At Princeton, a Parody Raises Questions of Bias - New York Times

At Princeton, a Parody Raises Questions of Bias - New York Times: PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 22 — Belda Chan, a senior at Princeton University, was stunned when she encountered an article in broken English in the annual joke issue of the student daily parodying an Asian-American student who had filed a civil rights complaint against Princeton.

“The editor in chief said their intention was to spark a dialogue on race,” said Ms. Chan, a history major from Massachusetts whose parents immigrated from China. “Obviously that’s happened. But hate crimes spark dialogue too, and that doesn’t mean they are good things and that we approve of them and that they will help in the long run.”

Perhaps even more than the complaint by Jian Li that he was rejected for admission by Princeton because of his race, the article published last Wednesday has put front and center the question of whether elite universities treat Asian-American students fairly in admissions and whether those students who are admitted face bias.

“Hi Princeton! Remember me?” the parody began. “I so good at math and science. Perfect 2400 SAT score. Ring bells? Just in cases, let me refresh your memories. I the super smart Asian. Princeton the super dumb college, not accept me.” Later, it said: “What is wrong with you no color people? Yellow people make the world go round. We cook greasy food, wash your clothes and let you copy our homework.”

Harvard To Review Campus Police After Complaints

Harvard University is reviewing its campus police department amid concerns officers have unfairly stopped Black people because of their race.

Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust announced the review on Tuesday in a letter to administrators and faculty that also was posted on the university's Web site.

Faust said a special six-member committee will be headed by Boston attorney Ralph Martin, an African-American and former Suffolk County district attorney. It will study police diversity training, community outreach and recruitment.

``I am confident that this group's efforts will help the university address this important set of issues in a constructive spirit and forthright manner,'' Faust said.

Faust cited an incident earlier this month when campus police confronted a person using tools to remove a lock from a bicycle. She said the person was a summer employee who owned the bike and was trying to cut the lock because the key had broken. The Boston Globe reported that the person, whom Faust did not identify, was a Black high school student from Boston.

The Globe said Black students and faculty protested last year after police interrupted a campus field day sponsored by two Black student groups, asking if they had a right to be there. The newspaper said in 2004, police stopped a prominent Black Harvard professor as he was walking to his office because they mistook him for a robbery suspect.

Minorities Get Little Respect On The Big Screen : NPR

Minorities Get Little Respect On The Big Screen : NPR: Well, that's it. Summer's about over. Hope yours was good. How was mine? Thanks for asking. Well, I'm not given to absolutes, so I'm gonna say in terms of what Hollywood gave us, this was just the demi-most offensive summer ever at the multiplexes. Offensive, if you happen to be a person of color whom Hollywood in turn mocked, lampooned or humiliated ... that is, when we weren't just being completely ignored.

There was Jack Black supplying the voice of a Chinese bear in Kung Fu Panda. I guess the producers of the movie thought that it would be alright for an occidental to voice one of the most revered symbols of China, since they gave actual Asian actors Jackie Chan and Lucy Liu all of like five lines in supporting roles.

We had Mike Meyers entertaining himself by flogging Hindu and Indian stereotypes. And the lovely Jennifer Hudson playing a 21st century Hattie McDaniel to the Sex and the City gals. Excuse me, Jennifer's the one with the Oscar. Shouldn't they be fetching Jennifer's coffee?

Judge Backs English-Only Rule but Scolds Both Sides

A Catholic school's policy that requires students to speak only English while in school does not in itself create a hostile learning environment, a federal judge ruled Friday.

U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Marten ruled for the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, denying a request by three Hispanic families to ban the policy. While the policy as written did not violate any law, the school's failure to recognize its impact on the Hispanic students was troubling, he said.

'It is not my place to pass on the wisdom or soundness of the policy,' Marten said in ruling from the bench. He said he would issue a more detailed written decision in a few days.

Marten told about 60 people who crowded into the courtroom that it was a sad day for all involved. He scolded both sides for bringing an issue about lunchroom and playground rules into a federal courtroom.

'It has divided a school. It has divided a congregation. It has divided the Hispanic community in a congregation,' Marten said. 'And it has touched a nerve across the country.'

College Board Reports Most Diverse Class of SAT Test-takers on Record

College Board Reports Most Diverse Class of SAT Test-takers on Record: A record-number of students took the SAT this year, and the increase reflects on this year’s average scores, which showed no improvement over last year and were the lowest in nearly a decade.

The number of SAT takers for 2008 rose to more than 1.5 million, posting a record number of test-takers for any given year, the College Board announced Tuesday. The test saw an 8 percent increase from five years ago and a 29.5 percent increase from 10 years ago.

This year’s class was the most diverse class on record with historic increases in the number of Hispanic, Black and Asian American students taking the test, College Board officials said. Minority students accounted for 40 percent of test-takers, and 36 percent were the first in their families to attend college. Nearly one in seven low-income students was eligible to take the test for free.

Scores on the college entrance exam fell to their lowest level since the late 1990s last year. This year’s average scores saw no improvement. In fact, they mirrored those of last year.

Average SAT scores remained flat in 2008 - USATODAY.com

Average SAT scores remained flat in 2008 - USATODAY.com: Average national SAT scores for the high school class of 2008 were the same as last year, even as a larger, more diverse group took the test, a College Board report released Tuesday says.

A record 1.52 million students took the SAT, an increase of 1.6% from last year. Scores on math and critical reading had declined in recent years, and average scores dip as the pool of test takers increases, 'so we're encouraged by the stability' of this year's scores, said Gaston Caperton, president of the non-profit College Board, the SAT's owner.

Even so, average scores for blacks, Hispanics and some other minorities dropped while those of white and Asian students rose. Hispanics and blacks account for less than 25% of all test takers, but their participation rates increased fastest last year.

College Board senior vice president Laurence Bunin said the lower scores for Hispanic and black students, when coupled with their increased participation rates, suggests a positive development — that more students aspire to pursue a college degree: "The main point is that these kids are taking the test and want to go to college," he says.

SAT Scores Hold Steady as Minority Participation Rises - washingtonpost.com

SAT Scores Hold Steady as Minority Participation Rises - washingtonpost.com: SAT scores held steady for 2008 high school graduates even as participation rose among minority students and those who are part of the first generation in their families to go to college, the College Board reported today.

Nationwide, the number of students taking the college entrance exam surpassed 1.5 million for the first time, up 8 percent from five years ago and up nearly 30 percent over the past decade. Forty percent of the test-takers were minority students, up from 39 percent last year, and 36 percent were among a group described as first-generation college-goers, up from 35 percent.

College Board officials greeted the boost in participation as a sign that an increasingly ethnically and economically diverse group of high school students aspire to earn a college degree.

Gaston Caperton, president of the College Board, said the pool of test-takers "more than ever . . . reflects the face of education in this country."

"It's essential that all students strive to attend college -- and then succeed in their classes and, ultimately, graduate," Caperton said. "We're gratified to see that our country is moving increasingly toward being a nation of college graduates."

Critics say the SAT is losing influence as some colleges are making the test optional for admissions.

Black Is Beautiful

I'd been searching for a job for months with no success. I was just about ready to settle into permanent unemployment and a deep depression when my siblings suggested I try something I'd never before considered.

"Why don't you put a different name on your resume," they proposed. Something less ethnic-sounding and easier to pronounce, something that doesn't set off alarm bells like my name apparently does.

Out of the question, I said. "If they don't want Sufiya Abdur-Rahman, then they don't want me."

I'm the daughter of two 1970s African-American converts to Islam. I am black, I am proud and I don't shy from showing it. I wasn't going to downplay my cultural identity to accommodate someone else's intolerance, because I believe that black is beautiful. I believe in living that old 1960s credo, as out of style as it may be.

Growing up black, and to some extent Muslim, colors almost all that I believe and just about everything I do — how I talk, what I eat, the clothes I wear, what I fear and love.

In fifth grade, while my friends disguised themselves as witches and zombies for Halloween, I became Queen Nefertiti, celebrated Egyptian wife of the pharaoh Akhnaten. I thought I really looked like her with my tunic belted above the waist, feet exposed in my mother's sandals and heavy eyeliner, just like I saw in pictures. My neighbor thought I looked more like an ancient Roman or Greek. Back then I didn't know how to articulate to her the dignity I had for my heritage, so I said nothing. I just cut my trick-or-treating short that night.

I learned, along with every other American school kid, that at one point in this country being black meant being less than human. But that never made me wish I wasn't black. I love that my African people were among the most innovative in the world and am constantly amazed that my ancestors survived a period of unimaginable hardship. I'm forever grateful to my grandparents' fight for equal rights and equally admire my brothers for creating a music and culture with impact worldwide.

So I could never mask who I really am, not even to get a job.

Immigration Study: 'Second Generation' Has Edge : NPR

Immigration Study: 'Second Generation' Has Edge NPR: In much of the debate over immigration, there is an underlying question: Are today's immigrants assimilating into the mainstream as easily as past generations?

The answer, at least in New York City, is an unqualified 'yes,' according to the results of a 10-year study involving more than 3,000 young men and women, most of them in their 20s.

John Mollenkopf, a professor at City University of New York and an author of the study, says that if you look at the children of immigrants, 'the kids are doing well compared to their parents and also doing well compared to the native-born comparison groups.'

The 'second generation' project looked at five groups — Russians, Dominicans, South Americans, Chinese and West Indians — and compared them with U.S.-born whites, Puerto Ricans and African-Americans. Researchers found that most in the second generation were fluent in English and working in the mainstream economy. When they looked at economic and educational achievement, they found that West Indians were doing better, in general, than African-Americans; Dominicans were doing better than Puerto Ricans; and the Chinese and the Russians were doing as well as or better than native-born whites.

The March On Washington — 20 Years Late : NPR

The March On Washington — 20 Years Late : NPR: When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his thunderous 'I Have a Dream' speech during the March on Washington 45 years ago this week, he did so before the largest political gathering the nation had ever seen. Hundreds of thousands of people had descended on the capital for an event that would later be recognized as the tipping point in the fight for civil rights.

What's often overlooked is the fact that the march was supposed to have taken place more than 20 years earlier.

On the eve of World War II, African Americans in the North had achieved real political leverage. But in the South, they had been almost completely disenfranchised by poll taxes, literacy tests and intimidation. Many blacks also were shut out of government and defense industry jobs. Philip Randolph was the president of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a black labor union. He and union Vice President Milton Webster wanted to put an end to the discrimination.

'Brother Randolph says to me, 'We ought to get 10,000 Negroes and march down Pennsylvania Avenue and protest,'' Webster recalled in independent producer Alan Lipke's documentary series Between Civil War and Civil Rights.

Mixed Results on Paying City Students to Pass Tests - NYTimes.com

Mixed Results on Paying City Students to Pass Tests - NYTimes.com: Offered up to $1,000 for scoring well on Advanced Placement exams, students at 31 New York City high schools took 345 more of the tests this year than last. But the number who passed declined slightly, raising questions about the effectiveness of increasingly popular pay-for-performance programs in schools here and across the country.

Students involved in the program, financed with $2 million in private donations and aimed at closing a racial gap in Advanced Placement results, posted more 5’s, the highest possible score. That rise, however, was overshadowed by a decline in the number of 4’s and 3’s. Three is the minimum passing score.

The effort to reward city students for passing Advanced Placement tests is part of a growing trend nationally and internationally, and one of several new programs in New York, to experiment with using financial incentives to lift attendance and achievement.

The results, scheduled to be formally announced on Wednesday, are likely to be closely examined by both enthusiasts who herald such programs as groundbreaking innovation and detractors who deride them as short-sighted bribes that threaten broader educational progress.

“I’m just dumbfounded that they can regard this as an achievement or as a great improvement or as something worth spending the money on,” said Sol Stern, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, who had expressed cautious support for the Advanced Placement program when it was announced last fall. “I’m surprised that that kind of money, that kind of incentives, doesn’t produce better results. It sort of undercuts the argument that the problem is the question of motivation.”

Report: Interest Waning Among International Students for U.S. Graduate Schools

Report: Interest Waning Among International Students for U.S. Graduate Schools: Declining graduate school admissions rates for international students have long-term implications on American institutions of higher learning and the stability and competitiveness of the U.S. economy and work force, according to a report released Thursday by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS).

The organization’s 2008 International Graduate Admissions Survey, “Phase II: Final Applications and Initial Offers of Admission,” found that while offers of admission increased 4 percent from 2007 to 2008, the overall rate of increase in admission offers from U.S. graduate schools to prospective international students declined by 8 percent in 2007.

“There’s a lot of interest out there, but the level of interest tends to be waning a little bit,” says Kenneth E. Redd, the report’s author and director of research and policy analysis for CGS.

The rate of increase for admissions offered to students from India dropped; there was a 10 percent increase in 2007 compared to a 2 percent increase this year, according to the report. It also found the overall slowdown in application growth is apparent in students from China.

The survey findings also indicate that every field saw a slowdown in the final rate of growth of applications, with the most pronounced slowdowns in life sciences and education.

Approved HEA Bill Offers More Aid for Low-income Students

Reauthorized Higher Education Act includes new funding for graduate programs at minority-serving institutions.

After years of debate, Congress overwhelmingly approved a bill to renew the Higher Education Act and made changes in a variety of programs, from Pell Grants and student loans to those reserved for minority-serving institutions. The affirmative vote on what is now called the Higher Education Opportunity Act sends the measure to the White House for President Bush’s signature. While administration officials say they object to some provisions of the plan, the president is expected to sign the bill. House and Senate negotiators met for months to resolve final details of the HEA reauthorization bill, which had stalled in Congress in recent years. But the final measure — more than 1,000 pages — is drawing bipartisan support. “It puts smart strategies in place to improve our student aid process, restore confidence in our student loan programs and provide more low-income, first-generation and minority students the chance to pursue a college education,” says Rep. Rubén Hinojosa, D-Texas, chairman of the House Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning and Competitiveness. For needy students, the bill would increase the maximum Pell Grant from $4,800 to $6,000 in 2009 and $8,000 by 2014, a House summary of the plan states. These low-income students could receive Pell Grants on a year-round basis.

Survey Indicates Value of Education Varies Among Ethnic Groups

According to the new study “How America Pays for College,” only 54 percent of Hispanic parents surveyed said that college is an investment in a child’s future versus 81 percent of Whites and 85 percent of Blacks. Fifteen percent of Hispanic parents said they were willing to stretch financially for the best opportunity for a child versus 50 percent of Whites and 66 percent of Blacks, according to study results, based on a telephone survey conducted last spring by student loan giant Sallie Mae.

“One of the things we need to work on for next year’s study is that the number of Hispanics we have are relatively small,” said Dr. Bill Diggins, strategic consultant for Gallup and lead researcher on this survey. “We need to boost that up. There were some differences across race and ethnicity — primarily among Hispanics. Interestingly, Hispanics seem to be much more debt averse than both African-Americans and Whites. They’re paying approximately one-third less in total college costs than Whites and African-Americans.”

Overall findings suggest American families place a high value on college education. Three-quarters of the 684 students ages 18-24 interviewed strongly agreed that one of the reasons they are attending college is that they will enjoy a better quality of life. Ninety-four percent of the 720 parents agreed that sending their child to college was an investment in their child’s future. Three quarters of parents and 87 percent of students agreed they would rather borrow to pay for college than not be able to go at all.

Education Week: Diversity’s Quiet Rebirth

Education Week: Diversity’s Quiet Rebirth: A little more than a year has passed since the U.S. Supreme Court issued a sharply divided, 5-4 decision striking down two school districts’ policies designed to create racially diverse public schools. ('Use of Race Uncertain for Schools,' July 18, 2007; 'Districts Face Uncertainty in Maintaining Racially Diverse Schools,' June 28, 2007.) Educators across the nation are still struggling to make sense of the rulings, identify remedies to segregation that are still lawful, and develop fresh approaches to student assignment.

The pundit parade at the time of the ruling predicted an end to the values of social cohesion and integration embodied in the proudest moment in American jurisprudence, the Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. But what actually has happened after the so-termed Parents Involved ruling is far more hopeful and affirming of the aspirations manifest in Brown, and the civil rights movement it triggered.

HACU - Annual Conference

HACU - Annual Conference: Conference Objectives

HACU’s Annual Conference provides a unique forum for the sharing of information and ideas for the best and most promising practices in the education of Hispanics. The conference goals are to:

* showcase successful, effective, and exemplary programs and
initiatives of HACU member institutions


* promote and expand partnerships and strategic alliances for
collaboration between HACU member institutions and public-
and private-sector organizations


* foster and identify graduate education opportunities for
Hispanic students and graduates


* deliberate policy issues affecting the education opportunities
of Hispanics, including HACU’s legislative agenda


* promote greater Hispanic participation in scholarships,
fellowships, internships and other such programs funded
by private and government organizations


* discuss emerging trends in higher education affecting
Hispanics and HSIs, e.g., distance learning, student-centered
learning, outcomes assessment, and cross-national accreditation

At Inner-city Los Angeles High, Nearly 6 in 10 Drop Out

At Inner-city Los Angeles High, Nearly 6 in 10 Drop Out: Amid the verdant lawn and leafy trees of the tidy Jefferson Senior High School campus, a police officer patrols the grounds and a sign warns that guns are illegal.

Students in this inner-city school say gang members frequently disrupt class, and teachers spend much of their time dealing with troublemakers.

The biggest problem here, however, may be what you don't see all the dropouts.

With a 58 percent dropout rate, Jefferson has the worst dropout record in the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second-largest.

'It's horrendous,' said Debra Duardo, director of the dropout prevention and recovery program at the district, which averages 33.6 percent dropouts.

While half the students typically quit inner-city schools nationwide, Jefferson is at the lower end of the spectrum of so-called 'dropout factories' because of a concentration of factors that are rarely all present at schools in other cities.

Located in South Los Angeles, where new immigrants mostly from Mexico and Central America settle, the area has a large minority population and high poverty.

Of its 1,977 students last school year, 45 percent qualified as English learners. More than 90 percent qualified for free or reduced-price lunches.

Caught Between Two Cultures

Caught Between Two Cultures: In many ways, Asian students at Cornell University seem like a successful group. At the competitive Ivy League school, they make up about 17 percent of the student body — by far the school’s largest minority.

But the stereotype of Asians as brainy, quiet “model minorities” helps hide serious problems. Of the 14 suicides between 1997 and 2007, eight were students of Asian descent. In anonymous health surveys, Asians were more likely than White students to say they had difficulties with stress, sleep and feelings of hopelessness — and yet they were less likely to seek counseling.

White students may wrestle with the same problems, but tend to get help or be helped sooner, says Dr. Wai-Kwong Wong, a counselor at Cornell’s Gannett Health Services.

“To a large extent, it’s not just a mental health issue; it’s a community issue,” Wong says. “A lot of the issues that students were presented with have to do with their environment and their sense of community or lack thereof.”

School spankings: Minorities get more - Education- msnbc.com

School spankings: Minorities get more - Education- msnbc.com: WASHINGTON - Paddlings, swats, licks. A quarter of a million schoolchildren got them in 2007 — and black children, American Indians and kids with disabilities got a disproportionate share of the punishment, according to a study by a human rights group.

Even little kids can be paddled. Heather Porter, who lives in Crockett, Texas, was startled to hear her little boy, then 3, say he'd been spanked at school. Porter was never told, despite a policy at the public preschool that parents be notified.

'We were pretty ticked off, to say the least. The reason he got paddled was because he was untying his shoes and playing with the air conditioner thermostat,' Porter said. 'He was being a 3-year-old.'

In its study, which was being released Wednesday, the group Human Rights Watch used Education Department data to show that, while paddling has been declining, racial disparity persists. Researchers also interviewed students, parents and school personnel in Texas and Mississippi, states that account for 40 percent of kids who were paddled in the 2007 school year.

Porter could have filled out a form telling the school not to paddle her son, if only she had realized he might be paddled.

Yet many parents find that such forms are ignored, the study said.

Perspectives: Survey Says … Black Colleges Need To Complete National Surveys

Perspectives: Survey Says … Black Colleges Need To Complete National Surveys: An essay about surveys may sound like boring fare. However, when it comes to understanding Black colleges — their strengths and challenges — we don’t have good data. There are myriad questions that go unanswered by researchers, policymakers, and Black college administrators themselves that could easily be addressed if Black colleges would participate more fully in national surveys.

Only 13 Black colleges participated in the recent National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) survey, and 23 completed the Voluntary Support of Education (VSE) survey. Failure to participate has a harrowing impact on the way that Black colleges are viewed in the fundraising world — not only by researchers but by potential donors. As a result of not completing the NACUBO and VSE surveys, researchers, donors and policymakers know virtually nothing about Black college endowments and, more important, endowment growth over time. Moreover, they know little about alumni giving at Black colleges. Of course, any fundraiser in the college and university setting knows that donors want to discern if alumni support a particular institution before they make a donation. Stated bluntly, research shows that donors are more likely to give if there is an institutional commitment on the part of alumni.

Racial Slur Defaces African American Church - washingtonpost.com

Racial Slur Defaces African American Church - washingtonpost.com: Something troublesome awaited the members of a historic African American congregation on Sunday as they arrived at their McLean church for services.

The First Baptist Church of Chesterbrook had been defaced by a racial epithet.

The inflammatory word was spray-painted in large block letters next to the church's front door, Fairfax County police said in a news release.

'It was a very upsetting time,' said Andre Johnson, a longtime member of the church, which is on Kirby Road near Old Dominion Drive. Members were concerned, Johnson said, as you 'can very well expect them to be when they walk up to the church and see that on the front.'

U.S. to Grow Grayer, More Diverse - washingtonpost.com

U.S. to Grow Grayer, More Diverse - washingtonpost.com: The nation's population will look dramatically different by mid-century, becoming more racially and ethnically diverse and a good deal older as it increases from about 302 million to 439 million by 2050, according to projections released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The findings are in line with recent analyses published by independent demographers, but they are the first such official Census Bureau projections in years.

Minorities, about one-third of the U.S. population, are expected to become a majority by 2042 and be 54 percent of U.S. residents by 2050.

The shift will happen sooner among children, 44 percent of whom are minority. By 2023, more than half are expected to be minority, and by 2050, the proportion will be 62 percent.

The largest share of children, 39 percent, is projected to be Hispanic, followed by non-Hispanic whites (38 percent), African Americans (11 percent) and Asians (6 percent).

The Academy Speaks

The Academy Speaks: As a proverbial “vanilla brother” (as my Dean affectionately refers to me) at an HBCU, on the daily I am in a position to experience and explore racial identity and its implications on classroom pedagogy. This applies to my own racial identity, that of my students, and how we co-construct one another. Occasionally, such rewarding conversations are prefaced by a tentative, “No offense, but how come white people always…?” from a student (a blog entry for another time). In one such conversation, however, as I attempted to nuance, well, why white people always…, “Keisha” responded by saying with seriousness and slight confusion, “But professor, you’re not white, you’re German, right?”

Keeping the Tradition Alive

Keeping the Tradition Alive: The relatively low percentage of Black students in jazz studies programs remains a topic of interest as scholars want to ensure that the musical culture of an earlier generation of African-Americans lives on.

...Although there are no statistics documenting the racial break-down of jazz studies students nationally, the percentage of Black students in such programs remains a topic of interest primarily because jazz scholars want to ensure that the musical culture of an earlier generation of African-Americans is not lost on the younger generation.

“Right now we have in our program about 35 students, and five are African-American,” says Kenny Burrell, guitarist and jazz program director at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Burrell founded the UCLA jazz program in 1996 with the idea of building a faculty that would be composed of both scholars and musicians out in the field. The program emphasizes jazz performance. Upon graduation, students receive a bachelor’s degree in ethnomusicology.

“We’ve been trying to increase the number of African-American students,” adds Burrell. “We’ve secured some new funding for scholarships which will make it easier and more attractive for African-American students as well as other students to come here.”

As Program Moves Poor to Suburbs, Tensions Follow - NYTimes.com

As Program Moves Poor to Suburbs, Tensions Follow - NYTimes.com: ...Under the Section 8 federal housing voucher program, thousands of poor, urban and often African-American residents have left hardscrabble neighborhoods in the nation’s largest cities and resettled in the suburbs.

Law enforcement experts and housing researchers argue that rising crime rates follow Section 8 recipients to their new homes, while other experts discount any direct link. But there is little doubt that cultural shock waves have followed the migration. Social and racial tensions between newcomers and their neighbors have increased, forcing suburban communities like Antioch to re-evaluate their civic identities along with their methods of dealing with the new residents.

Demographic landscape shifts across United States - USATODAY.com

Demographic landscape shifts across United States - USATODAY.com: White populations have declined in more than half of the USA's counties since 2000, helping fuel a rise in the number of communities where minorities are now the majority, an analysis of 2007 Census estimates released today shows.

The data reflect how immigration, a population boom among Hispanics and the slowing growth of an aging population of whites are reshaping the nation's demographic landscape.

Among large counties, San Francisco lost the highest percentage of whites — which the analysis defined as people who are not Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian or Native Hawaiian — with that group dropping 17% from 2000 to 2007. Cook County, Ill., home of Chicago, had the biggest numerical decline, losing 215,535 whites during the same period.

Minorities made up more than half the population in 302 of the nation's 3,141 counties last year. Most such areas in the early 1990s were centered in established metropolitan areas and border cities in the Southwest.

Immigrant kids even less active than U.S.-born - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

Immigrant kids even less active than U.S.-born - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com: CHICAGO - Many immigrant children get even less vigorous exercise than their U.S.-born counterparts, the largest study of its kind suggests.

Plenty of earlier evidence shows that U.S. children are pretty inactive. The new study of nearly 70,000 children simply found even lower levels of activity among immigrants.

Almost 18 percent of foreign-born children with immigrant parents got no vigorous exercise on any days of the week, and 56 percent didn’t participate in organized sports.

By contrast, 11 percent of U.S.-born children with American parents got no vigorous exercise, and 41 percent didn’t participate in sports.

Given the obesity epidemic and immigrants accounting for about 13 percent of the U.S. population, the authors said it is important to know whether there are ethnic differences in physical activity and sedentary behaviors. They were led by Dr. Gopal Singh, a researcher at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau.

Here’s how the researchers explain their results: Immigrant families surveyed were on the whole poorer than nonimmigrants and lived in less safe neighborhoods. That means they likely had less time for exercise and sports, and worse access to places to engage in those activities.

But also, many immigrant parents place a high emphasis on reading, language lessons, studying and other inactive pursuits.

Perspectives: More Than Gatekeepers

Perspectives: More Than Gatekeepers

Black males have chronically been in the lower percentiles of students qualifying for four-year institutions as compared to other ethnic and gender groups. There are a myriad of axiomatic factors such as a lack of opportunities to learn because of less qualified instructors and advanced course offerings, institutional racism, and incongruent cultural backgrounds that have contributed to this quandary. Yet, the role guidance counselors play in this matter has been significantly understudied and severely underestimated.

In Omar Cook’s (2007) dissertation, “African-American Males’ Reflections on Their Preparation and Access to Post-Secondary Opportunities: The Impact of Counselors’ Activities, Interactions and Roles in Urban Schools,” he found that counselors may be more than passive gatekeepers as suggested by previous scholars, playing a more assertive part in funneling Black males away from college altogether or into the California Community College system. Moreover, the study suggests that non-Black counselors showed an unwillingness to consistently provide unequivocal, adequate and sufficient college-related pedagogical practices, options, pathways, and services to African-American males. This is evidenced in the following quotes by two participants of the study:

“Her race (Caucasian) was a factor. None of the counselors put much priority behind Black students. I think it was just an assumption that we were not interested in education beyond high school.”

“Her race (Caucasian) was a factor. I think she had a little bit of bias and favoritism with White kids. She communicated more with them by asking more questions and going in-depth with options and benefits regarding college stuff. We only had “in and out” sessions that were very limited in communication regarding college and personal inquiries.”

University of Kansas Officials Establish Council to Help Recruit Hispanic Students

University of Kansas Officials Establish Council to Help Recruit Hispanic Students: Educators from every educational level and Hispanic community leaders from across Kansas have formed the Latino Vision Council to help recruit and retain more Hispanic students at the University of Kansas. The group held its first meeting earlier this summer.

According to KU officials, this initiative aims to educate KU administrators on the many challenges faced by Hispanic youth and their families as they contemplate KU and higher education.

“As the Latino population in Kansas continues to grow, our state and our university must find ways to encourage talented Latino and Hispanic Kansans to pursue higher education,” says Dr. Richard Lariviere, KU provost and executive chancellor.

Since 2001, census data show that Hispanics are the largest minority group both at the university and statewide. Over the past 10 years, the number of Hispanics enrolled at KU has grown significantly. Last fall, KU enrolled approximately 743 Hispanic students, almost doubling the 438 students the university enrolled in 1997.

Why many Americans prefer their Sundays segregated - CNN.com

Why many Americans prefer their Sundays segregated - CNN.com: ...Americans may be poised to nominate a black man to run for president, but it's segregation as usual in U.S. churches, according to the scholars. Only about 5 percent of the nation's churches are racially integrated, and half of them are in the process of becoming all-black or all-white, says Curtiss Paul DeYoung, co-author of 'United by Faith,' a book that examines interracial churches in the United States.

DeYoung's numbers are backed by other scholars who've done similar research. They say integrated churches are rare because attending one is like tiptoeing through a racial minefield. Just like in society, racial tensions in the church can erupt over everything from sharing power to interracial dating.

DeYoung, who is also an ordained minister, once led an interracial congregation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that eventually went all-black. He defines an interracial church as one in which at least 20 percent its membership belongs to a racial group other than that church's largest racial group.

'I left after five years,' DeYoung says. 'I was worn out from the battles.'

The men and women who remain and lead interracial churches often operate like presidential candidates. They say they live with the constant anxiety of knowing that an innocuous comment or gesture can easily mushroom into a crisis that threatens their support.

Tribal Summit Explores Suicide Crisis

U.S. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) applauded the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for examining ways to prevent suicide during their Sacredness of Life Summit in Mission. Johnson said he has repeatedly fought to secure resources for Indian communities across the state to help deal with the suicide epidemic that plagues our reservations.

'Suicide is a preventable tragedy, and I commend the Rosebud Sioux Tribe for bringing attention to this issue and taking a look at the root cause of suicide,' said Johnson.

The two day event featured local stories on the effects of suicide as well as panel discussions examining the issue. Rodney Bordeaux, President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, and Lionel Bordeaux, President of Sinte Gleska University, opened the summit on July 1. A representative addressed the gathering on Johnson' behalf later in the day.

Johnson is a member of the Indian Affairs Committee and the Appropriations Committee. Johnson said that last year he demanded that the Indian Health Service focus more agency resources on the youth suicide epidemic."

Current Exhibitions | High Museum of Art Atlanta

Current Exhibitions | High Museum of Art Atlanta: Now On View
Road to Freedom: Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956–1968
Through October 5, 2008 The unforgettable images of the Freedom Rides of 1961, the Birmingham hosings of 1963 and the Selma-Montgomery March of 1965 dramatically raised awareness of injustice and the struggle for equality.

New Mexico First State To Adopt Navajo Textbook

New Mexico First State To Adopt Navajo Textbook: In the Navajo language, there’s no one word that translates into “go”; it’s more like a sentence.

“There are so many ways of ‘going,’” said Dr. Evangeline Parsons Yazzie, a Navajo professor at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. “It states who is going, how many of us are going, where are we going. So the tense, the adverb, the subject, the number of people, all of that is tied up in one little tiny verb.”

Those verbs are part of what makes the Navajo language – one of seven American Indian languages taught in the New Mexico school system – one of the most difficult to learn, she said. Yazzie is hopeful a book she recently wrote will provide a user-friendly way for New Mexico students to learn not only the language but the culture of a tribe that long has tied the two elements.

State officials formally adopted Yazzie's book, “Dine Bizaad Binahoo'ahh,” or “Rediscovering the Navajo Language,” this week in Santa Fe. While other books on Navajo language exist, state officials say New Mexico is the first to adopt a Navajo textbook for use in the public education system.

Man arrested in YouTube baby food poisoning threats - CNN.com

Man arrested in YouTube baby food poisoning threats - CNN.com: "NEW YORK (AP) -- A man was arrested Thursday after he allegedly claimed in hoax Internet videos that he had poisoned millions of bottles of baby food, some with cyanide or rat poison, because he wanted to kill black and Hispanic children.

Gerber Products Co. and the Food and Drug Administration have found no evidence of tampering with Gerber products. The company was flooded with complaints after people saw the videos, the FDA said.

Authorities said Anton Dunn caused to be posted on the Internet three videos of himself in which he boasted about the poisonings and said he could not be caught.

Dunn, 42, of New York, was charged with sending threats in interstate commerce and falsely claiming to have tampered with a consumer product, crimes that carry a potential penalty of 10 years in prison upon conviction.

A U.S. District Court judge ordered Dunn held until a bail hearing on Tuesday. His lawyer, Sarah Baumgartel, had no comment outside court.