I recently had a conversation with a friend who told me her daughter has declared that she hates math -- and she's only seven years old! This got me thinking that the challenge for parents is to help their kids keep an open mind about the subjects they like or don't like. It's really important that parents keep exposing their kids to different things and different opportunities, and make sure that they don't close the door on new ones.

For years, science and technology professionals have tried to bring attention to the lack of gender equity in the important fields of information technology (IT) and computing. Now, ten years after the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women recognized the need to promote gender equity around the world, the "gender gap" issue finally has arrived on the radar screen of the world's influential opinion-makers.

By now we've all seen the devastation that Hurricane Katrina has wrought on hundreds of thousands of people, who are now slowly beginning to recover their broken lives. One recovery effort about which the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) is deeply concerned is the attempt of thousands of college students to get their academic lives back on track.

Dillard University students camp out. Courtesy Greg Pearson/The Shreveport Times

I feel the need to post a short message about Hurricane Katrina.

Two members of our NCWIT community, Dillard University and Xavier University, have sustained heavy damage, and the worst may be yet to come. Please click here for a message from United Negro College Fund President and CEO Dr. Michael Lomax with information about how you can help.