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by Suada Kolovic

Man’s best friend today isn’t much different from its ancestors. A bone fragment suggests that almost 10,000 years ago dogs likely provided their owners with companionship, protection and oh, at times, dinner. According to researchers, University of Maine graduate student Samuel Belknap III found a bone fragment from what they are calling the earliest confirmed domesticated dog in North America. Belknap came across the fragment while analyzing a dried-out sample of human excrement unearthed in southwest Texas in the 1970s.

The discovery was made as Belknap was conducting research on the dietary habits of ancient humans who lived in the Lower Pecos region of Texas between 1,000 and 10,000 years ago. “I didn’t start out looking for the oldest dog in the New World,” he said. “I started out trying to understand human diet in southwest Texas. It so happens that this person who lived 9,400 years ago was eating dog.”

DNA analysis by Belknap and a fellow researcher confirmed that the fragment came from a dog – not a wolf, coyote or fox and a carbon-dating test put the age of the bone at 9,400 years.

by Aaron Lin

Hello! My name is Aaron and I’m going to be writing as a virtual intern here on Scholarship.com’s blog. I’m originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana and though it’s technically the fifth largest city in the state, I still consider myself as coming from a small town. Living in Louisiana and being Taiwanese has made me gain a great appreciation of other cultures and ideas. The most important thing to me though is the food: If you’ve never had home-style Cajun cooking, get down here and try some ASAP.

I’m currently studying chemistry at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge but plan to transfer to LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans to study clinical lab science (CLS) instead. CLS offers a combination of scientific, medical and lab training that would help me find a job after school and it’s mentally fulfilling to know all the information that CLS offers. In the future, I hope to study public health or obtain my master’s in CLS. If I go the public health route, I hope I can impact people’s health education to prevent costly and frequent doctor visits.

In my spare time, I enjoy reading blogs, news and various online comics such as Lifehacker.com, bbc.co.uk, and xkcd.com. I’m also recently got into footbiking and consequently I’ve become interested in minimalist running, health and minimalist food, and body weight exercise. While I’m not an expert in any of these things, learning and experimenting is something that I’m living for. We can always better ourselves in one way or another and I’ll be trying to figure that out for as long as I can.

by Alexis Mattera

Advice to heed today: Don’t leave your house if a soothsayer warns you not to, don’t run through the Tufts quad sans clothing and don’t study for the GRE using last year’s study guides.

Beginning on August 1st, graduate students to-be will make the acquaintance of the new Graduate Record Examination (aka the GRE). For those unfamiliar, the GRE is currently computer-adaptive and adjusts the difficulty of each successive problem based on the answer given to the previous question; the new version allows students to skip questions and return to them later (the computer just modifies the difficulty of the next part at the end instead), which prevents test-takers from losing time and could ultimately lead to a better overall score. As for the content, the writing section will include two pre-selected essay prompts that will require "more focused" responses, the math section will swap out a number of geometry problems for real-world data interpretation (bonus: an on-screen calculator will be accessible) and the verbal section will feature more reading comprehension but no more antonyms and analogies. GRE scoring will range from 130 to 170 rather than 200 to 800 per section but the cost of taking the test will hold steady at $160. There will also be changes to the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), but those won’t take place until June 2012.

What do you think of the changes to the GRE? For those who have taken the current version, which format appeals more to you? For those who are preparing, do you think you'll fair better, worse or the same when these changes debut?

by Thomas Lee

My name is Thomas Lee and I am a recent graduate of Methodist University with a BA in political science and journalism. I chose Methodist because it had the distinction of being both a university and a private school. When I first arrived at Methodist for the campus tour, I found the atmosphere very inviting. The campus was located next to a golf course near a tranquil river and most of the classrooms and dorms were within reasonable walking distance.

I chose political science as my focus because of my passion for political debate and the inner workings of government. I selected journalism as a second major so that I could write for a newspaper in case a career in politics didn’t work out. I plan to attend law school in the fall and am leaning strongly toward becoming a civil attorney. Eventually, I plan to run for political office.

During college, much of my spare time was spent participating in weekly Bible studies as part of Campus Crusade for Christ, serving as one of the Founding Fathers of Methodist’s Kappa Sigma chapter and performing in theatrical productions. I have also been writing a series of adventure novels which I hope to finish in the near future. All in all, I had a captivating and worthwhile experience at Methodist and enjoyed college life as a whole.

As a virtual intern for Scholarships.com, I feel that I am partially fulfilling the purposes of my journalism degree and also contributing useful information to future college students. I hope that my articles will be beneficial to those who visit Scholarships.com and also give voice to the concerns of fellow students. As a Christian, I feel that God wants me to play an ethical role in the somewhat infamous fields of law and politics and writing for Scholarships.com may help accomplish this.

Everyone knows not to say "fire" in a crowded theater or "bomb" on an airplane. But what about saying "bomb" in a classroom? As a graduate teaching assistant at University of California-Davis learned last week, that might not be such a good idea either.

James Marchbanks, the teaching assistant in question, was arrested last week for making a terrorist threat, false imprisonment, and making a false bomb threat. Why? The graduate student referred to the course evaluations he was distributing to his introductory drama class as a bomb.

According to The Sacramento Bee, Marchbanks reportedly walked into class on the last day with his backpack on one shoulder and told the class, "I have a bomb, this is the last time I am ever going to see you. I am going to leave class before the bomb goes off but you are all going to stay here until it's done," then tossed a packet of course evaluations and pencils on the desk at the front of the class and ran out

The move was widely interpreted as a dramatic and lighthearted delivery of evaluation forms that he felt could potentially destroy his career. In fact, 13 students signed a letter to this effect. Unorthodox teaching methods, relaxed and informal attitudes, and extreme nervousness about their effectiveness as teachers are all pretty standard for graduate students, especially in the arts and humanities, so for many students in Marchbanks' Drama 10 class, his delivery of course evaluations probably seemed on the quirky end of ordinary.

However, a few students took his remarks seriously and decided to file a complaint, even when it became clear that he was alluding to the destructive power of negative evaluations, and not to a homemade explosive device. Campus police obtained a warrant for his arrest and a judge set bail at $150,000, a figure substantially higher than the Sacramento Bee calculated the charges should carry, and a price certainly well out of the reach of what a student receiving a graduate fellowship or assistantship could afford. It was eventually decided that there was insufficient evidence to charge him with a crime and he was released, but only after he had spent four days in jail.

While few people are likely to argue that Marchbanks deserved jail time for his comments, it does raise questions about what's appropriate to say in a classroom. With multiple incidents of on-campus violence, including a graduate student's recent murder of a professor at the State University of New York-Binghamton, appearing in the media, many already stressed-out students may be more on edge than normal right now. Did students overreact?  Do graduate students need to be more aware of their actions in the classroom as new teachers?  What do you think?

by Alexis Mattera

Most 14-years-olds spend their school days learning algebra and being awkward. Not Colin Carlson: He’s too busy earning hefty scholarships for graduate school.

Carlson is a higher education veteran despite his limited years. Since the age of nine, Carlson has been taking classes at the University of Connecticut and today, he is a junior in the honors program and is working toward a dual degree in evolutionary biology and in environmental studies and ecology. The scholarship – $30,000 from the Truman Scholars program – is only the fourth of its kind bestowed upon a UConn student and these funds, plus another recently awarded $7,500 from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship program for students headed into mathematics, science or engineering careers, will surely help the real genius as he pursues a law degree, a doctorate and a career in environmental advocacy.

Some may say $30,000 isn’t that much money for college these days but to others, it’s a life-changing sum. How are you planning to pay for school?

by Agnes Jasinski

Once you’ve figured out what you should do with your life after graduation in the short-term, it’s a good idea to start thinking long-term, and determining where you’d like to see yourself a few years down the line. The first step may be getting your affairs in order. If you’re expecting a move within a year or two after college, look into how much money you’d need to save to make that happen, and what you need to know about your intended location’s housing/rental stock and job outlook.

Speaking of jobs, finding the perfect one isn’t an exact science. Deciding on a long-term gig shouldn't be taken lightly, and if you can, take the time to do your research when considering where you'd like to work. It’s hard to tell how long the process may take, but there are ways for you to improve your chances of finding a job that is a good fit for you. Use your school’s career center and alumni networks. Sometimes, it is all about who you know. The counselors at the career center may also help you retool your resume, the most important piece of your application package that you’ll be giving to potential employers. If your job search is hampered by a weak economy, or if you’ve gotten word that a job you think you qualify for and would really enjoy will open up in a few months, make the most out of your time. Look into seasonal internships related to your college degree to impress employers once jobs do open up. You’ll look like self-starter who takes initiative rather than waiting things out.

If you’re interested in a career where it would be beneficial to have an advanced degree, graduate school right after you’re done with your undergraduate degree may be an option for you. Just know that this option may not be for everyone, especially if you’re feeling burned out from your four years in college or if you’re only interested in graduate school because you’d like to put any decision-making about your future career on the back-burner. Depending on your field of study and college major, graduate school may help you tremendously, giving you openings to positions higher up in the food chain, or it may not be as beneficial, giving you an additional mound of student loan debt.

Did we miss anything? What else do you think new graduates should consider when thinking about their long-term goals?

This is the last post in a three-part series on dealing with that “What’s next?” feeling college students may get post-graduation. The Scholarships.com blog will be back to giving you the latest higher education news and tips on financial aid and college life tomorrow!

by Alexis Mattera

Once you’ve graduated from college, what do you do with the pages upon pages of writing assignments you completed during your tenure? You could go green and recycle them, I suppose…or you could try to make some green off of them, like the subject of our next story.

Having been there and done that once himself (or herself), one Georgetown alum knows that writing essays for admissions, scholarships and college classes takes a lot of time – time frazzled students just don’t have – and is attempting to profit from that burden by selling their own admissions essay, multiple class papers and a graduate school scholarship essay on eBay via the handle and alzheimers_caregiver. Georgetown’s own Vox Populi reported that while there are currently no bids on the items, the eventual winner (and I use that term very loosely here) will be e-mailed the materials and is free to edit the pieces as they see fit before turning them in.

Yes, we know the writing that goes into getting admitted to and succeeding in college is no small amount (just ask Harvard grad Natalie Portman) but if you’re truly committed to making the most of your college experience, crafting a few thousand words into an original essay isn’t going to kill you. Passing someone else’s work off as your own won’t either…but it could make your time at Big State U or Fancy Private College a lot shorter than you anticipated. An equally terrible but less-academically-poisonous bet? Buying alzheimers_caregiver’s other offering, a VHS copy of Look Who’s Talking Now.

by Alexis Mattera

You know the most popular college majors and the majors with the highest earning potential. You are even aware of some of the more unusual classes students can take while attending college...but can unique translate into useful in the real world?

As it turns out, some of the most out-there-sounding majors are producing satisfied graduates making real contributions to their fields of choice after graduation. What are these majors and where can interested students find them? Here’s an abridged guide:

• Packaging. University of Wisconsin-Stout packaging majors don’t think outside the box. They think about the box, specifically how to create “economically, aesthetically, environmentally and technically sound” packaging. And they’ve got it in the bag: A 2009 survey showed 95 percent of packaging graduates were employed by major companies like Frito-Lay and FedEx, no less!
• Viticulture and enology. Graduates from Cornell’s program could soon be giving Dionysus a run for his money. Though it only recently became an official major, coordinator Kari Richards said the majority of graduates are involved in the industry. "Some have continued enology-related studies in graduate school, others travel worldwide to gain experience in harvest and crush, [and a] few will or have returned to the home winery/vineyard," she said.
• Puppetry. UConn’s not just known for basketball but for being one of only two schools in the U.S. offering undergraduate degrees in puppetry arts...and the only one offering a graduate program in the field. It’s selective – enrollment is limited to 22 students – but graduates have gone on to work and perform in theatres, television shows and films. Guess being green isn’t so difficult after all!

The complete list of unusual college majors can be found here. Wondering if the school of your dreams offers them? Check out our college search!

by Emily

In a bad economy, many recent college grads and laid off workers decide to make the move to go back to school.  A number of current undergraduate students are also hoping to delay entry into the working world until the economy improves.  Many of these prospective students will apply to graduate programs, hoping to land financial aid like a fellowship or assistantship on their way to a master's or doctorate degree.  However, many programs that traditionally come with stipends attached are cutting enrollment, as their cash-strapped institutions try to find ways to reduce their operating costs.

A recent piece in Inside Higher Ed explains that while terminal master's degrees and other programs in which students commonly pay full tuition are still admitting large numbers of students, and in some cases even increasing enrollment, programs that typically give out more money than they receive, such as doctoral programs, are reducing admissions due to reduced budgets.  While some master's programs and professional degrees come with fellowships, assistantships, or scholarship awards, the bulk of graduate financial aid goes to PhD students.  These students typically serve as teaching or research assistants, receiving free tuition and a stipend in exchange.  With university-wide cost cutting measures and rapidly shrinking departmental budgets, many institutions simply can't afford to offer as many of these generous aid packages as they have in the past.  And rather than admitting and not funding doctoral students, these schools are choosing to admit fewer students in order to maintain their funding commitments to current and future students.

If you applied this year and didn't get in, at least you can console yourself with the knowledge that it was a particularly bad year for PhD applications.  Whether it's your first time through the process or your second, if you're thinking of applying next year, start your college search early and consider sending out extra applications, especially if you're hoping for university funding.  Competition may be fierce, and if the schools you want to attend decide to admit fewer students, applying to more schools will boost your odds of being admitted and winning scholarships, fellowships, or assistantships.  If you're seeking a degree that may or may not have funding attached, such as a master's degree or professional degree, be sure to look into outside aid, such as scholarships for graduate students.