Top ranking of Rehovot's Weizmann Institute could be faked
IsraelToday.co.il reports that "Two Israeli universities won the top two spots in a survey by The Scientist magazine on the best places for academics to work outside the United States. Number one on the list was the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. Taking second place honors was Jerusalem's Hebrew University. The survey ranked universities by, among other things, salary, working conditions and available resources for researchers."
However, well knowing recent coppruption affairs at the Weizmann Institute of Science, enlighted by as powerful person, as previous President of WIS, Professor Ilan Chet, My Rehovot belief is that organized survey participation by Weizmann's students and academic staff may be faked and represent well planned action by the Institution Public Relation PR Department.
Education Ministry launches initiative in 100 high schools in Israel, offering students opportunity to earn diploma in fitness instruction, enabling them to join work force immediately after graduation
The Education Ministry has launched a program that offers to students of 100 different high schools across the country the possibility of majoring in fitness instruction.
These students will also be able to earn an instructor's diploma while still in school, which grants them the possibility of beginning work in the field immediately upon graduating.
The program is comprised of 90 hours of theoretical studies and 150 hours of practical education, and begins in 10th grade. The students can specialize in one area of expertise, such as judo, soccer, aerobics, etc, and complete an internship in the 12th grade.
"There are currently 4,800 students studying in the fitness instruction program, and 500 will soon begin studying for the instructor's diploma," says Abraham Zochman, who heads the Education Ministry's physical education department.
"We are happy to give these students the opportunity to graduate with not only a diploma, but an opening into the job market."
Rehovot's DeShalit School is one of the high schools currently offering the program. The students are divided into three specialization branches: Girls' soccer, light athletics, and gym. Each branch has its own certificate, which the student receives upon graduating.
DeShalit even founded a new gym thanks to the program, which the school's principal, Leah Desklovitch, described as "an upgrade for the school's physical education department."
"I hope this tendency will grow and develop in specific fields, and that in the future other practical courses of study will be made available," she said.
Eli Senyor, Yaheli Moran Zelikovich. School program offers phys-ed as major YNet (28 September 2008) [FullText]
'A Chocolate Affaire' Raises Over $340,000 to Benefit Scholarship Fund at The Hebrew University, Rehovot Branch
LOS ANGELES, Sept 24, 2008 - 250 American Friends of The Hebrew University gathered at Bel Air Estate American Friends of The Hebrew University (AFHU) hosted its fifth annual "A Chocolate Affaire" on September 13th at the Bel Air residence of Western Regional board member and founder of Morgan Creek Productions, James G. Robinson. This year's event brought the total amount raised to over $1.3 million.
Proceeds from the dinner and gourmet chocolate tasting event benefited the Student Scholarship Campaign which enables disadvantaged students of all races, religions and countries of origin to complete their undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral studies.
Guests were entertained by Emmy Award winning comedian Louie Anderson who was introduced by event co-chair Joan Dangerfield, widow of Rodney Dangerfield. She was joined by co-chairs Patricia L. Glaser and Sam Mundie, and Renae Jacobs-Anson and Dr. David Anson. Richard Ziman, AFHU's Western Regional chairman, and his wife Daphna served as honorary chairs.
"We are so proud that this year's overwhelming success will enable us to help many more students. The American Friends community truly understands that there is a desperate need for scholarships at this time," said Renae Jacobs-Anson. "There is no greater gift than that of an education, and we are honored and thrilled to support the amazing students of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem."
About The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, located on three campuses in Jerusalem and a fourth in Rehovot, is one of the world's leading academic and research institutions. More than 24,000 students from over 70 countries choose Hebrew University for its seven academic Faculties in the Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences, Agriculture and Medicine, and to take advantage of extensive opportunities to participate in groundbreaking research. Faculty and alumni of The Hebrew University have won six Nobel Prizes within five years.
About the American Friends of The Hebrew University
American Friends of The Hebrew University (AFHU) is a national, not-for-profit organization based in the United States. AFHU conducts fundraising activities in support of The Hebrew University's internationally recognized community of leading scholars and scientists. AFHU helps to ensure Israel's well-being by nurturing the nation's greatest asset: the intellectual strength of its people.
Source: 'A Chocolate Affaire' Raises Over $340,000 to Benefit Scholarship Fund at The Hebrew University. (20 September 2008) PRNewswire via COMTEX [FullText]
$15 million gift to Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot Branch
"The Robert H. Smith Family Foundation pledged a $15 million challenge grant to transform the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences in Rehovot, Israel.
The gift will be the cornerstone of the university's and American Friends of Hebrew University's "Feeding the Future through Sustainable Agriculture" campaign, a $51 million reorganization and expansion plan that will broaden and accelerate the University's cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in plant and animal sciences, biochemistry, nutrition and environmental studies.
In recognition of the Foundation's generosity the Faculty will be renamed "The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences." American Friends of the Hebrew University (AFHU) is launching a $15 million fund-raising campaign, seeking support from other American philanthropists and foundations.
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is located on three campuses in Jerusalem and a fourth in Rehovot, is one of the world's leading academic and research institutions. Faculty and alumni have won six Nobel Prizes in the past five years."
Source: $15 million gift to Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Staten Island Advance (9 May 2008) [FullText]
New program by Rehovot academic institute teaches science and math teachers
A new program at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot is aimed at raising the low level of Israeli high-school pupils knowledge of scientific subjects and math that has been exposed in recent years in international comparison studies.
The innovative "Caesarea Program" will soon be inaugurated at the Rehovot institute. Made possible by the Caesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Foundation, it will offer masters' degrees in science education to outstanding high-school and middle-school science and math teachers. The three-year curriculum, prepared by Weizmann faculty members, will include studies designed to broaden and deepen scientific knowledge, meetings with scientists working at the cutting edge of research and practice in applying innovative approaches to teaching. Participants will also conduct research in the field of science teaching and gain first-hand experience in leading original initiatives.
Teachers will study two days a week for the first two years and one day a week in the third year. The rest of the week, the participants can continue their normal teaching duties. Participants will be selected on the basis of recommendations and personal interviews, and each will receive a study grant in addition to an exemption from tuition.
For teachers who already have advanced degrees, the program offers a multi-track option that will integrate practical studies with research. Participants in this branch of the program are also eligible for study scholarships. A continuing education program will be offered to those who finish either track, in collaboration with the science teaching department and other scientific departments at Weizmann, and with the Davidson Institute of Science Education, which also conducts its activities there. The continuing program will support participants in developing and implementing innovative science education projects.
The Caesarea Program is open to outstanding science and math teachers who have at least three years of experience. Those teachers chosen to participate are required to commit themselves to teaching for at least another three years. Interested candidates can write to Miriam Carmeli at miriam.carmeli[at]weizmann.ac.il.
Source: Judy Siegel Itzkovich. New Worlds: New program teaches science and math teachers. Health and SciTech. JPost.com (3 May 2008) [FullText]
Against separation: Opening of a special school for Ethiopian children in Rehovot is an admission of failure
Today's festive opening of a special school for Ethiopian children in Rehovot, to be attended by the president as well as activists from the Fidel educational association, is, in essence, an admission of failure when it comes to the absorption of Ethiopian immigrants - despite the association's tremendous efforts over the past decade.
Fidel (which means education in Amharic) was established in 1996 by veteran Israelis and Ethiopian immigrants with the goal of nurturing education among the community's children. "Fidel's vision," reads a pamphlet distributed by the association, "is to involve the community of immigrants from Ethiopia living in Israel in shaping the face of society and educational and social activities in the State of Israel. The association aspires to enable each boy and girl from families that came from Ethiopia to reach their full potential in the mainstream Israeli education system." There is a very discordant discrepancy between this statement and the principle according to which the Hadarim school will be run - together with other similar schools which Fidel's leaders intend to open across the country. The message Fidel is sending right now by presenting Hadarim as its new vision is even worse than admitting a failure in absorption. It internalizes that failure, placing it on the pupils' shoulders and convincing them that it is beyond their power, or anyone else's, to integrate them into the society in which they live, and the society into which the vast majority of them were born.
The followers of this new segregation are influenced, among other things, by the multiculturalist fashion prevalent mainly among separatist African-Americans. They define integration in general as a failure, and extend this to the integration of Ethiopian children in particular. Indeed, integration has failed in many cases, especially where children from less-affluent neighborhoods are bused in every morning to attend more ambitious, stronger schools where they have difficulty finding their own place. Advertisement
Yet not all Ethiopian pupils drop out of school and many schools across Israel have succeeded in promoting talented Ethiopian children, nurturing them and providing them with the tools they need to further their successful integration. The rate of Ethiopian immigrants in the Israel Defense Forces command courses, in the army's program for academics and in the universities and the Technion is far from negligible. Fidel itself has contributed to the advancement of many children of Ethiopian immigrants through higher education scholarships. Many of the association's current activists - social workers, lawyers and others - received support when they first set out on their way.
The sense of insult among parents and activists is understandable. They cringe as they see how, despite their best efforts, dropout rates for Ethiopian children remain high, and how the community's children are having trouble integrating because of the color of their skin. But the separatism they are now proposing - for which they will not be able to provide sustainable and adequate funding anyway - is a dangerous internalization of the system's failure. Worse still, it is an acceptance of the rejection and racism that compromise the process of intergration.
A wound turn inward is not the answer, least of all when it is carried out on the backs of children who, like all immigrant children, want to be like everyone else, despite everything. Fidel and its supporters need to confront Israeli society with the diversity of its dark-skinned children and, in the best interests of all parties, and according to what it took upon itself to achieve, the association needs to open the road to integration.
Source: Haaretz editorial. Against separation. Haaretz.com (24 March 2008) [FullText]
Olmert praises scientists for 'coming home', has nothing to offer except of corrupted university system
Original title: Olmert praises scientists for 'coming home'
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met at Rehovot's Weizmann Institute of Science on Tuesday with four young scientists who returned to Israel after living abroad for years because of the lack of opportunities for teaching and research here.
"The larger the institute gets, the more scientists will join so it can advance excellence in Israeli society for all of us," Olmert said.
He was received on campus by institute president Prof. Daniel Zajfman, who presented four outstanding young scientists among 16 who returned to Israel and joined the Weizmann Institute faculty during the past year.
The four were Dr. Avishai Gal-Yam (an astronomer); Dr. Nirit Davidovich (a physicist); Dr. Michal Sharon (a biochemist); and Dr. Roni Paz (a brain researcher).
Olmert described the Weizmann Institute as a "pearl in the crown of Israeli society."
He later met with youths who are neither studying in high school nor working full time, but are part of a work-study project initiated by Dr. Ovad Kerem of the Davidson Institute for Science Education of the Weizmann Institute.
Source: Judy Siegel Itzkovich. Olmert praises scientists for 'coming home' JPost.com (11 March 2008) [FullText]
Robert H. Smith 'Feeding the Future' with $15 Million Gift to Rehovot Branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Robert H. Smith Family Foundation has pledged a $15 million challenge grant to transform The Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences in Rehovot, Israel. The gift will be the cornerstone of the university's and American Friends of Hebrew University's "Feeding the Future through Sustainable Agriculture" campaign, a $51 million reorganization and expansion plan will broaden and accelerate Hebrew University's cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in plant and animal sciences, biochemistry, nutrition and environmental studies. New buildings, state-of-the-art laboratories and greenhouses will foster collaborative work between four academic Institutes addressing major challenges, among these: hunger and malnutrition, natural resource scarcity and the impact of global warming.
In recognition of the Foundation's generosity, the Faculty will be renamed "The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences." American Friends of The Hebrew University (AFHU) is launching a $15 million fundraising campaign, seeking support from other American philanthropists and foundations.
"Thanks to the friendship and generosity of the Smith Family, The Hebrew University will expand its vital work in the field of agriculture," said George Schieren, president of AFHU. "Through this new challenge grant, Hebrew University will be able to establish two research institutes and propel agricultural research to new levels."
Robert H. Smith of Washington, DC, a visionary philanthropist, is a successful real estate developer who spearheaded the creation of Crystal City, Virginia. Mr. Smith and his family have been involved with Hebrew University and AFHU for decades. A former chairman of Hebrew University's International Board of Governors, he also served as president of the Washington DC chapter of AFHU.
The Faculty of Agriculture, including the Robert H. Smith Institute for Plant Sciences, is a worldwide leader in sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation. Innovations include: drip irrigation techniques adopted worldwide, plant-derived treatments for malaria, aquaculture and genetically enhanced produce and flowers.
"Hebrew University has led the development of technologies and techniques benefiting all semi-arid regions, and students from 155 countries have taken that knowledge home with them," said Peter Willner, AFHU's national executive director.
About The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, located on three campuses in Jerusalem and a fourth in Rehovot, is one of the world's leading academic and research institutions. Faculty and alumni of The Hebrew University have won six Nobel Prizes in the past five years.
The University has consistently been ranked among the top 100 academic and research institutions worldwide in independent surveys, including Newsweek magazine.
The American Friends of The Hebrew University
American Friends of The Hebrew University (AFHU) is a national, not-for- profit organization which conducts fund raising activities in support of The Hebrew of Jerusalem.
AFHU CONTACT: David Kaiyalethe Joyce Grossman Dukas Public Relations jgrossman@afhu.org david@dukaspr.com 212.607.8540 212/704-7385 ext 119
Foundation Gives $15 million to HUJI Rehovot's Agricultural Branch
Smith Foundation gives Hebrew U. $15 million
The Robert H. Smith Family Foundation pledged $15 million to The Hebrew University of Jerusalem for promoting sustainable agriculture.
The grant, which will go to the univeristy's Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences in Rehovot, is part of a $51 million "Feeding the Future through Sustainable Agriculture” campaign to put the school at the forefront of research into sustainable agriculture.
The money will fund a reorganization and expansion of Hebrew Univeristy's interdisciplinary research in plant and animal sciences, biochemistry, nutrition and environmental studies, the school said in a release.
The project includes new buildings, state-of-the-art laboratories and greenhouses and more collaborative work between four academic institutions addressing major challenges such as hunger and malnutrition, natural resource scarcity and the impact of global warming.
The faculty for the program will be called “The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences.”
The Crisis in Rehovot's Classrooms: Teachers Call for Support
Rehovot Public supports De Shalit School Teachers-on-Strike call for Better Educational System, Rehovot Mayor Office Remains Silent
Rehovot.tv video 1:
"It sounds like a teenager's dream: Sleep late, hang out at the mall, and go to the beach. Yet 15-year-old Barak Rivkind is sick of that easy life. At noon on a school day, instead of sitting in class, Rivkind and his buddies are sipping milk shakes at the Aroma café in Jerusalem's Malha Mall. That's because Israel's high school teachers have been on strike since Oct. 9 seeking higher wages and improved working conditions. "I've had enough of loafing," says the 10th grader. "We're missing a lot of material, and it will be very difficult to make it up."
Israeli education is in crisis—and many fear the country's tech industry will suffer unless something is done to fix it. The technology sector represents 12% of Israel's gross domestic product and more than a third of all exports, and has been growing at a double-digit clip for most of the past two decades. Fueling that boom have been Israel's top-notch schools. "Unless the government wakes up, Israel will quickly lose its edge in high tech," says Giora Yaron, a serial entrepreneur who has sold two companies to Cisco Systems (CSCO) and is now involved in four other tech ventures.
Rehovot.tv video 2:
The teachers' strike and a parallel action by university professors are just symptoms of the malaise gripping the country's school system. In the 1960s, Israeli students topped international rankings of math and science skills. The last time Israel participated in such a survey, in 2002, it had slipped to 33rd out of 41 countries, behind the likes of Thailand and Romania. And just 30% of 18-year-old native-born conscripts to the Israel Defense Forces in 2005 passed a standard Hebrew reading comprehension test, down from 60% two decades ago. "Our most important resource is brain power, and if we don't foster this then our society is at risk," warns Aaron Ciechanover, the 2004 Nobel laureate in chemistry and a professor at the Technion Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel's equivalent of MIT.
Rehovot.tv video 3:
Overdue funding
The government, though, has been slow to act. National spending on education dropped from 9.3% of GDP in 2002 to 8.3% last year. The 2008 budget includes a $400 million increase for education, to $10 billion—though that's barely enough to keep up with the economy's growth rate. The extra money will be used to increase teachers' salaries, and the government has committed to an additional $2 billion over the next five years to boost wages, renovate and repair schools, and keep them open longer each day."
Rehovot Public Agree the education system needs a complete overhaul
"Many Israelis say the education system needs a complete overhaul. Class sizes average 38 to 40 students, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development says teachers' wages in Israel are the lowest in the industrialized world, with starting educators earning just $600 per month—less than the rent on a modest one-bedroom apartment in Tel Aviv. That makes it tough to attract quality professionals. "The level of teaching at our school is lousy, and the principal has no authority to do anything about it," says Asaf Makover, a 10th grader at Jerusalem's Beit-Chinuch High School. Teachers grouse that it's nearly impossible to get anything done. "With 40 kids in a class, you spend most of your time just keeping order and very little time on actual teaching," says Meirav Cohen, a geography instructor at a suburban Jerusalem junior high.
Rehovot.tv video 4:
The crisis has parents scrambling to fill the gaps, hiring private tutors to help children after school. Bulletin boards in schools are crammed with ads from teachers and university students offering after-hours tutoring. "It's the only way to make ends meet on such a meager salary," says a teacher at a Jerusalem high school. Many parents in the mid-'90s banded together to create nonprofit programs to tutor kids. Now such classes have spread to 50 towns.
Brain drain
The biggest problems are in math, science, and English. In each of these subjects, potential teaching candidates can usually find high-paying alternatives in the tech sector. "After six years of teaching, the crowded classrooms and the discipline problems got to me," says Laly Bar-Ilan, an algorithm engineer at WhiteSmoke, a Tel Aviv startup that developed a software program for improving English grammar and writing style. She now makes four times what she did teaching computer science and English. "The only way to bring back teachers is to pay competitive salaries and improve work conditions," she says.
Rehovot.tv video 5:
With such a shortage of qualified candidates, Israel has dropped its standards. In the past, high school teachers needed a university degree in math or science to teach in those fields, but nowadays a degree from a less rigorous teachers' college will suffice. And budget cuts have led to shorter school days. In 1997 students were in school for 36 hours weekly, but today it's just 30. "With fewer hours and most kids finished by 1 p.m., some subjects have been dropped or are hardly taught at all," complains Dan Ben-David, a Tel Aviv University economist with three children in the school system. Even core subjects such as math and science have been cut back.
At Israel's seven universities, funding has dropped 20% in four years. So even as the student population has climbed 50% since 1997, the number of teachers has remained steady at about 5,000. And as many as 3,000 university lecturers have decamped for jobs overseas. "We're seeing a serious brain drain," says Zehev Tadmor, chairman of the Samuel Neaman Institute, a Haifa-based think tank, and former president of Technion. "Hundreds of professors [are] teaching at leading institutions abroad because we can't offer them jobs."
Source: Neal Sandler. The Crisis in Israel's Classrooms: A breakdown in the financially strapped school system is jeopardizing the country's high-tech edge. Business Week Education (8 November 2007) [FullText]
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