Report Measures Levels of Campus Inclusivity at Three Colleges and Universities

Intolerance, threats and verbal insults pervaded the campuses of three predominately White institutions, the University of California, Berkeley, Michigan State University, and Columbia College, according to a student survey in the recently released report, “If I’d Only Known.”

The report reveals that more than 60 percent of students at MSU reported witnessing or personally experiencing such incidents of violence based on intolerance, followed by 49 percent of students at UC Berkeley and 43 percent of students at Columbia.

Detecting low levels of social tolerance in the climate of some institutions for minorities, women and students with religious differences or alternative lifestyles is often difficult. To assist parents and students in evaluating the degree of inclusivity at a university the Campus Tolerance Foundation, a nonprofit organization designed to combat racial intolerance, surveyed more than 1,000 undergraduate students at the three universities to measure the current level of inclusivity at those institutions.

The study is not intended to be representative of all campuses, but represents a starting point in gauging campuses for an often overlooked factor that is important to many students.

Research shows that comfortable environments play a major role in minority persistence. Scholars agree that isolation and racial violence contribute to the high minority drop-out rates at some institutions.

“This research did document reports of bias toward members of minority groups,” says Marcella Rosen, founder of the Campus Tolerance Foundation. Since 2002, Rosen and her staff have been working to establish a tolerance rating for universities, as a service to parents and students.

New Reports Illustrate Racial Disparities in Criminal Justice System

Marking the 35th anniversary of New York’s controversial Rockefeller drug laws, the tough mandatory minimum sentencing laws for drug offenders, three new reports were issued by the Human Rights Watch (HRW), The Sentencing Project (TSP) and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) that highlight the alarming racial disparities that exist in drug-related arrest and imprisonment.

Over the past decade, New York City alone has arrested more people of color for possessing small amounts of marijuana (less than one ounce) than any city in the United States, researchers found.

Nowhere in American life are racial disparities more pervasive than those in the criminal justice system where Blacks, nationally, are incarcerated at a rate seven times higher, usually on drug offenses, than their White counterparts, according to national data.

Under the Rockefeller drug laws passed in 1973, an offender found guilty of selling two or more ounces of heroin, crack-cocaine, or marijuana was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years to life or a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.

“It’s hard to know how much of the disparity [in arrests] is explicable by discrimination,” says Ryan S. King, policy analyst for The Sentencing Project and author of the report, Disparity by Geography: The War on Drugs in America’s Cities. “However, it would be naïve not to think that some portion of it is race.”

New Law Takes Step To Latino Museum - washingtonpost.com

New Law Takes Step To Latino Museum - washingtonpost.com: President Bush signed legislation yesterday establishing a commission to study the feasibility of a National Museum of the American Latino.

The measure, part of a larger legislative package, creates a 23-member bipartisan panel that will give the president and Congress recommendations about the scope of the project.

Over a two-year period, it will consider the location, the cost of construction and maintenance, and the presentation of art, history, politics, business and entertainment in American Latino life.

Quiet Va. Wife Ended Interracial Marriage Ban - washingtonpost.com

Quiet Va. Wife Ended Interracial Marriage Ban - washingtonpost.com: Mildred Jeter Loving, 68, a black woman whose refusal to accept Virginia's ban on interracial marriage led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1967 that struck down similar laws across the country, died of pneumonia Friday at her home in Milford, Va.

The Loving v. Virginia decision overturned long-standing legal and social prohibitions against miscegenation in the United States. Celebrated at the time, the landmark case sunk to obscurity until a 1996 made-for-television movie and a 2004 book revived interest in how the young, small-town black and white couple changed history.

A modest homemaker, Loving never thought she had done anything extraordinary. "It wasn't my doing," Loving told the Associated Press in a rare interview a year ago. "It was God's work."

Today, according to the Census Bureau, there are 4.3 million interracial couples in the nation.

Shankar Vedantam - The Candidate, the Preacher and the Unconscious Mind - washingtonpost.com

Shankar Vedantam - The Candidate, the Preacher and the Unconscious Mind - washingtonpost.com: ... To break the mental associations that white voters have between him and Wright, in other words, Obama will probably have to work much harder than if politician and preacher were also white.

This also explains why black voters seem to have little trouble distinguishing Obama's views from Wright's views -- people rarely have trouble seeing that people from their own groups can have a wide range of views.

Mental associations work in positive and negative directions: Experiments show, for example, that men and women seen in the company of beautiful partners are perceived as being more attractive than when they are seen in plainer company.

But there is some evidence our minds are especially attuned to negative associations: At Arizona State University, for example, social psychologist Steven Neuberg once found that heterosexual men seen in the company of gay men had some of the stigma attached to homosexuality rub off on them. The same holds for other prejudices -- social approbation seems to be directed not only at the victims of prejudice but also at those seen in their company.

Neuberg believes that these biases arise because we often see similar people in one another's company. If you see two men in suits talking to each other and you know one of them is a lawyer, it is plausible to think the second person is a lawyer, too. Prejudice follows similar mental heuristics, or shortcuts.

Racial Disparities Found to Persist as Drug Arrests Rise - New York Times

Racial Disparities Found to Persist as Drug Arrests Rise - New York Times: More than two decades after President Ronald Reagan escalated the war on drugs, arrests for drug sales or, more often, drug possession are still rising. And despite public debate and limited efforts to reduce them, large disparities persist in the rate at which blacks and whites are arrested and imprisoned for drug offenses, even though the two races use illegal drugs at roughly equal rates.

Two new reports, issued Monday by the Sentencing Project in Washington and by Human Rights Watch in New York, both say the racial disparities reflect, in large part, an overwhelming focus of law enforcement on drug use in low-income urban areas, with arrests and incarceration the main weapon.

But they note that the murderous crack-related urban violence of the 1980s, which spawned the drug war, has largely subsided, reducing the rationale for a strategy that has sowed mistrust in the justice system among many blacks.

In 2006, according to federal data, drug-related arrests climbed to 1.89 million, up from 1.85 million in 2005 and 581,000 in 1980.

Closing The Achievement Gap In Math And Science

Closing The Achievement Gap In Math And Science: The latest results from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program show not only improved proficiency among all elementary and middle school students, but also a closing of the achievement gaps between both African-American and Hispanic students and white students in elementary school math, and between African-American and white students in elementary and middle-school science.

Since 2002, the MSP program has supported institutions of higher education and K-12 school systems in partnering higher education faculty from science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines with K-12 teachers. Through the program, STEM faculty provide professional development and mentoring to math and science teachers to deepen their content knowledge in their field of expertise--all with the goal of better preparing students in these subjects.

The MSP program currently supports 52 such partnerships around the country that unite some 150 institutions of higher education with more than 700 school districts, including more than 5,200 schools in 30 states and Puerto Rico. More than 70 businesses, numerous state departments of education, science museums and community organizations are also partners.

Poetry Man: Victor Hernández Cruz Uncovers the Richness of Diversity in his Verses

Victor Hernandez Cruz visited Harlem recently to read from his latest collection of poems, The Mountain in the Sea (Coffee House Press, 2006). He also treated the 20 or so guests, who gathered at the home of fellow poet Quincy Troupe and his wife, Margaret, to a selection of favorite verses from his previous books.

The gathering was also in honor of Cruz being named the chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, the first Latino to hold the post since the Board of Chancellors was established in 1946. The American Academy of Poets was the impetus behind the creation of National Poetry Month, observed each April, which was started in 1996 to raise the visibility and importance of poetry in American culture.

“I’m still trying to figure out what being in this position affords me,” he says, laughing. “But this appointment is for six years, and I’m looking forward to working with this fine group of poets.”

“We get to read lots of manuscripts and judge who gets the prestigious Academy of American Poets Fellowships and the Wallace Stevens Awards,” he adds. “We get to celebrate poets who are already published and highlight rising poets, the ones waving manuscripts around, going to readings and still having to pay their dues.”

PBIs Make Gains in Washington

PBIs Make Gains in Washington: Predominantly Black institutions are recognized with a new federal grant program and proposed funding in the new HEA bill.

After years of lobbying for more federal aid and visibility, predominantly Black colleges and universities — many of them located in northern cities — are gaining a greater foothold in Washington.

These colleges, which enroll large numbers of Black students but are not historically Black institutions, will divide $15 million over two years through a new grant competition expected to be formally open for applications soon. Approved under the College Cost Reduction Act, the competitive grants can provide predominantly Black institutions, or PBIs, with a minimum grant of at least $250,000.

“We’ve got a foot in the door. That’s significant,” says Dr. Edison Jackson, president of Medgar Evers College in New York, who long has argued for aid to PBIs. With a Black enrollment of about 94 percent, Jackson’s college would qualify for the new funds.

Precise eligibility rules for the competition are still pending.

African-U.S. University Partnerships Among Collaborations Urged By Global Leaders

African-U.S. University Partnerships Among Collaborations Urged By Global Leaders: WASHINGTON – In this globalized society, the need for intellectual collaboration across continents, cultures, institutions and disciplines is imperative in solving the scientific and technological mysteries that lie ahead, said panelists during the opening session Wednesday of the Higher Education Summit for Global Development at the Department of State.

Further explaining the need for collaboration among universities, business and foundations, Secretary of the Department of Energy Samuel Bodman said, “We are faced with a remarkable paradox. We need science and innovation to provide solutions to the problems that lie ahead, [yet] interest in science is waning. Reigniting the enthusiasm among young people in the areas science and mathematics is critical to a prosperous global future.”

The Higher Education Summit, sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a government agency that provides foreign assistance and humanitarian aid to foreign countries, allows higher educational institutions in developed and underdeveloped countries, foundations and private-sector businesses to build partnerships.

NACME: Growing ‘Opportunity Gap’ Exists in the Number of Minority Students Pursuing STEM Degrees

NACME: Growing ‘Opportunity Gap’ Exists in the Number of Minority Students Pursuing STEM Degrees: WASHINGTON
Interest among American students of all races and ethnicities in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has dissipated over the last several years. As a result, the pipeline of American engineers has dwindled. In a new report, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME) asserts that the rates of participation among underrepresented minorities in STEM fields have flat-lined, and in some cases declined.

The report titled “Confronting the ‘New’ American Dilemma” reveals that fewer than 12 percent of baccalaureate engineering graduates in the United States are underrepresented minorities, suggesting that only a meager few will matriculate through the various levels of graduate academia to become faculty members or STEM professionals.

Certainly, since the Civil Rights Movement underrepresented minorities have made some progress in gaining access to engineering, however engineer colleges continue to produce a majority of graduates who are White and male despite the proportion of ethnic minorities among college-going students.

60 percent of black children can't swim - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

60 percent of black children can't swim - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com: NEW YORK - Nearly 60 percent of African-American children cannot swim, almost twice the figure for white children, according to a first-of-its-kind survey which USA Swimming hopes will strengthen its efforts to lower minority drowning rates and draw more blacks into the sport.

Stark statistics underlie the initiative by the national governing body for swimming. Black children drown at a rate almost three times the overall rate. And less than 2 percent of USA Swimming's nearly 252,000 members who swim competitively year-round are black.

USA Swimming is teaming with an array of partners — local governments, corporations, youth and ethnic organizations — to expand learn-to-swim programs across the United States, many of them targeted at inner-city minorities. One of the key participants is black freestyle star Cullen Jones, who hopes to boost his role-model status by winning a medal this summer at the Beijing Olympics.

Nearly 25 Percent of Children Younger Than 5 Are Latino, Census Says - washingtonpost.com

Nearly 25 Percent of Children Younger Than 5 Are Latino, Census Says - washingtonpost.com: Hispanics, the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority group, now account for about one in four children younger than 5 in the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates released today.

The increase from almost one in five in 2000 has broad implications for governments, communities and schools nationwide, suggesting that the meteoric rise in the Hispanic population that demographers forecast for mid-century will occur even sooner among younger generations.

'Hispanics have both a larger proportion of people in their child-bearing years and tend to have slightly more children,' said Jeffrey S. Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center and co-author of a recent study predicting that the Latino population will double from 15 percent today to 30 percent by 2050.

Arizona Bill Would Ban Race-conscious Organizations on Public Campuses

Arizona Bill Would Ban Race-conscious Organizations on Public Campuses: Students attending Arizona’s public schools, community colleges and universities may be restricted from operating race-based organizations on campus following a proposal recently approved by a state legislative panel.

According to media reports, the measure would prohibit the operation of student groups such as the Black Business Students Association (BBSA) at Arizona State University, Native Americans United at Northern Arizona University and other organizations “based in whole or in part on race-based criteria.” Critics of the measure say it threatens diversity-related initiatives and attacks necessary minority student-led organizations. However, Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Scottsdale, a supporter of the new measure, says groups that incorporate ethnic or racial identity are “self-defeating” and “self-destructive” for students.

The measure would also prohibit Arizona public schools from including any courses, classes, or school-sponsored activities deemed contradictory to the values of American democracy or Western civilization. According to various reports, the new proposal stems from a conflict involving an ethnic-studies course in the Tucson area, which some critics have referred to as “separatist” and “unpatriotic.”

Hispanic-Serving Institutions Win Grants To Spur Economic Growth

Hispanic-Serving Institutions Win Grants To Spur Economic Growth: Colleges will receive much-needed funds from a Labor Department program, which works closely with businesses to fill work force gaps.

For some Hispanic-serving institutions, the key to winning grants at the federal level is building strong local relationships that foster partnerships and “out-ofthe- box” thinking about new and innovative services.

The trend is evident at seven HSIs that just won grants of $500,000 to $2 million from the U.S. Department of Labor for expanded work force development efforts. These community colleges are among several dozen new winners of Community-Based Job Training Grants designed to spur employment and local economic growth.

PBIs Make Gains in Washington

PBIs Make Gains in Washington: After years of lobbying for more federal aid and visibility, predominantly Black colleges and universities — many of them located in northern cities — are gaining a greater foothold in Washington.

These colleges, which enroll large numbers of Black students but are not historically Black institutions, will divide $15 million over two years through a new grant competition expected to be formally open for applications soon. Approved under the College Cost Reduction Act, the competitive grants can provide predominantly Black institutions, or PBIs, with a minimum grant of at least $250,000.

“We’ve got a foot in the door. That’s significant,” says Dr. Edison Jackson, president of Medgar Evers College in New York, who long has argued for aid to PBIs. With a Black enrollment of about 94 percent, Jackson’s college would qualify for the new funds.

When I Grow Up, I Want to … Pay Off Student Loans

When I Grow Up, I Want to … Pay Off Student Loans: Sharde Jennings dreams of being a lawyer, but the $65,000 in student loans she acquired to complete her bachelor’s degree has her contemplating teaching or any job that has a loan-forgiveness program. For an increasing number of students like Jennings, their right-out-of-college career choices are being dictated by their loan situation.

College students are graduating with record levels of debt as they’ve come to increasingly rely on student loans to meet their college expenses. The pressure to start repaying these loans is prompting many of them to consider loan forgiveness programs.

Life Expectancy Drops for Some U.S. Women - washingtonpost.com

Life Expectancy Drops for Some U.S. Women - washingtonpost.com: For the first time since the Spanish influenza of 1918, life expectancy is falling for a significant number of American women.

n nearly 1,000 counties that together are home to about 12 percent of the nation's women, life expectancy is now shorter than it was in the early 1980s, according to a study published today.

The downward trend is evident in places in the Deep South, Appalachia, the lower Midwest and in one county in Maine. It is not limited to one race or ethnicity but it is more common in rural and low-income areas. The most dramatic change occurred in two areas in southwestern Virginia (Radford City and Pulaski County), where women's life expectancy has decreased by more than five years since 1983.

The trend appears to be driven by increases in death from diabetes, lung cancer, emphysema and kidney failure. It reflects the long-term consequences of smoking, a habit that women took up in large numbers decades after men did, and the slowing of the historic decline in heart disease deaths.

First Female Dean of Temple University’s Law School Talks of New Plans

First Female Dean of Temple University’s Law School Talks of New Plans: JoAnne Epps was recently named the new dean of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. Epps, a longtime professor at Temple who graduated from Yale University’s law school, is a stalwart academician in the areas of evidence, criminal procedure and trial advocacy. The trial advocacy program at Temple is ranked No. 2 in the nation.

When Dean Epps assumes her post on July 1, she will become the first female dean of Temple’s law school and one of the few African-American female deans at a major law school in the United States. There are four African-American women serving as deans of programs that are members of the American Association of Law Schools.

New Report Highlights Schools That Make Minority Student Success a Priority

New Report Highlights Schools That Make Minority Student Success a Priority: The causes of poor college graduation rates among low-income, first-generation and minority students have pervaded the pages of academic publication for years, while the instances in which African-American students have outperformed their White counterparts in the same area have gone largely undocumented.

According to a new report released by Education Sector, an independent education policy think tank, there are currently 62 colleges and universities where the six-year graduation rates for Black undergraduate students outpace that of their White peers.

Typically, Black students graduate at a lower rate than White students at the same institution. And although Ivy League institutions like Dartmouth and Yale universities have achieved virtual parity as it relates to Black and White graduation rates through selective admissions, others such as Florida State University have worked diligently to develop effective retaining resources and initiatives that empower minority and low-income students to persist.

Ethnic Fraud?

Tribal scholars say some faculty are falsely claiming American Indian heritage to boost their job prospects.

By Mary Annette Pember

For American Indian scholars, securing a job in higher education can sometimes be as simple as checking a box. Most of the country’s colleges and universities do not require proof of tribal enrollment from faculty or staff who identify themselves as American Indians. Students looking to receive financial aid, however, must submit proof that they are members of federally recognized tribes. The question of American Indian identity can be an incendiary one. What does it mean to be an American Indian? Who are the “real” Indians? How are they identified? A recent surge of interest in personal genealogy has made the already complicated question even more troublesome. Many families hand down tales of American Indian ancestry, and the Internet is making it easier for average Americans to discover the truth for themselves. In the 2005 New York Times column, “The Newest Indians,” Jack Hitt suggests that the sudden spike in citizens claiming tribal heritage is a symptom of “ethnic shopping.” The term refers to individuals who wish to change identities and simply don new ethnicities that are more personally comfortable or interesting. But why are American Indians so often the ethnicity of choice among ethnic shoppers?

U-Md. Officials Approve Minor in Latino Studies - washingtonpost.com

U-Md. Officials Approve Minor in Latino Studies - washingtonpost.com: Undergraduates at the University of Maryland at College Park can now graduate with a minor in U.S. Latino studies after school officials yesterday approved the first such minor at a major university in the Washington region.

Students and faculty members, some of whom have been promoting U.S. Latino studies at Maryland's flagship public university for a decade, said they were delighted by the move but said more needs to be done to meet the needs of historically underserved Latino students.

'This is a great first step in a series of bigger steps that need to happen,' said Angel David Nieves, an assistant professor who has been working for years on creating a full U.S. Latino studies program at the university. 'We need to move on and . . . develop the funding necessary to bring the major and the graduate certificate on line.'

Latino studies focuses on the history, culture, literature and the social fabric of Latino communities in the United States. No college or university in the mid-Atlantic region has a U.S. Latino studies program, in part because of historical obstacles that include a lack of funding and debate about whether such content studies constitute legitimate scholarship.

Education Week: Black-White Gap Widens Faster for High Achievers

Education Week: Black-White Gap Widens Faster for High Achievers: New research into what is commonly called the black-white “achievement gap” suggests that the students who lose the most ground academically in U.S. public schools may be the brightest African-American children.

As black students move through elementary and middle school, these studies show, the test-score gaps that separate them from their better-performing white counterparts grow fastest among the most able students and the most slowly for those who start out with below-average academic skills.

“We care about achievement gaps because of their implications for labor-market and socioeconomic-status issues down the line,” said Lindsay C. Page, a Harvard University researcher, commenting on the studies. “It’s disconcerting if the gap is growing particularly high among high-achieving black and white students.”

Disconcerting, but not surprising, said researchers who have studied achievement gaps. Studies have long shown, for instance, that African-American students are underrepresented among the top scorers on standardized tests, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Fewer studies, though, have traced the growth of those gaps among high and low achievers.

AT&T Giving $100 Million to Fight Dropouts - New York Times

AT&T Giving $100 Million to Fight Dropouts - New York Times: AT&T plans to announce a $100 million gift on Thursday intended to address the problem of high school dropouts and to improve the skills of the nation’s work force.

The gift, which will be distributed over four years, is among the largest corporate donations on record, but it is the second $100 million donation announced by a company this year. Last month, Goldman, Sachs & Company announced it would spend at least the same amount over 10 years to advance women’s business education in the developing world.

“We view it like any other investment we make,” said Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive of AT&T Mobility, the company’s wireless operations. “It’s an investment in our future as well as the communities in which we work.”

A recent report by America’s Promise Alliance, a nonprofit started by former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, found that roughly one-third of American high school students, or about 1.2 million people, leave school before graduating.

Additionally, the unemployment rate among Americans with less than a high school education in March was 60 percent higher than among those who completed high school, according to AT&T.

Black Players Drop to 8.2 Percent of Major Leaguers

Black Players Drop to 8.2 Percent of Major Leaguers: Major League Baseball received its best grade for racial diversity in hiring, even as the percentage of Black players dropped again last year.

MLB received its first A- for race Tuesday from Richard Lapchick, director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sports. Its grade was B in last year's study.

Among major leaguers, though, just 8.2 percent were Black players, down from 8.4 percent in 2006 and the lowest level in at least two decades.

'I'm very disappointed by that fact,' said Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie Robinson. 'Competition from other sports is certainly a big factor, but they're many factors. We've got to work on it in terms of getting younger children playing, into the game, and getting communities behind the programs, like the RBI programs and the academies.'

Lapchick released the study on Jackie Robinson Day, the 61st anniversary of when Robinson broke the major league color barrier.

The percentage of Black pitchers remained at 3 percent last year.

'Baseball has probably lost a whole generation here,' Lapchick said. 'African-Americans just aren't playing it at this point. They're going to have to increase their efforts.'

Hispanic-Serving Institutions Win Grants To Spur Economic Growth

Hispanic-Serving Institutions Win Grants To Spur Economic Growth: Colleges will receive much-needed funds from a Labor Department program, which works closely with businesses to fill work force gaps.

For some Hispanic-serving institutions, the key to winning grants at the federal level is building strong local relationships that foster partnerships and “out-ofthe- box” thinking about new and innovative services.

The trend is evident at seven HSIs that just won grants of $500,000 to $2 million from the U.S. Department of Labor for expanded work force development efforts. These community colleges are among several dozen new winners of Community-Based Job Training Grants designed to spur employment and local economic growth.

Gene activity may explain cancer's racial divide

Prostate and breast cancer are more deadly for African Americans than for whites. Now it seems that differences in the activity of key genes may be partly to blame.

Black men in the US are around 60% more likely to develop prostate cancer than their white counterparts, and are more than twice as likely to die from the disease.

In large part, these differences are thought to be due to socioeconomic factors such as access to healthcare. But at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) in San Diego on 15 April, Tiffany Wallace of the US National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, argued that biological differences between the tumours of blacks and whites are also involved.

Wallace and her colleagues used "gene chips" to scan for gene activity in prostate tumours removed from 33 African-American and 36 white patients. There were significant differences between blacks and whites for the activity of more than 160 genes, many of which were involved in regulating the immune system.

These differences could simply reflect greater inflammation in the tumours of African Americans. But given that some of the genes are involved in the production of interferons, one of the body's defences against viruses, the higher incidence of prostate cancer in African Americans could be due to a higher rate of infection with an unknown cancer-causing virus. To test this possibility, the researchers are now looking for viral genes in prostate tumour samples.

Book Lets Latino Dropouts in Rural Areas Tell Their Stories

A new book, Latino Dropouts in Rural America: Realities and Possibilities, allows former high school students from rural communities in Idaho to tell their own stories about why they left school.

It is co-authored by Mary E. Gardiner of the University of Idaho at Boise; Carolyn Hondo, assistant principal and Yolanda Sapien, English as a Second Language teacher, both of Burley High School in Burley and was published in March by State University of New York (SUNY) Press.

Gardiner is professor of educational leadership at the university and is the author of Parent-School Collaboration: Feminist Organizational Structures and School Leadership and the coauthor (with Ernestine Enomoto and Margaret Grogan) of Coloring outside the Lines: Mentoring Women into School Leadership, both also published by SUNY Press.

Hondo was one of Gardiner's students in her multicultural diversity and educational leadership class. She completed a paper on high-school dropout rates, followed by her doctoral dissertation on the subject.

Judging the Moral Character of Black and Hispanic Children

Judging the Moral Character of Black and Hispanic Children: Examining the academic achievement disparities in K-12 education between Black and Hispanic students compared to White and Asian students is not a science, however the study of moral and ethical disparities that exist between the same groups could be groundbreaking and controversial.

In suburban Washington, D.C., the Fairfax County School Board (VA.), one of the nation’s largest school systems, was scheduled to vote Thursday night on whether to accept a staff report that concludes that Black and Hispanic students received lower marks than White and Asian American students because they demonstrate a lack of “sound moral character and ethical judgment,” according to a story in The Washington Post.

The report on student behavior, first presented to the board on March 27, measured the moral-ethical gap by computing the number of third-grade students who received “good” or “outstanding” marks on report cards in areas such as “accepts responsibility,” “listens to and follows directions,” “respects personal and school property,” “complies with established rules,” and “follows through on assignments,” according to The Post.

Addressing Low Representation

Despite 30 years of affirmative action, the faculty profile at the majority of American colleges and universities remains largely White. While first-time Hispanic enrollment in graduate schools increased 5 percent from 1996 to 2006, according to the Council of Graduate Schools, Hispanics still make up a small percentage of minority faculty. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Hispanics made up only 3.4 percent of full-time faculty positions at four-year, degree-granting institutions nationally in 2005.

“We’re helping address the low representation of Latinos in graduate programs as well as the low representation of Latinos in higher education among the faculty ranks,” says Rivera, director of the program. “Our fellows are engaging in community-based initiatives that empower the entire community and strengthen the pipeline.”

One of ENLACE’s first graduates, 38-year-old Michelle DeValdivielso, attempted to obtain her master’s degree a few years before joining the program, but as one of the few women of color enrolled in the senior administration program at National-Louis University, DeValdivielso felt isolated and dropped out. Joining ENLACE in 2001, DeValdivielso had a completely different experience.

Breaking Down Barriers: Women of Color in the Sciences

Breaking Down Barriers: Women of Color in the Sciences: When Angelica Patterson became program manager for the department of environmental science at Barnard College, the undergraduate women’s college of Columbia University, she saw very few fellow women of color in her department.

Now, two years later, “I have noticed a few more faces. I don’t know if it’s because I’m there,” she said. “Those students of color who are interested come to my office.”

Patterson recently convened a panel of prestigious women who work in the sciences to discuss “Breaking Down Barriers: Women and Their Experiences in the Sciences.” The unquestionable consensus was students have to have a support system. “There needs to be people available for students to relate to,” said Patterson.

“It is hard to get reaffirmed. Often you don’t have somebody of similar experience to talk to,” said Dr. Alison Williams, professor of chemistry at Princeton University. “Thank goodness for e-mails and phones, because I have friends and colleagues all over.”

Blacks in Higher Education Meet

Blacks in Higher Education Meet: Houston — “I really feel good” was Dr. Roland Smith’s reaction to a question about the recently held meeting of the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education. Smith is the AABHE’s president and driving force in its restoration after a three-year hiatus.

Many Black higher education professionals doubted that the organization could be revived. This group, as well as its Hispanic counterpart, was a caucus of the now defunct American Association for Higher Education. When that organization folded, the Hispanic group immediately morphed into the now vibrant American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, which recently held its third consecutive national meeting. The Black caucus however had not met until last Friday.

“We’re not interested in competing with our Hispanic brothers. In fact, we have a history of working with the Hispanic, Asian and other caucuses and expect that to continue,” said Smith.

WOMEN REDEFINING LEADERSHIP

WOMEN REDEFINING LEADERSHIP: From the first female president of the American Council on Education to the first female and Hispanic president of Texas A&M University, women have been appointed to a number of high-profile presidencies over the past year. Yet, according to ACE’s “The American College President” report for 2007, women and people of color still occupy comparatively few presidencies. Furthermore, female presidents are largely concentrated at community colleges and least likely to head research universities. But in the following Q&As, female presidents leading a cross section of institutions are represented and speak candidly, offering words of wisdom regarding leadership skills, professional goals and presidential aspirations.

Study: Dyslexia Differs by Language - washingtonpost.com

Study: Dyslexia Differs by Language - washingtonpost.com: WASHINGTON -- Dyslexia affects different parts of children's brains depending on whether they are raised reading English or Chinese. That finding, reported in Monday's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, means that therapists may need to seek different methods of assisting dyslexic children from different cultures.

'This finding was very surprising to us. We had not ever thought that dyslexics' brains are different for children who read in English and Chinese,' said lead author Li-Hai Tan, a professor of linguistics and brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Hong Kong. 'Our finding yields neurobiological clues to the cause of dyslexia.'

Millions of children worldwide are affected by dyslexia, a language-based learning disability that can include problems in reading, spelling, writing and pronouncing words. The International Dyslexia Association says there is no consensus on the exact number because not all children are screened, but estimates range from 8 percent to 15 percent of students.

Tennessee Higher Education Officials Deny Honor For `Freedom Riders’

Tennessee Higher Education Officials Deny Honor For `Freedom Riders’: The rejection by Tennessee higher education officials of a proposal to award honorary degrees to 13 former Tennessee State University students expelled from the college in 1961 because of the students’ participation in the historic freedom rides has stirred criticism of the action from the college’s president, alumni and some state lawmakers.

“I never imagined the request would be voted down,” said Melvin N. Johnson, president of Tennessee State, referring to the 7-5-1 vote last week by the Tennessee Board of Regents to reject the honorary degree proposal. It was made by Johnson, at the suggestion of several alumni and Nashville civic leaders, including retired Nashville newspaper publisher John Seigenthaler, a top civil rights enforcement official of the Justice Department during the Kennedy administration.

King - About the Show - History.com

King - About the Show - History.com: Forty years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at age 39, a new History™ special, KING, with newsman Tom Brokaw, takes viewers on an unprecedented journey back in time and forward to today. KING goes beyond the legend to delve into the man, the questions, the myths and, most importantly, the relevance of Dr. King's message in today's world.

In a rare television interview, Dr. King's son Martin Luther King III shares his memories and thoughts about his father in the special. In an insightful conversation with Brokaw, he talks about how he carries his father's torch today by leading a new campaign against poverty called "Realizing the Dream." During the interview, he takes Brokaw into the field to show him the devastating poverty still plaguing our nation.

Some of Dr. King's closest confidants draw viewers inside his mind as he led the civil rights movement; and others from public life and entertainment speak about his indelible influence on their lives. Among those interviewed in the special are Andrew Young, Former President Bill Clinton, Harry Belafonte, Chuck D, Forest Whitaker, Rep. John Lewis and many others.

GAO Releases Report on Successful Programs for At-risk Youth

GAO Releases Report on Successful Programs for At-risk Youth: A Government Accountability Office study, “Disconnected Youth,” found that there are a number of common characteristics among programs that successfully reconnect youth who have been disengaged from school and employment.

The GAO studied 39 successful youth programs and found that they share commonalities in four areas: staff and leadership, holistic comprehensive services, program design components and youth empowerment.

According to the study, successful programs have staff and leadership that develop sound relationships with young people and garner community support; provide counseling, health services, child care and housing assistance to their participants; provide a self-paced and hands-on curriculum that offers incentives for attaining educational goals; and empower youth through high expectations, clear rules on behavior, and encourage active participation in the process.

Programs that followed this model were successful in helping disconnected youth become independent adults through education and employment."

Cultivating Student Leaders of Color on Majority Campuses

Cultivating Student Leaders of Color on Majority Campuses: To foster an inclusive leadership environment for women and students of color, student affairs representatives must develop both formal and informal relationships with prospective student leaders to create a welcoming and inclusive environment, said Stephanie Ray, associate dean of students at Georgia Institute of Technology, during a presentation at the American College Personnel Association's annual conference in Atlanta.

“Women and underrepresented students have different challenges than those who’ve traditionally held student leadership positions. As advisors, we need to recognize those challenges and help them think through the process,” Ray said.

African American students at predominately White institutions develop coping skills to deal with the added stress of racial tensions. According to recent research, these students are more likely to cope by avoiding tensions, as opposed to using a communicative effort to deal with the situation.

“Women and underrepresented students need more interaction with faculty and staff [of all colors], and these interactions need to be different. Students respond well when individuals ask questions and show concern,” Ray said.

Just the Stats: Science Foundation Program Producing Results

More than 200,000 students from underrepresented populations have so far participated in a program started by the National Science Foundation to increase minority representation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, according to the foundation.

Although official figures have not yet been released on the percentage increase in participation, the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program graduated 25,309 students in the 2006 academic year of which 12,454 were Hispanic students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline.

LSAMP Program Director A. James Hicks says some of the growth is related to an increase in participating campuses. In 1990-91, before NSF stepped in to support the fledgling program, there were fewer than 4,000 STEM graduates in six “alliances” — a conglomerate of academia, government, industry, and other organizations in various regions. Today, there are 38 alliances across the nation.

Hispanic Americans have benefited from the program, according to LSAMP. In 2001-2002, Hispanics represented 49 percent of graduates in the LSAMP program. The biggest gains were in Engineering (3,703 students or 55 percent of total graduates) and Mathematics (3,461 students or 43.2 percent) degrees. They represented 48.8 percent of total graduates in Life Sciences and 39 percent of total graduates in Computer Science. However, they substantially lag (1 percent or lower) in Physics/Astronomy, and Environmental Science.

Immigrants More Likely to Commit Suicide After Divorce, Study Finds

A study of Riverside County residents co-authored by a team of sociologists found that divorced immigrants are more than twice as likely to commit suicide as native-born Americans who are divorced.

The study published in Archives of Suicide Research in March was co-authored by Augustine J. Kposowa, a sociology professor at the University of California at Riverside UCR, Riverside County Sheriff’s Capt. James P. McElvain, who holds a Ph.D. in sociology from UCR, and sociology professor Kevin D. Breault of Middle Tennessee State University.

They also found that the longer immigrants lived in the United States, the less likely they were to kill themselves.

The authors said the findings, based on death records and census reports, indicate that policies aimed at reducing suicide should address depression, anxiety and acculturation-stress problems in immigrant communities, especially among new arrivals.

ESPN Documentary on the HBCU Athletes Who Desegregated College Sports Scores Big

The stories of Black athletes integrating professional sports are legendary. Names like Jackie Robinson, Althea Gibson and Lee Elder are known throughout the cosmos as pioneers for justice and equality.

Little, however, was known about the integration of college basketball until ESPN’s groundbreaking documentary, “Black Magic,” chronicled the lives of former players and coaches that worked to desegregate the collegiate athletic conferences.

Televised commercial free, March 16 and 17, “Black Magic,” drew a 1.3 household rating, watched by an average of 1.2 million households, making it the ESPN’s most-watched documentary ever. The film documents the injustices faced by Black college athletes during the civil rights movement as told through the lives of basketball players and coaches from that period.

Perry Wallace, the first Black basketball player to play in the Southeastern Conference, remembered vividly his days in Tennessee as a Vanderbilt Commodore. Some days, says Wallace, were pleasant. Others, he admits, were frightening.

“When you played in the stadiums of the Mississippi and Alabama schools, you encountered a hostile crowd of thousands screaming racial epithets: nigger, coon, all the old-fashioned stuff. I received hate letters. My life was threatened,” says Wallace, who played from 1967-1970.

The Southeastern Conference was established in 1932, when the 13 members of the Southern Conference left to form their own conference. Ten teams make up the SEC including: the University of Alabama, Auburn University, the University of Mississippi, Mississippi State University and University of Tennessee.

At Diversifying Colleges Tenure Still a Hurdle for Women, Minorities

At Diversifying Colleges Tenure Still a Hurdle for Women, Minorities: ... Lezli Baskerville, president of the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), said historically Black colleges and universities have a successful model to achieve a diverse professoriate.

Close to 48 percent of HBCU faculty come from diverse racial backgrounds, said Baskerville, adding that approximately 52 percent of the faculty at HBCUs are Black, 33 percent are White, 7 percent are Asian American and 3 percent are Hispanic.

Baskerville recommended putting pressure on state and federal legislatures to shift funding away from colleges and universities that are not giving priority to diversifying their faculties and allocating these funds to institutions, such as HBCUs, that have diverse faculties.

However, although HBCUs by their very nature have diverse student bodies and faculties, the pipeline to the professorship for women and minorities is not working, said Dr. Catherine Hill, director of research for the American Association of University Women.

Many Muslims Turn to Home Schooling - New York Times

Many Muslims Turn to Home Schooling - New York Times: LODI, Calif. — Like dozens of other Pakistani-American girls here, Hajra Bibi stopped attending the local public school when she reached puberty, and began studying at home.

Her family wanted her to clean and cook for her male relatives, and had also worried that other American children would mock both her Muslim religion and her traditional clothes.

“Some men don’t like it when you wear American clothes — they don’t think it is a good thing for girls,” said Miss Bibi, 17, now studying at the 12th-grade level in this agricultural center some 70 miles east of San Francisco. “You have to be respectable.”

Across the United States, Muslims who find that a public school education clashes with their religious or cultural traditions have turned to home schooling. That choice is intended partly as a way to build a solid Muslim identity away from the prejudices that their children, boys and girls alike, can face in schoolyards. But in some cases, as in Ms. Bibi’s, the intent is also to isolate their adolescent and teenage daughters from the corrupting influences that they see in much of American life.

Harlem to Antarctica for Science, and Pupils - New York Times

Harlem to Antarctica for Science, and Pupils - New York Times: ... Dr. Pekar had found just the person for his Antarctica team: a talented, intrepid African-American teacher to be a role model for minority science students.

“I’m tired of having a bunch of white people running around doing science,” said Dr. Pekar, who is white. “When it comes to Antarctica, it isn’t just the landscape that’s white.”

Dr. Pekar wants to get more American students, and particularly more minority students, excited about science. Many studies show teenagers across the United States lagging in math and science scores behind their peers in other industrialized countries.

“These kids don’t have the role models, or the environment, that shows them what the possibilities are,” he said. “I want Shakira Brown’s students to be able to live this experience through her. I want them to be thinking like scientists — like lovers of life.”

The trip is sponsored by the National Science Foundation, which sends about 300 scientists to Antarctica each year. Tom Wagner, director of earth sciences for the program, estimates that perhaps three or four African-Americans have joined that research effort.

Relatively few African-Americans, Hispanics and American Indians work in the earth sciences, Dr. Wagner said, adding that the foundation was working to bring greater diversity to the field.

Many Potential Leaders of Tomorrow Reject the Role - washingtonpost.com

Many Potential Leaders of Tomorrow Reject the Role - washingtonpost.com: A new nationwide survey of girls and boys found that a majority of children and youths in the United States have little or no interest with achieving leadership roles when they become adults, ranking 'being a leader' behind other goals such as 'fitting in,' 'making a lot of money' and 'helping animals or the environment.'

The study commissioned by the Girl Scouts of the USA and released today determined that three-quarters of African American girls and boys and Hispanic girls surveyed already identify themselves as leaders, a much larger group than white youths, about half of whom think of themselves this way.

The youths defined leaders as people who prize collaboration, stand up for their beliefs and values, and try to improve society. Girls in particular endorsed these approaches, although a majority of boys did, as well. Yet when asked in focus groups about leadership styles among adults, what they described was traditional top-down management.

Judy Schoenberg, research director for the Girl Scouts, said the youths in the survey "see a disconnect between what they aspire to and what is."

11 Black Head Coaches are in The 2008 NCAA National Tournament

11 Black Head Coaches are in The 2008 NCAA National Tournament: This year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship field of 65 has 11 teams lead by Black head coaches. Approximately 63 percent of all male Division I basketball players are Black, while Blacks represent 17 percent of the head coaches in this year’s field of 65.

The 11 Black head coaches who made it into the 2008 NCAA Basketball National Championship are:

Dennis Felton – University of Georgia

Ernie Kent – University of Oregon

Frank Haith – University of Miami

James Green – Mississippi Valley State University

Jeff Capel – University of Oklahoma

John Thompson III – Georgetown University

Milan Brown – Mount Saint Mary’s University

Oliver Purnell – Clemson University

Randy Monroe – University of Maryland Baltimore County

Ron Mitchell – Coppin State University

Trent Johnson – Stanford University

Blacks Were Improperly Kept Off La. Jury, High Court Rules - washingtonpost.com

Blacks Were Improperly Kept Off La. Jury, High Court Rules - washingtonpost.com: The Supreme Court yesterday reversed the conviction of a Louisiana death row inmate, ruling that a prosecutor improperly excluded African Americans from the jury in what he had called his 'O.J. Simpson case.'

The court's 7 to 2 decision means a new trial for Allen Snyder, who was sentenced to death in 1996 after being convicted of killing his estranged wife's boyfriend and seriously wounding her.

Former Jefferson Parish prosecutor James Williams, who was known for persuading juries to sentence murderers to death, compared Snyder's case to Simpson's both in and outside court and told jurors during the sentencing phase of Snyder's trial that Simpson "got away with it.

The court's opinion, written by Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., did not mention the Simpson remarks but focused narrowly on whether Williams had improperly excluded blacks from the jury.

Snyder's lawyer, Stephen B. Bright of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, said the decision is an important reinforcement of the court's position that judges have an obligation to scrutinize why lawyers reject potential jurors.

Is separate ... more equal? Tackle boys' learning gap with academic focus

PERSPECTIVE

... A complex array of gender equity concerns has led some educators to consider single-sex public education as one way to address the disparate experiences and outcomes of girls and boys. Urban educators in particular began exploring single-sex education for boys left behind.

The majority of these boys are African-American and Hispanic, a compelling rationale for innovation given the preponderance of literature that these boys are in academic and socio-economic crisis.

The 2006 Delaware State Testing Program 10th-grade reading proficiency scores are 47 percent for black boys, 52 percent for Hispanic boys, and 85 percent for white boys -- a gap of almost 40 percent.

Black girls score at 69 percent, Hispanic girls at 52 percent, and white girls at 91 percent.

The 10th-grade writing proficiency scores put black boys at 52 percent, Hispanic boys at 60 percent, and white boys at 81 percent.

Black girls score at 73 percent, Hispanic girls at 61 percent, and white girls at 91 percent proficiency in writing.

The 10th-grade math proficiency scores put black boys at 28 percent, Hispanic boys at 48 percent, and white boys at 80 percent -- a gap of more than 50 percent.

Black girls score at 50 percent, Hispanic girls at 42 percent, and white girls at 78 percent in math.

Several studies found that students in single-sex schools devoted more time to homework, had higher aspirations for academic and educational achievement, and wanted to be remembered for their scholastic abilities rather than leadership in activities or popularity.

NPR: Racism and Family Secrets in 'Mudbound'

NPR: Racism and Family Secrets in 'Mudbound': Morning Edition, March 14, 2008 Hillary Jordan's first novel, Mudbound, is a story of racism and well-kept secrets. Set on a desolate farm in the Mississippi Delta at the end of World War II, the novel explores the complex relations between two families: the owners of the land, and the sharecroppers who live and work on it.

The novel earned Jordan the Bellwether Prize for fiction, an award founded by author Barbara Kingsolver to promote literature of social responsibility. The cash prize and publishing contract is awarded bi-annually to an unpublished author.

Kingsolver says Mudbound is a beautifully written novel that examines the roots of racism through the distinct voices of its characters.

NPR: Black Players' Struggles Find Voice in 'Black Magic'

NPR: Black Players' Struggles Find Voice in 'Black Magic': All Things Considered, March 15, 2008 In March 1944, basketball players from the North Carolina College for Negroes played a secret game against military medical students from Duke University.

Rabid segregation kept the teams from playing together in public, and by the end of the clandestine matchup, the North Carolina players had soundly beaten Duke, 88-44.

The secret game was just one of the historic incidents featured in a new ESPN documentary about early African-American basketball pioneers and the historically black colleges and universities that nurtured them. Black Magic tells the stories of many of the players who gradually broke through the barriers of segregation and racism and set the standard for the basketball stars of today.

John McLendon coached the North Carolina team in 1944. His widow, Joanna, remembers that the experience was unique for students throughout segregated America.

'Some of his players had never had any contact with whites before. Some of them had never touched a white person to shake hands,' she recalls.

Black Magic co-producer Earl Monroe, who was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history, says the historic 1944 game wasn't an isolated incident.

Virginia Hispanic Population Triples in 16 Years

Virginia’s Hispanic population tripled from 1990 to 2006, to more than 460,000 or 6 percent of the population, according to a study released Feb. 25 by the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

The study of Virginia’s Hispanics analyzes United States Census Bureau data to describe growth trends, characteristics and life in Virginia for resident Hispanics.

Qian Cai, director of the Cooper Center’s Demographics and Workforce section and author of the study, said the study shows that “Virginia’s Hispanic population is complex, varied and deeply engaged in significant sectors of the Virginia economy, and Hispanic presence in the overall population is likely to increase in future years. A thorough understanding of the population’s composition and characteristics provides a foundation for sound policy deliberations.”

He said the study found that 60 percent of Hispanics in Virginia are U.S. citizens, the majority U.S.-born, and 13 percent naturalized, and that “adult Hispanic citizens surpass Virginians overall in both educational attainment and household income.”

Minorities cite health care disparities

WASHINGTON — Minorities are more likely than white patients to rate their health care as fair or poor, a view that is particularly true among Chinese-Americans, Vietnamese-Americans and blacks born in Africa.

Researchers have long stressed that improving patients' perception of their care is important to improving outcomes. That's because negative experiences can lead to less time spent with a physician and poor communications between doctor and patient.

To get a more detailed view of the differing perceptions that patients have, researchers at Harvard University and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation surveyed 4,334 adults last year. The researchers asked patients such questions as how quickly they were able to get an appointment the last time they were sick and whether their doctor explained things in a way the patient could understand. The researchers found that whites routinely rated their experience higher than did the minority patients, who still had largely favorable views of their care.

For example, 91% of whites rated their care as excellent or good. That percentage fell for most ethnic groups, with the lowest ratings recorded among Chinese-Americans, 74%; African-Americans born in Africa, 73%; and Vietnamese-Americans, 72%.

When it came to getting an appointment, about 63% of whites were able to get an appointment on the same day or the next day after they became sick or injured. That percentage dropped to 42% for Cuban-Americans and 39% for African-Americans born in the Caribbean.

Population Shift Sends Universities Scrambling - washingtonpost.com

Population Shift Sends Universities Scrambling - washingtonpost.com: Colleges and universities are anxiously taking steps to address a projected drop in the number of high school graduates in much of the nation starting next year and a dramatic change in the racial and ethnic makeup of the student population, a phenomenon expected to transform the country's higher education landscape, educators and analysts said.

After years of being overwhelmed with applicants, higher education institutions will over the next decade recruit from a pool of public high school graduates that will experience:

- A projected national decline of roughly 10 percent or more in non-Hispanic white students, the population that traditionally is most likely to attend four-year colleges.

- A double-digit rise in the proportion of minority students -- especially Hispanics -- who traditionally are less likely to attend college and to obtain loans to fund education.

Despite those obstacles, minority enrollment at undergraduate schools is expected to rise steadily, from 30 percent in 2004 to about 37 percent in 2015, some analysts project.

For Hispanic Leaders, College Affordability Is Top Concern

For Hispanic Leaders, College Affordability Is Top Concern: A panel of Hispanic college and university presidents said affordability is greatly affecting Hispanic students’ access to college and offered suggestions for boosting public investment in higher education at a plenary session at the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education’s annual meting.

Time and again the speakers, Dr. Max Castillo, president of the University of Houston’s downtown campus, Dr. Ricardo Fern�ndez, president of Lehman College at the City University of New York and Dr. Marcelina V�lez-Santiago, president of the Pontificia Universidad Cat�lica de Puerto Rico, came back to the issue of affordability.

Castillo described one of the “seismic transformations” in higher education affecting access as the disinvestment of the government in higher education. No matter the state, “it’s not unusual to go into a legislative session and continuously defend your school,” he said in his presentation to the large crowd of Hispanic graduate students, faculty and administrators.

Just the Stats: Science Foundation Program Producing Results

Just the Stats: Science Foundation Program Producing Results: More than 200,000 students from underrepresented populations have so far participated in a program started by the National Science Foundation to increase minority representation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, according to the foundation.

Although official figures have not yet been released on the percentage increase in participation, the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) program graduated 25,309 students in the 2006 academic year of which 12,454 were Hispanic students graduating with a bachelor’s degree in a STEM discipline.

LSAMP Program Director A. James Hicks says some of the growth is related to an increase in participating campuses. In 1990-91, before NSF stepped in to support the fledgling program, there were fewer than 4,000 STEM graduates in six “alliances” — a conglomerate of academia, government, industry, and other organizations in various regions. Today, there are 38 alliances across the nation.

AP Course Access and Scores Improve for Hispanics in Some States

Although Hispanic students have continued to close the “equity and excellence gap” in 15 states in the Advanced Placement courses, gaps persist in California and Texas, two of the biggest states with a high percentage of Hispanics in their population, the College Board reveals in its annual AP Report to the Nation.

While more minority students are entering AP classrooms, significant gaps remain, the College Board reports. In California, for instance, where Hispanics make up 37 percent of the student population, 30.7 percent of the Hispanic students scored three or higher in the tests. In Texas, the margin was lower with 32.6 percent of Hispanic students scoring three or higher. In that state, Hispanics are 36.5 percent of the student population in public schools.

“More students from varied backgrounds are accomplishing their AP goals, but we can’t afford to believe equity has been achieved until demographics of successful AP participation and performance are identical to the demographics of the overall student population,” says College Board President Gaston Caperton.

There was little discrepancy between AP exam enrollment rates and overall enrollment rates for Hispanic and White students, while Asian American students represented a disproportionately higher number of AP exam enrollees.

America Fails To Meet Justice Goals 40 Years After Kerner

America Fails To Meet Justice Goals 40 Years After Kerner: Over the last 40 years, America has failed to make significant progress on poverty, inequality, racial injustice and crime, according to a report that updates the 1968 report of the Kerner Commission, the bipartisan National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders.

In commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the Kerner Commission, convened to respond to a wave of riots that engulfed communities of color from 1963 to 1967, the Eisenhower Foundation published a report to update the commission’s 40-year-old findings. The foundation is a nonprofit group that continues the work of the National Advisory Commission.

The report revealed that 37 million Americans live in poverty and another 46 million Americans are without health insurance. While poverty among African-Americans has declined, poor African-Americans are three times as likely and poor Hispanics twice as likely as non-Hispanic Whites to live in deep poverty, half below the poverty line. Nearly 44 percent of Black female-headed households with children under 18 were impoverished in 2006.

Georgia's first black police officers may take pension battle to court - CNN.com

Georgia's first black police officers may take pension battle to court - CNN.com: ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- A 'whites only' sign was still hanging on the precinct house water fountain in 1964 when James Booker joined the suburban College Park police force.

He soon learned it wasn't the only thing off limits to Georgia's new black recruits.

Until 1976, black officers were blocked from joining a state-supported supplemental police retirement fund.

Today, white officers who entered the fund before that year are taking home hundreds of dollars more every month in retirement benefits than their black counterparts.

The now-retired black officers have been lobbying hard to change that, but eight years after they began an effort to amend the state constitution and give them credit for those lost years is stalled in the Legislature.

The Georgia Constitution prohibits the state from extending new benefits to public employees after they have retired.

Exhibit Preserves Pursuit Of Liberty - washingtonpost.com

Exhibit Preserves Pursuit Of Liberty - washingtonpost.com: An exhibit of hundreds of rare artifacts unearthed in Annapolis over the past 27 years shows that the quest for freedom by African Americans is as much a part of the city's history as the fight for liberty by the wealthy property owners who rebelled against the British.

A central theme of the exhibit, which opens Tuesday, is 'the quest of African Americans to create and preserve their integrity and to establish their freedom in a slave society,' said Mark Leone, a University of Maryland anthropology professor who directs the Archaeology in Annapolis project, a partnership that, through the years, has involved the university, the city's Banneker-Douglass Museum, the City of Annapolis and the Historic Annapolis Foundation.

The items, which the project has discovered in about 40 digs since 1981 with more than 350 students, professors and others at the university, will be on public display together for the first time in 'Seeking Liberty: Annapolis, an Imagined Community' at the museum. The exhibit will be the largest archaeological display ever at the museum, the state's official repository for African American material culture.

Free Lunch Isn’t Cool, So Some Students Go Hungry - New York Times

Free Lunch Isn’t Cool, So Some Students Go Hungry - New York Times: ... San Francisco school officials are looking at ways to encourage more poor students to accept government-financed meals, including the possibility of introducing cashless cafeterias where all students are offered the same food choices and use debit cards or punch in codes on a keypad so that all students check out at the cashier in the same manner.

Only 37 percent of eligible high school students citywide take advantage of the subsidized meal program. But the stigma of accepting a government lunch, while others are paying for food from a different menu, is not unique to San Francisco. It is a problem many school districts across the country have been quietly confronting with mixed results, education and school nutrition officials said.