The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah's annual Youth Activist Scholarship Program will recognize Utah high school seniors for civil liberties activism with $1,000 scholarships. The winners will be entered to win one of 15 $7,000 scholarships from the ACLU's national office. That group will then become part of a group fostered by the ACLU national office.

To qualify, students must demonstrate a strong commitment to civil liberties through some form of activism, be a high school senior who will be entering an accredited college or university as a full-time student during the next academic year, and have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale.

Applicants must also write an essay, up to 1,000 words, describing their actions to protect and promote civil liberties, and submit a letter of recommendation. Applications are due by Nov. 10 to ACLU of Utah, 355 W. 300 North, Salt Lake City, UT, 84103.

Speak up on schools

The 2009 Speak Up Survey, sponsored by the nonprofit Project Tomorrow, is open to students, teachers, parents and administrators through Dec. 19 at www.tomorrow.org/speakup.

More than 300,000 people are expected to complete surveys that provide insight on education, technology and student aspirations to individual schools, state departments of education and national leaders.

For the first time, the survey will ask students about

their interest in teaching careers and will include pre-service teachers to get a sense of how the next generation of teachers may differ (or reflect) the opinions of current educators.

Schools and districts that participate get free online access to their own aggregated quantitative data, with national benchmark data for comparison. National data findings will be released during two congressional briefings in spring 2010.

For more on Project Tomorrow and the survey, visit www.tomorrow.org.

 

O, Bioneers

Westminster College will host the annual Bioneers Conference, Nov. 6-8, in the Emma Eccles Jones Conservatory, 1250 E. 1700 South, Salt Lake City. Keynote speaker Joan Dye Gussow will give a pre-conference presentation on Nov. 5, 7:30 p.m., in the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts.

Gussow is the author of This Organic Life and former chairwoman of the Nutrition Education Program at Columbia. She spent two terms on the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences, a term on the FDA's Food Advisory Committee and a term on the National Organic Standards Board.

The conference includes workshops, speakers, food, music, art and discussion. This year it will focus on human rights, living locally and sustainability, public transit, oil dependence, alternative economics and gardening.

"The purpose of Bioneers is to bring together people from different cultures and professions as a community, committed to preserving and supporting the future of life on Earth, in order to generate solutions to ecological and societal challenges," said Monica Ferreira, Westminster's Bioneers coordinator.

Registration is $120, $40 for students. Scholarship and volunteer opportunities are available. For more information and a detailed schedule, e-mail bioneers@westminstercollege.edu or visit www.westminstercollege.edu/bioneers.