The Top 10 Cities For Green Jobs

If you’re a job seeker in Boston, Chicago or San Francisco with experience in energy efficiency, environmental compliance or sustainable supply chain, you may be in luck. Those are three of the top cities for green jobs right now, according to job aggregator site SimplyHired.com.

James Beriker, the site’s chief executive, says he’s seeing an uptick in these types of jobs everywhere. There are more than 83,000 green job listings on SimplyHired.com right now, compared to 45,000 at this time last year.

“Although ‘green’ hiring is often associated with employment at green companies—where the company’s focus is on developing alternative energy sources or manufacturing products with low environmental impact—we are seeing more and more roles at traditional companies focused on sustainable practices as a strategic and competitive business advantage,” Beriker says. “As a result, green energy and technology fields continue to grow.”

The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines green jobs as those in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources, as well as jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources.

San Francisco has the largest number of open positions that meet this description. With 4,758 green listings, jobs there are particularly copious in the areas of clean technology, energy efficiency and energy storage, Beriker says. “With Silicon Valley as a center of technology and innovation, we see significant growth in green jobs related to establishing energy-efficient infrastructure and encouraging adoption of alternative energy sources.”

Houston and New York City follow close behind, with 3,830 and 3,221 green jobs, respectively. “In Texas, home to many oil, gas and energy corporations, we see a number of environmental scientist and engineering roles as well as analyst positions focused on assessing risk and improving process and product outcomes,” he says.

Rounding out the top five are D.C., with 3,207 green job listings, and Los Angeles, which has 2,179.  In D.C. there are a large number of green scientist positions and other jobs with firms and public agencies focused on environmental research, SimplyHired explains.

In fact, more and more companies all over the country are focusing on sustainable practices as a business value, so the green energy and technology fields consequently continue to grow.

Some examples of green jobs include sustainability coordinator, energy efficiency manager, and environmental compliance specialist. “Some of the most interesting jobs are in the sustainability management field, where an individual is tasked with implementing sustainable initiatives and business practices across all areas of an organization,” Beriker says. “Whether working in-house or in a consulting role, these professionals need technical skills and knowledge of leading business practices. They also need strong analytical, project management and communications skills in order to deploy recommendations and solutions across many groups within an organization.”

There are nearly 6,500 jobs with “environmental compliance” keyword on the SimplyHired.com site right now, which is an increase of more than 60% since May 2012. There are another 18,000 listings of jobs focused on “energy efficiency.” These jobs have also increased by more than 60% since May 2012.

Barcelona: Tito Vilanova to have cancer check-up in New York

Barcelona head coach Tito Vilanova will travel back to New York this week for a medical check-up afterhaving treatment on a tumour there in December.

Vilanova, 44, was in the dug-out on Sunday as his side moved to thebrink of the Spanish title with a 4-2 win against Real Betis at the Nou Camp.

If Real Madrid fail to win on Wednesday Barca will secure the trophy, meaning Vilanova could miss the celebrations.

"I am going for some tests and I will be back on Thursday," he said.

Tito Vilanova fact file

• Francesc 'Tito' Vilanova was a friend of Pep Guardiola at Barcelona's La Masia academy
• After progressing to Barcelona B, the midfielder left the club, spending three years with Celta Vigo
• The 42-year-old was brought back to coach Barcelona B when Guardiola took control of the side in 2007
• He moved up to the role of Guardiola's assistant coach at Barcelona when Guardiola moved up to the top job in 2008
• Was chosen to succeed Guardiola as head coach in 2012
• Despite having cancer treatment, has guided Barcelona to the brink of La Liga title

Vilanova - who was promoted from assistant coach last summer when Pep Guardiola ended his four-year long tenure - spent 10 weeks in the US city undergoing radiotherapy and chemotherapy sessions. Following that program, he returned to take charge of the first team in March.

That was the second time he had been diagnosed with a cancerous growth on his saliva gland, after previously having surgery in November 2011.

Following the weekend's Lionel Messi-inspired victory, Barca are 11 points clear of second-placed Real with four games left to play.

If Jose Mourinho's side are unable to claim three points at home to Malaga in mid-week, the Catalans will secure their fourth La Liga triumph in five seasons.

Even if Real emerge victorious, Barca require only two more points to claim the title, with their next opportunity coming on Saturday at third-placed Atletico Madrid.

Vilanova, whose side endured a humiliating 7-0 aggregate Champions League semi-final loss to Bayern Munich, asked to be judged on his achievement's next season because of the disruptions caused by his cancer treatment and injuries to key players such as Messi and captain Carles Puyol this term.

Marc Benioff, Mark Zuckerberg And Healthcare Movers Gather At UC San Francisco Summit

Call it a healthcare brain trust. About 175 leaders and innovators in healthcare and medical research spent the better part of two days at UC San Francisco late last week, drumming up concrete ideas on how to improve the use of data and technology to deliver more precise medical care. Among the attendees:Margaret Hamburg the head of the Food and Drug Administration; and Francis Collins, leader of the National Institutes of Health.Facebook FB -2.28% Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg spent about an hour Friday learning about the ideas attendees had brainstormed.  Marc Benioff, the billionaire founder of Salesforce.com CRM +0.88%, wrapped up the conference Friday afternoon by introducing the concepts voted most promising by attendees – ideas that included a smart toilet (more on that below). California Governor Jerry Brown also attended the final session and gave his support to the innovators in the room. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee kicked off the event Thursday morning.

Benioff and his wife, Lynne, are closely involved with UCSF and are giving $100 million to the university for a new children’s hospital now under construction. Zuckerberg’s UCSF connection? His wife graduated from UCSF medical school last year, and Facebook recently named UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann to its board.

Leading the “OME Precision Medicine Summit” was UCSF Chancellor Desmond-Hellmann, who began her career as a doctor treating cancer patients, rose to president of product development at biotech powerhouse Genentech, and became chancellor of UCSF in 2009. She co-authored a 2011 National Academy of Sciences report that called for transforming medical care by harnessing data from the human genome and other research about disease with information from patients’ medical records.  “What we mean by precision medicine is connecting the dots in a new data-driven way so we can better understand disease,” and treat it more effectively, Desmond-Hellmann told the attendees. “I’m looking for a pace change. I know this could happen over decades, but people don’t have that kind of time.” She told the story of a patient she had in the early 1990s – a 28-year-old mother with an aggressive form of breast cancer that took the young woman’s life. The memory of that young mother drives Desmond-Hellmann even today.

Changing healthcare is both difficult and complicated, so the real test will be whether the “action items” agreed on by those at the summit will be brought to life in the future.  Among the dozen ideas presented:

-A smart toilet that would take a stool sample, gathering data from a person’s genomic, microbiome (gut bacteria) and other health information.

- An initiative to mine the data from failed clinical trials, to learn from what went wrong and avoid repeating the same mistakes. Law does not allow the FDA to unveil data from failed trials, and it hasn’t been in pharmaceutical companies’ interests to do so.  Several participants at the conference, including from pharma, agreed to pursue this initiative.

-Making medical research journal articles understandable to the rest of us, and adding a seal of approval. Patients with specific diseases currently don’t have access to articles in journals like Nature, nor might they understand the medical jargon if they did. This initiative aims to create easier-to-understand versions of articles, and get certified by the Institute of Medicine as accurate.

-A push to develop interoperable data standards for healthcare data, to avoid the age-old “Betamax vs. VHS” standards wars.

-A Bloomberg-like terminal that would pull genomic data from similar patients now housed in servers around the world, and give doctors an ability to look at genomic variations in other patients as a comparison.

UCSF also wants to get the public involved in this journey, and to that end launched a public awareness campaign and website, meforyou.org. It’s challenging, because the website is asking for a general commitment to the idea of sharing information, rather than for anything specific. It may be tough to gather serious momentum when the aim is honorable – not unlike preventing climate change – but the individual steps to take are unclear.

For me, one of the highlights of the conference was listening to NIH head Francis Collins share a story over dinner Thursday night about how sequencing the genome of some very sick twins in Los Angeles had led to a discovery that an existing drug could help them get better. (One of them is on the track team now). Then he pulled out his guiter and played the Bob Dylan song “The Times They Are A-Changin’ “ – with lyrics altered for the gathering.

Here’s a sampling:

“Will we practice prevention like we did under Ike?  Will novel disruptions be met with dislike and no end to damn sequestration? Hell no, we’ll all shout, for the future is bright, for the times, they are a changin’.

“Look to the future, the challenge is vast, and all this precision is needed so fast. We’re bold, we’re audacious–not mired in the past. Our propects are truly amazing. So come on you people, let’s go kick some ass, for the times they are a changin’.”

The attack on the Armenian church in Constantinople

On May 5 at about 12:30 am was an armed attack on a church in the area Kumkapi in Constantinople(Istanbul),belonging to the Armenian Patriarchate.

One of the witnesses of the incident - a resident of the town Garo Palian said that at the end of the Sunday service unidentified person opened fire,producing seven shots into the air.These actions caused confusion among the parishioners,however,according to preliminary data,during the incident,no one was hurt.The gunman disappeared.

The statement about the attack along with the shooting of the surveillance was referred to the police, which began investigating and trying to make a sketch of the assailant.At the place were found seven empty cartridges.

Recall that on the eve in Turkey there was another anti-Armenian campaign - in Eastern Armenian city Igdir,occupied by turks,members of the nationalist organization ASIM-DER defiantly burned the local edition of Constantinople bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper "Agos".

Armenian women

The beauty and elegance of the Armenian women aren't just once sung by famous poets,artists and ordinary people,who couldn't remain indifferent to the beauty of Armenian women.
They have always been known for its purity,modesty and the incredible love and devotion to their family.
But the Armenian women aren't only wonderful mothers and wives.
Very little is said about the spiritual beauty of our women,the creative nature,about their inwardness and courage,about how in difficult times they became a support for their men,how on a par with them defended their homeland.

"The fate of the nations look for in their mothers' hands".
Garegin Nzhdeh. 

Armenian VAN cat

Armenian Van cats are among the ten most expensive cats in the world. This breed originated in the lake Van basin in Western Armenia. 
The eyes of these cats come in three colors - 
1. two blue eyes 
2. two hazel eyes 
3. one blue one hazel
These cats are the only one in the world that voluntarily enter the water and swim.There is a membrane between their fingers, helping them bathe.Their wool covered with an oily layer, which allows them to swim in the 35-40 degrees water. Mature Van cats weigh up to 10 kg. !
HOW TO DISTINGUISH PUREBRED ARMENIAN VAN CAT ... ?
1. Purebred Armenian Van cat must have brown(purple) spots on the ears
2.The tail should be brown(purple)
3.Brown spots may be on the back of a cat
4. And of course eyes ...!
PUREBRED ARMENIAN VAN CAT ADVANTAGES ...!
1.They are so clever
2.They have a good character - they are connected to one of the family members and no matter this member feed her or not.If you love them and they will love you but if you don't like them,they also don't like you
3.And one more thing - DON'T CONFUSE ARMENIAN VAN CATS with TURKISH ANGORAS - As a result of hybridization of the Armenian Van cats they got turkish angora (which is called the Van cat for errors) !
But unfortunately because of this illegal hybridization the poor turkish angoras have a big disadvantage - If their both eyes are blue they all deaf, but sometimes they are lucky and they born with one blue and one hazel eye which allows them to listen with one ear ! 

14 Things Successful People Do On Weekends

Spencer Rascoff is only 37. Yet, the Harvard grad and father of three has already accomplished so much.

He co-founded Hotwire.com and served as a VP for Expedia EXPE +3.95%; he held the roles of CFO, vice president of marketing and COO at Zillow; and in 2008, Rascoff was promoted to chief executive of the popular real estate information site.

Wondering how the Zillow CEO has achieved and maintained his success? His weekend routine has something to do with it.

“My weekends are an important time to unplug from the day-to-day and get a chance to think more deeply about my company and my industry,” Rascoff says. “Even when I’m technically not working, I’m always processing in the background and thinking about the company. Weekends are a great chance to reflect and be more introspective about bigger issues.”

He says he always spends weekends with his family. “Even if I’m on the road on a Friday and have to be back in that same city the following week, I always come home no matter what.”

Last year Rascoff’s New Year’s resolution was to refrain from checking e-mail during the day on Saturdays–but it didn’t stick. “I’m trying again this year and am having more luck,” he says. “I have three young children so weekends are usually an exhausting but fun smorgasbord of fort-building, bike-riding, soccer-playing, chess-tournament-competing, stroller-pushing, zoo-going, diaper-changing, book-reading and birthday-party-going. I never go into the office on weekends but I do check e-mail at night, and I use weekends as an opportunity to catch up on work-related reading.”

Laura Vanderkam, author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast (Portfolio, 2012) and What the Most Successful People Do on the Weekend (Portfolio, 2012), says successful people know that weekends are actually the secret weapon in professional success. “You need to hit Monday ready to go,” she says. “To do that, you need weekends that rejuvenate you, rather than exhaust or disappoint you. Cross-training makes you a better athlete, and likewise, exercise, volunteer work, spiritual activities, and hands-on parenting make you a better worker than if you just worked all the time.”

Executive coach Dale Kurow, M.S., says successful people usually spend their weekends participating in a “combination of family activities with their kids and spouse, errands, and creative activities to exercise the right side of their brain.”

Penelope Trunk, a career coach and author ofBrazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, adds: “A highly successful person is very focused on what they want to be doing. The weekend and the week look very similar: They are focused on creating the life they want.”

So who are “successful people,” and what exactly are they doing on weekends?

Sometimes success is defined by an internal compass, says Marsha Egan, a board certified professional coach.

“A successful person is usually one who has achieved a measure of happiness and fulfillment in their work, family, and spiritual life (however that is defined for the individual),” Kurow adds. “Most successful people need to feel a sense of accomplishment and are self-motivated to tackle the next challenge.”

Roy Cohen, career coach and author of The Wall Street Professional’s Survival Guide, believessuccess is often defined in two ways: Achieving and exceeding financial milestones or achieving great satisfaction through one’s work. “From my perspective as a career coach, real meaningful success bridges the two–great prosperity combined with real joy and passion for your work.”

Here are 14 things successful people do (or should be doing) on weekends:

1. Make time for family and friends. This is especially important for those who don’t spend much time with their loved ones during the week.

2. Exercise. Everyone needs to do it, and if you can’t work out 4 to 5 days during the workweek, you need to be active on weekends to make up for some of that time, Vanderkam says. It’s the perfect opportunity to clear you mind and create fresh ideas.

“I know an owner of a PR firm who takes walks in the park with his dog to spark ideas about how to pitch a new client, or what angle to take with the press for a story,” Kurow says.

Cohen suggests spin classes and outdoor cycling in the warmer months. “Both are energizing and can be organized among people with shared interests. For example, it is not uncommon for hedge fund folks and Wall Street professionals to ride together on weekends. It is a great way to establish and cultivate relationships based on membership in this elite professional community.”

3. Pursue a passion. “There’s a creative director of a greeting card company who went back to school to pursue an MFA because of her love of art,” Kurow says. “Pursuing this passion turned into a love of poetry that she now writes on weekends.”

“Successful people make time for what is important or fun,” Egan adds. “They make space for activities that add to their life balance.”

4. Vacation. Getting away for the weekend provides a great respite from the grind of an intense week at work, Cohen says.

5.  Disconnect. The most successful people avoid e-mail for a period of time, Vanderkam says. “I’m not saying the whole weekend, but even just a walk without the phone can feel liberating. I advocate taking a ‘tech Sabbath.’ If you don’t have a specific religious obligation of no-work time, taking Saturday night to mid-day Sunday off is a nice, ecumenical time that works for many people.”

6. Volunteer. “I know a commercial real estate broker who volunteers to help with cook-off events whose proceeds are donated to the Food Bank,” Kurow says. “The volunteer work provides a balance to the heavy analytical work she does all week and fulfills her need to be creative — she designs the promotional material for the non-profit.”

Cohen says a lot of successful people participate in fundraising events. “This is a great way to network and to meet others with similar interests,” he says. “The visibility also helps in branding a successful person as philanthropic.”

7. Avoid chores. Every weekend has a few have-to-dos, but you want these to take the minimum amount of time possible, Vanderkam explains. Create a small window for chores and errands, and then banish them from your mind the rest of the time.

8. Plan. “Planning makes people more effective, and doing it before the week starts means you can hit Monday ready to go, and means you’ll give clear directions to the people who work for you, so they will be ready to go, too,” Vanderkam says.

Trunk agrees. She says successful people plan their month and year because “if you get stuck on short-term lists you don’t get anything big accomplished.”

9. Socialize. “Humans are social creatures, and studies of people’s experienced happiness through the day finds that socializing ranks right up there, not too far down below sex,” Vanderkam says.

Go out with friends and family, or get involved in the local community.

“It has been demonstrated that successful people find great satisfaction in giving back,” Cohen says. “Board membership, for example, also offers access to other successful folks.”

10. Gardening/crafts/games/sports/cooking/cultural activities.This is especially important for those cooped up in an office all week.

“For the pure joy, some folks find great satisfaction in creating beautiful gardens,” Cohen says.

Kurow knows an attorney who uses her weekends to garden and do mosaics and tile work to satisfy her creative side. “Filling her life this way enables her to be refreshed on Monday and ready to tackle the litigation and trial prep work. Artwork for her is fulfilling in a way that feeds her soul and her need to connect with her spiritual side.”

Bridge lessons and groups can also sharpen the mind and often create relationships among highly competitive smart professionals, Cohen says. “I once saw a printout of a bridge club’s membership list; its members were a who’s who of Wall Street.”

Theatre, opera and sporting events can also enrich one’s spirit, he adds.

11. Network. “Networking isn’t an event for a successful person, it’s a lifestyle,” Trunk says. Wherever they go and whatever they do, they manage to connect with new people.

12. Reflect. Egan says truly successful people make time on weekends to appreciate what they have and reflect on their happiness and accomplishments. As Rascoff said, “weekends are a great chance to reflect and be more introspective about bigger issues.”

13. Meditate. Classes and private instruction offer a bespoke approach to insight and peace of mind, Cohen says. “How better to equip yourself for success in this very tough world?”

14. Recharge. We live in a competitive world, Vanderkam says. “Peak performance requires managing downtime, too–with the goal of really recharging your batteries.” That’s how the most successful people get so much done.

Successful people know that time is too precious to be totally leisurely about leisure, Vanderkam concludes. “You’re not going to waste that time by failing to think about what you’d like to do with it, and thus losing the weekend to TV, puttering, inefficient e-mail checking, and chores. If you don’t have a busy workweek, your weekend doesn’t matter so much. But if you’re going from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day, it certainly does.”

–

10 Phrases That Are Holding Your Career Back

10 Words To Erase From Your Vocabulary

Fillers And Qualifiers And Jargon, Oh My!

From an informal poll of communication experts and career advisers, these 10 words emerged as the most common fillers, qualifiers and jargon that mean nothing and will get you nowhere. Erase them from your vocabulary immediately. 

“The difference between the almost-right word and the right word is really a large matter–it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”—Mark Twain

Whether dealing with clients, coworkers or superiors, how you phrase and frame your message colors the way people perceive you. The words you choose may be the difference between being thought of as problem-solver or a problem.

“Words are very important because they shape not only how other people hear you, but how they feel about you,” says Karen Friedman, author of Shut Up and Say Something: Business Communication Strategies to Overcome Challenges and Influence Listeners. “If you garner some kind of positive emotion, then you’ll make people care. Then you’re in a much better position for them to listen.”

However, too often business communication is peppered with filler words (umm, uh huh, well) that muddle the message, qualifiers (sort of, kind of, mostly) that diminish authority, and negative framing (can’t, impossible, never) that is discouraging and unproductive. In an informal poll of communication experts and career advisers, these 10 phrases were voted the worst things to say in your career.

That’s not my job.

“This makes it about what you can’t do as opposed to what you can do,” says Friedman. “It paints you as not being a team player.” Furthermore, it flies in the face of crucial career assets like flexibility and the willingness to learn new skills, which are required for leadership roles. Take it to a positive place by saying, “It’s not really my area of expertise. Let’s see who might be able to better help with this.”

I think…

Lorrie Thomas Ross, chief executive of consultancy Web Marketing Therapy, calls this and others like it (“I believe” and “I feel”) “discounting phrases.” They make you seem less authoritative and reduce the power of the message. The statement, “I think this is the best strategy,” is much weaker than, “This is the best strategy.” Likewise, eliminate prefaces like “I want” or “I’d like to.” So, rather than saying, “I want to thank you,” simply say, “Thank you.”

I don’t know.

“You think that’s being honest, but it’s really a cop out,” says Henry Devries, assistant dean for continuing education at the University of California San Diego and co-author of Closing America’s Job Gap. “It can be seen as lazy and not willing to take the next step.” Instead, say: “Let me find out the answer.” Similarly, saying, “I don’t know how to do that,” is better framed as, “Where could I get help to learn how to do that?” Then, you’re bridging the solution.

I can’t.

Again, this suggests a rigidity and unwillingness to be helpful or provide solutions. “You want to show employers you are ready to learn and tackle any challenge,” says Josh Tolan, chief executive of video interviewing platform Spark Hire. Instead of dismissively saying “I can’t,” pinpoint the issue and suggest a way around it. For example, if you’re asked to present a project at a time that conflicts with another commitment, say, “Unfortunately, I have a conflict then. However, I’ve been working closely with Sarah on this, and she would be fantastic.”

Measuring A College's Worth: The Grateful Grads Index

This is the time of year when high school seniors and their parents make their final decisions about which college they will attend over the next four years. It can be a gut-wrenching ordeal especially given that it now costs nearly $250,000 for four years at a private college. For many families, it’s a bigger financial decision than buying a house.

One of the perennial topics of discussion among parents and pundits is which schools provide the greatest return-on-investment (ROI)?

Economists have long debated this and a slew of Web sites and college rankers report stats (including Forbes) to help you make your decision. Given the obvious affordability issues and out-of-control student loan situation, the Obama administration recently launched an interactive College Scorecard web site to help families make smarter college planning decisions.  The problem with the White House’s new offering is that it gives you little guidance about the“return on investment” part of the college planning process. The government’s scorecard web site has yet to report any specific employment data by college.

I have an idea for an alternative measure to determine the ROI of a particular college and I call it the Grateful Graduates Index. It’s a pretty simple formula that measures of the amount of private gifts given to a four year college over time, divided by the number of full time students it has.  After all, private donations are typically an indicator of two things: how successful an alumnus is and how grateful he or she feels toward her alma mater. (See our Top 100 Grateful Grads ranking at the bottom)

The idea for the Grateful Grads Index actually came from a friend of mine who is a graduate of Harvard, who had just returned from his 30-year college reunion.  During a barbecue, he asked me if I knew what Harvard’s core competency was. I replied “Educating super smart students?” He laughed and replied, “No, it’s getting its alumni to give donations, they are really good at it.

In the end, the fact that my friend is a very successful surgeon at prestigious hospital and happily donates to an already well-endowed Ivy League school gives you an idea of the kind of “return” he feels he got from attending Harvard.  Harvard ranks 8th on our Grateful Grads Index, right behind Dartmouth College with a median donation per student of $25,122.  My surgeon friend would be the first to tell you that attending Harvard changed the course of his life and he shows his gratitude every year.My friend touched on an important point.  Private donations are also a function of how proficient a particular school’s development department is at extracting money from its graduates. But given how difficult it is to judge the merits of one fundraising department’s skills over another, my Grateful Grads Index doesn’t adjust for this fuzzy measure and just looks at the raw donations data.

For the purposes of our Grateful Grad’s Index I used the government’s extensive online database of information about institutions offering post secondary school education. I went back ten years, looking only at private-not-for-profit colleges that offered four-year degrees and had more than 1,000 full time students. Thus, you won’t see some great schools on our list like University of California at Berkeley or University of North Carolina or University of Michigan. These public colleges file different financial forms so it’s a bit more difficult to extract the appropriate data.

In Pictures: The Grateful Grads Index : Top 50 ROI Colleges

I also ranked schools by median donations per student over the last decade rather than averagedonations to avoid the problem of the occasional outliers you get when uber-rich alums like Michael Bloomberg (Johns Hopkins ’64) donate gobs of money in a single year.  In 2007 for example,Claremont McKenna College alumnus Robert Day, founder of Trust Company of the West, donated $200 million to this elite liberal arts school in Southern California. If I had used average donation per student over the last ten years,  Claremont McKenna would rank second with $36,737 per student in donations, versus a rank of 17 with a median donation of $17,634 per full time student.

One other important caveat to our Grateful Grads Index is that colleges were only required to separate out private gifts from grants and contracts after 2009. Thus several of years of data we collected include grants and contracts in the figure and therefore give a boost to certain bigger research oriented universities like Stanford and Duke University. However, for nearly all of the colleges on our list, private gifts account for the vast majority of the “gifts, grants and contracts” revenue source. In fact for certain prominent liberal arts colleges on  the list like Vassar College, Pomona College and Amherst College, private gifts from grateful graduates account for nearly all of their income outside of tuition, fees and investment returns.

While our Grateful Grads Index contains most of the usual suspects of the best colleges lists – Caltech, MIT and Stanford top it — there are a few surprises, like tuition-free Berea College of Kentucky. Liberal arts-oriented Berea was founded in 1855 by an emancipation-minded landowner and a local scholar who attracted teachers from Ohio’s Oberlin College.   The school, whose motto is “God Has Made Of One Blood Peoples Of The Earth” has graduated such notables as Nobel Prize winning chemist John Fenn and Nascar magnate Jack Roush.

In some ways The Grateful Graduates Index is a vindication of the old fashioned idea of getting a good liberal arts education. Our Top ROI colleges list is chock full of small liberal arts colleges like Williams, Wellsley and Bard. This may provide some comfort to parents who have recently sent in deposits and are worrying about the futility of a liberal arts education versus  more practical degrees in engineering, computer science or say, nursing.

Says John Linehan, head of U.S. equities and portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price who received a bachelors degree from Amherst College in 1987 and MBA from Stanford 1998 “I am a donor to both, but I actually donate more to Amherst.” Linehan remembers fondly how other Amherst alums acted as mentors to him at his first job. “I’ll plug Amherst any chance I get. It was extraordinarily beneficial to me going into the business world.  My liberal arts background taught me how to think.”

The Grateful Grad Index

Armenian Girl

La masseria delle allodole(The lark Farm)

Anders Behring Breivik on Turkey-committed genocides

"Armenia - the only sovereign Christian country in the world that is not controlled by the world government (U.S. and EU)."Anders Breivik.

After questioning Anders Behring Breivik, who carried out a massacre on an island youth camp and a bombing in the capital Oslo, in which at least 93 people died, law-enforcers found a 1,518-page document, a "manifesto" entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence, in his flat.

In his "manifesto" Breivik also mentioned Sultan Abdulhamid, masterminds behind the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire Talaat Pasha, Enver Pasha and Cemal Pasha the "manifesto" also mentions Turkey's policy of annihilating national minorities, the activities carried out by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the Establisher of the Republic of Turkey, as well as incumbent Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan's policy, issue of Turkey's membership in the European Union, the Cyprus problem and Treaty of Sèvres.

In the course of history, Turks have massacred millions of Christians and converted hundreds of thousands into Islam. Turks are among the world's most 'genocidal' national. They committed Armenian, Greek and Assyrian genocides, Breivik wrote in his "manifesto".

As regards the Turkish premier's policy, Breivik notes that Erdogan is trying to convert Turkey into Islam, apply the sharia law in the country and cause it to return to its Ottoman past.

Breivik strongly objects to Turkey's membership in the European Union, stressing that assisting Turkey in joining the EU means assisting jihad.

Why establish relations with a nation wishing to destroy the EU, asks Breivik. He also calls for expelling Turkey from NATO.

In his "manifesto" Breivik also writes that Armenians' historical lands must be returned to them. eastern Anatolia must be returned to Armenians and western Anatolia to Greeks, and a war must be started for Christianizing the territories again, Breivik writes.

Armenian pogroms in the world press

The New York Times
July 27, 1990,

AN OPEN LETTER TO INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION ON ANTI-ARMENIAN POGROMS IN THE SOVIET UNION

An era which we all thought had ended, the era of pogroms, has resurfaced. Once again this year, the Armenian community of Azerbaijan has been the victim of atrocious and intolerable premeditated massacres.

As scholars, writers, scientists, political leaders and artists we wish, first of all, to express our profound indignation over such barbaric acts. Which we wanted to believe belonged to humanity’s past.

We intend this statement as more than an after-the-fact condemnation. We want to alert inter¬national public opinion to the continuing danger that racism represents to the future of humanity. It forebodes ill that we are experiencing the same powerlessness when faced with such flagrant violations of human rights a half century after the genocide of the Jewish people in Nazi concentration camps and forty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It would be inexcus¬able if, because of our silence now, we contributed to the suffering of new victims.

The situation of Armenians in the Caucasus is, in fact, too serious for us to remain silent. There are moments when we must assume the moral obligation to assist a people in peril. Our sense of obligation leads us today to appeal to the international community and to public opinion.

More than two years ago, active persecu¬tion against Armenians began in Azerbaijan. The pogroms of Sumgait in February 1988 were followed by massacres in Kirovabad and Baku in November 1988. As recently as January 1990, the pogroms continued in Baku and other parts of Azerbaijan. The mere fact that these pogroms were repeated and the fact that they followed the same pattern lead us to think that these tragic events are no accidents or spontaneous outbursts.

Rather, we are compelled to recognize that the crimes against the Armenian minority have become consistent practice - if not consistent policy - in Soviet Azerbaijan. According, to the late Andrei Sakharov (New York Times, November 26, 1988), these pogroms constitute "a real threat of extermination" to the indigenous Armenian community tin Azerbaijan and in the autonomous region of Mountainous Karabagh, whose inhabitants are 80 percent Armenian.

Horror has no limits, especially when we remember that the threat is against the Armenian people, who in 1915 paid dearly for their right lo be different in the Ottoman Empire. There, Armenians lost half their population to genocide, the worst consequence of racism. Furthermore, if the recent pogroms have revived nightmares of extermination not yet overcome, the current total blockade of Armenia and Mountainous Karabagh - imposed since August, 1989 - has created the prospect of yet another genocide. It is well known that all supplies imported into Mountainous Karabagh and 85 percent of those into Armenia pass through Azerbaijan; it would not be an exaggeration to maintain that such a blockade amounts to the strangulation of Armenia. In a land devastated by the earthquake of December 7, 1988, the blockade has paralyzed the economy and dealt a mortal blow to the reconstruction efforts.

It is our sincere hope that perestroika will succeed. Bui we also hope for the success of glasnost and democratization. We recognize that the passage from a totalitarian state to a rule of law cannot be achieved overnight. It is nonetheless necessary that in the process of transition, the government of the Soviet Union promote, legalize and institutionalize such critical forces for democracy as human rights, the principle of toleration, and democratic movements. There is no better defense and demonstration of democracy. At any rate, that is the only way to avoid the worst. In the case of a multinational state, the, worst may mean threats to the right of a people or a minority to exist. Il is during periods of transition and uncertainty that rights of peoples—today Armenians, tomorrow another people or minority - are threatened or denied. In this respect, the ease with which we see today the development in the USSR of racist movements, especially the anti-Semitic movement known as Pamyat, is for us cause for grave concern.

In the name of our duty of vigilance, we demand that Soviet authorities as well as the international community condemn unequivocally these anti-Armenian pogroms and that they denounce especially the racist ideology which has been used by the perpetrators of these crimes as justification.

We ask from the Soviet authorities and the international community that all necessary measures be taken immediately to ensure the protection and security of Armenians in the Caucasus and other parts of the Soviet Union. This can begin by bringing about a definitive lifting of the Azerbaijani blockade. It should be clear that the forceful deportation of Armenians is not the solution to the problem of Mountainous Karabagh which, in essence, is a problem of human rights.

The international community of states under the rule of law must prove the authenticity of its commitment to human rights in order to ensure that, due to indifference and silence bordering on complicity, another genocide does not occur.

The New York Times
July 27, 1990,
AN OPEN LETTER TO INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC OPINION ON ANTI-ARMENIAN POGROMS IN THE SOVIET UNION

An era which we all thought had ended, the era of pogroms, has resurfaced. Once again this year, the Armenian community of Azerbaijan has been the victim of atrocious and intolerable premeditated massacres.
As scholars, writers, scientists, political leaders and artists we wish, first of all, to express our profound indignation over such barbaric acts. Which we wanted to believe belonged to humanity’s past.
We intend this statement as more than an after-the-fact condemnation. We want to alert inter¬national public opinion to the continuing danger that racism represents to the future of humanity. It forebodes ill that we are experiencing the same powerlessness when faced with such flagrant viola¬tions of human rights a half century after the geno¬cide of the Jewish people in Nazi concentration camps and forty years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It would be inexcus¬able if, because of our silence now, we contributed to the suffering of new victims.
The situation of Armenians in the Caucasus is, in fact, too serious for us to remain silent. There are moments when we must assume the moral obligation to assist a people in peril. Our sense of obligation leads us today to appeal to the international community and to public opinion.
More than two years ago, active persecu¬tion against Armenians began in Azerbaijan. The pogroms of Sumgait in February 1988 were followed by massacres in Kirovabad and Baku in November 1988. As recently as January 1990, the pogroms continued in Baku and other parts of Azerbaijan. The mere fact that these pogroms were repeated and the fact that they followed the same pattern lead us to think that these tragic events are no accidents or spontaneous outbursts.
Rather, we are compelled to recognize that the crimes against the Armenian minority have become consistent practice - if not consistent policy - in Soviet Azerbaijan. According, to the late Andrei Sakharov (New York Times, November 26, 1988), these pogroms constitute "a real threat of extermination" to the indigenous Armenian com¬munity tin Azerbaijan and in the autonomous region of Mountainous Karabagh, whose inhabitants are 80 percent Armenian.
Horror has no limits, especially when we remember that the threat is against the Armenian people, who in 1915 paid dearly for their right lo be different in the Ottoman Empire. There, Armenians lost half their population to genocide, the worst consequence of racism. Furthermore, if the recent pogroms have revived nightmares of extermination not yet overcome, the current total blockade of Armenia and Mountainous Karabagh - imposed since August, 1989 - has created the prospect of yet another genocide. It is well known that all supplies imported into Mountainous Karabagh and 85 per¬cent of those into Armenia pass through Azerbaijan; it would not be an exaggeration to maintain that such a blockade amounts to the stran¬gulation of Armenia. In a land devastated by the earthquake of December 7, 1988, the blockade has paralyzed the economy and dealt a mortal blow to the reconstruction efforts.
It is our sincere hope that perestroika will succeed. Bui we also hope for the success of glasnost and democratization. We recognize that the passage from a totalitarian state to a rule of law cannot be achieved overnight. It is nonetheless necessary that in the process of transition, the government of the Soviet Union promote, legalize and institutionalize such critical forces for democ¬racy as human rights, the principle of toleration, and democratic movements. There is no better defense and demonstration of democracy. At any rate, that is the only way to avoid the worst. In the case of a multinational state, the, worst may mean threats to the right of a people or a minority to exist. Il is during periods of transition and uncertainty that rights of peoples—today Armenians, tomorrow another people or minority - are threatened or denied. In this respect, the ease with which we see today the development in the USSR of racist movements, especially the anti-Semitic movement known as Pamyat, is for us cause for grave concern.
In the name of our duty of vigilance, we demand that Soviet authorities as well as the inter-national community condemn unequivocally these anti-Armenian pogroms and that they denounce especially the racist ideology which-has been used by the perpetrators of these crimes as justification.
We ask from the Soviet authorities and the international community that all necessary measures be taken immediately to ensure the protec¬tion and security of Armenians in the Caucasus and other parts of the Soviet Union. This can begin by bringing about a definitive lifting of the Azerbaijani blockade. It should be clear that the forceful deportation of Armenians is not the solu¬tion to the problem of Mountainous Karabagh which, in essence, is a problem of human rights.
The international community of states under the rule of law must prove the authenticity of its commitment to human rights in order to ensure that, due to indifference and silence bordering on complicity, another genocide does not occur.

LIST OF SIGNATORIES
Aaron, David (Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Alperin Mimi (New York. Trustee, International League for Human Rights; Chair National Executive Council, American, Jewish Committee)
Apel, Karl-Otto (Philosophy. University of Frankfurt)
Balakian, Mark (London)
Belekdjian, Wahe (International Law, University of Glasgow)
Benattas, Gabriel (Attorney, Paris)
Benedikt, Michael (Philosophy, University of Vienna)
Berlin, Sir Isaah [All Souls College, Oxford)
Bernstein, Richard J. (Philosophy, New School for Social Research, New York)
Boreil, Jean (Philosophy. University of Paris VIII)
Boyadjian, Rosine (Paris)
Brandt, Pere Age (Philosophy, University of Aarrhus)
Breton, Raymond (Sociology, University of Toronto)
Breton, Stanislas (Philosophy. Catholic Institute, Paris)
Burger, Rudolf (Philosophy. University of Vienna)
Carnous, Bernard (Philosophy, University of Montreal)
Chace, William M. (President of Wesleyan University)
Chaliand, Gerard (Writer, Paris)
Chalk, Frank (History, Concordia University, Montreal)
Clark, Roger S. [Distinguished Professor of Law Rutgers Law School; Vice President, International League for Human Rights)
Clay, Jason W. (Cultural Survival. Director Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Constantineau, Philippe {Philosophy. RMC St. -Jean)
Coopersmith, Esther (Washington, DC. Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Cowe, Peter (Armenian Studies, Colombia University, New York)
Danielian, Lucig (Communication, SUNY - Albany, New York)
David, Jack (New York, Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
De Durand, Mathieu (Medieval Studies, University of Montreal)
de Fonteney, Elizabeth (Philosophy, Ecole Normale, Paris)
Decarie, Terese Coun (Psychologie, University of Montreal)
DeGarie, Vianey (Philosophy. University of Montreal)
Deguy, Michel (Writer, Director of International College of Philosophy)
Derrida Jacques (Philosophy, Ecole Practique des Hautes Etudes, Paris)
Descombes, Vincent (French Literature, John Hopkins University)
Donabedian, Patrick (Paris)
Douallier, Stephane (Paris)
Ellenof, Theodore (Honorary Chairman, American Jewish Committee, New York)
Fabri, Paolo (Paris)
Fanton, Jonathan F. (President, The New School for Social Research)
Feher Ferenc, (Philosopher, The New School for Social Research)
Fein, Helen (Executive Director Institute for the Study of Genocide/Harvard, Cambridge)
Ferry, Luc (Philosophy, University of Rennes)
Finkelkraut, Alain (Philosophy, Paris)
Frankfurt, Harry (Philosophy, Princeton)
Fraser, The Honorable N. (Mayor of Minneapolis, Trustee of International League for Human Rights)
Gadamer, Hans-Georg (Philosophy, University of Heidelber)
Gaer, Felice (Executive Director, International League for Human Rights)
Gaillard, Francoise (Frence Literature, University of Paris VII)
Giordano. Ralph (Writer, Frankfurt)
Girodias, Maurice (Writer, Paris)
Glucksmann, Andre (Philosophy, Paris)
Glucksmunn, Christine-Buci (College International de Philosophie, Paris)
Gregorian, Vartan (History, Brown University)
Habermas, Jurgen (Philosophy, University of Frankfurt)
Heller, Agnes (Hannah Arendt, Professor of Philosophy, The New Your School for Social Research)
Hooks, Benjamin L. (Executive Director, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People)
Horowitz, Irving L. (Sociology, Rutgers)
Hovhannisian, Richard (History, UCLA)
Huttenbach, Henry (History, City College of New York, NY)
Jonassohn, Kurt (Sociology, Concordia University, Montreal)
Kandell, Florence (New York, Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Karagueuz, Hennine (Paris)
Kattan, Maim (Writer, Montreal)
Kendergi, Maryvonne (Faculty of Music, University of Montreal)
Kennedy, Joseph P., II (U.S. House of Representatives, D-Massachusetts)
Kessedjian, Catherine (Attorney, Paris)
Kolakowski, Leszek (Philosophy, All Souls College, Oxford)
Kortian, Carbis (Philosophy, University of Montreal)
Kuper, Leo (University of California, Los Angeles)
Laloue-Labarthe, Philippe (Philosophy, University of Strasburg)
Lefort, Claude (Philosophy. Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris)
Levinas, Emmanuel (Philosophy, University of Paris IV, Sorbonne)
Levesque, Claude (Philosophy, University of Montreal)
Libaridian Gerard (Historian, Director of Zorian institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts)
Liskofsky, Sidney (Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Lyotard, Jean-Francois (Philosophy, University of Paris III)
Lytelton, Adrian (History, John Hopkins Cenler for International Studies)
Maass, Richard (Treasurer, International League for Human Rights)
Mahe, Jean-Pierre (Linguistics, Ecole des Langues Orientales, Vivantes, Paris)
Malkassian, Gerard (Paris)
Marian, Michel (Esprit, Paris)
Marin, Louis (Philosophy, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris)
Maasie, Suzanne (Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Mayer, Ame J. (Historian, Princeton University)
Melon, Robert (Political Science, Purdue University)
Mertin, Jurgen (Medical Faculty, University of Bern)
Miller, Donald E. (School of Religion, USC)
Minces, Juliette (Writer, Paris)
Miguel, Jacques (Attorney, Paris)
Montefiore, Alan (Philosophy, Balliol College, Oxford)
Moutet, Alexandra (Attorney, Paris)
Mutafian Claude (Writer, Paris)
Nancy, Jean-Luc (Philosophy, University of Strasbourg)
Nercessian, Nora (Art Historian, Boston)
Nersessian, Nancy J. (Program in History of Science, Princeton University)
Nevas, Leo (President, International League for Human Rights)
Nichanian, Mare (Writer, Paris)
Pastor, Rafael (Executive Vice President, News Corporation, Ltd.; Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Piche, Claude (Philosophy. University of Montreal)
Piel Jean (Writer, Editor of Critique. Paris)
Pollis, Adamantia (Professor, New School for Social Research; Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Potamkin, Lexie Brockway (Philadelphia, Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Poulain, Jacques (Philosophy, University of Paris VIII)
Proshansky, Harold M. (President, The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York)
Putnam, Hilary (Boston)
Raulet, Gerard (German Literature, University of Paris IV)
Revault d’Allonnes, Myriam (Philosophy, University of Paris I)
Ricoeur, Paul (Philosophy, University of Paris/Nanterre)
Rorty, Richard (University of North Carolina)
Roustang, Francois (Psychoanalyst, Paris)
Saeedpour, Vera Beaudin   (The Kurdish Program/Cultural Survival, New York)
Sarian, Armand (Helsinki Committee, France)
Scoberk, Gunnar (Philosophy, Bergen)
Shestack, Jerome J. (Chairman, International League for Human Rights)
Simonet, Marie-Laurence (Helsinki Committee, France)
Smith, Roger (Government, College of William &Mary, Virginia)
Suny, Ronald (History, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
Tabibian, Jivan (Political Science, Los Angeles)
Taylor, Charles (Philosophy and Political Science, McGill University, Montreal)
Tchalmakchian, Arto (Sculptor, Montreal)
Ternon, Yves (Physician/Historian. Paris)
Torricelli, The Honourable Robert G. (Congressman, New Jersey)
Traub, Lee  (New York, Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Utaker, Arid (Philosophy, Bergen)
Vanden Heuvel, William (New York, Former U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the United Nation; Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Verluise, Pierre (Writer, Paris)
Vermeren, Patrice (International College of Philosophy, Paris)
Vramian, Isabelle (Helsinki Committee, France)
Vryonis, Jr., Speros (Professor, Onassis Center for Hellenic Studies, New York University)
Weissbrodt, David (Professor, University of Minnesota Low School; Trustee, International League for Human Rights)
Wellmer Albrecht (Philosophy, University of Heidelberg)
Wiesel, Elie (Writer, Boston) Zelnick, Reginald E. (Professor of History, University of California at Berkeley).