There are many programs that keep the students in the school rather than out on the streets. With the growing popularity of these events, a more positive attitude towards doing better has become apparent.

But it isn’t just the events that have changed the culture in the Roosevelt Union district. With the introduction of school uniforms, students are encouraged to focus more on academics rather than fashion. Art and music programs have also been built up. What was once a small school band in tattered uniforms is now 40-strong, all with new instruments and jackets carrying the Roosevelt initial.

The district is continuing to develop, and I’m very excited to hear more about how it will work to ultimately change the lives of the community. This fall, the district plans to offer advanced and enrichment classes in middle and high schools in tandem with the State University of New York College at Old Westbury. With New York being the trendsetter that it is, I’m hopeful that this new educational culture will catch on.

With funds from 21 donors all over the world, the project to renew the Israel Museum is by far the largest collective philanthropic effort ever undertaken for a single cultural institution in the country. But the work poured into the renewal of the institution didn’t simply stop at funding. Architectural firms in both New York and Tel Aviv worked together to bring new life into the building. James Carpenter Design Associates of New York designed the new building to resonate with the original modernist geometric plan laid out by Alfred Mansfeld and Dora Gad.

The new design offers a way for visitors to navigate intuitively through the museum’s various offerings. Among these are a chronological presentation of archeological holdings from the land of Israel, the first permanent galleries for Israeli art, and a newly configured Synagogue Route.

This Synagogue Route is one of the newest features of the institution, recreating four original synagogue interiors from Italy, Germany, India and Suriname. The Suriname synagogue exhibit has been made into the highlight of the newly installed Mandel Wing for Jewish Art and Life.

Among museum director James Synder’s goals for the institution include broadening its appeal as an international cross-cultural center. Seeing how donors from all over the world collaborated to bring this project to life, Synder is on his way to fulfilling that goal. As one of the seats of world religion, preserving and displaying the richness of Israel’s history is a task worth taking and it’s satisfying to see how people around the world have contributed to preserve the heritage of one culture.

Before releasing funds, Venture Philanthropy Partners applies tough evaluation standards and focuses on philanthropic investment endeavors that have the greatest potential to contribute to the improvement of children’s lives, their core developmental and educational needs. Since the late 1990s, KIPP DC has raised the level of public education in underserved communities across the country. Emphasizing extra learning time and support for children, the efforts of KIPP DC have had a huge impact not only on the students that enrolled into its program, but also on the rest of the state’s youth sector.

Charter schools differ from traditional public schools in that they are independently operated and are open to all residents of the District of Columbia, regardless of their neighborhood, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or educational level. There are no admission tests or tuition fees. Many parents opt to send their children to these educational institutions because they promise high quality education at little cost.

Large-sum donations from charitable entities such as Venture Philanthropy Partners are what keep the school operations running smoothly and at par with educational standards. They also take some of the pressure off of public schools that are filled to capacity or experiencing budget cuts. A good education is the foundation for better character and a brighter future. It is projects and partnerships like these that can give today’s children a better shot at success, no matter who they are or where they come from.

It’s been a long time coming for some of the new additions. Amsterdam’s canal belt and France’s historic town of Albi, for instance, are already well-visited international attractions. Most of the World Heritage Sites, though, reflected the changing times and addressed the need for further cultural diversity.

When people began harnessing nuclear energy in the early 20th century, it sparked a significant era in modern history. Bikini Atoll in Marshall Islands was added to the list because it symbolized “the dawn of the nuclear age.” In the 1950’s, the atoll was used as a detonation site for early nuclear devices.

There was also a concerted effort during the World Heritage Committee’s meeting to rectify the long-prevailing imbalance in the list, which has made cultural assets in Africa, Latin America, and part of Asia, not as well represented as those of Europe.

Some of the most notable additions to the World Heritage List from the developing world are: the historic monuments of Dengfeng in China, the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long-Hanoi in Vietnam, a shrine in Ardabil, Iran, the Jantar Mantar astronomical observation site in India, and the archaeological site Sarazm in Tajikistan.

To date there are 911 World Heritage Sites. With UNESCO’s seal, these areas are elevated to symbols of national pride and indispensible value. The government as well as the public is obliged to preserve the location’s original state. It is commendable that so many historical and cultural sites are gaining recognition. We need tangible reminders of our culture and heritage to keep us from forgetting our roots, and the values that come with them.