Happy Holidays!                           

I would just like to thank you all for supporting our 6th Annual Gala!  It was our 25^th Anniversary, featuring special guest Fritz Coleman.  He was a phenomenal MC.  The Gala itself was a great success, with new sponsors and donors.  Again, we would not be here without the support of our friends.  Be on the lookout for next years Gala.  Again, please contact us if you are interested in being a part of this successful event.

We have great plans for the New Year.  We are continuing our 5th grade Water Education Program in January in partnership with the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District and the Sanitation District of Los Angeles County called, "The Magical World of Water."

 We will also be working on new projects and partnerships as they come, particularly with the California Space Authority and the Boys and Girls Clubs.  We are also looking to work with other school districts in the coming year.

I know that it has been a particularly tough year for all of us in the non-profit sector.  Please do not forget the great non-profits out there doing good work.  We need all the support we can get.  Again, let's keep our hopes up for a great 2010!  Definitely look forward to great things from us next year and the years to come!!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions, comments or suggestions. 

Happy Holidays to you and yours!!

Faithfully,

Ling-Ling Chang

President & CEO

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Proton Beams Are on Track at Collider

By DENNIS OVERBYE, New York Times

   Former YSC student Emily Thompson is all smiles as the Hadron Collider comes back on stream in record time.

Emily attended Rowland High School and Cal Poly Pomona and is working at the Hadron Collider in Switzerland

as part of her work towards a doctoral degree in physics from the University of Massachusetts.   Emily is the

daughter of George and Virene Thompson of Rowland Heights.  For a lecture on the Hadron Colllider, see the

Community Activities section below.

Physicists returned to their future on Friday. About 10 p.m. outside Geneva, scientists at CERN, the European Center for Nuclear Research, succeeded in sending beams of protons clockwise around the 17-mile underground magnetic racetrack known as the Large Hadron Collider, the world's biggest and most expensive physics experiment.

For physicists, the event was a milestone on the way back from disaster and the resumption of a 15-year, $9 billion quest to investigate laws and forces that prevailed when the universe was less than a trillionth of a second old.

The collider was designed to accelerate protons to energies of seven trillion electron volts apiece and smash them together in tiny fireballs in an effort to replicate and study the conditions of the Big Bang.

The first time protons circled the collider, on Sept. 10, 2008, the event was celebrated with Champagne and midnight pajama parties around the world. But the festivities were cut short a few days later when an electrical connection between a pair of the collider's giant superconducting electromagnets vaporized.

Subsequent work revealed that the machine was riddled with thousands of connections unable to handle the high currents required to run the collider at its intended energy.

Physicists and engineers have spent the past year testing and making repairs. While they have not replaced all the faulty connections, they have patched things up enough to allow the collider to run at less than full speed.

Calling the past year's work a "Herculean effort," CERN's director for accelerators, Steve Myers, said the engineers had learned from painful experience and understood the collider far better than they had before.

CERN's director, Rolf Heuer, said in a statement, "It's great to see beam circulating in the LHC again," but he and others cautioned that there was a long way to go before the collider started producing the physics it was designed for.

When the collider begins to do real physics next year, it will run at half its original design energy, with protons of 3.5 trillion electron volts. The energy will be increased gradually during the year, but it could be years, physicists say, before the machine reaches its full potential.

Thousands of the troublesome junctions will have to be rebuilt during a yearlong shutdown in 2011, and engineers have to figure out why several dozen of the superconducting magnets seem to have lost their ability to operate at high intensities.

The delay has given new life to the collider's main rival, the Tevatron at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois.

If all goes well, CERN says, the protons will start colliding at low energies in about a week.

Those first collisions will occur at the so-called injection energy of 450 billion electron volts. The machine will then quickly step up to 1.1 trillion electron volts, which is just above the energy of the Tevatron.

CERN is hoping to achieve that landmark as a symbolic Christmas present before a short holiday shutdown.

Career Training for Careers In Demand

The survey, conducted by employment agency Manpower, Inc., found a range of careers in high demand across the country. "From our research it is clear that across the country employers are experiencing a mismatch between the talent their businesses need and the skills and abilities potential employees possess," said Jonas Prising, president of Manpower North America.

Matching your own talent up with potential employers may require a degree or career training program. Check out a few of the hardest jobs to fill in America, and learn more about the career training recommended for each.

Career #1: Engineers

Working as an engineer requires intelligence, organization, and a high level of specialized skills. Engineers typically work in one area of engineering; for example, mechanical or petroleum engineering. A bachelor's degree in engineering is required for most entry-level careers in the field.

For those with the right degree training and skill, engineering salaries offer big rewards. Civil engineers earned mean annual wages of $78,560 in 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and the job is expected to see a high level of future growth.

Career #2: Technicians

Looking for an engineering career without a four-year bachelor's degree? Consider training to become an engineering technician. These trained workers use an associate's degree in the engineering specialty they choose to move swiftly into the workforce. Engineers and the public alike depend on technicians for their ability and knowledge.

According to the BLS, electrical and electronic engineering technicians earned mean annual wages of $53,990 in 2008. If you love the work but want a higher salary and more responsibility, you can transition your associate's degree into bachelor's degree training.

Career #3: Accountants

Make your skills with financials and business work for you with a career as an accountant. These number lovers are a big asset to individuals and businesses alike, who rely on them to do everything from interpreting tax laws to organizing a company's finances. Forensic accountants follow paper trails and help out with court cases.

The educational path to become an accountant varies. Accounting clerks may require only an associate's degree, while fully-licensed accountants may need a bachelor's degree in accounting plus CPA certification. Regardless, accountants earned mean annual wages of $65,840 in 2008, the BLS reports.

Career #4: Mechanics

Working on cars has always required a mix of technical knowledge and a passion for all things automotive. Today, automotive service technicians and mechanics benefit from an associate's degree level of training. With the high-tech diagnostic devices used in garages today, a little computer-based knowledge goes a long way.

The BLS notes that automotive service technicians and mechanics earned mean annual wages of $37,540 in 2008. An associate's degree is recommended for employment, and mechanics with certification may see the best opportunities.

Career #5: IT Staff

This broad category includes many of the country's fastest-growing occupations, including network systems and data communications analysts, computer software engineers, computer systems analysts, and database administrators. In any company with a network of computers and technology, a highly trained IT staff is appreciated.

Most IT staff jobs require a bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, management information systems, or similar, though some entry level careers -- such as careers for Web masters -- may only require an associate's degree. Specific earnings for IT staff depend heavily on the career you choose. The BLS reports that database administrators saw mean annual earnings of $72,900 in 2008, for example.

Valuable Education for Popular Careers

While no degree program can guarantee a particular career or salary, the training you receive is often preferred or required by hiring managers in the careers above. After a few years of training, you could be filling the need for trained workers in the field of your choice.

The Youth Science Center is excited to announce its involvement as a Museum Partner with ShopforMuseums.com.  As a Museum Partner, anyone shopping online with their favorite national retailers can have a portion of their purchase directed to the Youth Science Center at no additional cost. ShopforMuseums.com is nationally recognized with hundreds of Museum Partners across the country. Whether you are in the market for books, office supplies, apparel, gifts, travel reservations, home improvement, school supplies, toys, electronics, flowers or gourmet food.  You name it, the place to start is at ShopforMuseums.com! 

Participation is simple and secure. To designate a portion of your next online purchase to (YOUR MUSEUM NAME HERE), simply:

   Go to www.ShopforMuseums.com.

  Log in.

  Click on (YOUTH SCIENCE CENTER).

  Then just click on the link of the store you want to visit and go about your shopping. Stores are organized by categories.

The percentage of your purchase will be tracked automatically as long as you begin each time at ShopforMuseums.com. 

Please use ShopforMuseums.com each time you shop online and spread the word to friends and family. (THE YOUTH SCIENCE CENTER appreciates your support.