Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois bringing STEM opportunities to girls

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois robotics program has had great success so far this year.

During recent FIRST LEGO League (FLL) tournaments for 9-14 year olds, four of ten competing teams won awards and one squad qualified for the state tournament. A team of older girls in the FIRST TECH Challenge (FTC) league starts competition in January and has been busy giving demonstrations of their robot design and programming skills – including marching with their scene-stealing “candy cannon” in several holiday parades. GSSI is also gearing up to host a Jr FIRST LEGO League Expo (a science fair style robotics event for students age 6-9) for the southern Illinois region. GSSI’s “robot revolution” is indicative of the Girl Scout movement’s ongoing commitment to bringing girls relevant, exciting opportunities in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Read more.

Court to Hear Whether Women Should Register for Draft

Whether Thursday's historic decision to allow women in all combat roles may require them to register for the draft faces its first test next week when a federal lawsuit challenging the male-only registration gets its day in court.

The case, National Coalition for Men vs. the Selective Service System, will be considered by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in Pasadena, Calif., on Tuesday.

The court date coincidentally occurs just days after Secretary of Defense Ash Carter opened all military combat roles to women, a decision he said may affect whether women are required to register for the draft.

"It may do that," Carter said. "That is a matter of legal dispute right now, and in fact litigation."But Carter said the outcome of the court case won't affect the Pentagon's decision to move forward. Read the story in its entirety on Military.com.

Big news from the Pentagon: All military jobs will be opened to women who qualify for them

All military jobs will be opened to women who can qualify for them. No quotas. Based purely on the ability to do the job. Here is an expert from a speech by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on December 3 about women in the U.S. military service:

"This means that as long as they qualify and meet the standards, women will now be able to contribute to our mission in ways they could not before. They’ll be allowed to drive tanks, fire mortars, and lead infantry soldiers into combat. They’ll be able to serve as Army Rangers and Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Marine Corps infantry, Air Force parajumpers, and everything else that previously was open only to men. And even more importantly, our military will be better able to harness the skills and perspectives that talented women have to offer. 

‘No exceptions’ was the recommendation of the Secretary of the Army, the Secretary of the Air Force, and the Secretary of the Navy, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. While the Marine Corps asked for a partial exception in some areas such as infantry, machine gunner, fire support, reconnaissance, and others, we are a joint force, and I have decided to make a decision which applies to the entire force."

Read the speech in its entirety.