U.S. CEO Confidence Falls for Second Consecutive Quarter in Latest YPO Global Pulse Survey

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) November 02, 2011

The YPO Global Pulse Index for the United States fell 3.4 points in the third quarter of 2011 to 57.7 as confidence weakened among the more than 1,000 U.S. CEOs responding to the survey. The quarterly electronic survey was conducted during the first two weeks of October.

This is the second consecutive decline and the first time the U.S. index has fallen in succeeding quarters since the Global Pulse index began in July 2009. The YPO Confidence Index is centered on 50, so a reading of 57.7 indicates that CEOs are moderately confident that the economy will expand over the next 12 months but less confident than they have been since July 2010.

The survey results were announced today by YPO (Young Presidents Organization), a not-for-profit global network of 19,000 chief executive officers. The YPO Global Pulse is the only CEO economic sentiment survey to span the globe on a quarterly basis, capturing answers from more than 2,000 CEOs representing companies of all sizes around the world.

Key findings

Eco-entrepreneur Majora Carter Delivers Global Keynote Address at Westtown School

West Chester, PA (PRWEB) September 29, 2011

Westtown School, a Quaker college preparatory school in West Chester, PA, welcomed eco-entrepreneur Majora Carter on September 25, 2011, when she delivered Westtowns first annual Global Keynote Address. Her lecture, entitled Home(town) Security, opened the schools 2011-12 season of Shoemaker Events, made possible by an endowed fund created to bring leading thinkers and performers to Westtowns campus.

Majora Carter's Shoemaker visit is consistent with Westtowns vision for global education. Although the schools program offers a range of international options for students, it is also global in scope, preparing graduates for life in a diverse and interconnected world where change is the one constant. Carters lecture highlighted global competencies that are at the heart of a Westtown education, among them civic responsibility students acting as responsible local and global citizens in the interests of a larger community and sustainability. Carter also lifted up for the Westtown audience of approximately 450 the skills and competencies that serve her in her own work: creativity, initiative, perseverance, an ability to perceive and act on the big picture, and most important, an abiding concern for humankind.

Carter wove threads of her personal story into the Westtown lecture, explaining that during her lifetime the South Bronx went from an economically diverse neighborhood to a virtual wasteland as a consequence of poorly-considered urban planning initiatives, white flight and generational poverty. She spoke about the environmental burdens that are disproportionately placed on communities such as the South Bronx, communities that possess the fewest resources to resist them. These include poor air quality from municipal and industrial waste handling, power generation, and sewerage treatment facilities. She noted a Columbia University study linking proximity to fossil fuel burning sources and learning disabilities in children, in addition to ER visits for acute asthma attacks at a rate four times that of the national average. But Majora Carter also conveyed a message of hope again using examples from her own experience about community members who reclaimed green space in their neighborhoods, pointing to the grass-roots effort that led to the creation of Hunts Point Riverside Park, the first South Bronx waterfront park in 60 years when it opened in 2006.

Host of the Peabody Award-winning public radio series "The Promised Land," Majora Carter is a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow and serves on the boards of the US Green Building Council and The Wilderness Society. Majora Carter founded and led Sustainable South Bronx from 2001-2008, when few were talking about sustainability anywhere, especially in places like the South Bronx, which she described as the poster child for urban blight. She coined the term "Green the Ghetto" in 2003 as she pioneered one of the nation's first urban green-collar job training and placement systems, also spearheading legislation that fueled demand for these jobs. Her 2006 TEDtalk was one of 6 presentations to launch that groundbreaking website.

Since 2008, Carter's consulting company has exported climate adaptation, urban micro-agribusiness, and leadership development strategies for business, government, foundations, universities and under-performing communities. She is currently seeking funding to repurpose the infamous Bridges Juvenile Detention Center, also known as Spofford, a Bronx facility that was closed in March 2011. Carter envisions a business-attracting community hub with shops, restaurants and a farmers market that will bring healthy food options to a community that currently has few.

According to Majora Carter, Westtown students asked good questions, including what they themselves could do to support sustainable environmental initiatives. Her answer was deceptively simple: look no further than your own back yard and work with what you know. The takeaway for students was that challenges are everywhere, and working to solve the local ones can have an impact far beyond ones own community.

Majora Carter is the most recent in a long line of Shoemaker visitors who have come to Westtowns campus and worked closely with students at the school. Beginning in the early 1960s with the poet Robert Frost, they have included such luminaries as Coretta Scott King, Elie Wiesel, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Diaz, singer Pete Seeger and the Philadanco dance troupe, along with many others.

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Rasmussen College Wins Grand Prize In Global Mobile Game Development Curriculum Contest

Minneapolis, Minn. (Vocus/PRWEB) March 03, 2011

After being chosen as one of only 20 schools to advance to a second round of competition, Rasmussen College has been selected as one of three grand-prize winners of the Unity Mobile Generation Education Giveaway, a global contest designed to encourage educators to develop innovative course curricula for game programming and design for mobile and tablet PC devices. With this honor, the higher education provider will receive 20 Android smart phones, 20 copies of Unity Pro, and 20 licenses of Unity Android Pro.

We are honored to be named a grand-prize winner of an award that showcases our dedication to developing advanced curriculum for our programs, including the Game and Simulation Programming Bachelors degree, Rasmussen College School of Technology and Design Director Hap Aziz said. Our winning proposal combined programming design and theory with practical applications, providing students the hands-on experience that is critical to learning new and challenging programs, as well as becoming qualified professionals within their field.

Rasmussen College has established itself as an industry leader in online and on-campus education and offers a Bachelors in Game and Simulation Programming degree, or Game Design Degree, along with several other technology and multimedia design programs. Faculty members Thomas Long and William Sattelmeyer submitted the colleges winning proposal Mobile Game Development with Unity 3D, which integrated Unity Pro 3D with opportunities for students to gain hands-on experience developing high-demand simulations that employ built-in mobile device features, such as the compass, GPS, and accelerometer.

The demand for courses and degrees addressing game and mobile design has increased as Android encompasses 27 percent of national smart phone sales and iPhone sales expand with the companys new relationship with Verizon. A course curriculum that is centered on this rapidly evolving industry will give students a strong advantage in the expanding mobile development field.

Nominees submitted an example curriculum using Unitys Android game software and two accompanying video lectures. Rasmussen College was selected to advance to the second round of the competition in November 2010.

Will Goldstone of Unity Technologies, author of the first textbook on Unity 3D, noted that the Rasmussen College proposal demonstrated excellent understanding of course requirements, student needs, and development process, as well as an existing understanding of industry needs.

Headquartered in San Francisco and named one of the top five game companies of 2009 by Gamasutra, Unity Technologies has more than 200,000 registered users worldwide using its platform to develop high-quality, interactive 3D content for the Web, mobile, and console. Schools such as Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have adopted Unity technology into their curricula. For additional information about Unity Technologies, visit unity3d.com.

See the winning universities online at http://blogs.unity3d.com/2011/02/01/unity-mobile-generation-great-education-giveaway-winners-announced/.

For additional information about Rasmussen College and its School of Technology and Design, visit http://www.Rasmussen.edu/degrees/technology-design/.

ABOUT RASMUSSEN COLLEGE

Founded in 1900, Rasmussen College is a premier provider of educational experiences, dedicated to the growth and development of its students, employees, and the communities it serves. Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, Rasmussen College offers Bachelors and Associates degrees in fields with the greatest occupation opportunities to more than 15,000 students both online and through its network of 21 campus locations. By partnering with leading universities, Rasmussen offers opportunities to students beyond the Bachelors level. The Rasmussen Partner Network gives students the opportunity to earn Masters and Doctoral degrees completely online, at their own convenience, from prominent universities around the country. To learn more about Rasmussen College, please visit Rasmussen.edu.

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