Title  : Tip 940408 CHANGE IN UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING EDUCATION
Type   : News
NSF Org: OD / LPA
Date   : April 8, 1994
File   : tip40404




April 8, 1994

For more information on these science news and feature
story tips, please contact the public information
officer noted at the end of each item at (703) 306-
1070.

    NEW NSF REPORT HIGHLIGHTS SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN
          UNDERGRADUATE ENGINEERING EDUCATION


   While still the most preferred engineering
discipline, electrical engineering (EE) continued in a
steep 5-year decline in both annual enrollments and
degrees earned, says a just-released NSF report which
surveyed engineering department chairpersons and used
data from the Engineering Workforce Commission.
   According to Undergraduate Education in Electrical,
Mechanical, and Civil Engineering, which acknowledges
that enrollments are strong indicators of future degree
trends, enrollment in EE dropped 30 percent from 1987-
92.  Enrollments in mechanical engineering (ME), the
second preferred specialty, changed very little.
Enrollments in civil engineering (CE), students' third
choice, increased nearly 27 percent during the same
period.  The report also considered gender and
race/ethnicity.  The number of woman enrolled in EE
programs dropped significantly, increased slightly in
ME, and increased significantly in CE to almost one-
fifth of the total CE enrollment.  Blacks and Hispanics
boosted their presence across-the-board in both
enrollment and degrees earned.  [Michael Fluharty]

  RESEARCH RESULTS PRESENTED ON SEISMIC ACTIVITY AND
                HISTORICAL EARTHQUAKES
   At this week's annual Seismological Society of
America (SSA) meeting in Pasadena, California, NSF-
supported scientists presented research results on a
wide range of topics, from the relationship between
seismic activity and volcanic activity to new looks at
historical earthquakes.
   Leonardo Seeber and John Armbruster of Columbia
University discussed the ramifications of abrupt
increases in seismicity in stable continental regions.
They note that increased seismicity has often preceded
large earthquakes, including the 1993 central India
quake, where a burst of seismic activity began about a
year before the main shock.  Seeber and Armbruster
suggest that "close monitoring of seismicity and
artificial operations that could trigger earthquakes in
stable continental areas is an essential prerequisite"
for assessing the likelihood of future earthquakes in
such regions.  [Cheryl Dybas]

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          NSF-FUNDED EDUCATIONAL TV SHOW WINS
                   PRESTIGIOUS AWARD
   An NSF-supported television show featuring a
creative and enthusiastic inner city math teacher has
won a prestigious entertainment award.  "Good Morning
Miss Toliver," which aired during  the PBS Back To
School Special last fall, was named this month as a
winner of the 1993 George Foster Peabody Award.  The
show is funded primarily by NSF through a grant to the
Foundation for the Advancement of Science and Education
(FASE), as part of NSF's efforts to encourage and
disseminate innovative teaching techniques in math and
science.
   The half-hour show stars middle school teacher Kay
Toliver, who teaches mathematics in East Harlem.
Toliver has been nationally recognized for her ability
to inspire and motivate her urban students, as well as
other teachers in urban settings.  She was a 1992
recipient of the NSF-funded Presidential Awards for
Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching, which
honors the nation's top science and math teachers.
   The Peabody award recognizes distinguished
achievement and meritorious public service in the audio-
visual entertainment industry.  Fewer than a thousand
such awards have been presented internationally since
1940.

Mary Hanson]

            ATLANTIC COD AND GLOBAL CHANGE:
                 NOT JUST A FISH STORY
     The sizes of jawbones from Atlantic cod found in
more than 50 archaeological sites in Norway, Britain,
Iceland, and Greenland show that the catch of the day
really was a whopper in past centuries.  The 8,000-year
record, showing that the average cod was much larger
than today, has important implications for maintaining
healthy fish populations.  Today's harvest is based on
data gathered since the late 19th century, after the
population had already become skewed to younger ages.
     "Up to the 1850s, there were a lot more big, old
cod out there to be caught," reported Thomas McGovern,
archaeologist at the City University of New York.  Cod
measuring 1-1.5 meters were caught regularly from the
11th through 19th centuries throughout the North
Atlantic.  "It's rare today to catch a 1.5-meter cod
around Iceland," McGovern said.  The fish population's
structure is now very different.  The huge cod were 25-
30 years old, and could spawn several times a year,
versus today's cod, which are mostly under eight years
old and spawn less frequently.  The change probably
reflects both more efficient fishing technology and
varying environmental conditions.  The cod live in an
area critically affected by global change, so study of
their past and present status can shed some light on
what may happen next.  McGovern's international project
is partially supported by NSF's arctic social sciences
program.  [Lynn Simarski]

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