Local News

Technion students visit Seattle to discuss university life in Israel

By , Special to JTNews

Students and a faculty member from the Technion-Israel Institute of

Technology will provide a personal perspective on university life in Israel

at their presentation on Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the home of Sid and Margaret

Weiner.

Participants in the ATS program will have the opportunity for informal

discussions with the students, Rona Markovitz and Alon Bar-Sade, and their

professor, Arie Feuer.

This is the 11th annual student tour sponsored by the American Society for

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Each year, many students compete to

be chosen for this national tour. Ms. Markovitz and Mr. Bar-Sade were

selected based on a combination of varied achievements and communication

skills.

A short presentation by the students and professor will be followed by

informal discussion that will offer a personal view on student life, which is

markedly different from that of American college students, and on the

challenges and rewards of teaching and conducting research at the Technion.

Markovitz, who studies aerospace engineering, was born in 1976 on the day of

the Entebbe rescue mission. After completing army service in the intelligence

unit, she discovered the Aerospace Engineering Faculty at the Technion. She

was accepted and was even chosen for an American Technion Society

scholarship.

Bar-Sade is studying civil engineering, with a focus on water resource

management. This interest may well be a result of his six years in the navy,

where he served as commanding officer of a patrol boat. After a trip around

the world, he decided to follow in his family’s footsteps and apply to the

Technion, where his father received his degree and a brother is completing

his. Another recipient of an American Technion Society scholarship, Mr.

Bar-Sade plans to continue his studies straight through to a Master’s degree.

Prof. Arie Feuer of the Department of Electrical Engineering holds

undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Technion and a Ph.D. from Yale

University. He has been a visiting scientist at Bell Laboratories and

Motorola, a visiting professor at major universities in the United States,

Germany and Australia and has received numerous prizes including the award

for Best Lecturer five times.

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is the country’s premier

scientific and technological center for applied research and education. For

information about the event, call 206-323-6334.

Author discusses strategies for raising strong daughters

Barbara Mackoff will read at Tree of Life Judaica and Books in cooperation

with the Study Buddy Program on Feb. 17, 2000 from 7-8:30 p.m. Mackoff, a

consulting psychologist and management educator, has worked with

organizations around the world addressing issues of leadership, work and

family life. She will read from her books Growing a Girl and forthcoming books

May You Be Like Ruth and Esther: How to Bring Heroines Home for the Holidays

and The Inner Work of Leaders.

Mackoff’s book Growing a Girl is a constructive source book for raising

strong girls. In answering the question, “How do I keep my daughter from

losing her confidence as an adolescent,” Dr. Mackoff supplies one such piece

of advice: “One of the best ways to help a girl develop her inner authority

is to help her see that she is the author of her accomplishments. Girls are

told that nobody likes a show-off, so they tend to step away from what they

have accomplished. When you congratulate a daughter on how she’s done, don’t

just say “good job.” Ask her how she’s done it; say, “˜How did you do that?

How did you get interested in that?’ Such questions plant seeds of the

statements, “˜I am the author of my accomplishments. I am the author of my

convictions.’”

As her own daughter grew, Dr. Mackoff taught her to question the world around

her, to read a story and ask where the girls were and what roles they took.

When her daughter then asked her at Hanukah if any of the Maccabis were

girls, Dr. Mackoff was inspired to write another book, May You Be Like Ruth

and Esther: How to Bring the Heroines Home for the Holidays.

In her latest book, co-authored with psychologist Dr. Gary Wenet, Dr. Mackoff

conducted 70 interviews with leaders—from politicians to CEOs, leaders of

faith, community and country. The Inner Work of Leaders underscores the same

message as Growing a Girl—that parents can make a tremendous difference in

the way they raise their children to think about themselves, their community

and their roles as leaders.

HIAS encourages former clients to apply for scholarships

HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, is inviting students to apply for its

2000 Scholarship Awards Competition. Those eligible to apply for the

scholarships are HIAS-assisted refugees, or other HIAS-assisted migrants and

their children who immigrated to the United States during or after 1985. “The

scholarship program speaks to the heart of HIAS’s commitment to helping

promising young immigrants achieve their academic dreams,” said Donald

Fleishaker, chairman of the HIAS Scholarship Committee. “It honors HIAS’s 120

year tradition of giving, one generation to the next, and assists newcomers

with the means to get the training to move ahead. We are very proud of all of

the young people helped by this program. Their spirit, drive, and

determination continues to inspire and move us.”

The awards are intended for high school seniors who plan to pursue

post-secondary education and students already enrolled in post-secondary

education programs. All applicants must demonstrate at least one year’s

attendance in an American high school, college or graduate school.

Scholarships will be awarded on the basis of academic excellence, financial

need, and community service, particularly Jewish communal activity. Last

year, HIAS awarded 114 scholarships of $1,500 each.

Applications may be obtained only by writing to HIAS Scholarship Awards, 333

Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001-5004. A stamped, self-addressed envelope

must be enclosed. For further information about the scholarship awards, call

212-613-1357. Completed applications should be returned to HIAS, postmarked

no later than Wednesday, March 15, 2000.