The White House Blog

Educate to Innovate: Awarding Excellence in Mentoring

[Ed. Note: Learn more about the Educate to Innovate campaign.]

It has been a pleasure to work with so many students and their families over the past year as a mentor, helping them awaken to their natural but perhaps undernourished interest in science, technology, math and engineering (STEM). Witnessing students take positions of leadership as they apply their STEM knowledge and make significant differences in their local communities has been immensely rewarding for the students and for myself.

The simple definition of a mentor is a trusted or experienced advisor, and although it gets less attention than formal teaching in much of America today it is a familiar tradition among American Indians like me. Within our Tribal communities, our ceremonies, histories, languages, and everything else we place value on has long been passed orally through an intricate system of mentoring. In American Indian culture, no one is too young to serve as a mentor. Meaningful mentoring relationships can exist between junior high and high school students, amongst peers, between high school and college students, between college or graduate students and faculty, and at a professional level between colleagues.

In fact, mentoring is one of the most inexpensive and effective strategies for increasing the success of any and all students.  A good mentor can inspire students to find their own path, regardless of those students' circumstances, background, or level of academic preparation. We all know from experience that the significance of relevant knowledge and information is often missed if it is simply written and stored until a worthy individual stumbles upon it. A written or cataloged set of words simply cannot compete with the passion that mentors can bring to ignite and excite us about their work and what they know.

Many of the people who I have mentored either throughout high school or through college today serve their local American Indian Tribe in critical areas, such as natural resources management. For Tribes, of course, connections to the natural world and preserving these precious resources for future generations are long-term priorities. The students' academic and research experiences, their work ethic, and their dedication are helping local Tribes to use technology—in some cases along with traditional knowledge—to preserve and manage precious resources such as water, land, air, and timber.

For example, tools such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have helped the students I have worked with develop scientific models so future decisions relating to health of the local land, availability of water, access to electricity and communications grids, and use of emerging technologies from alternative energy, can improve the overall quality of life for all of the people in a community.

It seems like a very small thing, but to have students I have mentored be right in the middle of these decisions—becoming experts and leaders, providing inspiration and hope in communities that are very desolate, depressed, and despondent—is very gratifying. It means that each and every one of us can dramatically impact and improve the future of our local communities, our states, and our nation, by getting out of the silos of our offices and our labs and making the personal effort to mentor individuals.

Stacy Phelps is Chief Executive Officer of the American Indian Institute for Innovation and is being honored tomorrow with the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring

It's In Our Hands: Census Kicks Off 2010 Portrait of America Road Tour

Yesterday, I started my new year in Rockefeller Center on the Today Show to kick off our huge push to get people to take part in the 2010 Census. 

One of my resolutions is to help make this the best, most accurate Census count ever. 

The Commerce Department's Census Bureau spends 10 years planning how to best count everyone living in America and then New Years comes – and the rubber hits the road!  Which is literally what’s happening this year. 

Today, we're sending out a small fleet of 13 vehicles – which we’re calling the Portrait of America Road Tour – that will drive across the United States and Puerto Rico to get the word out about the 2010 Census.   

We're doing this for the oldest of reasons – because our Constitution tells us to.  Every 10 years, since 1790, we've counted ourselves – every single person living in America.  This count determines how we divvy up about $400 billion in federal aid to states to help pay for things like schools, roads, hospitals and police and firemen.

For the 2010 Census, we've added some high tech twists to the traditional Census process.  Everyone is still going to receive a Census questionnaire in the mailbox, so please – FILL IT OUT, and mail it back.  The form is very simple, and has only 10 questions that should take about 10 minutes to complete, and the questionnaire comes in numerous languages.

I’m counting on the Road Tour to get the word out and encourage people to participate. Our little armada of vehicles will drive more than 150,000 miles, be seen by an estimated 18 million people and stop at more than 800 community gatherings, celebrations and sporting events.

Anybody who wants to can learn about the Census and how to fill out a Census form.  If you want, you can explain why you’re taking part in the Census, and then you can upload your story onto an interactive website.  And you can follow the tour and see other people’s stories by tracking the Road Tour on Twitter, Facebook or through the Road Tour blog.  Happy New Years and make sure to follow the Portrait of America Road Tour on the web at:

• Twitter: @2010Portrait
• Facebook: Facebook.com/USCensusBureau
• MySpace: MySpace.com/USCensusBureau 
• Flickr: Flickr.com/USCensusBureau
• YouTube: YouTube.com/USCensusBureau

Gary Locke is the Secretary of Commerce.  He can be followed on Twitter at @SecLocke

Reality Check: Health Care Costs Under the Status Quo are the Real Danger

Today we got a striking reminder of what defenders of the status quo are defending, and the future that lies ahead if opponents of reform get their way. And this isn't fear-mongering based on some deceptive distortion as we so often hear from those opponents, it's cold hard facts.

Today, the actuaries at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a report and new data on health spending that confirms what families and businesses around this country already know:  The need for health  insurance reform is urgent.  Rising health care costs are eating into family budgets, forcing employers to cut back;  and health spending is taking up a greater and greater percentage of America’s economic output.  The  report,  published in the journal Health Affairs, shows that health spending as a percentage of GDP has increased from 15.9 per cent in 2007 to 16.2 per cent in 2008.  That means more than one in six dollars in this country is tied up in the health care system.  The growth of health care spending is unsustainable.   The time to act is now. America cannot wait any longer.   

There is a glimmer of good news in the report:   Health spending slowed somewhat compared to the  the year before.  The numbers are still shocking:  National health spending reached $2.3 trillion, or $7681 per person in 2008:  The highest in the world.  And the reason the rate of spending slowed in this year was because of the economic slowdown.  Employers and families were simply forced to cut back.   Employers are spending less on health insurance because many no longer provide benefits to their workers. We know that many employers simply can’t afford the high cost.  Many families who have lost their jobs and health insurance went without the care and prescription drugs they need. 

Families are struggling to keep up with the cost of health care.   The share of family income spent on health care grew from 5.3% to 5.9% in one year. 

Government was also handed a higher bill. Health spending on Medicare  grew by 8.6 percent, driven in part by the high cost of private Medicare Advantage plans.  Health insurance reform legislation will eliminate wasteful overpayments to insurance companies while protecting guaranteed Medicare benefits and strengthening the Medicare Trust Fund. 

The data make clear that our economy and our families can no longer afford the health care status quo. The reform proposals being considered in Congress will help drive down the cost of health care while strengthening Medicare for our seniors and improving the quality of care for all Americans. Changing the way we handle hospitalizations to prevent mistakes and unnecessary readmissions and creating incentives in the payment system to reward quality of care rather than just the quantity of care are just some of the important reforms that will help us achieve this critical goal.

And we are closer to passing these reforms than ever before. President Obama’s leadership and the hard work of members of Congress have brought us to an historic moment. After decades of waiting, 2010 will be the year we make health reform a reality.

Nancy-Ann DeParle is the Director of the White House Office of Health Reform

Recovery in Action: From Coast to Coast

President Obama has made job creation a top priority in the nation's continuing economic recovery, hosting a jobs forum at the White House and calling for similar meetings across the country to make sure every good idea is explored. The Recovery Act continues to be instrumental in providing funds to states and municipalities to keep Americans working and, at the same time, make needed improvements to the nation's infrastructure and prepare workers for the economy of tomorrow. Reports of these successes are coming in from media across the country:

Ohio, Cleveland,com, 12/29/09:

Ohio Gets Billions From ARRA, Enabling It To Balance Its Budget And Save The Jobs Of Many State Employees, As Well As Invest In Energy And Environment Projects. "When the federal stimulus program was announced last year, Ohio figured it would get around $8.2 billion. But the state already has surpassed that by $1 billion and could get another billion before the program ends... Experts say the money that helped Ohio balance its budget saved the jobs of many state employees."

California, ABC 7, 12/31/09:

Stimulus Funding Goes To Bay Area Jobs Program That Is 'Almost Too Good To Be True.' "The federal stimulus bill set aside $5 billion to subsidize jobs for needy families. California gets $1.8 billion of that to dole out to counties which can use the money to get unemployed people into jobs. San Francisco was one of the first to get the program off and running."

California, Contra Costa Times, 1/3/10:

More Than $1 Billion From ARRA Is “Flowing Freely” Into The Bay Area, Flooding University Research Coffers, Boosting Transportation Projects, Improving Infrastructure, And More. "More than $1 billion from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is flowing freely into the Bay Area, flooding university research coffers and boosting transportation projects such as the long-awaited Caldecott Tunnel expansion and the BART-Oakland Airport people mover, funding high-tech baggage screening equipment at San Francisco International Airport and improvements to Caltrain in San Mateo County.”

Missouri, St. Louis Business Journal, 12/31/09:

Missouri Gets $1.2 Million Stimulus Grant For Green Jobs. "Missouri has won a $1.2 million grant funded by the federal stimulus package for research on ‘green’ occupations and the skills needed for these jobs... Nearly 5 percent of Missouri’s total employment, or more than 130,000 positions, are now tied to the green economy, according to a report released this month."

Louisiana, Newsstar, 1/4/10:

Stimulus Funds Go To 14 Road Improvement Projects In Ouachita Parish. "Fourteen road improvement projects in Ouachita Parish being funded with federal stimulus monies have been scheduled to go out for bids in February. The state Department of Transportation and Economic Development will let projects in February for Monroe, West Monroe and in the parish as part of the state's expenditure of federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds...West Monroe Mayor Dave Norris expects his city's six projects to be under construction in the spring."