Julie Kinnaird | January 4, 2017
The New Year brings promise for peace, technological and medical advances, innovation, and more. Here are some of the things we look forward to. What about you?
#1 Fantastic global education programs in Chapel Hill, including 2 seminars in March – Latin America and North Carolina (March 28-29) and Stories of Africa: Connected Over Time and Across the Globe (March 29-30), a fall symposium for K-12 educators on Human Rights (October 26-27) and one for community college educators on Innovation and Technology (November 16-17)!
#2 Taking 40 or more educators on an adventure of a lifetime! North Carolina educators will travel with World View to Costa Rica, Nicaragua and South Africa in summer 2017 to visit schools, meet educators, and explore historical and cultural sites.
#3 A solar eclipse! Get your sunglasses ready for the summer 2017 solar eclipse.
#4 If a solar eclipse isn’t enough, NASA predicts that it will have a space probe ready to reach Saturn in 2017! For more than 13 years NASA’s Cassini space probe has been exploring Saturn and its rings, but making impact with the surface is expected in 2017.
#5 According to one of The Kiplinger Letter’s projections “Satellites will soon be bringing speedier Web service to users in rural areas . . . faster Internet to folks in remote locations where physical connects are scarce.” Is it possible to start narrowing the digital divide?
#6 In the new year we will observe several significant historical anniversaries including:
• 25th Anniversary of the Signing of the Maastricht Treaty, February 7, 1992
• Centennial of the Russian Revolutions, March 8-November 7, 1917
• 150th Anniversary of the Alaska Purchase, March 30, 1867
• Centennial of the U.S. Entry into World War I, April 6, 1917
• Quincentennial of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, October 31, 1517
• 50th Anniversary of the first human heart transplant, December 3, 1967
#7 We will also observe days to bring awareness to global issues. Here is just a handful. Mark your calendars now:
• 1 March: Zero Discrimination Day
• 8 March: International Women’s Day
• 22 March: World Water Day
• 7 April: World Health Day
• 22 April: International Mother Earth Day
• 21 September: International Day of Peace
• 5 October: World Teachers’ Day
• 11 October: International Day of the Girl Child
• 16 November: International Day for Tolerance
• 20 November: Universal Children’s Day
• 1 December: World AIDS Day
• 10 December: Human Rights Day
#8 Advances in medicine may help save or improve lives! According to Nature [Nature 541, 14–15 Jan 2017] “a first-of-its-kind, complex cancer immunotherapy called CAR-T looks ready to hit the market”. The treatment involves genetically engineering T cells from a patient’s immune system and using them to fight their cancer. Research is still being conducted. Also, a prototype vaccine for Ebola is looking promising. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) this new vaccine may be “up to 100 percent effective” in protecting against the deadly virus. Fingers crossed that it is effective and ready in 2017.
#9 Also according to Kiplinger, the earnings gap between men and women will continue to narrow in coming years as more women move into the sciences and tech jobs, where salaries tend to be higher, as social norms continue to change, and as women outpace men in finishing college and earning graduate degrees. However, it will still take several years to close the gap entirely.
#10 The World View team looks forward to meeting and supporting the global education efforts of North Carolina’s finest educators living and working in K-12 schools and colleges from the mountains to the sea. Happy New Year from World View!