A new study released by Georgetown University in Washington has found that majors in college are highly segregated disproportionately by race as well as gender. Using census data, the report categorized 171 majors into 15 fields, discovering different majors led to different industries.

The report, “What’s it Worth? The Economic Value of College Majors” produced out of Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce analyzes data from the 2009 American Community Survey, whose results were released last year.

Findings indicate that white men are concentrated in the highest earning majors, such as engineering and pharmaceutical sciences, and have higher median earnings across all fields except three. For example, Petroleum engineering majors make about $120,000 a year, compared with $29,000 annually for counseling psychology majors, researchers found. Math and computer science majors earn $98,000 in salary while early childhood education majors get paid about $36,000.

Moreover, the areas with the highest concentrations of whites was noted to be agriculture and natural resources (90 percent), while the highest concentration of Asians is in computers and mathematics (16 percent).

In comparison, law and public policy has the highest concentration of African-Americans (14 percent) and Hispanics (10 percent). Also, School Student Counseling has the highest proportion of African-American Bachelor’s degree holders (38 percent), followed by Human Services and Community Organization (21 percent) and Counseling Psychology (20 percent).

In addition, African-Americans earn the most with a major in Electrical Engineering (median: $68,000) which is significantly less than the median for Whites ($90,000) and Asians ($80,000) in these majors, but just slightly ahead of the Hispanics ($60,000). African-American Bachelor’s degree holders earn the least with a major in General Medical and Health Services (median: $32,000) which is $18,000 lower than Whites with the same major.

The significance of these findings is that college graduates overall make 84 percent more over a lifetime than those with only high school diplomas. Fields with virtually no unemployment: geological and geophysical engineering, military technologies, pharmacology and school student counseling.

The First Quarter Moon is Thursday June 9. Venus, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter form a line in the morning sky. Mercury leaves the morning sky. Saturn is very close to gamma Virginis.

Morning sky looking north-east as seen from Adelaide at 6:30 am local time on Sunday June 5 showing Jupiter, with Mars, Venus and Mercury lined up below. Mercury is just rising at this time. Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time. Click to embiggen.

The First Quarter Moon is Thursday June 9.

This week sees the bright planets strung out in a line, with Venus and Mercury heading towards the horizon.

Jupiter is prominent in the early morning sky above the threesome of Mars, Venus and Mercury. Mars is just above Venus, but is not very spectacular. Bright white Venus is coming closer to the horizon, but is still readily seen in the early morning sky. Venus is "gibbous" phase, and is nearly "full".

Mercury is still visible in the eastern twilight below Venus, but draws away from Venus during the week, becoming progressively more difficult to observe as it heads towards the horizon. Mercury is lost to view by the end of the week.

Evening sky on Saturday June looking north as seen from Adelaide at 9:00 pm local time in South Australia showing Saturn near Spica and very close to Porrima (gamma Virginis). Similar views will be seen elsewhere at the equivalent local time.

Inset, the telescopic view of Saturn on the 4th , you will need a fairly large telescope to see any moon other than Titan. Click to embiggen.

Saturn is rising before sunset, and is is readily visible as the bright yellowish object not far from the bright star Spica. It is high enough for telescopic observation in the early evening. This week Saturn comes very close to the star Porrima (gamma Virginis), being just a quarter of a finger-width from Saturn. They already look beautiful, paired close together.

The big storm on Saturn is now so large that it is visible in even small telescopes.

Even in small telescopes you can see Saturn's rings and it's moon Titan. Despite opposition, when Saturn was at its biggest, being well past, Saturn will be big and beautiful for many weeks to come.

If you don't have a telescope, now is a good time to visit one of your local astronomical societies open nights or the local planetariums.

The asteroid Vesta is becoming brighter and is now readily visible in binoculars (magnitude 6.5), near iota Capricorni, making it very easy to find. It moves significantly night to night, so will be easy to follow. A chart showing Vesta's location is here.

Printable PDF maps of the Eastern sky at 10 pm ADST, Western sky at 10 pm ADST. For further details and more information on what's up in the sky, see Southern Skywatch.

Cloud cover predictions can be found at SkippySky.

Shortly after I went to bed on Saturday night, the automated aurora alert went off briefly (sorry tassie Subscribers to Aurora alert), with no prior warning of flares or such. It turns out there was a nice auroral display, some pictures are here at spaceweather, and here at the Hobart Mercury.

New Zealand also got to see some.

Maybe next time I will be awake when auroa happen.

Carnival of Space #199 is now up at Weird Warp. There's space planes, a new look at the Roswel Incident, more multiplanet extrasolar solar systems, the nature of dark energy, WISE's Galaxy discoveries and much, much more. Head on over for a read.

Obama Reaffirms US-Europe Bond

 
President Barack Obama has returned from his six-day tour of four European countries.  The president spent much of the trip working to reaffirm that the U.S.-European alliance still matters.

President Obama did not sign any major agreements or announce any sweeping new policies during his week in Europe.

But he seemed to accomplish his primary goal on the trip, reassuring Europeans that the transatlantic alliance is still important to the United States.

Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, upheavals in the Middle East, booming economies in Asia and crises at home have occupied much of Mr. Obama’s attention so far in his presidency.

Furthermore, the Obama administration has declared that it considers the G20 economic forum, with member countries from every continent, to be more important than the Euro-centric G8.

Mr. Obama started his diplomacy mission in Ireland.  He met with the country’s leaders, drank a beer at a pub in his ancestral home town of Moneygall, and proclaimed his Irish heritage before tens of thousands of people in Dublin.

He did not commit U.S. financial support to Ireland’s struggling economy, but pledged moral support.

Next for the president was a visit to Britain.   The U.S. and Britain have been the closest of allies since the 19th century, and they are the world’s two largest trading partners.

But a series of protocol gaffes and perceived snubs going back to Mr. Obama’s inauguration had called into question the health of what is often called “the special relationship.”

The British afforded the president the rare honor of a state visit, including an opportunity to speak before Parliament in 900-year-old Westminster Hall.  There, Mr. Obama debunked the argument that emerging economies in China, India and Brazil will replace the U.S. and U.K. as world leaders. “That argument is wrong.  The time for our leadership is now.  It was the United States and the United Kingdom and our democratic allies that shaped a world in which new nations could emerge and individuals could thrive.  And even as more nations take on the responsibilities of global leadership, our alliance will remain indispensable to the goal of a century that is more peaceful, more prosperous and more just," he said.

The president and British Prime Minister David Cameron discussed numerous issues, including Libya.  The prime minister appears to favor a more assertive approach to trying to oust Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi, while Mr. Obama is calling for more caution.

But the two leaders made a show of strengthening their personal bond, playing doubles table tennis with schoolchildren in London, and serving hamburgers at a barbecue at 10 Downing Street.  Also, Mr. Obama and Britain’s Queen Elizabeth both made sure to use the phrase “special relationship” when toasting each other at a Buckingham Palace state dinner.

President Obama went to the G8 economic summit in Deauville, France, seeking financial help for Egypt, Tunisia, and other Arab nations showing the promise of democracy.

The group of major industrial democracies did not make a concrete commitment, but said $20 billion may be offered to Egypt and Tunisia for reform projects.

In Deauville, Mr. Obama was unable to convince Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that the proposed U.S. missile defense system would not be targeted at Russian missiles.

Mr. Medvedev did, however, agree to support efforts to drive Muammar Gadhafi from power, helping to further isolate the Libyan leader.

In Warsaw, Mr. Obama reassured leaders that improved U.S. relations with Russia do not mean a lessening of Washington’s commitment to protect fellow NATO alliance member Poland. “What we want to do is to create an environment in this region in which peace and security are a given.  That is not just good for this region, it is good for the United States of America.  And we will always be there for Poland," he said.

The president also agreed to send U.S. F-16 fighter jets and C-130 transport planes to Poland for training, and to ask Congress to ease visa requirements for Polish visitors to America.

As on the rest of his trip, Mr. Obama spent much of his visit to Warsaw saluting his hosts.

He laid wreaths at Poland’s tomb of the unknowns, at a memorial for those killed by Nazis at the Warsaw ghetto, and at a memorial for the late President Lech Kaczynski and other victims of last year’s Smolensk plane crash.

The president also met with a group of leaders of the Solidarity trade union that pushed for democracy in Poland.

And he reminded Europeans that at each stop in his tour, he had affirmed that America’s transatlantic alliance is the cornerstone of Washington’s engagement in the world.
writen by : http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Obama-Reaffirms-US-Europe-Bond-122803319.html