Historically Black College Struggles Financially - washingtonpost.com

Historically Black College Struggles Financially - washingtonpost.com: NASHVILLE, Dec. 27 -- Despite two years of trying, Fisk University has not been able to turn any of the valuable art donated by painter Georgia O'Keeffe into cash.

Although a legal fight over the latest $30 million proposal to share the 101-piece art collection with an Arkansas museum is scheduled for trial in February, leaders of the struggling historically black university acknowledge that it could be years before any money changes hands.

So the Nashville school that was founded in 1866 to educate former slaves has had to look elsewhere to keep its doors open -- a difficult task in a community that has been asked to come to the school's financial rescue several times before.

Worms infect more U.S. poor than thought - More health news- msnbc.com

Worms infect more U.S. poor than thought - More health news- msnbc.com: WASHINGTON - Roundworms may infect close to a quarter of inner city black children, tapeworms are the leading cause of seizures among U.S. Hispanics and other parasitic diseases associated with poor countries are also affecting Americans, a U.S. expert said on Tuesday.

Recent studies show many of the poorest Americans living in the United States carry some of the same parasitic infections that affect the poor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, said Dr. Peter Hotez, a tropical disease expert at George Washington University and editor-in-chief of the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Poor Americans In The United States Suffer Hidden Burden Of Parasitic And Other Neglected Diseases

Large numbers of the poorest Americans living in the United States are suffering from some of the same parasitic infections that affect the poor in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, says the Editor-in-Chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

In an article entitled "Poverty and Neglected Diseases in the 'Other' America," Professor Peter Hotez (George Washington University and the Sabin Vaccine Institute) says that there is evidence that the parasitic diseases toxocariasis, cysticercosis and toxoplasmosis as well as other neglected infections are very common in the United States, especially among poor and underrepresented minority populations living in inner cities and poor rural areas. Such infections are known as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) because they afflict mostly poor people and are often ignored by public health officials and political leaders despite their enormous medical importance.

Just the Stats: Hispanics Perceive Major Differences in Race-Ethnic Relations in Suburbia

Differences in people’s perceptions on how they are treated by the court system, salespeople and suburban communities are apparent across racial and ethnic lines, according to a new poll recently released by Manhattanville College.

It showed that more than one-half of Hispanics surveyed stated that police treated them less fairly then they did their White peers. For Hispanics, discrimination seems to occur most frequently while shopping — with roughly 53 percent of respondents reporting that they had experienced discrimination in that activity, compared to 60 percent of Blacks and 44 percent of Whites who said they had.

More Hispanics than any other group, 41 percent, said they experienced discrimination at school, compared to 33 percent of Blacks and 29 percent of Whites who said they had.

Richard Berman, president of Manhattanville College, said: “This poll captures diverse perceptions of people and the suburban communities they live and work in. It shows that discrimination is quite real when it comes to activities like shopping and eating in restaurants, as well as perceptions about how different groups are treated by the criminal justice system.”

Asian American Studies: A Harvard Aspiration

Asian American Studies: A Harvard Aspiration: During the 1980s, Asian American students at Harvard University staged a noisy protest petitioning the university to hire an Asian American studies professor. Hundreds of student signatures were collected. No professors were hired.

Twenty years later, Asian American students at Harvard University are still protesting for a permanent Asian American studies professor and ultimately a full-fledged Asian American Studies concentration.

Student advocacy related to the issue has surged and subsided over the years but never disappeared. As Harvard University continues to stress its commitment to diversity, student groups such the Asian American Association are becoming increasingly anxious.

Yuting P. Chiang, co-chair of the Asian American Association education and politics committee, told Harvard’s student newspaper, “Harvard prides itself on its diversity, but there’s a huge gap in discussion on Asian American Studies.”

Professors say undergraduate advocates have failed to provide the steady pressure needed for change in Asian American studies, and, according to members of the Asian American Association, the administration also doubts the program will lure many students to the field. Another significant complaint among faculty is that the school does not have the appropriate funds or resources to institute a full Asian American Studies concentration.

Study: Workplace and Community Engagement Key to Interracial Friendship

Study: Workplace and Community Engagement Key to Interracial Friendship: While the number of Americans reporting someone of another race among their “very close friends” has risen 6 percent over the last 20 years, interracial, close friendships are still rare in the lives of most Americans.

Professor Xavier de Souza Briggs, the lead researcher of a new Massachusetts Institute of Technology study on interracial friendships, says that people who are involved in community organizations and activities and who socialize with their co-workers are much more likely to have friends of another race than those who do not.

The study, completed in 2000, questioned some 30,000 people on their patterns of civic engagement. It reveals that regardless of race, people with higher incomes and more education were more likely to be civic “joiners,” people who get involved in community organizations and activities. High levels of income and education almost ensured that people’s social circles would include those of other racial backgrounds.

The communities covered by the survey range from small and relatively homogeneous cities, such as Lewiston, Maine, to big cities, such as Los Angeles, that are among the most ethnically diverse places in the world.

To Draw Top Teachers to Troubled Schools, Foundation Will Offer $30,000 Stipends - washingtonpost.com

To Draw Top Teachers to Troubled Schools, Foundation Will Offer $30,000 Stipends - washingtonpost.com: The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation launched a $17 million effort yesterday to improve teacher education and steer highly qualified teachers to high-poverty and struggling schools.

The Princeton, N.J.-based foundation announced plans to award hundreds of future teachers a $30,000 stipend, starting in 2009, to attend graduate school. In return, the fellows will agree to teach for three years at high-needs schools, including some in Virginia. Partnering universities will focus on math, science and other content areas, and provide mentoring and support for teachers when they enter the classroom.

New Institute Seeks To Ask ‘The Race Question’ In Higher Ed

New Institute Seeks To Ask ‘The Race Question’ In Higher Ed: To address the disparities that exist in higher education for underrepresented minorities, the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) is slated to form in 2008 the new Institute on Equity Research Methods and Critical Policy Analysis.

The institute is a collaborative effort among the higher education research institutions, including the Center for Urban Education at the University of Southern California and the Institute for Higher Education Law and Governance at the University of Houston Law Center. The Ford Foundation is providing a one-year planning grant to help establish the institute.

The institute will focus on addressing the academy’s critical issues: improving inclusion of minority scholars, researching methods to study questions of racial and ethnic equity in higher education, transforming the agendas of higher education policy centers, giving greater visibility to the needs and interests of minority communities and developing greater recognition of minority experts in higher education.

Blackface Costumes at Parties Trigger Punishment at Northwest

Blackface Costumes at Parties Trigger Punishment at Northwest: MARYVILLE, Mo.

Fraternity monitors at Northwest Missouri State University have punished two chapters whose members appeared at Halloween parties in blackface.

Two White males appeared in costume at separate parties, and photographs of the incidents made their way around campus. One man wore a green hooded sweatshirt and dreadlocks, depicting a man suspected of firing a gun in a campus parking lot on homecoming weekend, which happened just before Halloween.

Another man was pictured at a fraternity house party dressed as Michael Vick, the Atlanta Falcons quarterback who pleaded guilty to dog fighting charges.

Although one of the incidents occurred at a party off campus, the Interfraternity Council sanctioned the Delta Chi and Phi Sigma Kappa fraternities because the students are members of those groups.

Md. College, Once A Pioneer, Works To Regain Diversity - washingtonpost.com

Md. College, Once A Pioneer, Works To Regain Diversity - washingtonpost.com ...St. John's, the tiny liberal arts college that had been a pioneer in diversity, had just a fraction of the state and national average for minority enrollment.

Dyer quickly issued a call to arms, writing letters to fellow alums and, with others, forming a committee to tackle the issue. And over the past three years, a movement has taken root to lure minority students and infuse more diversity into the culture of the campus in historic downtown Annapolis.

Colleges across the nation are taking another look at minority enrollment. This fall, universities in 17 states created an initiative to drastically improve enrollment and achievement among minority and low-income students by 2015.

Muslim girls not shying from sports, tradition - Other sports- msnbc.com

Muslim girls not shying from sports, tradition - Other sports- msnbc.com DEARBORN, Mich. - Dewnya Bakri loves her faith — and the feeling of sinking a three-pointer.

For much of her life, the 20-year-old Muslim has found a way to balance practicing Islam and playing basketball, including wearing a head scarf and long pants on the hardcourt, even if it’s meant taunts as she blazed trails on her middle school, high school and college teams.

Now a college senior at University of Michigan-Dearborn preparing for law school, she spends free time coaching Muslim girls and sharing what she experienced in Dearborn, home of at least 40 mosques, to help give them the confidence to follow in her footsteps.

As more covered Muslim girls take up competitive sports, Bakri and others say it’s time to get beyond merely allowing the hijab — the traditional Muslim head scarf worn for modesty — and help those wearing them feel welcome.

“It’s not like accommodating for one person anymore, it’s a group,” Bakri says.

Experts and advocates say the number of Muslim girls wearing the hijab on the court, track or field is rising because girls are growing more comfortable pursuing mainstream activities while maintaining religious traditions.

Study: All-nighters hurt grades - Education- msnbc.com

Study: All-nighters hurt grades - Education- msnbc.com ALBANY, New York - Students who rely on working at night to improve their grades might want to sleep on that strategy: a new survey in the U.S. says those who never study all night have slightly higher grades than those who do.

A survey of 120 students at St. Lawrence University, a small liberal arts college in northern New York, found that students who have never pulled an all-nighter on average have higher grades than those who have. The survey found those who did not study through the night had a grade point average of 3.2 compared to 2.95 for those who have.

The study, by assistant professor of psychology Pamela Thacher, is to be included in the January issue of Behavioral Sleep.

Study Suggests Colleges Do More To Reach Under-represented Students

Study Suggests Colleges Do More To Reach Under-represented Students Information about college from traditional sources is not as accessible to or easily understood by low-income and first-generation students, who tend to rely on high school counselors – when they’re available – and unsolicited marketing materials when researching colleges, according to new research that suggests the best ways to reach under-represented students.

“Deciding on Postsecondary Education,” a report of the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative, looked at how under-represented students get information about and choose colleges and is based on a review of literature and results from 11 focus groups held in eight states.

College selection for traditional students, particularly those of a high socioeconomic status, is a process, begun years before enrollment with the gathering of formal and informal information. But adult and low-income, first-generation students tend to choose a college at the same time they develop an aspiration to attend college.

Poll: Racial Groups View Each Other With Mistrust

Poll: Racial Groups View Each Other With Mistrust America, the proverbial melting pot, is boiling over with racial tension. Tension that may be impeding success for all racial groups, argue analysts from New America Media, the nation’s largest collaboration of ethnic news media.

New America Media's most recent poll, Deep Divisions, Shared Destiny, reveals some unflattering realities concerning the ways in which America’s largest ethnic groups view each other. The poll uncovers the deep-seated mistrust some minorities have for one another and defines several stereotypes perpetuated by both ethnic and mainstream media sources.

In addition to identifying the unique strains of intentional isolation among Black, Hispanic and Asian American respondents, the survey also illuminates the desire expressed by all three groups to work collaboratively to build safer and stronger communities.

Report Finds Better Scores in New Crop of Teachers - New York Times

Report Finds Better Scores in New Crop of Teachers - New York Times Teaching is attracting better-qualified people than it did just a few years ago, according to a report released Tuesday by the Educational Testing Service.

Prospective teachers who took state teacher licensing exams from 2002 to 2005 scored higher on SATs in high school and earned higher grades in college than their counterparts who took the exams in the mid-1990s, the report said.

On the other hand, the report found that those attracted to the profession continued to make up a strikingly homogeneous group — prospective teachers were overwhelmingly white and female — at a time when the proportion of public school students nationwide who are black, Hispanic or other minorities was nearly half and rising.

Passport rules leave Native Americans in limbo - News- msnbc.com

Passport rules leave Native Americans in limbo - News- msnbc.com ...The U.S. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative in January will require U.S. citizens to present government photo ID, such as a driver's license, plus proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, when they enter the United States by land or sea.

The measure, which is to be followed by requirements for a passport by June 2009, is causing confusion and anxiety among some Native American tribes that straddle the United States' borders with Mexico and Canada.

According to the National Congress of American Indians, there are around 40 U.S. tribes whose members cross regularly over the northern and southwestern borders, some to work and visit kin, others to attend ceremonies at traditional sites.

With implementation of the new travel rules looming in just a few weeks, some tribal members say it is still unclear whether enrollment documents issued by their own tribal governments will be acceptable at the borders, and are unsure if they can meet the new travel ID requirements if they are obliged to comply.

Poll: Relations Between Minorities Tense, But Core Values Shared - washingtonpost.com

Poll: Relations Between Minorities Tense, But Core Values Shared - washingtonpost.com Relations among African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans are fraught with tension and negative stereotypes, but all three groups share core values and a desire to get along better with each other, according to a poll released in Washington today by the nonprofit group New America Media.

The survey found that many members of all three groups felt 'more comfortable' doing business with whites than with each other, and that an overwhelming majority of each group viewed racial tension as a 'very important problem' for the United States.

Hispanic Engineers Sought - HispanicBusiness.com

Hispanic Engineers Sought - HispanicBusiness.com ...Now she is using her expertise and position as president of the 10,000-member Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers to recruit more Hispanics, especially women, into the profession.

'There is a lack of technical talent in this country,' Gomez said. 'And our community, the Hispanic community, can be part of that solution.' Her natural curiosity and interest in math led her to major in engineering at California State University, Fresno.

Along with running a critical function of Caltrans' Valley operations, Gomez was recently re-elected to her post at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and is featured in a young person's book about Hispanic female engineers. She is the third woman to be elected president of the professional group.

At the group's recent annual conference in Philadelphia, 200 companies sought to recruit from the more than 2,500 college students who attended.

Just the Stats: American Indians at a Glance

Just the Stats: American Indians at a Glance Although the number of bachelor’s degrees conferred to American Indians appears flat in the graphs below, it is largely because of their small numbers. In fact, American Indians, along with Blacks and Asians, have experienced comparable growth in the percentage change in bachelor’s degrees conferred from 1995 to 2005, between 4.5 and 4.7 percent. American Indian women overwhelmingly earn the most bachelor’s degrees, outpacing their male counterparts 62 to 38 percent, respectively as of 2005-06. Unfortunately, this trend is not unique to American Indians, as the rates are similar in the Black and Hispanic communities at 66 to 34 percent and 61 to 39 percent respectively.

Out of Line

Out of Line That was the scene last May at NSU’s graduation when several students were told to remove feathers and other items or they wouldn’t be allowed to participate in the ceremonies. NSU has since revised its guidelines on graduation attire, in time for the fall commencement on Dec. 15.

Dr. Dalton Bigbee, the NSU vice president for academic affairs, said in a Dec. 5 statement: “Northeastern State University respects the desire of our Native American students to honor tribal traditions and customs that hold particular significance during solemn occasions. We want to allow students, if they wish, to wear items such as feathers, beads, medallions, stoles, or other relevant tribal insignia during NSU commencement ceremonies. Those who would like to have their requests considered should contact Dr. Phyllis Fife, director of the NSU Center for Tribal Studies.”

However, the university’s official graduation instructions, posted on the NSU Web site, shows no change in policy.

For Struggling Black College, Hopes of a Revival - New York Times

For Struggling Black College, Hopes of a Revival - New York Times: MARSHALL, Tex. — When the light at University Avenue is green, drivers can pass Wiley College without a glance. There was a time, however, when this small black liberal arts college here caught the attention of a nation: in the 1930s, Wiley’s polished team of debaters amassed a series of victories over white competitors that stunned the Jim Crow South.

The college would go on to groom civil rights leaders like James Farmer Jr. and Heman Sweatt, whose lawsuit against the University of Texas Law School in the 1940s helped pave the way for public school integration. Yet Wiley itself, like many black colleges, has struggled for survival ever since, and even reached the brink of collapse. This year, professors and staff members accepted unpaid furloughs. One employee could not share a recent report with trustees because his department could not afford copy paper.

NPR : Rare Slave Manuscripts Tell Stories of Escape

NPR : Rare Slave Manuscripts Tell Stories of Escape: Fresh Air from WHYY, December 4, 2007 In A Slave No More, historian David W. Blight showcases the emancipation narratives of two men, one from Alabama and one from Virginia. Manuscripts written by Wallace Turnage and John Washington, and genealogical information compiled by Blight, combine to tell the stories of their lives as slaves and their harrowing flights to freedom.

Study Finds Racial Disparities in Drug Imprisonment Rates

WAMU 88.5 FM American University Radio - News Features for Tuesday December 4, 2007: December 04, 2007 - The Justice Policy Institute says that about 97% of the most populated U.S. counties put African Americans in prison at higher rates than whites for drug offenses. The group released a report today that finds African Americans are ten times more likely than whites to be imprisoned for drug offenses.

American Teens Trail Peers in Science, Math - washingtonpost.com

American Teens Trail Peers in Science, Math - washingtonpost.com: American teenagers have less mastery of science and mathematics than peers in many industrialized nations, according to scores on a major international exam released today.

Education experts say results of the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment highlight the need for changes in classrooms and in the federal No Child Left Behind law. The average science score of U.S. 15-year-olds lagged that of students in 16 of 30 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a Paris-based group that represents the world's richest countries. U.S. students were further behind in math, trailing counterparts in 23 countries.

Just the Stats: Hispanics Perceive Major Differences in Race-Ethnic Relations in Suburbia

Differences in people’s perceptions on how they are treated by the court system, salespeople and suburban communities are apparent across racial and ethnic lines, according to a new poll recently released by Manhattanville College.

It showed that more than one-half of Hispanics surveyed stated that police treated them less fairly then they did their White peers. For Hispanics, discrimination seems to occur most frequently while shopping — with roughly 53 percent of respondents reporting that they had experienced discrimination in that activity, compared to 60 percent of Blacks and 44 percent of Whites who said they had.

More Hispanics than any other group, 41 percent, said they experienced discrimination at school, compared to 33 percent of Blacks and 29 percent of Whites who said they had.

Richard Berman, president of Manhattanville College, said: “This poll captures diverse perceptions of people and the suburban communities they live and work in. It shows that discrimination is quite real when it comes to activities like shopping and eating in restaurants, as well as perceptions about how different groups are treated by the criminal justice system.”

Studies: Hispanic Youth Look for Acceptance, Often Turn to Gangs

Hispanic youths in North Carolina, struggling to find acceptance in U.S. culture, are increasingly turning to gangs and to other self-destructive behaviors, according to studies and those who follow the trends.

Mike Figueras, who runs a gang-prevention program for the Hispanic advocacy group El Pueblo, said children whose needs are not met at home or at school are prime candidates for joining gangs because they seek a feeling of belonging.

“It's so important to the kids that they're willing to do anything," he said. "We're looking at 11-year-olds joining gangs.”

Hispanic gangs are the fastest growing segment of the underground culture in North Carolina, according to a 2005 study that found that Hispanic accounted for a quarter of the state's nearly 400 gangs.

Nearly 9 percent of Hispanic high school students dropped out of high school in the 2005-06 school year — a rate higher than any other group in the state and double the rate of white. non Hispanic students, according to state figures.

The problems are getting worse, according to a national survey by New York University professor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco. The study found that immigrant teens were doing worse in school after a five-year period from when the study began.

Growth In Minority Student Enrollment Gives Rise To More MSIs

More minority undergraduate students are enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities than ever before, and more of them are choosing minority-serving institutions such as historically Black colleges and universities, Asian-serving institutions and Hispanic-serving institutions.

According to a report released Tuesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, undergraduate enrollment in the United States increased by 39 percent between the years of 1984 and 2004. During that time span, minority enrollment more than doubled, increasing from 1.9 million to 4.7 million.

Conversely, White undergraduate enrollment only grew by 15 percent.

In 2004, minority students constituted nearly one-third of the total undergraduate enrollment. The increase in visibility of minority students on college and university campuses, analysts say, reflects the shift in the general demographics of the U.S. population. In both 1994 and 2004, the proportion of undergraduates who were minority students was comparable to the proportion of the general population who were people of color.

Hispanic undergraduate enrollment had the highest growth, at 237 percent, among racial/ethnic groups, followed by Asian, American Indian, and Black enrollment. Black undergraduates remained the largest single minority group on U.S. college campuses.

New Report Highlights Factors in English Proficiency, Assimilation Among Hispanics

Fluency for Hispanic immigrants increases across generations, according to a new report released by the Pew Hispanic Center, a research organization based in Washington, D.C.

A survey of 14,000 Hispanic adults revealed that only 23 percent of Hispanic immigrants reported being able to speak English very well. However, 88 percent of their U.S.-born adult children reported that they speak English very well, and the figure was 94 percent among later generations of Hispanic adults.

“From our research we see that English is the most dominant among later generations of Hispanic adults. The Spanish doesn’t vanish from generation to generation. The English simply becomes more pronounced,” says D’Vera Cohn, co-author of the report and a senior writer at the Pew Research Center.

The report begins by analyzing differences in English ability and use among several generations of Hispanics.

Just 7 percent of foreign-born Hispanics speak “mainly” or “only” English at home, still about half of their children do. In contrast, four times as many foreign-born Hispanics speak “mainly” or “only” English at work. Fewer than 43 percent of foreign-born Hispanics speak mainly or only Spanish on the job, versus the three-quarters who do so at home.

The report indicates that Hispanic immigrants are more likely to speak English very well and use it often if they are highly educated, arrived in the United States as children or have been in the country for a long time.

Black Male Initiative Worth Duplicating

After a summer visit to the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, N.Y., Shawn Mitchell couldn’t wait to plan a future career in technology.

“There were so many inspirational speakers there … they talked about not just the aspect of technology and science but about life and life’s struggles,” says Mitchell, 20, a sophomore at the New York City College of Technology, a branch of the City University of New York (CUNY) also known as City Tech. “It was just very inspiring, very eye-opening (and) I saw and experienced stuff that I never experienced before.”

Laboratory visits are one of many methods used by City Tech’s Black Male Initiative (BMI) program that engages Black male students in the STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The BMI program, which targets both potential and existing City Tech students, was recently named one of nine U.S. Model Replication Institutions by NASA and the National Science Foundation for its innovative approaches in attacking the problem of Black male student enrollment and retention.

City Tech’s strategies will be replicated at other schools across the country as part of an initiative being administered by the Institute of Higher Education Policy (IHEP). IHEP officials say this initiative is designed to expand access in the STEM fields for students at minority-serving institutions.

“Nationwide replication of this program is an effective and innovative approach to helping historically underrepresented student populations succeed in higher education,” said Jamie P. Merisotis, IHEP’s founding president. “We look forward to identifying and moving forward New York City College of Technology’s most successful methods to create a positive change.”

New Model Predicts Breast Cancer Risk In African-American Women

New Model Predicts Breast Cancer Risk In African-American Women: ScienceDaily (Dec. 1, 2007) — Researchers have developed a new risk prediction model that more accurately estimates the breast cancer risk of African American women, according to a new study.

The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool, also known as the Gail model, is widely used for estimating breast cancer risk and for determining which women are eligible for breast cancer prevention trials. However, much of the model was based on breast cancer data from white women, so it is unclear how well the model applies to African American women or those from other racial groups. The Women's Contraceptive and Reproductive Experiences (CARE) study was conducted to obtain data on African American women with and without breast cancer.

Race, ethnic differences in cancer tumors : Health

Race, ethnic differences in cancer tumors : Health: BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 30 Racial and ethnic differences in tumor biology may help explain why African-American women fare worse than others with breast cancer, a U.S. study said.

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., found differences in how genes are activated in breast cancer tumors in African-Americans and whites. The researchers examined gene expression profiles -- an indicator of which genes are active -- in micro-dissected breast tumors from 35 patients with invasive breast cancer, including 18 African-Americans and 17 whites. They found genes related to immune responses and other aspects of tumor development are expressed differently.