Academic Management Team Resource

• Templates for standard labeling
• Sample of department mission, vision and objectives given by Dr. Lontoc

Smiling through her braces, Mikaela Irene Fudolig said she plans to apply for a teaching position in the coming days. At 16, the challenges do not deter her.

Fudolig told ANC’s “Dateline: Philippines” that the University of the Philippines can ask the Department of Labor and Employment if she is allowed to apply as a college instructor at the state university.

The teen has every reason to be lively and brave in making decisions. Just a few weeks ago, she graduated at the top of her class in UP with a summa cum laude citation, a grade point average of 1.099 and a Bachelor of Physics degree.

Asked what her plans are after graduation, Fudolig said it’s back to UP for a teaching post.

“They told me, actually, that a sixteen-year-old is allowed [to work] provided I [can handle] work conditions,” Fudolig said.

Fudolig is the first and only graduate of what was once UP’s experimental Early College Credit Program. The program had her enter college without a high school diploma.

But for her, it has paid off. She said: “I feel I have achieved more than what I could have done before.”

No problem
Meanwhile, she said that she is not intimidated by the fact that many of her future students would be older than her. “I actually tutored some [older] people. They asked me for help. I did love doing that.”

Asked what she will be able to contribute to the teaching profession, she said that it would most likely be “concentration more on process.”

“You see, I think more than the results of the exams, it is how you achieve them. [You should] not look at the answers,” Fudolig said.

And despite the fact the college teachers in UP are not known to earn much, Fudolig said she will not change her mind. “I think it’s what I should do, to share knowledge and inspire people and it’s the best time to teach right now, I think, for me.”

Quoting Robert Frost, Fudolig encouraged new graduates to “take the load less traveled” by opening up new opportunities and going beyond ““what is perceived to be possible.”

“If I had taken the road well traveled, I would be now in third year high school. Just high school with my age fears. If I had taken the road less traveled I would have been an incoming third year college student. But since I had decided to make my own road I am now a graduate of Physics from UP Diliman,” she said.
Fudolig (2nd from left) with fellow delegates at the Japan Institute of Invention and Innovation Future Creation Fair. (Photo from www.upd.edu.ph)

She admitted, though, that the road she chose was difficult to negotiate. Without a high school background, she said: “I just studied and worked really hard for it.”

“As the founder of ABS-CBN said there is no substitute for hard work,” she said, quoting the late Eugenio “Geny” Lopez Jr.

‘I also went to malls and movies’
A typical school day for Fudolig was usually full of study sessions. “I have free time. There is always enough time for study, there’s always enough time, if I have to cut on my TV time, cut my relaxation time, then I do it.”

She said in between study groups she would “go to the mall, watch TV, watch a movie or just eat at a restaurant, go out with my friends.” Those friends, however, were mostly years older than her.

Though she had virtually no friends of her age, she said: “It makes no difference. I have friends who are eight years, 10 years older and we call each other by our first names.”

Physics it is
During her first years in college, Fudolig settled on Physics, which she said was a “personal choice.”

“At that time I think it was the best course for me, it has Math which I really like. It also has applications, conflict applications…when you’re very young you like those things,” she said.

Fudolig added she was never turned off by the difficulty of the subject. “I love studying, I love Physics, I guess that really helped.”

At present, Fudolig knows her parents now expect her to move on to bigger things, perhaps being employed or earning a big salary. She, however, remains keen on teaching and establishing her career in the country.

“Yes, I think there is hope. There’s hope because you see you just have to keep on believing and keep on inspiring,” she said.

“Don’t migrate. Stay here. Maybe you can study abroad but go back here and make a change here — in the Philippines,” the new graduate said.

“Go beyond what you perceive to be possible and try new things — don’t be limited by what other people say. Believe in yourself and do what it takes. Dream and work hard!”

By KELLI KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer

MIAMI - Isaac Daniel calls the tiny Global Positioning System chip he’s embedded into a line of sneakers “peace of mind.” He wishes his 8-year-old son had been wearing them when he got a call from his school in 2002 saying the boy was missing. The worried father hopped a flight to Atlanta from New York where he had been on business to find the incident had been a miscommunication and his son was safe.

Days later, the engineer started working on a prototype of Quantum Satellite Technology, a line of $325 to $350 adult sneakers that hit shelves next month. It promises to locate the wearer anywhere in the world with the press of a button. A children’s line will be out this summer.

“We call it a second eye watching over you,” Daniel said.

It’s the latest implementation of satellite-based navigation into everyday life — technology that can be found in everything from cell phones that help keep kids away from sexual predators to fitness watches that track heart rate and distance. Shoes aren’t as easy to lose, unlike phones, watches and bracelets.

The sneakers work when the wearer presses a button on the shoe to activate the GPS. A wireless alert detailing the location is sent to a 24-hour monitoring service that costs an additional $19.95 a month.

In some emergencies — such as lost child or Alzheimer’s patient — a parent, spouse or guardian can call the monitoring service, and operators can activate the GPS remotely and alert authorities if the caller can provide the correct password.

But the shoe is not meant for non-emergencies — like to find out if a teen is really at the library or a spouse is really on a business trip. If authorities are called and it is not an emergency, the wearer will incur all law enforcement costs, Daniel said.

Once the button is pressed, the shoe will transmit information until the battery runs out.

While other GPS gadgets often yield spotty results, Daniel says his company has spent millions of dollars and nearly two years of research to guarantee accuracy. The shoe’s 2-inch-by-3-inch chip is tucked into the bottom of the shoe.

Experts say GPS accuracy often depends on how many satellites the system can tap into. Daniel’s shoe and most GPS devices on the market rely on four.

“The technology is improving regularly. It’s to the point where you can get fairly good reflection even in areas with a lot of tree coverage and skyscrapers,” said Jessica Myers, a spokeswoman for Garmin International Inc., a leader in GPS technology based in Kansas. “You still need a pretty clear view of the sky to work effectively.”

Daniel, who wears the shoes when he runs every morning, says he tested the shoes on a recent trip to New Jersey. It tracked him down the Atlantic Coast to the Miami airport and through the city to a specific building.

The company also has put the technology into military boots and is in talks with Colombia and Ecuador, he said.

But retail experts say the shoe might be a tough sale to brand-conscious kids.

“If (parents) can get their kids to wear them, then certainly there is a marketplace. But I think the biggest challenge is overcoming … the cool marketplace,” said Lee Diercks, managing director of New Jersey-based Clear Thinking Group, an advisory firm for retailers.

The GPS sneakers, available in six designs, resemble most other running shoes. The two silver buttons — one to activate and one to cancel — are inconspicuous near the shoelaces.

The company is selling 1,000 limited-edition shoes online and already has orders for 750, Daniel said.

Parents who buy the pricey kicks don’t have to worry about their kids outgrowing them fast. This fall, the company is unveiling a plug-and-wear version that allows wearers to remove the electronics module from their old shoes and plug it into another pair of Daniel’s sneaks.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070209/ap_on_hi_te/gps_sneaker