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A Deep-Rooted History Of Activism Stirs In College Football | In football, a sport that demands military-style discipline and singular focus, there's ample precedent for speaking out against the status quo. What happened at the University of Missouri in recent days, with African-American football players calling for a boycott with the support of coaches, is dramatic, but it's the kind of action that was quite common around 50 years ago, according to historian Lane Demas, a professor at Central Michigan University. "There's a three-year period of roughly 1967 to 1970 when there really was a wave of black football protest that coincided with kind of the general student movement on college campuses," Demas says. Demas wrote a book called Integrating The Gridiron: Black Civil Rights In American College Football. Demas says two late '60s protests were particularly significant. One in October 1969 at the University of Wyoming. "All 14 of the team's black players were dismissed by the coach, basically kicked off the team, because they wanted to wear armbands in a game against Brigham Young University, protesting discrimination at BYU and discrimination in the Mormon church," he says. Wyoming was unbeaten and ranked 12th in the nation when the so-called Black 14 were cut. The players sued and ultimately lost. Most left the university. Nearly a decade after the protest, the church changed the policy players had protested. But Demas says there was still a period of time when African-American athletes tried to avoid the University of Wyoming. The Black 14 became a rallying cry for other players — San Jose State athletes wore black armbands in solidarity. It had been two years earlier, says Demas, that the San Jose team was in the news for speaking out. "They pointed to racism in the campus Greek system at San Jose State, they pointed to racism at local businesses off-campus and they threatened basically to shut down the opening football game of the season," he says. But San Jose State's president beat them to it. He canceled the game, which The New York Times at that time called unprecedented: the first college game canceled due to racial unrest. Certainly big-time college football in the '60s wasn't the economic powerhouse it's become today. But Demas says the impact of the protests around 50 years ago shows college football was just as much a cultural force as the modern game. While Missouri isn't a watershed moment, it's important, he says, especially if it becomes part of a sustained organized movement — and there are indications it's not an isolated event. Last season, when Arkansas running back Jonathan Williams scored a touchdown against Missouri, he dropped the ball and raised his hands. The gesture was the "hands up, don't shoot" protest often seen after the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. And there have been other instances of athlete activism, including the recent attempt by football players at Northwestern University to unionize. It's uncertain where these actions will lead. What is known: there's a strong connection to the past, when athletes exercised a power off the field as well. | NPR's Anne Hawke reports on a Tennessee case going before the Supreme Court today. The case involves recruiting violations by Brentwood Academy in Nashville, Tennessee in trying to woo junior high schoolers to their gridiron. ( | kor_Hang | 19,600 |
Colin Kaepernick's Long Legal Battle With The NFL Is Over | David Greene talks to Jemele Hill of <em>The Atlantic</em> about the NFL's settlement with Colin Kaepernick, who claimed team owners conspired to blacklist him for taking a knee during the national anthem. | -- Host Bob Edwards talks with NPR's Nina Totenberg about an unusual out-of-court settlement in a civil rights case that was scheduled to be heard by the Supreme Court in January. Civil rights groups have agreed to pay a substantial portion of the settlement in a case which tests voluntary affirmative action... A white teacher sued the Piscataway, New Jersey school system for racial discrimination. The teacher was laid off while an equally qualified black teacher was kept on. | eng_Latn | 19,601 |
Sue for Gender Discrimination in Athletics | Gender discrimination in athletics is prohibited in educational institutions receiving federal funds under Title IX. This law covers almost all high schools and universities, both public and private, and makes it illegal to offer fewer athletic opportunities or financial opportunities to one gender than another. | Do you hate having to run top speed laps in your 1-hour gym class? Do you want to finally get a break from gruelling sports that are so tiring you feel like passing out? | eng_Latn | 19,602 |
These parents are a bunch of pussy ass crybabies. As a Lincoln student I personally know that approxametilie 80% of he school is white. Pat Adelman had every right to get mad at the players for being racist themselves. The parents are to blame, as they need to pull the stick out of their ass | If the racist president uses his platform to call them sons of bitches, and illegally call for their employers to fire them, during a Klan rally the players certainly have every right to respond. | "Dumb parents ruining it for the rest of the players, students and community."
Your comment makes an assumption that is no longer true - that football supplies a mutal benefit to a given player, the other players, students and the community.
Football has become a very, very valuable brass ring at the hiigh schoool level.
Worth between $80,000 and $300,000. The value of a 4 year ride at a University, including tuition, room and board.
If you accept the value numbers as true, can you ask ANY family or kid to give up a chance at $80,000 - $300,000 in value in sacrifice for another kid? Other students? Or the community?
What if they do, and then forfeit a legitimate shot at $80,000-$300,000? Will those other interests or entities cover?
The problem is a system that makes it a $80,000-$300,000 proposition.
That's what has to change. Until then, you really can't blame people (especially those ill-equipped or not trained to think differently) from reaching for the brass ring. | eng_Latn | 19,603 |
Schools admit E-rate slip-ups, defends actions | Atlanta Public Schools officials Friday admitted a few missteps but denied major failings in their spending of $60 million of federal technology subsidies. | A top Air Force attorney was quickly notified 2 1/2 years ago about a letter alleging that rapes were going unpunished at the Air Force Academy, but she later told investigators she learned of the letter more than a year later, according to a published report. | eng_Latn | 19,604 |
For Struggling Black College, Hopes of a Revival | Wiley College is suddenly feeling the glow of celebrity with the release of a film about the schoolâs debating team. | WEDNESDAY, Sept. 22 (HealthDayNews) -- There's no racial distinction when it comes to depression in the homebound elderly, says a new study in the October issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. | eng_Latn | 19,605 |
School Bus Driver Fired for Stem Cell Talk | An elementary school bus driver was fired after sharing a statistic she had read about embryonic stem cell research with students, then encouraging them to tell their parents about it. | Was it a pro-drug banner or just a silly joke? Either way, the Supreme Court says it isn't protected by the First Amendment, setting a new (but fair) limit on student free speech | eng_Latn | 19,606 |
Arguments conclude in evolution sticker trial | Attorneys in a lawsuit challenging evolution disclaimers on biology textbooks in a suburban school district made closing arguments today in Atlanta before a federal judge. | Was it a pro-drug banner or just a silly joke? Either way, the Supreme Court says it isn't protected by the First Amendment, setting a new (but fair) limit on student free speech | eng_Latn | 19,607 |
Students Paths to Small Colleges Can Bypass SAT | Many liberal arts colleges have made admissions exams like the SAT and ACT optional. | Was it a pro-drug banner or just a silly joke? Either way, the Supreme Court says it isn't protected by the First Amendment, setting a new (but fair) limit on student free speech | eng_Latn | 19,608 |
Students Sue to Delay Admission of Men | Claiming they were deceived about attending a women's school, two Wells College students are suing to prevent the school from admitting men until after this year's freshman class graduates. | p2pnet.net News:- Increasing numbers of schools across the US are giving in to virtual blackmail. They're allowing the entertainment industry to turn their institutions into marketing and distribution outlets | eng_Latn | 19,609 |
Giving the Law a Religious Perspective | The Rev. Jerry Falwell's Liberty University is part of a movement around the nation that brings a religious perspective to the law. | Also: Sneaky DNA analysis to be outlawed. Read these stories and more from around the Web on News.com Extra. | eng_Latn | 19,610 |
U.S. court sides with Native Hawaiian school | A private school for Native Hawaiians may favor applicants based on their race, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday, citing the unique history and relationship between Hawaii and the United States. | By Heather Rutz, The Lima News, Ohio Feb. 2--LIMA -- A piece of property the Eastern Shawnee of Oklahoma have secured for a possible casino is significant in several ways. It's next to land that was the tribe's last reservation in Ohio. | eng_Latn | 19,611 |
Clovis People Not First Americans, Study Shows | The distinctive culture that arrived via a land bridge between Asia and Alaska were not the first people in the New World, new radiocarbon analysis suggests. | Was it a pro-drug banner or just a silly joke? Either way, the Supreme Court says it isn't protected by the First Amendment, setting a new (but fair) limit on student free speech | eng_Latn | 19,612 |
, and refusing military service and blood transfusions . | They are also well known for refusing to join armies and refusing blood transfusions . | Members can not apply for higher Degrees , and the requirements for each degree are not open to the public . | eng_Latn | 19,613 |
South Carolina has more than 100 schools offering single sex classes . | By . Associated Press . PUBLISHED: . 03:16 EST, 9 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 04:51 EST, 9 July 2012 . Robin Gilbert didn't set out to confront gender stereotypes when she split up the boys and girls at her elementary school in rural southwestern Idaho. But that's exactly what happened, with her Middleton Heights Elementary now among dozens of public schools nationwide being targeted by the American Civil Liberties Union in a bitter struggle over whether single-sex learning should be continued. Under pressure, single-sex programs have been dropped at schools from Missouri to Louisiana. 'It doesn't frustrate me,' Gilbert said of the criticism, 'but it makes the work harder.' Segregation: Increasing numbers of schools are splitting up boys and girls as research shows that classes can be better tailored to the needs of each gender . While Gilbert's school is believed to be the only one in Idaho offering single-sex classes, the movement is widespread in states like South Carolina, which has more than 100 schools that offer some form of a single-gender program. Single-sex classes began proliferating after the U.S. Education Department relaxed restrictions in 2006. Margaret Spellings was the Secretary of Education from 2005 to 2009 under the administration of George W. Bush. With research showing boys, particularly minority boys, are graduating at lower rates than girls and faring worse on tests, plenty of schools were paying attention. In 2002, only about a dozen schools were separating the sexes, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, an advocacy group. Now, an estimated 500 public schools across the country offer some all-boy and all-girl classrooms. Same-sex classes increased under the administration of George Bush, left, while Margaret Spellings, right, was Secretary of Education . Proponents argue the separation allows for a tailored instruction and cuts down on gender-driven distractions among boys and girls, such as flirting. But critics decry the movement as promoting harmful gender stereotypes and depriving kids of equal educational opportunities. The ACLU claims many schools offer the classes in a way that conflicts with the U.S. Constitution and Title IX, a federal law banning sex discrimination in education. Researchers also have weighed in. Diane F. Halpern, a former president of the American Psychological Association, co-authored a review of studies last fall in the journal Science that found research doesn't support the benefits of single-sex education. Additionally, there are lots of problems whenever you segregate people into groups, Halpern said. 'Stereotyping increases so we really do have lots of data that says it's just not supported,' she said. However, proponents have put out their own studies, showing the benefits of separating students. Middleton Heights Elementary cited the research when it first piloted single-sex classes in a few grades. The goal was to address the struggles boys were having in reading. Targeted: One single sex classroom allowed teachers to address the struggles boys were having reading (file picture) The idea proved so popular that single-sex classes have expanded throughout the school. Parents can opt out, a choice required by law, if they want their kids in a traditional coed classroom. In the single-sex classes, teachers use microphones that allow them to electronically adjust the tone of their voice to match the level that research suggests is best for boys. When preparing for a test, the boys may go for a run, or engage in some other activity, while the girls are more likely to do calming exercises, such as yoga. On a recent tour, Gilbert peeked into a classroom of third grade boys, who had decorated their walls with a camping theme, complete with construction paper campfires and a sign that read 'fishing for books.' Next door, the third-grade girls opted for an 'under the sea' motif. When they spotted Gilbert in their classroom door way, a few of the girls jumped from their seats and ran to give her a quick embrace. They learn the same curriculum, they still lunch and play at recess together, but the differences in their learning environments are apparent, from the blue chalkboards in the boy classrooms, to the red paper hearts that decorated the wall of one of the girl's classrooms. These environments are driven by student interests and what they're learning at the time, Gilbert said. Dr. Leonard Sax, the founder of the Pennsylvania-based National Association for Single Sex Public Education, contends the movement is about breaking down gender stereotypes, not promoting them. 'We want more girls engaged in robotics and computer programming and physics and engineering,' Sax said in a telephone interview. 'We want more boys engaged in poetry and creative writing and Spanish language.' For advocates like Sax, the increase in this form of learning is exciting, but it's troubling for others. The ACLU launched a national campaign, Teach Kids, Not Stereotypes, in May and sent cease-and-desist letters to school districts in Maine, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia. The group also asked state officials to investigate single-sex programs in Florida, while sending public record requests to schools in another five states, including to Gilbert's school in Idaho. Doug Bonney is legal director of the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, where he successfully challenged single sex classes in Missouri's Adrian R-III School District. He argues there's no proof single-sex classrooms work while there's plenty of evidence they actually enhance gender stereotypes and lead to sexism. 'This isn't the right step to address higher dropout rates by boys,' Bonney said. 'They promote false stereotypes about sex-based differences that don't exist. Promoting sex stereotypes can harm both girls and boys.' Both sides agree the idea is not new and has a long history in private schools. But Galen Sherwin, staff attorney with the ACLU Women's Rights Project, said its history in public schools is much darker and has roots in the South, where it was broadly instituted in an effort to evade the desegregation requirements of Brown v. Board of Education to try 'to prevent black boys from being in the same room as white girls.' 'In the wake of Brown, many schools in the south integrated racially but segregated on the basis of sex,' Sherwin said. Nancy Levit, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, addressed this issue at a meeting of the Association of American Law Schools: 'Think about it, in terms of race,' she said. 'What would people say if the state paid for an all-white school or an all-black school? As long as there was a racial element nobody would have a problem seeing a constitutional difficulty.' The analogy drew a heated reaction from Sax, who argues that a federal judge in Kentucky debunked this notion when ruling last year against parents who tried to block single-sex classes at a Breckenridge County school. Critics like the ACLU are out of line when they draw parallels to Brown v. Board of Education, Sax said. 'Either they're really stupid and not able to grasp what the judge is saying in the ruling, or they're being deliberately misleading,' he said. | (CNN Student News) -- November 11, 2011 . Download PDF maps related to today's show: . South Korea . South Africa . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. | eng_Latn | 19,614 |
Child sex cases reported in Victoria has dramatically increased by 43% in five years .
There is a 90% increase in cases reported where a parent was the alleged perpetrator .
Political leaders welcomes the increased reporting rate . | A surge in child sex abuse cases reported to Victoria Police shows the problem is no longer being swept under the carpet, political leaders say. The number of cases reported annually in Victoria surged 43 per cent in the five years to the 2013/14 financial year. There was also a 90 per cent increase in cases where a parent was the alleged perpetrator. A surge in child sex abuse cases reported to Victoria Police shows the problem is no longer being swept under the carpet, political leaders say . 'I think those figures reflect, on the advice that I have, an increased reporting rate and I welcome an increased reporting rate,' Victorian premier Denis Napthine told reporters on Saturday. 'The increased awareness of child sexual abuse is bringing to the fore cases that were under the carpet, behind closed doors.' Opposition leader Daniel Andrews said it resulted from a new 'culture of extra reporting, courage, transparency, and people feeling safe to come forward and report those despicable crimes'. A justice system overhaul was also needed, Mr Andrews said, and Labor would hold a royal commission into family violence in 2015 should it win the November state election. Fairfax, which published the figures, has also reported concerning trends observed by police and support services. They are seeing more cases of children instigating sexualised behaviour at primary schools, men pretending to be boys online so they can trick girls into exchanging explicit photos, and sexual abuse of girls after arranged marriages. Victorian premier Denis Napthine told reporters that figures reflect an increased reporting rate which is welcomed . The number of cases reported annually in Victoria surged 43 per cent in the five years to the 2013/14 financial year . ere was also a 90 per cent increase in cases where a parent was the alleged perpetrator . | (CNN) -- Clemson University suspended a mandatory online course that asked students and faculty about their sex lives and drinking habits following backlash from the school community. The South Carolina public university started using the third-party online course this semester as part of required "Title IX training" on sexual violence prevention. Questions such as: "How many times have you had sex?" and "With how many different people have you had sex?" raised privacy concerns among students. Clemson junior Machaella Reisman said she appreciates the school's efforts to educate the community on sexual violence prevention, especially in light of recent headlines related to domestic violence in the NFL. But, schools should be able to educate students without asking how many times they've had sex in the past three months, or if drugs or alcohol were involved, Reisman said. "This is not information that I discuss with my friends, let alone information I feel the need to disclose to the school or whoever the third-party source may be," Reisman, 20, told CNN in an email. "As a questionnaire that is supposed to serve the purpose of educating students on gender equality to prevent sexual violence, why should there be questions regarding how much sex a student has had and if they used drugs, alcohol, or a condom?" The controversy comes as schools across the country are experimenting with new approaches to sexual harassment prevention and education to comply with federal law. Sexual violence prevention in higher education has been a concern for schools across the country amid widespread allegations that schools mishandled sexual misconduct incidents in violation of federal law. Mandatory sexual violence education programming is common in schools nationwide. The University of California-Berkeley said this week that at least 500 freshmen could face holds on spring registration if they do not complete mandatory sexual harassment training this semester. The White House launched a task force earlier this year dedicated to the issue, and unveiled a new public awareness and education campaign on Friday called "It's On Us." The program, which President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden announced Friday, aims to engage students and colleges to take active roles in preventing sexual assault on campus. Clemson's Title IX training module was stirring debate on campus as more people started taking it, Reisman said. A Campus Reform article on the program brought the conversation to the national level, prompting Clemson to suspend the program Wednesday pending further "review and revision." "We felt it was important to take those concerns seriously," Shannon Finning, dean of students and associate vice president for Student Affairs, told CNN. "We are very committed to not only meeting federal requirements, but also assuring that we will provide critically important training and education to all members of our community." Reisman also questioned the extent to which her responses would be treated anonymously considering she used her name and student ID number to register for the online course. But Finning said the responses were "captured anonymously" and would not be identifiable by the school or CampusClarity, the vendor that created the module. "At the conclusion, we would gather it in aggregate and it would give us a better picture of campus culture and give us an opportunity to identify additional educational and training needs." The questions were included among other slides related to campus resources and exercises in how to deal with potential scenarios, Finning said. On the whole, the course was intended to address requirements under Title IX to make students aware of resources for dealing with sexual violence and how to report sexual misconduct, she said. Schools that receive federal funding are required under the Violence Against Women Act to provide sexual violence education to new and returning students and employees. Guidance under Title IX issued by the Office for Civil Rights in 2001 and 2014 also makes clear that schools should be providing educational programs on sexual violence to their student body, said Nancy Chi Cantalupo with the professional group Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Surveys are not required by Title IX and VAWA, and schools do not have to purchase surveys or educational programs from third parties, Cantalupo said. There are several models schools can adapt, including White House guidelines. "By designing their own survey, schools can insure that the survey questions are non-invasive" Cantalupo said. | eng_Latn | 19,615 |
Follows complaints from male fliers over men sitting next to their wives .
Airline will include instructions to flight booking staff at Gulf airports .
Saudi Arabia is known for its gender segregation in public places . | Saudi Arabia's national airline is allegedly planning to separate male and female passengers on its flights, in accordance to strict rules enforced by the Gulf kingdom. Gulf media report that Saudia will keep men and women segregated onboard, unless they are close relatives. The move follows a spate of complaints from male fliers unwilling to allow other males to sit next to their wives and other female family members. National carrrier Saudia will keep men and women segregated onboard, unless they are close relatives . Complaints were also recently made when male passengers claimed a flight attendant was being too 'flirty'. 'There are solutions to this problem…we will soon enforce rules that will satisfy all passengers,' Saudia assistant manager for marketing Abdul Rahman Al Fahd, told Saudi daily, Ajel. It is thought that the airline will include instructions to flight booking staff at Gulf airports to keep these new rules in place. The carrier's policies are already in tune to the strict Islamic practices of Saudi Arabia: no alcoholic beverages or pork dishes are served onboard, a prayer of verse from the Quran is read before take off, and many international flights have a designated men's prayer area. In addition, Saudia does not employ Saudi women as cabin crew, opting to recruit women from other countries such as Pakistan, the Philippines, Albania and Bosnia instead. But moves are being made to employ females on the ground in November, the airline opened its fourth women's section staffed by entirely by females at its office in the Murooj district of Saudi capital, Riyadh. There are no alcoholic beverages or pork dishes are served on board. A prayer of verse from the Quran is read before take off, and many international flights have a designated men's prayer area. The airline does not employ Saudi women as cabin crew, opting to recruit women from other countries such as Pakistan, the Philippines, Albania and Bosnia instead. The national airline's policies are already in tune to the strict Islamic practices of Saudi Arabia. File picture . The country is known for its gender segregation, with women requiring a male guardian approval to travel or work outside of the home. In public spaces such as restaurants, beaches, amusement parks or banks, women are required to enter and exit through special doors. Women who are seen socialising with a man who is not a relative can even be charged with committing adultery, fornication or prostitution. The majority of Gulf operated airlines abide by Islamic laws, but vary over strictness. For example United Emirates carrier, Etihad's new A380 aircraft includes a prayer area in Business class, but the new cabin crew uniform, launched last month, does not feature a veil. Chief Commercial Officer, Peter Baumgartner, told MailOnline Travel: ‘Modern Arabia is what is going on in Abu Dhabi, we are inspired by what’s going on in the rest of the world, but through the lens of the local DNA. MailOnline Travel has contacted Saudia for comment. | By . Associated Press . PUBLISHED: . 03:16 EST, 9 July 2012 . | . UPDATED: . 04:51 EST, 9 July 2012 . Robin Gilbert didn't set out to confront gender stereotypes when she split up the boys and girls at her elementary school in rural southwestern Idaho. But that's exactly what happened, with her Middleton Heights Elementary now among dozens of public schools nationwide being targeted by the American Civil Liberties Union in a bitter struggle over whether single-sex learning should be continued. Under pressure, single-sex programs have been dropped at schools from Missouri to Louisiana. 'It doesn't frustrate me,' Gilbert said of the criticism, 'but it makes the work harder.' Segregation: Increasing numbers of schools are splitting up boys and girls as research shows that classes can be better tailored to the needs of each gender . While Gilbert's school is believed to be the only one in Idaho offering single-sex classes, the movement is widespread in states like South Carolina, which has more than 100 schools that offer some form of a single-gender program. Single-sex classes began proliferating after the U.S. Education Department relaxed restrictions in 2006. Margaret Spellings was the Secretary of Education from 2005 to 2009 under the administration of George W. Bush. With research showing boys, particularly minority boys, are graduating at lower rates than girls and faring worse on tests, plenty of schools were paying attention. In 2002, only about a dozen schools were separating the sexes, according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education, an advocacy group. Now, an estimated 500 public schools across the country offer some all-boy and all-girl classrooms. Same-sex classes increased under the administration of George Bush, left, while Margaret Spellings, right, was Secretary of Education . Proponents argue the separation allows for a tailored instruction and cuts down on gender-driven distractions among boys and girls, such as flirting. But critics decry the movement as promoting harmful gender stereotypes and depriving kids of equal educational opportunities. The ACLU claims many schools offer the classes in a way that conflicts with the U.S. Constitution and Title IX, a federal law banning sex discrimination in education. Researchers also have weighed in. Diane F. Halpern, a former president of the American Psychological Association, co-authored a review of studies last fall in the journal Science that found research doesn't support the benefits of single-sex education. Additionally, there are lots of problems whenever you segregate people into groups, Halpern said. 'Stereotyping increases so we really do have lots of data that says it's just not supported,' she said. However, proponents have put out their own studies, showing the benefits of separating students. Middleton Heights Elementary cited the research when it first piloted single-sex classes in a few grades. The goal was to address the struggles boys were having in reading. Targeted: One single sex classroom allowed teachers to address the struggles boys were having reading (file picture) The idea proved so popular that single-sex classes have expanded throughout the school. Parents can opt out, a choice required by law, if they want their kids in a traditional coed classroom. In the single-sex classes, teachers use microphones that allow them to electronically adjust the tone of their voice to match the level that research suggests is best for boys. When preparing for a test, the boys may go for a run, or engage in some other activity, while the girls are more likely to do calming exercises, such as yoga. On a recent tour, Gilbert peeked into a classroom of third grade boys, who had decorated their walls with a camping theme, complete with construction paper campfires and a sign that read 'fishing for books.' Next door, the third-grade girls opted for an 'under the sea' motif. When they spotted Gilbert in their classroom door way, a few of the girls jumped from their seats and ran to give her a quick embrace. They learn the same curriculum, they still lunch and play at recess together, but the differences in their learning environments are apparent, from the blue chalkboards in the boy classrooms, to the red paper hearts that decorated the wall of one of the girl's classrooms. These environments are driven by student interests and what they're learning at the time, Gilbert said. Dr. Leonard Sax, the founder of the Pennsylvania-based National Association for Single Sex Public Education, contends the movement is about breaking down gender stereotypes, not promoting them. 'We want more girls engaged in robotics and computer programming and physics and engineering,' Sax said in a telephone interview. 'We want more boys engaged in poetry and creative writing and Spanish language.' For advocates like Sax, the increase in this form of learning is exciting, but it's troubling for others. The ACLU launched a national campaign, Teach Kids, Not Stereotypes, in May and sent cease-and-desist letters to school districts in Maine, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi and Virginia. The group also asked state officials to investigate single-sex programs in Florida, while sending public record requests to schools in another five states, including to Gilbert's school in Idaho. Doug Bonney is legal director of the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, where he successfully challenged single sex classes in Missouri's Adrian R-III School District. He argues there's no proof single-sex classrooms work while there's plenty of evidence they actually enhance gender stereotypes and lead to sexism. 'This isn't the right step to address higher dropout rates by boys,' Bonney said. 'They promote false stereotypes about sex-based differences that don't exist. Promoting sex stereotypes can harm both girls and boys.' Both sides agree the idea is not new and has a long history in private schools. But Galen Sherwin, staff attorney with the ACLU Women's Rights Project, said its history in public schools is much darker and has roots in the South, where it was broadly instituted in an effort to evade the desegregation requirements of Brown v. Board of Education to try 'to prevent black boys from being in the same room as white girls.' 'In the wake of Brown, many schools in the south integrated racially but segregated on the basis of sex,' Sherwin said. Nancy Levit, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, addressed this issue at a meeting of the Association of American Law Schools: 'Think about it, in terms of race,' she said. 'What would people say if the state paid for an all-white school or an all-black school? As long as there was a racial element nobody would have a problem seeing a constitutional difficulty.' The analogy drew a heated reaction from Sax, who argues that a federal judge in Kentucky debunked this notion when ruling last year against parents who tried to block single-sex classes at a Breckenridge County school. Critics like the ACLU are out of line when they draw parallels to Brown v. Board of Education, Sax said. 'Either they're really stupid and not able to grasp what the judge is saying in the ruling, or they're being deliberately misleading,' he said. | eng_Latn | 19,616 |
Danny Cevallos: A New York school district edited lyrics of "Silent Night"
He says courts have delved into issue of singing Christmas Carols in schools .
First Amendment doesn't bar all religion from schools, but courts have set guidelines, he says .
Cevallos: "Silent Night" is fine for a school choir in most cases . | (CNN) -- Every year the holidays bring cold weather, family gatherings, gift-giving, and of course, the perennial debate over the Constitution and Christmas. Recently, a Long Island school district drew criticism following a performance that removed the holier lyrics from the traditional Christmas song "Silent Night." Some parents objected when the fifth-grade choir at the school in Kings Park, New York, left out phrases such as "Christ the Savior". The school superintendent said the principal and choir director removed the references to avoid "offense to people of other faith," according to Newsday. But regardless of the reason, would it be legal for a school choir to perform "Silent Night" in its traditional form? To enter the fray we have to understand some of the basics about the often-uncertain relationship between the First Amendment and public schools. First, let's dispel the myths: The First Amendment does not ban all mention of any religion in public schools. As the Supreme Court has noted, "total separation (between church and state) is not possible in an absolute sense." After all, when our kids study world history, they are often studying religion. Wars, civilizations, exploration, and human culture have always been motivated in part by some form of dogma. To filter religion out of history leaves something that cannot, in good faith, still be called history. And while some Christmas music consists of light-hearted fare, other pieces are authored by Handel or Bach, and have undeniable value in a musical curriculum. Religion has always been a part of our civilization; the Constitution and our courts recognize this. Instead, the Establishment Clause only prohibits the "advancement" or the "inhibition" of religion by the state. Of course, that's a distinction that's much easier to describe than it is to identify in real life. When does a school cross the line into advancing or inhibiting religion? In 1971 the United States Supreme Court decided Lemon v. Kurtzman and formulated the "Lemon Test," which is a three-pronged evaluation of the constitutionality of legislation concerning religion. A court will consider the following: . 1. The government's action must have a secular (non-religious) purpose. 2. The government's action cannot have the principal or primary effect of (a) advancing religion, or (b) inhibiting religion. It would be impossible to develop a public school curriculum that did not in some way affect the religious or nonreligious sensibilities of some of the students or their parents. Therefore, the test is not "any effect." Rather, the courts will look to the "principal or primary" effect. 3. The government's action cannot "excessively entangle" itself with religion -- that is, it cannot intrude into, participate in, or supervise religious affairs. So how does this apply to singing Christmas carols in school? Fortunately, the courts have squarely dealt with that issue, in the context of ... you guessed it ... "Silent Night." In perhaps the first case to deal specifically with Christmas music, an atheist father challenged the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, school board's use of "Silent Night" (and other songs) in the school's Christmas program. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals -- one of the last stops before the Supreme Court -- applied the Lemon test in Florey v. Sioux Falls School District, and held that both the study and performance of religious songs, including Christmas carols, are constitutional if their purpose is the "advancement of the students' knowledge of society's cultural and religious heritage, as well as the provision of an opportunity for students to perform a full range of music, poetry and drama that is likely to be of interest to the students and their audience." The court also reiterated that: . "It is unquestioned that public school students may be taught about the customs and cultural heritage of the United States and other countries." And that schools may "allow the presentation of material that, although of religious origin, has taken on an independent meaning." After Florey, it appears that the Establishment Clause does not prevent the singing of Christmas carols with religious origins by public school choirs, though the line seems very thin. For example, if instead of singing "Silent Night," the kids were made to take a quiz testing them on the religious facts undergirding the song: . Q: In the song Silent Night, who is the "Saviour"? A: Jesus Christ! Then the school likely crosses into administration of religious training, which is the domain of family and church, not schools. If nothing else though, it certainly appears that "Silent Night," though much more religious than "Jingle Bells," or "White Christmas," is a street-legal public school choir song. So it appears that schools may include even religious Christmas carols in their curriculum without violating the Constitution. But, can a school go the other direction, and prohibit all Christmas carols from the curriculum? At least one federal court has held that they can. In Stratechuk v. Board of Educ., South Orange-Maplewood School Dist., the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that a school district's policy to bar performance of religious holiday music at seasonal shows, while allowing it to be taught in class, had a legitimate secular purpose of avoiding potential Establishment Clause problems, and was not "hostile" to religion. So schools appear to have broad discretion to include or prohibit Christmas carols, as long as they don't run afoul of the Lemon test. Navigating the constitutional perils of religion in school is not easy -- indeed, every year the holiday season brings with it an Establishment Clause debate. The courts and schools will continue to struggle with defining permissible non-secular content. At least there are some less contentious holiday traditions that we can always count on: egg nog, gift returns, and bad decisions at office parties. Happy holidays indeed. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Danny Cevallos. | Scroll down for video . A drinking party dubbed 'Cinco de Drinko' at the University of California at Davis was abruptly cancelled after some students protested that the event was racist against Latinos. The party was scheduled for Saturday, ahead of the Cinco de Mayo holiday on Monday, which celebrates Mexican heritage and pride. Some students who had organized the party worked at the on-campus Coffee House where Friday's protest took place. A University of California at Davis students holds a sign protesting an now cancelled event called 'Cinco de Drinko' that some students said was racist against Latinos . The Sacramento Bee reported that about 100 students enacted a sit-in at the Coffee House, wearing red shirts and chanting slogans. They called for a boycott of the student-run cafe and cafeteria, successfully scuttling plans for the off-campus party. They were prompted by a Facebook page created to promote the party. It showed a picture of four male students wearing sombreros while trying to hop a chain-link fence as two female students stand nearby smiling and wearing Border Patrol uniforms, the newspaper said. 'What kind of message are you trying to send?' student Edwin Roque said, calling the party theme offensive. University of California at Davis students protesting a drinking event associated with the Cinco de Mayo holiday some deemed racist. 'There were racial depictions that were extremely insensitive, including a border fence,' UC Davis student body President Armando Figueroa told KCRA. But Jonathan Beatty also attended the protest wearing a sombrero. He said the theme was not racist, comparing it to St. Patrick's Day festivities. 'People were being overly sensitive,' Beatty said. UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi told the newspaper she believed that adding a mandatory diversity course could prevent future controversies like this one. Adela de la Torre, vice chancellor of student affairs, said an investigation was ongoing and the university's administration is considering internal sanctions for the students behind the party. Cinco de Drinko would have been the second racially insensitive event hosted by Coffee House employees in less than a month, according to the Sacramento Bee. The other party, 'Holy Land,' encouraged attendees to dress up as terrorists and religious deities, said Armando Figueroa, president of the Associated Students of UC Davis. | eng_Latn | 19,617 |
Attorneys: It's troubling that officials are being prosecuted for "simple prayer"
School's principal, athletic director could be jailed for six months .
ACLU says it supports prayer ban but never suggested officials should be jailed .
Principal acknowledges requesting prayer but didn't mean to circumvent court order . | (CNN) -- Two Florida school administrators face contempt charges and possible prison time for saying a prayer at a school luncheon. Pace High School enacted a decree in January banning officials from promoting religion at school events. Frank Lay, principal of Pace High School, and Athletic Director Robert Freeman are accused of violating a consent decree banning employees of Santa Rosa County schools from endorsing religion. They face a non-jury trial September 17 before U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers. The statute under which they are charged carries a maximum penalty of up to six months in prison, subject to sentencing guidelines. Attorneys defending Lay and Freeman call it outrageous that the two are being prosecuted for "a simple prayer." But the American Civil Liberties Union, whose lawsuit led to the consent decree, maintains that students have a right to be free from administrators foisting their religious beliefs on them. Still, an ACLU representative said the organization never suggested that people should go to jail for violating the decree. Watch why lawyer thinks men did nothing wrong » . The ACLU filed suit last year against the district on behalf of two Pace students who alleged that "school officials regularly promoted religion and led prayers at school events," according to an ACLU statement. Both parties approved the consent decree put in place January 9, under which district and school officials are "permanently prohibited from promoting, advancing, endorsing, participating in or causing prayers during or in conjunction with school events," the ACLU said. Lay was a party in the initial lawsuit, and his attorney was among those approving the consent decree, according to the organization. In addition, the court required that all district employees receive a copy. On January 28, "Lay asked Freeman to offer a prayer of blessing during a school-day luncheon for the dedication of a new fieldhouse at Pace High School," according to court documents. "Freeman complied with the request and offered the prayer at the event. It appears this was a school-sponsored event attended by students, faculty and community members." Attorneys from Liberty Counsel, a conservative legal group helping defend Lay and Freeman, said in a written statement that attendees included booster club members and other adults who helped the field house project, all "consenting adults." In a February 4 letter to district Superintendent Tim Wyrosdick in which Lay acknowledged the incident, he said that although past football booster club members "and other adults associated with the school system" were at the luncheon, culinary class students were in charge of food preparation and serving. Lay wrote that he asked Freeman to bless the food "for the adults. ... I take full responsibility for this action. My actions were overt and not meant to circumvent any court order or constitutional mandate." In response, Wyrosdick noted in a letter to Lay that in a meeting, the principal had admitted that "you are, and were at the date of this incident, aware of the court injunction and aware that this type of action is not permissible under the injunction." Wyrosdick recounted telling Lay that the prayer was not appropriate. "This note is to share with you written instructions to avoid this type of action," the superintendent said. Both letters are in the public court file. "It is a sad day in America when school officials are criminally prosecuted for a prayer over a meal," said Mathew Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel and dean of the law school at Liberty University, founded by the late Rev. Jerry Falwell. "It is outrageous and an offense to the First Amendment to punish a school official for a simple prayer." Liberty Counsel said it is challenging the consent decree, maintaining that it "unconstitutionally infringes on the rights of teachers, administrators and students." The ACLU, according to the Liberty Counsel statement, has begun "to go against individual employees." The organization said that neither man "willfully violated any orders of the court." "We're not going after individuals," said Glenn Katon, director of the Religious Freedom Project for the ACLU of Florida. "We're just trying to make sure that school employees comply with the court order." The ACLU did not request the criminal contempt charges against Lay and Freeman, he said; the judge initiated them after seeing a reference to the incident in a motion. And the ACLU is not involved in the criminal proceedings, he said. "We certainly never suggested that anyone go to jail," Katon said. Lay is not facing jail time for praying, he said, but for violating a court order. "The moral of this story is, for us, this is about the students' right to be free from teachers and school administrators thrusting upon the students their religious beliefs," Katon said. "They keep talking about the religious rights of the administrators, but the administrators and the principals don't have any right to trumpet their religious beliefs in a school setting." Neither Lay nor Freeman has been placed on leave, according to the school district. Pace is about 10 miles north of Pensacola, Florida. | Activists presented a petition Tuesday to the United Nations Human Rights Council calling on Pakistan to free a Christian mother of five from being put to death on the charge of blasphemy. A Pakistani court Asia Bibi guilty of defiling the name of the Prophet Mohammed during a 2009 argument with Muslim fellow field workers. The offense is punishable by death or life imprisonment, according to Pakistan's penal code, and Bibi was sentenced to hang. But an investigation by a Pakistani government ministry found the charges stemmed from religious and personal enmity and recommended Bibi's release. The petition was signed by 50 activists including a former Czech foreign minister, the president of the U.N. General Assembly, a survivor of Tiananmen Square and a women's rights advocate from Mali. "With Pakistan now running for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council, the government should make an important gesture by releasing Asia Bibi, and repealing its blasphemy law, which is inconsistent with basic human rights," said Hillel Neuer, director of U.N. Watch, a Geneva-based human rights group that organized the petition. However, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has said that the government will not change the country's controversial blasphemy laws. Liberal politician Salman Taseer, then governor of Punjab, who led a campaign to end the law, was assassinated in January 2011. Taseer said the blasphemy laws were being misused to persecute religious minorities and had called for Bibi's release. Bibi writes about her ordeal in a recently published book called "Get Me Out of Here." It includes a letter she wrote to her family urging them to have faith in God. "My children," she wrote, "don't lose courage or faith in Jesus Christ." | eng_Latn | 19,618 |
The student run workshop called 'What What in the Butt: Anal Sex 101' is a part of Harvard's fourth annual student run Sex Week .
One student at Harvard named Molly Wharton told The College Fix she feels as though the classes during Sex Week are 'downright vulgar'
'Saying we don’t need [the workshop] is like saying we don’t need sex education,' said the president of Sexual Health Education & Advocacy .
'The conservative backlash speaks to the latent homophobia that society thinks so often it has gotten over, and has not,' he added . | Want to learn how to have safe and healthy anal sex? Simply enroll in Harvard University, one of the most prestigious colleges in the world. The school, which is number two in the nation, offered a seminar on anal sex on Tuesday aimed at promoting a holistic understanding of that specific type of intercourse despite the fact that it is widely considered taboo. The student run workshop called 'What What in the Butt: Anal Sex 101' is a part of Harvard's annual Sex Week, a week of programming meant to help students better understand all its parts, even those less discussed. Top school: The prestigious Harvard University is offering a class on anal sex as part of it's fourth annual student run Sex Week aimed at giving students a holistic sexual education . Those who attended the class were able to learn, 'anal anatomy and the potential for pleasure for all genders; how to talk about it with a partner; basic preparation and hygiene; lubes, anal toys, and safer sex; anal penetration for beginners, and much more!' says Harvard's Sex Week site. The course description says that the class will delve into the misunderstandings of anal sex and will be an opportunity for students to ask questions in a safe, comfortable, and knowledgeable environment. 'Come learn everything about anal sex from the experts of Good Vibrations, a sex-positive store located right in Brookline!' reads the description posted on the official Harvard Sex Week website. 'They will dispel myths about anal sex and give you insight into why people do it and how to do it well.' RT.com reports that this year's Sex Week is the school's fourth ever and is run by Sexual Health Education & Advocacy throughout Harvard College, or SHEATH. The group describes itself as being, 'dedicated to empowering the Harvard community to explore their experiences with love and sex by providing comprehensive programming addressing a wide range of issues relating to sex, relationships, dating, sexual health, and sexuality.' The week long workshop will provide students with condoms and other materials provided by 'the world's largest pleasure product company' California Exotic Novelties. Safe environment: The class will delve into the misunderstandings of anal sex and will be an opportunity for students to ask questions in a safe, comfortable, and knowledgeable environment . 'We’re always honored to support Harvard Sex Week and everything that SHEATH does throughout the year,' said the company's CEO Susan Colvin. 'We share a common goal: helping people learn and understand sexual wellness,' she said in a statement. Some students are looking forward to the workshop but like any controversial topic they face critics who are offended by the subject matter. One student at Harvard named Molly Wharton told The College Fix she feels as though the classes during Sex Week are 'downright vulgar.' 'I can’t imagine that there are not more worthwhile educational programs and initiatives to which Harvard’s resources should be devoted,' she added. SHEATH's co-president Kirin Gupta defended the workshop to a reporter from MTV.com. 'Saying we don’t need [the workshop] is like saying we don’t need sex education, or should have abstinence-only education, or that people should feel ashamed for doing whatever it is that’s part of their sexual practice,' he said. 'The conservative backlash speaks to the latent homophobia that society thinks so often it has gotten over, and has not. It speaks to these residual prejudices that people [have] when faced with a reality they’re not willing to acknowledge or respect,' he added. | Wellesley College has revised its admissions policy to formally allow transgender students who identify as female. The women's-only liberal arts school in Massachusetts - which costs roughly $59,000 per year to attend - never explicitly banned transgender applicants. However, it said in a statement on its website Thursday that it felt compelled to clarify its policies 'in an era of a changing understanding of gender identity.' Wellesley College (the campus seen above) has revised its admissions policy to formally allow transgender students who identify as female . The college’s board of trustees approved the new policy on Wednesday night. Under the new guidelines, Wellesley College says it will consider for admission any applicant who 'lives as a woman and consistently identifies as a woman.' It adds that if gender identity is not 'clearly reflected' in application materials, the college will request additional information 'that may include a letter from a parent, healthcare provider, teacher, or clergy.' The updated code will come into effect in time for the next admission cycle for the Class of 2020. The move follows similar policy changes at all-women's colleges such as Mills College in California, Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, and Mount Holyoke and Simmons College, both in Massachusetts. Wellesley said it will not accept applications from transgender men, but would 'continue to support' any student who decides she no longer identifies as a woman during her education there. Wellesley, which was founded with the intention to prepare women for 'great conflicts' and 'vast reforms in social life' first opened its doors to students on September 8, 1875. Prominent graduates include former First Lady Hillary Clinton and ABC news anchor Diane Sawyer. | eng_Latn | 19,619 |
Libertarian Society meme sparks outrage | CW: Ableism
A controversial meme has sparked tensions between two on-campus groups, the SRC Disabilities Collective and the Sydney University Students for Liberty Society (USyd Libertarian Society).
The offending meme involves a screenshot from comedy show, Parks and Recreation, which depicts a nurse asking “Do you have a history of mental health in your family?” The corresponding image sees the patient respond with an altered caption: “I have an uncle who believes in communism”.
The meme triggered a debate about political correctness, mental illness and ableism in the comment section.
“The issue is whether the joke perpetuates stigma, and where the punchline is,” Robin Eames, Office Bearer of the Disabilities Collective, told Honi. “By their own admission they think that implying that a political ideology is a mental illness is a way of ridiculing or shaming that political ideology, which only works if you think experiencing mental illness is worthy of ridicule and shame.”
People who disagreed the meme was problematic proceeded to respond with ableist slurs. Members of the Disabilities Collective were labelled a “retard” and ridiculed for “[sic] sperging out” after a student complained to the Office Bearers of the Collective, prompting their involvement.
Mollie Galvin, also an Office Bearer for the Disabilities Collective, was sent multiple death threats. Additionally, Eames, who is in a wheelchair, was told by two separate people to “roll” and “wheel off ledges” when they tried to explain the problem with the post.
The President of Students for Liberty, Johnny Sorras, while emphasising his support for freedom of speech and expression, did agree that the comments had gotten out of control: “I found many of the comments abhorrent and, unlike the post itself, genuinely discriminatory.”
Members of the Disabilities Collective initially commented to share why they believed the meme was harmful. Eames told Honi, they were “polite and brief and referenced the USU’s constitution and the University cultural competency guidelines”.
In response, an admin for the Usyd Libertarian Society said the “ridicule is targeted towards those that believe in Communism, not at those with mental health problems” and asked members of the Disabilities Collective to “get professional help”.
According to Eames, the post was distributed to external, non-USyd pages and groups by various figures, including the admin who initially made the post—spreading the post’s reach beyond normal metrics.
Responding to a complaint lodged today, the USU issued a statement from 2018 President, Courtney Thompson.
Thompson wrote that the USU does “not condone any form of harassment” and has asked the USyd Libertarian Society to remove the meme. The post is allegedly in breach of the C&S guidelines and policies, as well as clause 4 of the University’s Student Code of Conduct which states all students must be treated with “respect, dignity, impartiality, courtesy and sensitivity” and must not “become involved in or encourage discrimination against or harassment” of others.
Thomson acknowledged it is “very rare for the USU to step in this way” and “while [they] encourage robust debate in our communities, it is our opinion that this conversation went beyond what we deem to be acceptable”.
An admin for the page claimed in a comment that the post “uses no USU resources” but “[i]f the USU asks us to delete [the post]” they would. According to Thompson, the club has now refused to delete the post, and the USU has since escalated the matter.
“With regard to our decision not to remove the post, we would simply like to hear the specifics of our alleged breach, after which we would reluctantly oblige,” Sorras said.
According to Sorras, the Society did not refuse to take it down, but rather, it was a case of miscommunication. “Unfortunately, I missed a call from the Union this morning,” he said. “I would still welcome the opportunity to speak to the President”.
Thompson did not confirm the USU’s next steps. “We’re looking at all options at the moment”, she told Honi.
More to come. | Source: Independent Institute
by Vicki Alger
"Last week I had the pleasure of speaking about the future of school choice at an event hosted in Washington, DC, by the Independent Women’s Forum, featuring The Heritage Foundation’s Lindsey Burke and SAVE President Edward Bartlett. The core issue of this public policy debate is not about money. It’s about competing visions over who has the right and responsibility for the education and upbringing of children. The rationale animating the creation of the US Department of Education is that government knows best." (04/17/17)
http://blog.independent.org/2017/04/17/the-real-educational-choice-debate-isnt-about-money-its-about-government-control/ | ind_Latn | 19,620 |
Ontario court rules federal prostitution laws unfairly discriminate against prostitutes .
A prostitute should be able "to work indoors, in a location under her control," the judges write .
The ruling does not allow prostitutes to solicit customers on the streets .
Supporters of the ruling say federal laws will now have to change . | Ontario's top court has legalized brothels, saying Canadian prostitution laws unfairly discriminate against prostitutes and their ability to work in safe environments. A panel of five judges wrote that the law banning common bawdy houses "is grossly disproportionate" if all it aims to do is keep public order in a neighborhood and maintain public health standards. "The record is clear that the safest way to sell sex is for a prostitute to work indoors, in a location under her control," the judges wrote in a much anticipated ruling. "The impact on those put at risk by the legislation is extreme," the judges added. However, the court stopped short of allowing prostitutes to openly solicit customers on the streets. The court ruled that prohibiting solicitation remains a "a reasonable limit on the right to freedom of expression." "It is so nice to see that we are now brought out into society. I feel a debutante at a ball. We're almost full citizens, so this is wonderful," said Valerie Scott, a former prostitute. Supporters of the ruling said the laws governing prostitution in Canada would now have to change. "Any form of criminalization pushes the industry underground and gives opportunities to predators. You can see it through the world," said Nikki Thomas, executive director of Sex Professionals of Canada. The judicial panel ruled that the changes should not take affect for at least one year, allowing the government to amend its criminal code. Any of those changes would apply to the entire country, not just the province of Ontario. But the Canadian government released a statement saying it was now weighing its legal options. "As the Prime Minister (Stephen Harper) has said, prostitution is bad for society and harmful to communities, women and vulnerable persons," Rob Nicholson, Canada's justice minister, said in a statement released by his office. The government indicated it would review the decision, but an appeal to Canada's Supreme Court is also a possibility. | New York (CNN) -- An education advocacy group has filed a lawsuit against New York City and state education officials challenging teacher-tenure laws, on the heels of a watershed case in which a California judge ruled that state's tenure laws unconstitutional. The lawsuit filed Thursday in State Supreme Court on behalf of 11 New York City public school students claims that tenure laws can prevent students from receiving a "sound basic education," according to a statement from the New York City Parents Union, of which parents of the plaintiffs are members. "Teachers in New York City are more likely to die on the job than be replaced because of poor performance," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit is framed similarly to a case brought in California, in which a judge in June deemed teacher tenure unconstitutional, saying it kept bad teachers in the classroom and forced out promising good ones. That landmark ruling was hailed by the nation's top education chief as opening opportunities across the nation to "build a new framework for the teaching profession." The decision represented "a mandate" to fix a broken teaching system, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. In New York, the lawsuit claims that under city law an educator who obtains tenure is shielded from dismissal, no matter how incompetent they are or how poorly their students perform. "The state requires a quality-blind approach to layoffs that considers only years of service -- and completely ignores job performance and the ability to deliver a sound quality education," the lawsuit said. But the New York State United Teachers union said tenure laws are "wildly misunderstood" and claimed teacher tenure does not ensure a job for life, as is commonly believed. "Earning tenure in New York simply means that, if a teacher is accused of incompetence or wrongdoing, she is entitled to a fair hearing before she can be fired," NYSUT President Karen E. Magee said in a statement last week. CNN was unable to reach the union for comment Friday about the lawsuit. Magee called the process for removing teachers "due process of law." The Parents Union, however, called the process rare. The lawsuit said only 12 teachers between 1997 and 2007 in the New York City school system were formally replaced because of poor performance. The New York City Department of Education has 75,000 teachers in any given year, working in the largest school system in the country. Mona Davids and Sam Pirozzolo -- the parents union's president and vice president -- said in a statement that the legal action was not an attack on teachers or unions, but rather an attempt to give their children a voice and establish a system that "rewards and retains excellent teachers" while providing appropriate resources to struggling teachers. Reforming teacher tenure and firing laws is a hotly debated issue in American education, with the California case widely seen as setting the stage for similar action nationally. Reformers say tenure laws and union protections make firing a bad teacher almost impossible, but teachers and their unions argue that school boards and their firing criteria have unfair, overtly political standards. The NYC Department of Education is the largest system of public schools in the United States, serving about 1.1 million students in more than 1,700 schools. | eng_Latn | 19,621 |
NIU trustees again vote to freeze tuition | DeKALB — Northern Illinois University trustees have again voted to freeze tuition and lower fees for the upcoming 2018-2019 school year.
The Daily-Chronicle reports that the school’s Board of Trustees voted last week. Tuition at the school has been the same since the 2015-2016 school year. Board Chairman Wheeler Coleman says the school is “committed to keeping NIU affordable.”
Tuition will be about $350 a credit hour for a student’s first 11 hours. Students who have more than 12 credit hours will have tuition capped at about $5,330 for the semester, or about the cost of 15 credit hours. The rate will apply to students enrolling in the 2018-2019 school year and remain consistent for nine consecutive semesters.
Trustees also approved a half-percent decrease in undergraduate fees.
–Associated Press | facebook twitter email Share More Videos 2:11 NAACP's Barber wants General Assembly to stop making laws Pause 1:15 Black lawmakers call for quick redistricting 0:58 North Carolina GOP lawmaker: NC House budget plan eliminates Pre-K wait list 1:09 McKissick: Republicans circumvented Cooper's call for special session 3:17 Berger: Why Cooper's call for special session voted down 2:16 Cooper wants budget with more "vision" 3:32 Former Gov. McCrory calls for Gov. Cooper to do more to help Hurricane Matthew victims 1:38 House budget writers anticipate orderly budget negotiations 1:48 Teacher raises in budget based on retention, retirement concerns 2:37 Cooper and legislators continue court fight over Board of Elections Share Video Video link: Select Embed code: Select
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twitter email Video: The N.C. NAACP's Rev. William Barber wants the N.C. General Assembly to 'Cease and desist' from making laws. He says it is an illegal body following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says some voting districts were improperly drawn. Chris Seward [email protected]
Video: The N.C. NAACP's Rev. William Barber wants the N.C. General Assembly to 'Cease and desist' from making laws. He says it is an illegal body following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says some voting districts were improperly drawn. Chris Seward [email protected] | eng_Latn | 19,622 |
2017 outstanding graduates at WWU | Western Washington University honored its Outstanding Graduates for the 2016-17 academic year at spring commencement in June. Selection is based on grades, research and writing, service to the campus and community, and promise for the future.
Among the grads honored were Jennie Le of Des Moines, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in community health and a minor in anthropology. She completed an internship with Swedish Cancer Institute as a health education intern this summer. She plans to further her education to become a physician’s assistant.
Huy Nguyen of Seattle graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree with two majors,
physics and mathematics, and a minor in astronomy. He is the Presidential Scholar for the College of Science and Engineering and the Outstanding Graduate in Physics and Astronomy. As president of Western’s Association of Mathematics, Nguyen also worked to create an environment where students from diverse backgrounds in math can develop together. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in physics at the University of Michigan.
Swann Davis of University Place and a native of Korea graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in manufacturing and supply chain management, a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a major in international business, and a minor in business analytics. At Western, Davis served as president of the International Business Network and was part of the five-student team that won the Northwest Boeing Case Competition. Next, she plans to work in operations management at Boeing in Everett and eventually pursue a master’s degree in international affairs or public policy.
Congratulations to all outstanding grads. | It was bad enough that an ACLU talk on free speech at The College of William and Mary (my school, class of 1971) was just shouted down by members of Black Lives Matter, and the College President made pious mutterings about free speech but does nothing. (He hasn’t yet answered my letter.) But that injury is compounded by this conference, which, as the site says, is “supported by generous funding from William and Mary’s philosophy department, Theresa Thompson ‘67, William and Mary Arts and Sciences, and the Carswell Fund of the Wake Forest University Philosophy Department.” Supported by the philosophy department? That’s where I began learning philosophy!
And seriously, the conference is to “help inspire more good work in this area”? More good work? Where’s the past good work?
Look at the topics. Here we truly have, as Dan Barker says about theology, “A subject without an object.” Now I have no doubt that at least one reader will endeavor to defend this as a worthwhile subject, but that reader would be wrong. | eng_Latn | 19,623 |
AACA celebrates new alumni association | By the Sampan editorial team
The Asian American Civic Association (AACA) welcomed former students at its first alumni association barbecue on Oct. 1 at Larz Anderson Park.
Former and current students gathered with staff for barbecue and outdoor fun. AACA offers 10 levels of English courses and job training, educating thousands of new immigrants and residents during its 50-year history.
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This post is also available in: Chinese | MADISON (WKOW) -- The CEO of Madison's YWCA spoke to 27-news Monday about the effects the Charlottesville violence is having on the organization, and it's cause.
The YWCA is a national non-profit aimed at ending racism. CEO Vanessa McDowell says it's been difficult because what happened in Charlottesville is everything they fight against.
"Anyone who's seen the news stories, and the videos; you can't help but to walk away and feel hurt and wonder what's next," says McDowell.
McDowell says it's upsetting, especially for people of color, to know that something like the Charlottesville incident could happen anywhere, even in Madison. | eng_Latn | 19,624 |
University of Minnesota Asian American Studies October calendar | AAS News and Events
Oct. 26: The Pressure to Be Grateful: On Debt and Sacrifice in Asian American Life 4 to 5:30 p.m.
Nolte Center for Continuing Education room 140 – East Bank
315 Pillsbury Dr. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 Join us in a workshop to discuss with Dr. Mimi Khúc the feelings of debt that arise in Asian American families and the structures that shape them–and the subsequent costs to Asian American mental health. We will read and discuss daughter-to-mother letters published in Open in Emergency: A Special Issue on Asian American Mental Health, and then write the letters to our parents that we’ve always needed to write.
Dr. Mimi Khúc is a Vietnamese American scholar, teacher, and writer on race and religion, queer of color politics, mental health, and Asian American motherhood.
Free and open to all.
Co-hosted by Asian American Studies, Department of Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, University of Minnesota and Rigs Umn (Race, Indigeneity, Gender & Sexuality Studies Initiative)
Nov. 28: An Evening with Mai Neng Moua 4 to 6 p.m.
Andersen Library room 120 – West Bank
222 21st Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Asian American Studies invites you to an evening with Mai Neng Moua
Join us for a fish bowl conversation featuring award-winning author Mai Neng Moua, professor of Hmong and Southeast Asian history Dr. Mai Na Lee, and Asian American literature and drama scholar Yuan Ding as they discuss Hmong American histories, cultures, traditions, and the courageous and heartbreaking ways we navigate these age-old issues.
This event is FREE and OPEN TO ALL.
This event is made possible because of generous sponsorship from theImmigration History Research Center, (RIGS) Race, Indigeneity, Gender & Sexuality Studies Initiative – RIGS UMN, the Asian Pacific American Resource Center, the English Department, and a partnership with the Minnesota Historical Society Press
ABOUT THE BOOK
When Mai Neng Moua decides to get married, her mother, a widow, wants the groom to follow Hmong custom and pay a bride price, which both honors the work the bride’s family has done in raising a daughter and offers a promise of love and security from the groom’s family. Mai Neng, who knows the pain this tradition has caused, says no. Her husband-to-be supports her choice.
What happens next is devastating, and it raises questions about the very meaning of being Hmong in America. The couple refuses to participate in the tshoob, the traditional Hmong marriage ceremony; many members of their families, on both sides, stay away from their church wedding. Months later, the families carry out the tshoob without the wedding couple. But even after the bride price has been paid, Mai Neng finds herself outside of Hmong culture and at odds with her mother, not realizing the full meaning of the customs she has rejected. As she navigates the Hmong world of animism, Christianity, and traditional gender roles, she begins to learn what she has not been taught. Through a trip to Thailand, through hard work in the garden, through the birth of another generation, one strong woman seeks reconciliation with another.
ABOUT MAI NENG MOUA
Mai Neng has been hailed as the mid-wife of the modern Hmong literary movement by The New York Times and is the founder of the first Hmong literary journal Paj Ntaub Voice, among many many more accolades. She recently released her memoir, The Bride Price (MN Historical Society Press) earlier this summer.
Community News and Events
Hmong Resource Fair
Saturday, October 7
10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
270 Larpenteur Ave. W., Saint Paul MN 55117
Together we are stronger! and in celebration of the Grand Opening of Community School of Excellence. There will be vendors, door prizes, refreshments, flu shots and health screenings, and MORE! For more information:
The Native Canoe Program
11 a.m., Saturday, October 7
East River Flats (U of MN campus)
The Department of American Indian Studies presents the formal launch of the Native Canoe program presented by the Native Watercraft and Water Traditions of the Great Lakes and Oceania course, which is being offered this Fall 2017.
This course looks to Indigenous watercraft and water traditions for teaching, research, and especially community engagement with Ojibwe, Dakota, Pacific Islanders and other Indigenous peoples of and in Minnesota.
Activities will begin at 11:00am at the East River Flats (behind the UMN boathouse), lunch to follow, canoeing if the weather is agreeable.
Friday, October 27
10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Walter Library room 101, East Bank
In this one-day symposium, we invite nationally renowned scholars, staff, and students to reflect on how to imagine truly equitable “cultures of access”. What are cultures of access? How can we think them inter-sectionally across the axes of race, gender, sexuality, and ability? What would it look like to rethink mental health on college campuses as a structural / collective issue, rather than an individual struggle? 10 a.m. to noon: Keynote Addresses
Dr. Mimi Khúc, University of Maryland
Dr. Margaret Price, The Ohio State University
1:30 t0 3:30 p.m.: University Roundtable with Keynote Speakers
Heather Lou, Office for Equity and Diversity. Nina Hernandez Beithon, Student Counseling Services. Abeer Syedah, UMN Alum/Director of Equality & Inclusion for Students United.
Please email Angela at [email protected] with any access needs or accommodation requests.
AAS events or to share events and news contact Saymoukda Vongsay, communications outreach coordinator at and visit For questions regardingevents or to share events and [email protected] 612-625-4813, email and visit www.cla.umn.edu/asian-american | NAR PULSE—Remind your agents that NAR members get discounts year-round on car rentals. Take advantage of your member benefits the next time you rent a car through REALTOR Benefits® Program partners Avis®, Budget® and Hertz® and save up to 25% off base rates. Add coupon codes for even bigger savings! Start saving today!
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Encourage your members to create an action plan to complete their NAR Code of Ethics Training requirement before the current two-year cycle expires on December 31. In many states, REALTORS® can earn three hours of CE credit while fulfilling their ethics requirement with NAR’s online training course. Learn more.
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April is Fair Housing Month! Now is the time to purchase the Spanish version of the online At Home With Diversity® (AHWD®) course! Let your clients know that you are capable of working effectively with—and within—a rapidly changing multicultural market by earning your AHWD® certification. Sign up through the Member Value Plus (MVP) Program by April 30 and have your application fee waived! Sign up today!
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Former First Lady presented with honorary degree at St Andrews .
Hillary Clinton received a Doctor of Laws at 600th anniversary ceremony . | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 12:54 EST, 13 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 13:48 EST, 13 September 2013 . Hillary Clinton has been awarded an honorary doctors degree from one of the UK’s oldest universities to celebrate her success as a politician and diplomat. The former US secretary of state attended a graduation address at a ceremony marking the 600th anniversary of the founding of St Andrews University in Scotland. It is Mrs Clinton's first foreign visit since her term as secretary of state ended in February, which saw her join a group of over a dozen honorary graduates in the picturesque Fife coastal town. Scroll down for video . Honoured: Former US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton received an honorary doctor of law degree from St Andrews University . She was conferred with a Doctor of Laws degree by Liberal Democrat politician and chancellor of St Andrews, Sir Menzies Campbell, alongside other honorary doctors, including former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams and inventor of the world wide web Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee. As well as her achievements in politics, the degree also celebrates her efforts to champion the causes of education, human rights, democracy, civil society and promoting opportunities for women around the world, according to the university. The former US first lady, whose husband Bill was president for eight years between 1993 and 2001, later delivered a impassioned . defence of human rights and equality to an audience of education . leaders, university staff and students. ‘We need more voices speaking up . for universal human rights. ‘We have honoured some of the great advocates here today who have spoken out courageously for women's rights, gay rights and religious understanding, showing us that our communities and institutions are strongest when equality and opportunity are open to all people and freedom of conscience is respected. Mrs Clinton was one of a handful recipients of honorary degrees at the ceremony to mark the 600th anniversary of the founding of the University . 'It is important that as we chart our way forward in this new century, we . bring with it the enlightened view that every individual around the . world regardless of gender, religion, race, ethnicity or orientation, . should be able to contribute to their societies and to have the chance . to live up to his or her God given potential. ‘We . are confronting deep cultural and political differences. Change can be . very wrenching and it is difficult to bridge the gaps between and within . societies. ‘We will never . agree on everything, but spirited and principled debate is the . lifeblood of democracies and today our democracies are under stress. ‘It . is more important than ever that we rally behind what started here and . elsewhere, where the individual was endowed by his creator with those . rights that enabled first men and slowly women and others to be full . participants in their society. ‘Now . we need in this new age participation on a much grander scale to make . the case for the importance of those fundamental values.’ Royal approval: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met when they were studying at St Andrews University . The Duke of Cambridge congratulated the university on its 600th anniversary in a letter which was read out by Sir Menzies at the beginning of the ceremony. Prince William, who met his wife Catherine while studying at St Andrews, wrote: 'As a proud new father, I have come to think more than ever about the world our children will inherit; and the role of education, research and intellectual courage in our society has never seemed so important. 'For Catherine and me, the University of St Andrews is an emblem of these virtues. Cheered: Mrs Clinton, picture din her black ceremonial gown, received the degree as a recognition of her achievements as a politician and diplomat . 'As proud patron of the Anniversary Appeal, I am delighted to offer my congratulations to all the university’s honorary graduates today and my warmest congratulations to an institution that may be 600-years-old but which has never been as vital. Happy birthday, St Andrews.' As he welcomed guests and graduates, Sir Menzies also read out a letter from Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone which passed on the congratulations of Pope Francis. 'His Holiness Pope Francis was pleased to be informed of the celebrations marking the 600th anniversary of foundation of the University of St Andrews and he sends cordial greetings to all taking part,' the cardinal wrote. 'His Holiness is confident that the noble work of education and research in a wide range of academic fields will continue to flourish in the city that bears the same name of Scotland’s patron saint.' St Andrews principal and vice-president, Professor Louise Richardson, said the university has lasted so long because of it’s 'enduring value'. She said: '600 years is a very long time. How many institutions can you think of that have been around that long? Not many.' Honorary degrees were also bestowed on the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, classicist Professor Mary Beard, inventor of the world wide web Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, primatologist Dame Jane Goodall, particle physicist Professor Peter Higgs - who could not attend - anthropologist Professor Dame Marilyn Strathern and philosopher Professor Nancy Cartwright. The university, said to be the third oldest in the English-speaking world, has historic links with the US as three of the signatories to the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, James Wilson and John Witherspoon, studied at or held degrees from St Andrews. | A series of emails have exposed how University of North Carolina teachers would fake the grades of student athletes so they could stay at school. More than 3,100 students - nearly half of them athletes - were allowed to receive top grades in classes they never attended and only had to write one paper for. An email exchange between African and Afro-American Studies administrator, Deborah Crowder, and basketball counselor, Jan Boxill, in September 2008 revealed how teachers would inflate grades. Scroll down for video . An email exchange between the African and Afro-American Studies administrator and women's basketball counselor Jan Boxill (pictured) at the University of North Carolina revealed how teachers would inflate grades . Ms Crowder said: 'As long as I am here I will try to accommodate as many favors as possible. Did you say a D will do for [basketball player]?' Ms Boxill replies saying: 'Yes, a D will be fine; that's all she needs. I didn't look at the paper but figured it was a recycled one as well, but I couldn't figure from where! Thanks for whatever you can do.' At the time of these emails Boxill was the director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Philosophy, as well as the director of the UNC Parr Center for Ethics. And Crowder was the administrator of UNC's African and Afro-American Studies department. A report released on Wednesday revealed the extent to which academic and athletic staff members routinely ignored university rules in order to ensure the success of UNC student athletes. More than 3,100 University of North Carolina students, nearly half of whom were athletes, received artificially high grades through a 'shadow curriculum' which operated at the school, according to a report . University Chancellor Carol Folt keeps her head down as she prepares to address members of the media about the academic irregularities on October 22 . Here is the email exchange between the administrator for the UNC's African and Afro-American Studies department, Deborah Crowder, and the women's basketball academic counselor, Jan Boxill, in September 2008: . Crowder: 'As long as I am here I will try to accommodate as many favors as possible. Did you say a D will do for [basketball player]? I'm only asking that because 1. no sources, 2. it has absolutely nothing to do with the assignments for that class and 3. it seems to me to be a recycled paper. She took AFRI in spring of 2007 and that was likely for that class.' Boxill: 'Yes, a D will be fine; that's all she needs. I didn't look at the paper but figured it was a recycled one as well, but I couldn't figure from where! Thanks for whatever you can do.' Led by former high-ranking U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein, the report found more far-reaching academic fraud than previous investigations by the school and the NCAA. Many at the university hoped Wainstein's investigation would bring some closure to the long-running scandal, which is rooted in an NCAA investigation focused on improper benefits within the football program in 2010. Instead, findings of a systemic problem in the former African and Afro-American Studies department could lead to NCAA sanctions and possible dismissal of additional UNC staff. Evidence: Kenneth Wainstein lead the investigation into claims the staff designed classes to keep certain students, like athletes, from flunking out. Pictured above at a news conference announcing the report on Wednesday . 'I think it's very clear that this is an academic, an athletic and a university problem,' chancellor Carol Folt said. The report outlined courses in the former African and Afro-American Studies department that required only a research paper that was often scanned quickly and given an A or B regardless of the quality of work. The school's board of trustees and the panel that oversees the state's university system reviewed Wainstein's findings during a closed-door meeting earlier Wednesday. A half-dozen officials and UNC Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham declined to say whether anyone would lose their job. The NCAA hit the football program in 2012 with scholarship reductions and a postseason ban, though the academic violations focused mainly on a tutor providing improper help to players on papers. The NCAA said it reopened its investigation in June because new information was available. Wainstein's staff has briefed NCAA investigators at least three times, plans another briefing on the final report and has 'enjoyed a strong cooperative relationship,' according to the report. The report outlined how the fraud ran unchecked for so long, as well as how faculty and administration officials missed or looked past red flags such as unusually high numbers of independent study course enrollments. It said athletics staffers steered athletes to classes that also became popular with fraternities and other everyday students looking for an easy grade. 'By the mid-2000s, these classes had become a primary — if not the primary — way that struggling athletes kept themselves from having eligibility problems,' the report said. UNC President Tom Ross shares a private conversation with Cancellor Folt at a meeting on the investigation Wednesday . The school hired Wainstein in February. Unlike previous inquiries by former Gov. Jim Martin and the school, Wainstein had the cooperation of former department chairman Julius Nyang'oro and retired office administrator Deborah Crowder — the two people blamed for the irregularities. Nyang'oro was indicted in December on a felony fraud charge, though it was dropped after he agreed to cooperate with Wainstein's probe. Crowder was never charged. It was Crowder who started the paper classes as a way to help struggling students with 'watered-down requirements' not long after Nyang'oro became chairman of the curriculum in 1992, according to the report. Though not a faculty member, she managed the courses by registering students, assigning them topics and then handing out high grades regardless of the work. By 1999, in an apparent effort to work around the number of independent studies students could take, Crowder began offering lecture classes that didn't meet and were instead paper classes. After her retirement in 2009, Nyang'oro graded papers 'with an eye to boosting' a student's grade-point average, even asking Crowder's successor to look up GPAs before he'd issue a grade for a course, according to the report. Nyang'oro stepped down in 2011 as chairman after accusations of undetected plagiarism surfaced against a former football player. In all, athletes made up about 47 percent of the enrollments in the 188 lecture-classified paper classes. Of that group, 51 percent were football players. Wainstein's staff reviewed records dating to the 1980s and interviewed 126 people, including men's basketball coach Roy Williams, who said he trusted the school 'to put on legitimate classes,' according to the report. Former basketball player Rashad McCants, who told ESPN in June that tutors wrote research papers for him and that Williams was aware that of no-show classes, didn't respond to numerous requests for interviews, according to the report. | eng_Latn | 19,626 |
U. addresses academic code violations | Although measures have been taken to reduce academic code violations, the numbers remain high, with over 50 percent of violations occurring in the computer science department, said Thomas Doeppner, associate professor of computer science and co-chair of the standing committee on the Academic Code that recently released a report on academic code violations.
From the most recent data available, 49 undergraduate students were charged with academic code violations during the 2015-16 academic year, Doeppner said. While 13 students ultimately received no violation, two received reprimands, two received loss of credit in the exercise, 21 received a direct No Credit in the course, 10 received a No Credit with transcript notation and one was suspended, he added. There are eight total possible sanctions, all listed in the University’s Academic Code.
Of the seven graduate students charged with violations, one received a direct No Credit, three received a direct No Credit with transcript notation and three were dismissed from the University, Doeppner said.
The standing committee on the Academic Code is requesting to increase the number of faculty committee members from five to nine due to the large number of cases being heard, Doeppner wrote in a follow-up email to The Herald.
The main effort to reduce academic code violations involves “an online tutorial which guides students through the academic code,” said Deputy Dean of the College Christopher Dennis. All students are required to take this tutorial prior to matriculating to Brown, he added.
In addition, faculty members are encouraged to include their standards for academic integrity in the class syllabi, Dennis said.
In the computer science department, explaining these standards sometimes includes online skits or quizzes, Doeppner said. Students must sign the collaboration policy, which they are immediately tested on and reminded of periodically throughout the semester, he added.
Although the majority of academic code violations occur in the computer science department, this may be partially attributed to the fact that “the tool for accessing collaboration is more robust,” said Dean of the College Maud Mandel.
The department utilizes Measure Of Software Similarity, or MOSS, a system that detects plagiarism in programming. After MOSS identifies a suspicious case, the professor investigates further, Doeppner said.
“In many cases, it’s not that students directly copied each other but that they worked together on something,” which is against course policy, Doeppner said.
Another common form of violation is known as furnishing, which is when one student receives answers from another — often someone who previously took the class, Mandel said. In such a case, both students are punished.
There is also a slight overrepresentation of international students compared to domestic students in total academic code violations, as well as first-years compared to other years, Dennis said.
“Most of this has to do with students coming from places with very different schooling systems and rules,” Mandel said. For example, writing conventions may vary widely between cultures, and expectations in college differ from those in high school, she added.
In response to these trends, the University revised the international student orientation two years ago to include presentations on academic code and integrity expectations in the United States and at the University, Dennis said.
“Part of the education we provide as a university is helping students learn what the rules are and how to follow them,” Mandel said. In an effort to help students succeed, Mandel has been talking to the Undergraduate Council of Students about having an academic integrity panel or even an academic integrity week, she added.
Another idea that has been considered is whether or not the University would benefit from an honor code, Dennis said. In such a system, the panel that reviews academic code violations would be comprised not of faculty and administrators, as it currently is, but of students.
“(Academic integrity) really is a community standard,” Dennis said. “Students are responsible for their own work, and if a student cheats, it diminishes the work of every … student.” Though professors recognize the teachable moment in students making mistakes, they take the academic code and sanctions very seriously, he added.
“We’re not looking to permanently damage students,” Mandel said. “We want to help all students be successful in the long run.” | NFL threatens ‘significant discipline’ over mistreatment of referees
The NFL on Monday sent a memo to its teams reminding them about the importance of respecting referees and threatening discipline.
Here’s a look at the memo, which was sent from VP Troy Vincent to the 32 clubs:
The NFL sent this memo to clubs today on contact with officials … pic.twitter.com/KqotkfXliK — Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) December 12, 2017
The memo makes references to a few incidents of players getting in the face of officials, throwing flags (like Marcus Peters did) and verbally disparaging them.
The key part is that “significant discipline” was threatened for offensive conduct or contact from players towards officials.
The league is clearly cracking down and trying to ensure proper treatment of officials. | eng_Latn | 19,627 |
Philadelphia Parking Authority's Day After New Year's Gift | The Philadelphia Parking Authority has a New Year’s gift for drivers in the city: non-enforcement i certain areas.
The PPA announced that they won’t be enforcing meters and time limits on residential blocks. The agency also will have its offices and impound lots closed Monday as many businesses observe New Year’s Day a day late.
The PPA said that "all safety regulations will remain in effect" so don’t just believe you can park in no parking and bus zones. It also isn’t clear what level of enforcement will take place in commercial areas. | ST. LOUIS (AP) — Some St. Louis hotels are losing meetings because of a travel advisory issued by the NAACP over concerns about a state law that rolls back discrimination protections for workers, a local tourism board said Monday, though its counterpart in Kansas City has reported no issues.
Explore St. Louis President Kitty Ratcliffe issued a statement saying several hotels told the agency they had lost meeting groups that were in the midst of contract negotiations. The statement offered no specifics, including how many hotels and meeting were involved.
Agency spokesman Anthony Paraino said the group didn’t have permission from hotels or groups to release details.
“Explore St. Louis fully supports non-discrimination, equal rights and fair and just due process for everyone, regardless of the color of their skin,” Ratcliffe said. “However, we are discouraged that the travel industry is being used as a weapon against politicians for their policies.”
The NAACP cited the new law in an advisory in July. The civil rights organization said the measure could make it tougher to hold people accountable for harassment and discrimination. The advisory also cited a report showing black Missouri drivers last year were 75 percent more likely than whites to be stopped.
The new law makes it more difficult to sue for housing or employment discrimination. It was among several changes to Missouri’s legal system. Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature and Republican Gov. Eric Greitens want to make the state a less favorable climate for lawsuits.
Kansas City, Missouri, has not lost any business due to the ban “to our knowledge,” said Derek Klaus, a spokesman for Visit KC.
The Missouri NAACP plans public meetings about the law this week in St. Louis, Kansas City and in Jefferson City.
Copyright © 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. | eng_Latn | 19,628 |
Scholars Decry Law School's About-Face on New Dean | LOS ANGELES, Sept. 13 -- Scholars across the political spectrum protested what they called an assault on academic freedom after the University of California at Irvine withdrew a job offer from a liberal professor who wrote an op-ed criticizing the Bush administration. | The two newest Supreme Court justices took off the robes and took to the stump last week, providing glimpses of the fresh personalities that will reshape a court that had remained constant for more than a decade. | eng_Latn | 19,629 |
Campus extremism plea debated | Higher education staff are being urged to oppose government plans to tackle campus extremism. | Okay, I've read the 260 pages filed by the review panel that investigated the Virginia Tech shootings, and I understand that the university should have stepped in to help Seung Hui Cho but didn't, that Cho's parents should have alerted the college to his condition but didn't and that the state... | eng_Latn | 19,630 |
When Privacy Laws Do More Harm Than Good | Okay, I've read the 260 pages filed by the review panel that investigated the Virginia Tech shootings, and I understand that the university should have stepped in to help Seung Hui Cho but didn't, that Cho's parents should have alerted the college to his condition but didn't and that the state... | Imagine buying a new home where your neighbors can decide how it's decorated, what you cook for dinner, how big your dog is and what kind of sex you have. And they can toss you out if they don't like it. | eng_Latn | 19,631 |
Sandra Fluke: I feel humbled and grateful for women who fought for our rights .
Fluke: On this Women's Day, our generation is redefining what matters most to us .
She says top three issues are gender-related violence, education, economic equality .
Fluke: Helping women help men, children, families and communities . | I can't help but feel humbled and grateful when I hear the stories of women who marched for women's rights in the 1970s and the suffragists who fought for the right to vote. What they accomplished deserves more than a nod and lip service. We must honor them by making our generation's mark on the concerns facing women today. Unfortunately, that still includes goals we've fought too long for, like reproductive rights. Today is International Women's Day and March is Women's History Month. As we celebrate all that women have accomplished in the struggle for gender equality, we are also redefining what counts as a "women's issue." Gender-related violence . Worldwide, about one in three women is victim of gender-related violence. From military sexual assault, to domestic violence, to rape on college campuses, we must do more to prevent violence against women. Many people think of sex trafficking as a "women's issue," but labor trafficking also has impact on women. Some of the industries in which labor trafficking is common, including domestic work, are dominated by women. And in industries like agricultural work, women are singled out for sexual abuse or exploitation. I've represented victims of human trafficking in Los Angeles, which is a major trafficking destination because of its port, international airport, and proximity to Asia and Mexico. Financially desperate adults are lured to Los Angeles by traffickers, only to be forced to work as laborers in Southern California's agricultural sector. Runaway youth come to Los Angeles to find stardom or a warm place to sleep on the street, but many will be exploited through pornography, a thriving industry in the San Fernando Valley. We have a responsibility to improve our current labor trafficking laws. Education . Republican Sen. Rand Paul said recently, look at how well women are doing at colleges across the country. What he failed to consider is that women are graduating not only with a degree, but with staggering level of student debt. Instead of telling women that they're doing just fine, we need legislators who are going to fight for students so they can attain the degrees they want and enter chosen professions without an insurmountable amount of debt. Senator Paul also forgot to mention that some of the best-paying jobs, jobs in science, technology, engineering and math fields (STEM), are still overwhelming dominated by men. Only 3% of tech startups are formed by women. We have a thriving tech industry, but men hold far more computer and mathematical occupations than women. Why aren't more women getting tech jobs? We need programs that promote STEM education for those who have historically been left out of these high-paying jobs. Economic equality . We often talk about the impact of pay discrimination on women's pocketbooks because it costs women on average more than $10,000 annually and jeopardizes their retirement security. But we forget that many poverty issues also impact women. Raising the minimum wage is actually a "women's issue" because 64% of minimum wage workers are women. Women are increasingly becoming the sole or primary earners in their household, so economic issues that hold women back have huge impact on our entire economy. Let's help women financially support their families as we create more good-paying jobs in our communities. Many women not only face pay discrimination in the workplace, but struggle at home as well, trying to provide care for their family on top of their job. Women are still mostly the caretakers for their families, so they are disproportionately affected by the lack of guaranteed sick days and the lack of paid family leave. It is hard to overstate how far behind America is compared to our global competitors when it comes to these basic policies that protect families. When we talk about women's issues, we must look comprehensively at the challenges all women face to ensure our policies reflect the support women truly need, because these concerns impact not only women, but their families and communities. Our generation is ready to do that. | (CNN) -- Clemson University suspended a mandatory online course that asked students and faculty about their sex lives and drinking habits following backlash from the school community. The South Carolina public university started using the third-party online course this semester as part of required "Title IX training" on sexual violence prevention. Questions such as: "How many times have you had sex?" and "With how many different people have you had sex?" raised privacy concerns among students. Clemson junior Machaella Reisman said she appreciates the school's efforts to educate the community on sexual violence prevention, especially in light of recent headlines related to domestic violence in the NFL. But, schools should be able to educate students without asking how many times they've had sex in the past three months, or if drugs or alcohol were involved, Reisman said. "This is not information that I discuss with my friends, let alone information I feel the need to disclose to the school or whoever the third-party source may be," Reisman, 20, told CNN in an email. "As a questionnaire that is supposed to serve the purpose of educating students on gender equality to prevent sexual violence, why should there be questions regarding how much sex a student has had and if they used drugs, alcohol, or a condom?" The controversy comes as schools across the country are experimenting with new approaches to sexual harassment prevention and education to comply with federal law. Sexual violence prevention in higher education has been a concern for schools across the country amid widespread allegations that schools mishandled sexual misconduct incidents in violation of federal law. Mandatory sexual violence education programming is common in schools nationwide. The University of California-Berkeley said this week that at least 500 freshmen could face holds on spring registration if they do not complete mandatory sexual harassment training this semester. The White House launched a task force earlier this year dedicated to the issue, and unveiled a new public awareness and education campaign on Friday called "It's On Us." The program, which President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden announced Friday, aims to engage students and colleges to take active roles in preventing sexual assault on campus. Clemson's Title IX training module was stirring debate on campus as more people started taking it, Reisman said. A Campus Reform article on the program brought the conversation to the national level, prompting Clemson to suspend the program Wednesday pending further "review and revision." "We felt it was important to take those concerns seriously," Shannon Finning, dean of students and associate vice president for Student Affairs, told CNN. "We are very committed to not only meeting federal requirements, but also assuring that we will provide critically important training and education to all members of our community." Reisman also questioned the extent to which her responses would be treated anonymously considering she used her name and student ID number to register for the online course. But Finning said the responses were "captured anonymously" and would not be identifiable by the school or CampusClarity, the vendor that created the module. "At the conclusion, we would gather it in aggregate and it would give us a better picture of campus culture and give us an opportunity to identify additional educational and training needs." The questions were included among other slides related to campus resources and exercises in how to deal with potential scenarios, Finning said. On the whole, the course was intended to address requirements under Title IX to make students aware of resources for dealing with sexual violence and how to report sexual misconduct, she said. Schools that receive federal funding are required under the Violence Against Women Act to provide sexual violence education to new and returning students and employees. Guidance under Title IX issued by the Office for Civil Rights in 2001 and 2014 also makes clear that schools should be providing educational programs on sexual violence to their student body, said Nancy Chi Cantalupo with the professional group Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Surveys are not required by Title IX and VAWA, and schools do not have to purchase surveys or educational programs from third parties, Cantalupo said. There are several models schools can adapt, including White House guidelines. "By designing their own survey, schools can insure that the survey questions are non-invasive" Cantalupo said. | eng_Latn | 19,632 |
Peter the elephant gets into the groove playing 12 bar blues .
He lives at the Royal Elephant Kraal & Villiage in Thailand .
At one point, along with his friends, he appears to have a dance . | When it comes to tinkling the ivories, he's a natural. This Thai elephant named Peter seems to have a particular talent for playing the piano as he shows in this hilarious video. PaulBartonPiano posted the clip of Peter the elephant playing the 12-bar blues 'entirely on his own accord,' according to YouTube. Scroll down for video . Keeping in Thai-me: Peter the elephant gets his trunk on the piano and plays along to the 12-bar blues in Thailand . Peter, who's a part of the Elephantstay program at the Royal Elephant Kraal & Village in Thailand, seems to be enjoying the music. Then, along with his friends, he appears to have a little dance. Having a right knees up: Dancing elephant Peter is a part of the Elephantstay program at the Royal Elephant Kraal & Village in Thailand . Get down and boogie: The video showing Peter playing the piano has had more than two million views on YouTube . Peter does miss a few beats - but that doesn't matter. According to Elephantstay's Facebook page, the foundation allows visitors to live with, care for, and learn about elephants. It operates under the Phra Kochabaan Foundation, a registered non profit organisation. High five: Peter gives his piano playing partner a clap at the end . | The attorney representing the University of Oklahoma's disgraced fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon has said he believes the members - including those who chanted racial slurs - deserve a second chance. Stephen Jones, who represented Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, spoke at a press conference on Friday as he said he is seeking a 'non-legal' resolution with the university. Its president, David Boren, expelled the two students filmed leading the racist chant last weekend - but Jones said that Boren himself recently said that everyone deserves a second chance. 'We certainly think that's true for the members of the SAE house,' Jones continued. 'And perhaps even for the members who were involved in this unfortunate confrontation with the university and the basic values of SAE.' Scroll down for video . Stephen Jones, the attorney for the local chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said in a press conference on Friday that the students filmed making racist chants were just a small number of people at the event . Jones is representing students and alumni from the fraternity. He is not representing the two students, Parker Rice and Levi Pettit. He said that he hopes to reach a 'non-legal' resolution with the university, which he indicated acted hastily when it closed down the frat house on Monday. He added that he also wants to ensure the students - some of whom have received death threats - are granted their right to due process. 'I'm not ruling out a lawsuit,' he said. 'I'm saying that our preference is proceeding in a non legal solution... If that is not possible, then obviously we will have to consider other possibilities.' Jones also pointed out that hundreds of students and fraternity members had attended the event where the footage was filmed, and that the 'inexcusable' chant was the action of just a handful. 'We're talking about one incident with nine seconds of video on one of five buses,' he said. Ringleader: Parker Rice, a University of Oklahoma freshman from Dallas, has been identified as the conductor leading the 'there will never be a n***** in SEA' chant on Saturday. He has since been expelled . Outed: Levi Pettit was identified by his family on Tuesday night. They apologized for his 'disgusting' behavior. Right, Pettit - an accomplished golfer at his former school Highland Park - is pictured putting in a 2013 photo . Also on Friday, a spokesman for the fraternity's national headquarters revealed that officials with the Oklahoma chapter have stopped communicating with them. 'We have not heard from the Oklahoma chapter,' spokesman Brandon Weghorst said. 'They have not engaged us since the time the chapter was closed.' Weghorst said the national fraternity is moving forward with plans to expel all of the suspended members of the OU chapter, a move that will permanently revoke their membership. The frat house was shut down after a nine-second video recorded last weekend emerged showing members singing a song using racial slurs and referencing lynching. 'There will never be a n***** SAE' they were heard singing aboard a bus. The fraternity was closed immediately and all students and staff were ordered to remove their belongings from the frat house by Monday night. One of the alleged ringleaders, Parker Rice, said earlier this week that he has left the University of Oklahoma and is 'deeply sorry' for what he did. Lawsuit? The university's president, David Boren, pictured on Tuesday, ordered the chapter to close down . High profile: Jones is pictured in 1996 with Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, whom he represented . 'For me, this is a devastating lesson and I am seeking guidance on how I can learn from this and make sure it never happens again,' he said in a statement. 'My goal for the long-term is to be a man who has the heart and the courage to reject racism wherever I see or experience it in the future.' Brody and Susan Pettit, the parents of Levi Pettit, also apologized to the 'entire African American community' for their son's 'disgusting' actions. But the family added that they had raised him to be 'inclusive,' saying: 'We know his heart, and he is not a racist.' An investigation into the involvement of other members is still underway. Investigations into racism at Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity chapters have now extended to college campuses in Louisiana and Texas, the organization said Thursday. It came after its national office received word that members in those places knew the racist chant caught on video in Oklahoma. Shut down: Workers can be seen removing the letters from the SAE house on Monday after it was shut down . Moving out: Two men can be seen laughing as they remove furniture from the house on Monday . Spokesman Brandon Weghorst said the chapter at the University of Texas at Austin was being 'fully cooperative' and that a probe at Louisiana Tech in Ruston was in its early stages. He said no new allegations had been substantiated. 'We had no idea of this type of behavior was going on underground,' Weghorst said Thursday. 'This is the type of stuff (the chant), it goes underground and it goes under the radar. 'It's dangerous because — if we don't know about it, we can't stop it.' The president of the university's SAE had previously issued a statement denying that his chapter had ever performed a similar chant. Luke Cone said he could 'speak on the behalf of my fraternity brothers that we are all profoundly distressed' about the language in the video. The SAE chapter at Louisiana Tech did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday, but a university spokesman said it has been unable to substantiate an allegation that a former member participated in the chant in 2010. 'Once we learned that, we immediately got with the current chapter president and the leadership of that chapter to ensure this activity wasn't taking place here at Louisiana Tech,' said spokesman Dave Guerin. Anger: Protesters hold up signs outside the Rice family home in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday . 'They assured us that it wasn't. We can't really attest to back in 2010.' Some members of some of the largest SAE chapters in the country on Thursday denied any knowledge of the racist chant. 'In my four years, I never have seen anything or heard anything like that in my individual chapter,' said Will Sneed, past president of the SAE chapter at the University of Arkansas. Meanwhile, the University of Oklahoma football team expressed its outrage Thursday in a statement calling for fraternity leaders to be 'expelled, suspended or otherwise disciplined severely'. 'As a team, we have come to a consensus that, in any organization, the leadership is responsible for the culture created, and in this case, encouraged. ... Allowing this culture to thrive goes against everything it means to be a Sooner,' the players said. | eng_Latn | 19,633 |
Coaching in eight-page section called 'Ethnic Background' of book .
It advises prospective students who are black, Hispanic, or Asian on the types of topics they should bring up .
Black applicants told to 'make sure the admissions committee knows you're black'
Advises that Asian Americans 'you need to avoid being an Asian Joe Bloggs' | The Princeton Review, a prominent test prep company, produced a guide telling college applicants to play up or play down their ethnicity . The Princeton Review, a test preparation and college admission service, produced a guide telling college applicants to play up or play down their ethnicity according to their race. An eight-page section called 'Ethnic Background' advises prospective students who are black, Hispanic, or Asian on the types of topics they should bring up. The coaching was first published by Random House in 1992 in Cracking College Admissions, and most recently updated in 2004, reports Business Week. Black applicants were told to 'make sure the admissions committee knows you're black' by including a photograph. It states: 'Selective colleges have less stringent requirements for black applicants.' The book advises that Asian Americans 'you need to avoid being an Asian Joe Bloggs.' It states this is Asian American applicant 'with a very high math SAT score, a low or mediocre verbal SAT score, very high math-or science-related SATII score, high maths and science grades, few credits in the humanities, few extracurricular activities, an intended major in math or the sciences, and an ambition to be a doctor, an engineer or as a research scientist.' Asian students are told not to attach a photo to their application - but they are advised if they have an 'Asian-sounding surname but aren't Asian, do attach a photograph.' An eight-page section called 'Ethnic Background' advises prospective students who are black, Hispanic, or Asian on the types of topics they should bring up (file photo) The guide states: 'Do not write your application essay about the importance of your family or the positive/negative aspect of living in two cultures. 'These are Asian Joe Bloggs topics, and they are incredibly popular. Instead, write about something entirely unrelated to your ethnic background.' Hispanic students are simply told 'in general, the guidelines for African Americans apply to you.' 'If you have a Hispanic surname (because your father is from Chile, say) but you don’t come from a disadvantaged background, don’t answer the ethnic-background question on your application,' it reads. The book, which is now out of print, is still available in at least 76 libraries nationwide, reports Business Insider. It can also still be bought from third-party sellers on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble. New Princeton Review books do not include similar advice. 'The Princeton Review's advice to all students applying to colleges is this: Get great grades, get great test scores, and find your 'best fit' college,' said Rob Franek, Princeton Review's senior vice president for publishing, in a statement. | Washington (CNN) -- Attorney General Eric Holder says the Justice Department plans to expand a review of police tactics to update training, technology and other standards around the nation. The aim, in part, is to produce broad national recommendations to enhance officers' safety, help them deal with new threats and also boost the use of technology such as police car and body cameras. In the wake of complaints about police handling of protests in Ferguson, Missouri, critics likely will also push for new standards to address police crowd control tactics and the use of force. The protests followed the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer in August. Associations representing police officers and executives have supported the idea of a commission to review standards. Holder, who speaks to a gathering of police officers in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Wednesday, plans to announce his support for such a commission to do the most expansive review of police tactics in 50 years. Holder on Supreme Court's Ohio early voting decision: A 'step backward' Holder, in prepared remarks, said the goal of the ongoing review is to "swiftly confront emerging threats, better address persistent challenges, and thoroughly examine the latest tools and technologies to enhance the safety, and the effectiveness, of law enforcement." An ongoing review is already doing some of the work. But Holder says expanding it would "consider the profession in a comprehensive way and to provide strong, national direction on a scale not seen since President Lyndon Johnson's Commission on Law Enforcement nearly half a century ago." Excerpts of his speech were provided by the Justice Department before delivery. Holder's speech is also intended to mark the 20th anniversary of a landmark crime law that created the federal COPS grants program, which funds community policing in cities around the country. | eng_Latn | 19,634 |
Hebrew National accused of not following kosher meat standards as it claims .
Lawsuit accuses the company of "deceptive and wrongful conduct"
The parent company of Hebrew National denies the allegations .
"There is close rabbinical supervision of the food preparation process," it says . | (CNN) -- The largest kosher food brand in the United States, Hebrew National, known for its tagline "We Answer to a Higher Authority," is being sued in federal court for allegedly not meeting the kosher standards it famously advertises. The lawsuit, which was first filed by 11 plaintiffs in May, alleges that the popular brand has been negligent and violated several consumer fraud laws when it failed to follow its own standards for kosher meat. According to accusations made in the complaint, Hebrew National products are not being made from 100% kosher beef and the food processing plants used by the company fail to follow the procedures necessary to meet its kosher definition. Hebrew National's "deceptive and wrongful conduct is designed to mislead and deceive consumer into purchasing its Hebrew National products, at premium prices, by labeling and marketing it as 100% kosher," the complaint states. Pastor's reality food show pitch: Christians and Jews bonding over hot dogs . ConAgra Foods Inc., the parent company of Hebrew National and defendant in the case, denies the allegations. "Hebrew National hotdogs are kosher, and this lawsuit is without merit," according to a written statement from Teresa A. Paulsen, vice president of communications and external relations for ConAgra Foods. "Hebrew National's kosher status is certified by a well-recognized and authorized third party. There is close rabbinical supervision of the food preparation process and packaging equipment." The complaint stipulates that Hebrew National receives meat products from AER Services Inc., an Illinois-based company that provides kosher meat processing and inspection services. In addition, Hebrew National employs a third party, Triangle K and Associates, to act as a certifier, guaranteeing the kosher nature of all AER products received. Hot dog eating championship is marketing magic for Nathan's . "The Triangle K symbol is a trademarked logo that signifies 'kashruth' (kosher) as defined by the most stringent Jews who follow Orthodox Jewish Law," the Hebrew National website states. "It's a symbol of integrity, representing the most trusted and reliable name in strict rabbinical food certification and supervision." But according to the lawsuit, certain AER employees involved in the process have complained to supervisors at both AER and Triangle K that certain procedures were rendering the meat not kosher. The lawsuit alleges that despite warnings, little or nothing was done to fix the problem, "rather, the persons making the complaints were terminated or otherwise threatened with adverse retaliation, such as job transfers." A statement from Triangle K described the accusations as "outrageously false and defamatory," claiming they had "been made by anonymous disgruntled individuals against Triangle K's strict rabbinical supervision of Hebrew National products." Neither AER Services nor Triangle K and Associates is listed as a defendant in this lawsuit. Attorneys for the plaintiffs are now pushing for the case to be granted class action status. Court documents indicate that ConAgra has until July 13 to respond to the class action complaint. Inside a Kosher BBQ competition . | By . Luke Garratt . Even the Star of David could be banned, if used in the context of the atrocities committed in WWII . Israel has passed the first step on the road to more severe banning of the use of Nazi symbols and offensive ideology. The ban would stop the use of all Nazi symbols and expressing remorse for the fall of the Nazi regime, and would make calling someone a Nazi illegal, with a punishment of up to six months in prison and a fine of 100,000 shekels (around £20,000). In addition, the law would ban the use of the Jewish Star of David symbol when used in the context of the internment camps or in reference to the holocaust. The bill has passed its first reading, but still has two more readings before it can become a law. The first reading of the bill, submitted by MK Shimon Ohayon passed largely unopposed, receiving 44 votes for and 17 MKs voting against. The bill was approved on Sunday by the Ministerial Committee for Legislation, meaning that it stands a better chance of becoming a law because it has the backing of the coalition government. An effort to pass a similar bill happened a few years before, but was voted down because many believed the existing laws were tough enough, and worried that newer, tougher laws might affect free speech. General Attorney Yehuda Weinstien, who had reservations about the possible ban . The bill says the word 'Nazi' would be banned for anything other than 'for the purpose of learning, documentation, scientific study or historical accounts.' Also, using words that sound like 'Nazi' to indirectly refer to someone as an insult would also incur punishment. The bill reads: 'Insulting someone by expressing the wish, hope, or anticipation for the fulfillment of the Nazis’ aims, or expressing sorrow or protest that they were not accomplished is forbidden.' 'Unfortunately, the phenomenon of using Nazi symbols and epithets has grown in recent years. The intolerable ease with which the day-to-day usage of these concepts as part of public and political discourse, and with blatant disregard for the feelings of Holocaust survivors and their descendants, is reprehensible.' It received objections from Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, saying that it might raise constitutional problems. He said: 'Not all behavior that offends the public . deserves to be made a crime. 'Is . it proper in a democratic country to ban an entire world of images from . the public discourse to protect people’s feelings?' 'Given the centrality and importance of the . constitutional right to freedom of expression, any restriction on it . must be examined meticulously and with exceptional caution.' | eng_Latn | 19,635 |
His long career saw him champion causes from civil rights in the 1960s South to free speech for Ku Klux Klan members in the 1990s . | By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 22:57 EST, 22 February 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 02:00 EST, 23 February 2013 . Louis F. Oberdorfer, a former deputy to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the 1960s turned federal judge, died Thursday on his 94th birthday. This according to Sheldon Snook, a spokesman for the federal court in Washington, who said Oberdorfer died in his sleep. His long career saw him defend everything from civil rights to the right of free speech for Ku Klux Klan members. Long career: Louis F. Oberdorfer died Feb. 21 on his 94th birthday after a storied career as a lawyer and judge . Oberdorfer was appointed to the court in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter and took senior status in 1992, meaning he continued to hear cases but fewer of them. He heard cases until several years ago. He had two strokes in recent years, said Judge Royce C. Lamberth, the Chief Judge of the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia. As a judge, Oberdorfer authored more than 1,300 opinions. In the late 1980s, one of his rulings pushed the U.S. Defense Department to extend veteran status to thousands of men who sailed merchant ships during World War II. Beginnings: Oberdorfer rose to the national stage as Assistant Attorney General to Robert F. Kennedy in 1961 . In 1990, he issued a ruling ordering the District of Columbia to give the Ku Klux Klan permission to march to the U.S. Capitol. He also made headlines for ignoring mandatory minimum prison terms for crack cocaine crimes. Congress has since changed the law, which came to be seen as unfair. For years, Oberdorfer also oversaw cases involving Vietnamese orphans who were hurt in a plane crash in 1975 during the United States' ‘Operation Babylift.’ Lockheed Aircraft Corp. eventually paid millions to the victims. In 2000, Oberdorfer was part of a three-judge panel that heard a lawsuit by District of Columbia residents arguing it was unconstitutional they weren't allowed to elect representatives to Congress. Two judges agreed city residents were being treated unequally but said they couldn't do anything to fix the situation. Federal bench: Oberdorfer was appointed to the federal bench by President Jimmy Carter in 1977 and authored over 1,300 opinion . Oberdorfer, however, wrote a partial dissent saying Washington residents should get to elect members to the House of Representatives. Oberdorfer grew up in Birmingham, Ala., and graduated from Dartmouth College. After getting a law degree from Yale, studies that were interrupted by his Army service during World War II, he clerked for Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black during the term that ran from 1946 to 1947. In 1961, he became an Assistant Attorney General for Kennedy's Justice Department, where he oversaw the tax division. In 1963, he helped organize the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which sent hundreds of lawyers to the South to support the civil rights movement. He left the Justice Department in 1965. Oberdorfer argued before the Supreme Court on several occasions, including a 1969 case in which Mississippi was told to desegregate its schools. | A series of emails have exposed how University of North Carolina teachers would fake the grades of student athletes so they could stay at school. More than 3,100 students - nearly half of them athletes - were allowed to receive top grades in classes they never attended and only had to write one paper for. An email exchange between African and Afro-American Studies administrator, Deborah Crowder, and basketball counselor, Jan Boxill, in September 2008 revealed how teachers would inflate grades. Scroll down for video . An email exchange between the African and Afro-American Studies administrator and women's basketball counselor Jan Boxill (pictured) at the University of North Carolina revealed how teachers would inflate grades . Ms Crowder said: 'As long as I am here I will try to accommodate as many favors as possible. Did you say a D will do for [basketball player]?' Ms Boxill replies saying: 'Yes, a D will be fine; that's all she needs. I didn't look at the paper but figured it was a recycled one as well, but I couldn't figure from where! Thanks for whatever you can do.' At the time of these emails Boxill was the director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Philosophy, as well as the director of the UNC Parr Center for Ethics. And Crowder was the administrator of UNC's African and Afro-American Studies department. A report released on Wednesday revealed the extent to which academic and athletic staff members routinely ignored university rules in order to ensure the success of UNC student athletes. More than 3,100 University of North Carolina students, nearly half of whom were athletes, received artificially high grades through a 'shadow curriculum' which operated at the school, according to a report . University Chancellor Carol Folt keeps her head down as she prepares to address members of the media about the academic irregularities on October 22 . Here is the email exchange between the administrator for the UNC's African and Afro-American Studies department, Deborah Crowder, and the women's basketball academic counselor, Jan Boxill, in September 2008: . Crowder: 'As long as I am here I will try to accommodate as many favors as possible. Did you say a D will do for [basketball player]? I'm only asking that because 1. no sources, 2. it has absolutely nothing to do with the assignments for that class and 3. it seems to me to be a recycled paper. She took AFRI in spring of 2007 and that was likely for that class.' Boxill: 'Yes, a D will be fine; that's all she needs. I didn't look at the paper but figured it was a recycled one as well, but I couldn't figure from where! Thanks for whatever you can do.' Led by former high-ranking U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein, the report found more far-reaching academic fraud than previous investigations by the school and the NCAA. Many at the university hoped Wainstein's investigation would bring some closure to the long-running scandal, which is rooted in an NCAA investigation focused on improper benefits within the football program in 2010. Instead, findings of a systemic problem in the former African and Afro-American Studies department could lead to NCAA sanctions and possible dismissal of additional UNC staff. Evidence: Kenneth Wainstein lead the investigation into claims the staff designed classes to keep certain students, like athletes, from flunking out. Pictured above at a news conference announcing the report on Wednesday . 'I think it's very clear that this is an academic, an athletic and a university problem,' chancellor Carol Folt said. The report outlined courses in the former African and Afro-American Studies department that required only a research paper that was often scanned quickly and given an A or B regardless of the quality of work. The school's board of trustees and the panel that oversees the state's university system reviewed Wainstein's findings during a closed-door meeting earlier Wednesday. A half-dozen officials and UNC Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham declined to say whether anyone would lose their job. The NCAA hit the football program in 2012 with scholarship reductions and a postseason ban, though the academic violations focused mainly on a tutor providing improper help to players on papers. The NCAA said it reopened its investigation in June because new information was available. Wainstein's staff has briefed NCAA investigators at least three times, plans another briefing on the final report and has 'enjoyed a strong cooperative relationship,' according to the report. The report outlined how the fraud ran unchecked for so long, as well as how faculty and administration officials missed or looked past red flags such as unusually high numbers of independent study course enrollments. It said athletics staffers steered athletes to classes that also became popular with fraternities and other everyday students looking for an easy grade. 'By the mid-2000s, these classes had become a primary — if not the primary — way that struggling athletes kept themselves from having eligibility problems,' the report said. UNC President Tom Ross shares a private conversation with Cancellor Folt at a meeting on the investigation Wednesday . The school hired Wainstein in February. Unlike previous inquiries by former Gov. Jim Martin and the school, Wainstein had the cooperation of former department chairman Julius Nyang'oro and retired office administrator Deborah Crowder — the two people blamed for the irregularities. Nyang'oro was indicted in December on a felony fraud charge, though it was dropped after he agreed to cooperate with Wainstein's probe. Crowder was never charged. It was Crowder who started the paper classes as a way to help struggling students with 'watered-down requirements' not long after Nyang'oro became chairman of the curriculum in 1992, according to the report. Though not a faculty member, she managed the courses by registering students, assigning them topics and then handing out high grades regardless of the work. By 1999, in an apparent effort to work around the number of independent studies students could take, Crowder began offering lecture classes that didn't meet and were instead paper classes. After her retirement in 2009, Nyang'oro graded papers 'with an eye to boosting' a student's grade-point average, even asking Crowder's successor to look up GPAs before he'd issue a grade for a course, according to the report. Nyang'oro stepped down in 2011 as chairman after accusations of undetected plagiarism surfaced against a former football player. In all, athletes made up about 47 percent of the enrollments in the 188 lecture-classified paper classes. Of that group, 51 percent were football players. Wainstein's staff reviewed records dating to the 1980s and interviewed 126 people, including men's basketball coach Roy Williams, who said he trusted the school 'to put on legitimate classes,' according to the report. Former basketball player Rashad McCants, who told ESPN in June that tutors wrote research papers for him and that Williams was aware that of no-show classes, didn't respond to numerous requests for interviews, according to the report. | eng_Latn | 19,636 |
Teachers are promoting a 'soft push' for EU integration during lessons .
30 academics have warned against the idea of a single European identity .
David Abulafia warned schools were teaching a 'skewed' version of history . | Professor David Abulafia, pictured, has warned that the history of Europe is being taught in 'a distorted way' in order to promote the European Union . The history of Europe is being taught to pupils in a ‘distorted’ way in order to promote the EU, a leading British historian has claimed. Professor David Abulafia, of Cambridge University, said the ‘soft push’ for further European integration that had been seen in French and German education was beginning to ‘creep in’ to British classrooms. He joins television historian David Starkey and Professors Richard Shannon and Robert Tombs in launching a campaign, Historians for Britain, calling for a fundamental redrawing of the UK’s relationship with Europe. In total 30 academics have backed the campaign and contributed essays to criticise the concept of a single European identity that underpins the emphasis on further integration. In his essay Professor Abulafia wrote: ‘The search for common roots has not been ignored in Brussels and among its acolytes. School textbooks are issued that attempt to present the history of Europe as a common enterprise. ‘It hardly needs to be said that this has involved a distortion of the past, by assuming that a sense of European identity has existed for centuries, and by assuming a common purpose leading to the ultimate unification of Europe.’ Millions of children across the continent could be being taught a skewed version of history for political purposes, Professor Abulafia feared. ‘There is a soft push to create a sense of European citizenship which is based on frankly an invented common history, because the history of Europe is to a large extent the history of division, not the history of unity,’ he said. ‘When it has been the history of unity, as we’ve seen under Napoleon and Hitler or under the Soviets in Eastern Europe, it has gone disastrously wrong. It is a papering over the discordant elements in European history to create this idealised event.’ The Cambridge academic said the European Union had been presented as a ‘great train’ with the tracks leading to a ‘United States of Europe’ in some textbooks. He raised concerns that children were being misled into believing that ‘European citizenship trumps national allegiance’ and suggests the notion that it is ‘obvious and natural’ to have a fully integrated European state. TV historian David Starkey, pictured, has also joined a movement opposing further EU integration . He added: ‘Attempts to create an artificial notion of ‘Europe’ distract from the reality of the situation and make it harder to rectify the many problems that exist within the EU’s institutions.’ His concerns are shared by other historians, one of whom compared the push for European unity to the tyranny of Joseph Stalin, and another who warned that it undermined principles defended by Sir Winston Churchill. Matthew Elliott, chief executive of Business for Britain, the campaign backing renegotiation which is affiliated with Historians for Britain, said the idea of a single European identity was ‘dangerous’. He told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: ‘The EU’s official motto is ‘United in diversity’, a laudable philosophy. Unfortunately, many of the EU’s policies seem intent on crushing that diversity, striving to replace Europe’s many historic identities with a single, artificial ‘European’ culture.’ | (CNN) -- Former University of North Carolina head football coach Butch Davis believes he is being scapegoated by his former university as it deals with the largest academic fraud scandal in the history of college sports. Davis, in an interview with CNN on Tuesday, said, "I can tell you with every fiber in me that I did not know about cheating." His statements come after a caller identifying himself as Tydreke Powell, one of Davis' former players, told North Carolina radio station WJMH that "everyone" in the athletic department knew about so-called paper classes, and that Davis even told his players, "If you all came here for an education, you should have gone to Harvard." Powell played from 2008 to 2011, under Davis until 2010. Whether he was the person speaking to the radio station Monday could not be confirmed by CNN, and efforts by CNN to reach Powell were not successful. Davis, who was fired from UNC as the scandal began to unfold in early 2011, told CNN he read about what Powell purportedly said on the radio, but Davis said his own words were taken out of context. Davis, now an analyst with ESPN, said he made the Harvard remark to his players, but portrayed his remarks as being "halfway joking, teasing, and half tongue-in-cheek." He admitted the comment was a poor choice of words, "but it was never intended to be anything other than, 'life is tough for student athletes,'" adding that he told the players something similar to, "Guys, I know how hard your day is ... your life is tougher than non-student-athletes. If you just wanted an education, solely, you should have gone to Harvard." Former athlete sues UNC over academic scandal . Last month, former federal prosecutor Ken Wainstein released a scathing report, the product of an eight-month investigation into fake classes at UNC, and found that about 30 administrators at the university knew that athletes who were failing or were at risk of failing were shuffled into classes where a single paper was required and where plagiarism was overlooked. Wainstein portrayed rampant and systematic cheating, spanning 18 years and affecting 3,100 students. About half were athletes. His report came five years after the scandal was first uncovered, and follows several other internal investigations. But it was by far the most comprehensive to date, for the first time implicating staff in the scheme. Davis said he feels his interview with Wainstein was mischaracterized in the summary. "I do feel like there have been things that it looked like it would be the easy way -- blame it on the football program and maybe it will all go away," Davis said. Wainstein's report found that when an athlete was on the brink of eligibility, advisers in football and basketball and other sports would often enroll the athlete in a paper class, sometimes suggesting the grade they needed to stay afloat academically. This, in part, was done because many athletes at UNC were admitted to the university even though they were unprepared. Wainstein's report says that Davis admitted to knowing about easy classes in the African-American (AFAM) Studies department, and knew that these classes were keeping athletes eligible. It cites a 2009 PowerPoint presentation in which Davis was told that many of his players were in these classes and that they "didn't go to class... didn't take notes... didn't have to meet with professors... [and] didn't have to pay attention or necessarily engage with the material." But Davis said that episode, too, was mischaracterized. Davis said he was under the impression the situations being discussed had only happened in the past, and he insisted that coaches were not involved in the academics of student-athletes. "The coaches and athletic department has no control over degrees they choose, the course -- that had nothing to do with me," Davis told CNN. "Every year they would say, 'When do you want to have practice, and we'll work around it.' I may have told Wainstein that those classes helped kids stay eligible, but I didn't know it was crooked until after I left the program." Davis said he believed that the independent studies in the AFAM department were the same as independent studies courses in any other college in the school. Davis said -- and this is backed up by Wainstein's report -- that he had no idea that plagiarism was accepted, or that the papers weren't graded by the professor, Julius Nyang'oro, but by his clerical assistant Debbie Crowder. "How would I, as a football coach, know that a secretary is grading the papers?" Davis said. Wainstein acknowledged that both Davis and basketball coach Roy Williams took steps to improve the academics of their athletes while coaching at UNC. Davis reduced the number of athletes admitted who were underprepared. And Williams took steps to reduce clustering, Wainstein said. Report finds 18 years of academic fraud at UNC . According to Wainstein's report, the paper classes, which began in 1993, were Crowder's idea. Wainstein reviewed transcripts and found that they were most prevalent between 1999 and 2009. Davis and Williams both coached during those years, and Williams won two national championships in basketball during that time. Nyang'oro, who resigned after the scandal emerged, was charged with fraud in connection with the case, but the charge was dropped after he agreed to cooperate with the criminal investigation. No charges were filed against Crowder, who retired in 2009. Neither Crowder nor Nyang'oro has spoken publicly about the scandal, and both declined requests to speak to CNN. Davis said he doesn't get enough credit for raising his players' grade-point averages and graduation rates during that time period, although critics say paper classes were part of the reason those GPAs rose. One adviser even characterized them in the Wainstein report as "GPA boosters." But Davis said Wainstein's team also neglected to interview some of his assistants who would have backed up his story. "These are things that are disturbing," he said. The Wainstein report says all assistant coaches were given the opportunity to talk, but some did not respond. Davis said he feels the attention should be focused now on the advisers who steered athletes to the sham classes, not on the coaches. "All academics at UNC fell outside the realm of the athletic department, which is one of the things that I liked," he said. "All of the tutoring ... was handled at the (university's) College of Arts and Sciences. This should be about the College of Arts and Sciences, and leave the coaches out of it because we didn't have anything to do with it." The university issued a statement in response to CNN's request for comment: "We appreciate Butch Davis' cooperation with the independent investigation conducted by Kenneth Wainstein. Mr. Davis was one of 126 individuals interviewed about their knowledge of or role in the irregular classes. We believe that this was the most thorough and complete investigation possible. Mr. Davis is entitled to his opinions about the final content of Mr. Wainstein's report." Wainstein's report found that Davis' predecessor, head coach John Bunting, admitted to some knowledge of the paper class scheme. But the report cleared Williams, the current basketball coach. Former interim head football coach Everett Withers refused to cooperate with the Wainstein investigation, as did football director Cynthia Reynolds. Withers is now at James Madison University, and Reynolds is at Cornell University. | eng_Latn | 19,637 |
New York student plaintiffs claim teacher-tenure laws are flawed .
Union: Tenure laws are "wildly misunderstood," teachers are entitled to due process .
In a similar California case, a judge threw out state teacher-tenure laws . | New York (CNN) -- An education advocacy group has filed a lawsuit against New York City and state education officials challenging teacher-tenure laws, on the heels of a watershed case in which a California judge ruled that state's tenure laws unconstitutional. The lawsuit filed Thursday in State Supreme Court on behalf of 11 New York City public school students claims that tenure laws can prevent students from receiving a "sound basic education," according to a statement from the New York City Parents Union, of which parents of the plaintiffs are members. "Teachers in New York City are more likely to die on the job than be replaced because of poor performance," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit is framed similarly to a case brought in California, in which a judge in June deemed teacher tenure unconstitutional, saying it kept bad teachers in the classroom and forced out promising good ones. That landmark ruling was hailed by the nation's top education chief as opening opportunities across the nation to "build a new framework for the teaching profession." The decision represented "a mandate" to fix a broken teaching system, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said. In New York, the lawsuit claims that under city law an educator who obtains tenure is shielded from dismissal, no matter how incompetent they are or how poorly their students perform. "The state requires a quality-blind approach to layoffs that considers only years of service -- and completely ignores job performance and the ability to deliver a sound quality education," the lawsuit said. But the New York State United Teachers union said tenure laws are "wildly misunderstood" and claimed teacher tenure does not ensure a job for life, as is commonly believed. "Earning tenure in New York simply means that, if a teacher is accused of incompetence or wrongdoing, she is entitled to a fair hearing before she can be fired," NYSUT President Karen E. Magee said in a statement last week. CNN was unable to reach the union for comment Friday about the lawsuit. Magee called the process for removing teachers "due process of law." The Parents Union, however, called the process rare. The lawsuit said only 12 teachers between 1997 and 2007 in the New York City school system were formally replaced because of poor performance. The New York City Department of Education has 75,000 teachers in any given year, working in the largest school system in the country. Mona Davids and Sam Pirozzolo -- the parents union's president and vice president -- said in a statement that the legal action was not an attack on teachers or unions, but rather an attempt to give their children a voice and establish a system that "rewards and retains excellent teachers" while providing appropriate resources to struggling teachers. Reforming teacher tenure and firing laws is a hotly debated issue in American education, with the California case widely seen as setting the stage for similar action nationally. Reformers say tenure laws and union protections make firing a bad teacher almost impossible, but teachers and their unions argue that school boards and their firing criteria have unfair, overtly political standards. The NYC Department of Education is the largest system of public schools in the United States, serving about 1.1 million students in more than 1,700 schools. | JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Jerusalem authorities said Friday they hoped a court ruling would end three nights of protests by Israel's ultra-Orthodox community. Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest an arrest and the opening of a parking lot on the Sabbath in Jerusalem on Thursday. The decision by Jerusalem's Magistrate's Court will allow an ultra-Orthodox woman suspected of starving her 3-year-old son to be released from police custody and serve a temporary house arrest instead. The woman, whom police have not named, is from a radical sect of ultra-Orthodox Judaism known as Toldot Aharon, whose members believe that the modern state of Israel and its laws are a man-made creation beneath the religious teachings of the Talmud, the authoritative body of Jewish religious traditions. The case and the riots highlight the existence in Israel of extreme ultra-Orthodox religious groups that are awaiting the return of a messiah and that reject modern secular culture. The woman was arrested by police after staffers at a hospital passed on suspicions that her son was the victim of child abuse. Police officials said they had collected evidence indicating the woman purposely starved the child. Police also said they had reason to believe the woman, who is five months pregnant, physically abused two of her other children. Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aronoth published a photo of the child in which he appeared emaciated and reported the child's weight to be 15 pounds (about 7 kilograms). It said that her supporters had posted bail totaling more than $100,000 for her release. The woman has not made any statements to police, but her husband told Israeli Channel 2 that suspicions that she suffered from Munchausen's syndrome by proxy were not true. "She was with me all the time. I know she didn't do anything," he said. Munchausen's syndrome by proxy is a condition in which a person deliberately causes injury to another in order to gain attention. Her arrest sparked three days of protests in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, culminating in riots late Thursday in which two dozen people were injured and nine hospitalized, according to police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld. Dozens were arrested in the protests, in which hundreds of traditionally clad ultra-Orthodox, also known as Haredi, threw rocks at police and set garbage bins on fire. Police used water cannons and horse-mounted officers to disperse the crowds. The disturbances resulted in road closures around the city, and municipal officials estimate more than $100,000 in damage to city property. The Haredi riots, which were the worst the city has seen in years, led the city to cut off delivery of social services to some ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods because the safety of municipal workers could not be guaranteed. The protests highlight what has been an increasing tension between the Jerusalem municipality and the city's one-third Haredi population. Disagreement over a recent city plan to open a parking garage on the Sabbath has led to ongoing and sometimes violent protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews. Tamar El-Or, a sociologist at Hebrew University specializing in ultra-Orthodox groups, says the Haredi community is facing increasing problems of poverty and joblessness, which the community's leaders are making worse by "constant pushing of families to enlarge ... where they have less economic support." El-Or said cooperation between the ultra-Orthodox community and the city, which had improved in recent years, was a source of anger among the more radical Haredi groups like Toldot Aharon, which does not believe in the state of Israel. "Extremists are using the case to really stress the point you should never collaborate with those Zionists -- you should never collaborate with those institutions -- all the efforts made during the last years to create those very gentle and fragile collaborations is now broken," she said. Zionism is the movement calling for Jews of all persuasions to return to their homeland. | eng_Latn | 19,638 |
20 skulls taken by German scientists over a century ago have been returned to Namibia .
They were used in experiments in an attempt to prove the supposed racial supremacy of whites .
Historians agree this type of research was a precursor to Nazi ideology . | (CNN) -- Skulls taken by German scientists over a century ago have been returned to Namibia amid jubilant scenes and celebrations. Thousands flocked to Namibia's Hosea Kutako International Airport Tuesday, praying, singing, and chanting as the 20 skulls were returned to their homeland. The skulls, which were transported in caskets draped with the Namibian flag, were removed from the plane with military honors. Among those welcoming the skulls was the country's Prime Minister Nahas Angula who said, "These mortal remains are testimony to the horrors of colonialism and German cruelty against our people. May the mortal remains of our ancestors proceed into their homeland," Namibian media reported. According to historians, the skulls were taken during the bloody 1904 -1908 colonial conflict in former German West-South Africa, when the Herero tribe rebelled against German colonial forces. It's estimated that thousands were killed in the uprising. Once in Berlin, the skulls were used in research in an attempt to prove the supposed racial supremacy of European whites. The skulls were rediscovered at Berlin's Charite University Hospital in 2005 and are believed to belong to Namibia's Nama and Herero ethnic peoples. They consist of 15 males, including a three-year-old boy and four females, said Charite spokeswoman Claudia Peter. A delegation of over 50 Namibians traveled last week to Berlin for a handover ceremony before the skulls were repatriated to Namibia. Members of the delegation read a prayer outside the hospital before the ceremony. The skulls have reignited old political tensions between the two countries. The Namibian government has, for a number of years, demanded Germany acknowledge the war as genocide, calling for an apology as well as reparations. The German government, which gives development aid to Namibia has refused to pay reparations. It has, however, expressed regret for the incident. A statement issued by German Deputy Foreign Minister, Cornelia Pieper last month read, "We Germans acknowledge and accept this heavy legacy and the ensuing moral and historical responsibility to Namibia. "The German Government is fulfilling this duty through particularly close bilateral cooperation - and development cooperation - with Namibia," it continued. Pieper added, "I would also like to express my own personal deep regret and shame for what was done to the ancestors of the tribal representatives now in Berlin." For his part, the CEO of Charite University Hospital, Professor Karl Max Einhaupl, apologized to the Namibian delegation present at the ceremony in Berlin for the role played by German scientists. "With this step we face up to an inglorious chapter of German history," he said. "As a medical doctor and scientist myself, it is especially painful for me to realize that even physicians worked in the service of this early form of racism." Peter said historians now agree that much of the research undertaken by these early scientists was a precursor to Nazi ideology and is now universally acknowledged as a "perverse" science. Despite years of research little is known about how the 20 people died, said Peter. "Their cause of death could not be determined. Three skulls showed signs of lack of nutrition, but there was no sign of a violent death," she said. But, she stated, this did not rule out the possibility the skulls belonged to victims of the conflict, with many thousands of people dying of starvation and exhaustion in camps set up by German colonial forces. | A series of emails have exposed how University of North Carolina teachers would fake the grades of student athletes so they could stay at school. More than 3,100 students - nearly half of them athletes - were allowed to receive top grades in classes they never attended and only had to write one paper for. An email exchange between African and Afro-American Studies administrator, Deborah Crowder, and basketball counselor, Jan Boxill, in September 2008 revealed how teachers would inflate grades. Scroll down for video . An email exchange between the African and Afro-American Studies administrator and women's basketball counselor Jan Boxill (pictured) at the University of North Carolina revealed how teachers would inflate grades . Ms Crowder said: 'As long as I am here I will try to accommodate as many favors as possible. Did you say a D will do for [basketball player]?' Ms Boxill replies saying: 'Yes, a D will be fine; that's all she needs. I didn't look at the paper but figured it was a recycled one as well, but I couldn't figure from where! Thanks for whatever you can do.' At the time of these emails Boxill was the director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Philosophy, as well as the director of the UNC Parr Center for Ethics. And Crowder was the administrator of UNC's African and Afro-American Studies department. A report released on Wednesday revealed the extent to which academic and athletic staff members routinely ignored university rules in order to ensure the success of UNC student athletes. More than 3,100 University of North Carolina students, nearly half of whom were athletes, received artificially high grades through a 'shadow curriculum' which operated at the school, according to a report . University Chancellor Carol Folt keeps her head down as she prepares to address members of the media about the academic irregularities on October 22 . Here is the email exchange between the administrator for the UNC's African and Afro-American Studies department, Deborah Crowder, and the women's basketball academic counselor, Jan Boxill, in September 2008: . Crowder: 'As long as I am here I will try to accommodate as many favors as possible. Did you say a D will do for [basketball player]? I'm only asking that because 1. no sources, 2. it has absolutely nothing to do with the assignments for that class and 3. it seems to me to be a recycled paper. She took AFRI in spring of 2007 and that was likely for that class.' Boxill: 'Yes, a D will be fine; that's all she needs. I didn't look at the paper but figured it was a recycled one as well, but I couldn't figure from where! Thanks for whatever you can do.' Led by former high-ranking U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein, the report found more far-reaching academic fraud than previous investigations by the school and the NCAA. Many at the university hoped Wainstein's investigation would bring some closure to the long-running scandal, which is rooted in an NCAA investigation focused on improper benefits within the football program in 2010. Instead, findings of a systemic problem in the former African and Afro-American Studies department could lead to NCAA sanctions and possible dismissal of additional UNC staff. Evidence: Kenneth Wainstein lead the investigation into claims the staff designed classes to keep certain students, like athletes, from flunking out. Pictured above at a news conference announcing the report on Wednesday . 'I think it's very clear that this is an academic, an athletic and a university problem,' chancellor Carol Folt said. The report outlined courses in the former African and Afro-American Studies department that required only a research paper that was often scanned quickly and given an A or B regardless of the quality of work. The school's board of trustees and the panel that oversees the state's university system reviewed Wainstein's findings during a closed-door meeting earlier Wednesday. A half-dozen officials and UNC Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham declined to say whether anyone would lose their job. The NCAA hit the football program in 2012 with scholarship reductions and a postseason ban, though the academic violations focused mainly on a tutor providing improper help to players on papers. The NCAA said it reopened its investigation in June because new information was available. Wainstein's staff has briefed NCAA investigators at least three times, plans another briefing on the final report and has 'enjoyed a strong cooperative relationship,' according to the report. The report outlined how the fraud ran unchecked for so long, as well as how faculty and administration officials missed or looked past red flags such as unusually high numbers of independent study course enrollments. It said athletics staffers steered athletes to classes that also became popular with fraternities and other everyday students looking for an easy grade. 'By the mid-2000s, these classes had become a primary — if not the primary — way that struggling athletes kept themselves from having eligibility problems,' the report said. UNC President Tom Ross shares a private conversation with Cancellor Folt at a meeting on the investigation Wednesday . The school hired Wainstein in February. Unlike previous inquiries by former Gov. Jim Martin and the school, Wainstein had the cooperation of former department chairman Julius Nyang'oro and retired office administrator Deborah Crowder — the two people blamed for the irregularities. Nyang'oro was indicted in December on a felony fraud charge, though it was dropped after he agreed to cooperate with Wainstein's probe. Crowder was never charged. It was Crowder who started the paper classes as a way to help struggling students with 'watered-down requirements' not long after Nyang'oro became chairman of the curriculum in 1992, according to the report. Though not a faculty member, she managed the courses by registering students, assigning them topics and then handing out high grades regardless of the work. By 1999, in an apparent effort to work around the number of independent studies students could take, Crowder began offering lecture classes that didn't meet and were instead paper classes. After her retirement in 2009, Nyang'oro graded papers 'with an eye to boosting' a student's grade-point average, even asking Crowder's successor to look up GPAs before he'd issue a grade for a course, according to the report. Nyang'oro stepped down in 2011 as chairman after accusations of undetected plagiarism surfaced against a former football player. In all, athletes made up about 47 percent of the enrollments in the 188 lecture-classified paper classes. Of that group, 51 percent were football players. Wainstein's staff reviewed records dating to the 1980s and interviewed 126 people, including men's basketball coach Roy Williams, who said he trusted the school 'to put on legitimate classes,' according to the report. Former basketball player Rashad McCants, who told ESPN in June that tutors wrote research papers for him and that Williams was aware that of no-show classes, didn't respond to numerous requests for interviews, according to the report. | eng_Latn | 19,639 |
Divers encounter the “largest fish” they had ever seen .
'We waited until it cleared off before exiting the water,' says one diver .
Adelaide University Scuba Club will now review its safety policies .
'Safety is the most important thing,' club president says . | A relaxing day scuba diving soon turned into a scene from the film Jaws for two divers when a Great White shark appeared from nowhere and left them scrambling desperately to get out of the water. Adelaide University Scuba Club divers Mark Sutcliffe and Jan Busch got up close and personal with the Great White at the Glenelg tyre reef last weekend. The Advertiser reported that the divers encountered the “largest fish” they had ever seen on Sunday. They could only watch in horror as the shark circled the pair three times before disappearing into the blue. Scroll down for video . Look out! The Great White shark closes in on the two scuba divers . In a post to the club’s Facebook page, Sutcliffe made the understatement of the month by describing it as an 'interesting dive'. Feeding time: The Great White takes a closer look at the two divers from Adelaide University Scuba Club . 'Well done Jan Busch for snapping these shots while I had half my body inside a tyre tetrahedron and breathing my ass off,' he wrote. 'We waited until it cleared off before exiting the water. Omitted the safety stop on the way up!' The shark circled the pair three times before disappearing into the blue . Adelaide University Scuba Club president Gail Jackman however, was not so light-hearted about the close encounter of the man-eating kind, and said the club would review its safety policies in light of what happened. Jackman said the policy of each boat having a shark shield attached to its anchor line may change to ensure that each group of divers now had a shark shield with them underwater in the future as well. 'Sharks are always there – that’s the risk you take as a scuba diver,' Jackman said. 'Safety is the most important thing.' Shark sightings are common at this time of year along the metropolitan coast line. After the incident Adelaide University Scuba Club said they would review their safety policies . | (CNN) -- Clemson University suspended a mandatory online course that asked students and faculty about their sex lives and drinking habits following backlash from the school community. The South Carolina public university started using the third-party online course this semester as part of required "Title IX training" on sexual violence prevention. Questions such as: "How many times have you had sex?" and "With how many different people have you had sex?" raised privacy concerns among students. Clemson junior Machaella Reisman said she appreciates the school's efforts to educate the community on sexual violence prevention, especially in light of recent headlines related to domestic violence in the NFL. But, schools should be able to educate students without asking how many times they've had sex in the past three months, or if drugs or alcohol were involved, Reisman said. "This is not information that I discuss with my friends, let alone information I feel the need to disclose to the school or whoever the third-party source may be," Reisman, 20, told CNN in an email. "As a questionnaire that is supposed to serve the purpose of educating students on gender equality to prevent sexual violence, why should there be questions regarding how much sex a student has had and if they used drugs, alcohol, or a condom?" The controversy comes as schools across the country are experimenting with new approaches to sexual harassment prevention and education to comply with federal law. Sexual violence prevention in higher education has been a concern for schools across the country amid widespread allegations that schools mishandled sexual misconduct incidents in violation of federal law. Mandatory sexual violence education programming is common in schools nationwide. The University of California-Berkeley said this week that at least 500 freshmen could face holds on spring registration if they do not complete mandatory sexual harassment training this semester. The White House launched a task force earlier this year dedicated to the issue, and unveiled a new public awareness and education campaign on Friday called "It's On Us." The program, which President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden announced Friday, aims to engage students and colleges to take active roles in preventing sexual assault on campus. Clemson's Title IX training module was stirring debate on campus as more people started taking it, Reisman said. A Campus Reform article on the program brought the conversation to the national level, prompting Clemson to suspend the program Wednesday pending further "review and revision." "We felt it was important to take those concerns seriously," Shannon Finning, dean of students and associate vice president for Student Affairs, told CNN. "We are very committed to not only meeting federal requirements, but also assuring that we will provide critically important training and education to all members of our community." Reisman also questioned the extent to which her responses would be treated anonymously considering she used her name and student ID number to register for the online course. But Finning said the responses were "captured anonymously" and would not be identifiable by the school or CampusClarity, the vendor that created the module. "At the conclusion, we would gather it in aggregate and it would give us a better picture of campus culture and give us an opportunity to identify additional educational and training needs." The questions were included among other slides related to campus resources and exercises in how to deal with potential scenarios, Finning said. On the whole, the course was intended to address requirements under Title IX to make students aware of resources for dealing with sexual violence and how to report sexual misconduct, she said. Schools that receive federal funding are required under the Violence Against Women Act to provide sexual violence education to new and returning students and employees. Guidance under Title IX issued by the Office for Civil Rights in 2001 and 2014 also makes clear that schools should be providing educational programs on sexual violence to their student body, said Nancy Chi Cantalupo with the professional group Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Surveys are not required by Title IX and VAWA, and schools do not have to purchase surveys or educational programs from third parties, Cantalupo said. There are several models schools can adapt, including White House guidelines. "By designing their own survey, schools can insure that the survey questions are non-invasive" Cantalupo said. | eng_Latn | 19,640 |
Jeffrey Toobin: 1965 Voting Rights Act secured voting rights for blacks in the South .
Alabama county takes it to Supreme Court, saying act is unconstitutional .
Toobin: Is it still necessary? Does discrimination still exist in the South?
Toobin: Ruling will be close, with Chief Justice Roberts likely to oppose U.S. argument . | (CNN) -- How much has the South changed? That's the question at the heart of one of the most important cases the Supreme Court will take up this year. The case weighs the fate of one of the most important laws in American history: the Voting Rights Act of 1965. A century after the Civil War, Congress created that law to give African Americans the right to vote, not just on paper, but in fact. The key provision was Section 5, which decreed that jurisdictions with histories of discrimination, mostly in the South, had to get Justice Department approval before they changed any aspect of their voting rules, right down to the location of polling places. There is little doubt that, in the years immediately after 1965, the Voting Rights Act achieved a revolution in voting rights for African-Americans in the South. In subsequent years, Congress has reauthorized the law several times, most recently in 2006. Increasingly, covered jurisdictions have found the process of submitting their changes to the Justice Department, which is known as "pre-clearance," as a demeaning anachronism, and Shelby County, Alabama, went to court to argue that the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional. The court will hear the case, Shelby County v. Holder, early next year. The Obama administration strongly supports the act, but the president's election -- and re-election -- may be among the best arguments against the law. There is little doubt that African-Americans suffered pervasive discrimination in the 1960s, especially at the polls. But now we have a black president. Doesn't that prove that African-Americans have reached at least rough equality in the electoral realm? Not necessarily. When reauthorizing the law, Congress compiled a record of thousands of pages documenting the legacy of discrimination that lingers in the covered jurisdictions. The government asserts that the justices should defer to Congress in deciding whether the problem of voting rights is solved. Still, the Obama administration has to deal with a very important likely adversary in this case: Chief Justice John Roberts. The court heard a similar challenge to the Voting Rights Act in 2009, and the court sidestepped the core issue, resolving the case on procedural grounds. But there was little doubt, in Roberts' questions at oral argument or in his opinion, that he believes, constitutionally speaking, times have changed. The chief is unlikely to look for a procedural way out of controversy for a second time. The controversy over voter suppression in the 2012 elections might have a paradoxical effect on the future of the law. Democrats argued that the efforts to impose Voter ID requirements and the like amounted to discrimination against African-Americans and thus could be seen as justification for preserving the Voting Rights Act. But several of the acts of alleged voter suppression took place in states -- like Pennsylvania and Ohio -- that are not covered by Section 5 of the act. That may help the plaintiff's core argument: Times have changed in the South. In any event, it's likely to be a close vote. What happens if the law is overturned? The answer may be: not much. The South may not need the act anymore to protect the voting rights of minorities. If that's true, that would prove the plaintiffs' main argument in this case. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Jeffrey Toobin. | (CNN) -- A federal judge's ruling Wednesday cleared the way for a controversial mosque in Tennessee to open in time for the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. County officials must conduct a final building inspection at the mosque in Murfreesboro, near Nashville, U.S. District Judge Todd J. Campbell said in a temporary restraining order. The order will allow the mosque to complete the inspection process so it can use its building in time for the religious holiday of Ramadan, which starts at sunset Thursday, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty said in a statement. "This is a great victory not just for the Muslims of Murfreesboro, but for people of all faiths. No house of worship should be kept from meeting just because the neighbors don't like their religious beliefs," said Luke Goodrich, deputy general counsel at the Washington-based fund, which represented the mosque in a federal lawsuit. The U.S. Justice Department and the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro filed separate lawsuits this week, arguing that Rutherford County officials violated federal laws when they denied requests for a final inspection and certificate of occupancy for the mosque. The center argued that it was being unconstitutionally blocked "merely because local anti-Islamic protests have made the mosque controversial." Justice Department officials coordinated the timing of their lawsuit with the local case because they thought there would be "irreparable harm" if the mosque were not allowed to open for Ramadan, spokesman Mitchell Rivard said. Plans for the mosque have resulted in threats to the center and a lawsuit that led to a county judge's order shutting down the project in June. County officials had cited that order when they denied requests for the final inspection. The construction site had been vandalized multiple times, including by an arson attack in 2010, and federal authorities have charged a Texas man with calling in a bomb threat to the center before last year's anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington. Tennessee mosque's fate up in the air after court ruling . The center's lawsuit argued that it was ordered to meet "a heightened standard of notice in the zoning process" because of objections by some Murfreesboro residents, a standard no other religious institution has been asked to meet. "This double standard for the mosque has deprived ICM of its legal rights under federal law and the Constitution, serves no public purpose and threatens to cripple ICM's ability to observe Ramadan," the lawsuit states. The project had been approved by a planning commission and was under construction when Corlew reversed that approval because of what he said was the insufficient notice. The county followed its normal practice of publishing notice of the hearing in the local newspaper, but Corlew said more should have been done because the mosque was "an issue of major importance to citizens." Four county residents filed suit to block the mosque in September 2010, arguing it posed a "risk of terrorism generated by proselytizing for Islam and inciting the practices of Sharia law" and that planning commissioners violated their due process rights. They also demanded the judge bar any approval until the Islamic center showed that it was not interested in "the overthrow of the American system of government, laws and freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution." On Wednesday, Campbell ruled that the Justice Department had "demonstrated that the mosque is necessary to accommodate the number of worshipers, especially during the holy season of Ramadan, which begins July 20. The new building, which is ready to serve the community, eliminates the facilities problems, providing ample space for prayer, holiday celebrations, religious meetings and children's play." Imam Ossama Bahloul said in a statement that the center was "delighted by the judge's decision." "We look forward to celebrating Ramadan with our neighbors," he said. Opinion: America, how can Muslim-Americans reach non-Muslims? Living under the headscarf . CNN's Joe Sutton and Carol Cratty contributed to this report. | eng_Latn | 19,641 |
Saraland police defend arrest of black woman in AL Waffle House | Saraland Police are defending the arrest of Chikesia Clemons in an Alabama Waffle House, viral video of which has spread across the country. Police released new information, including surveillance video from the restaurant. Fox 10/Screenshot | ST. LOUIS (AP) — Some St. Louis hotels are losing meetings because of a travel advisory issued by the NAACP over concerns about a state law that rolls back discrimination protections for workers, a local tourism board said Monday, though its counterpart in Kansas City has reported no issues.
Explore St. Louis President Kitty Ratcliffe issued a statement saying several hotels told the agency they had lost meeting groups that were in the midst of contract negotiations. The statement offered no specifics, including how many hotels and meeting were involved.
Agency spokesman Anthony Paraino said the group didn’t have permission from hotels or groups to release details.
“Explore St. Louis fully supports non-discrimination, equal rights and fair and just due process for everyone, regardless of the color of their skin,” Ratcliffe said. “However, we are discouraged that the travel industry is being used as a weapon against politicians for their policies.”
The NAACP cited the new law in an advisory in July. The civil rights organization said the measure could make it tougher to hold people accountable for harassment and discrimination. The advisory also cited a report showing black Missouri drivers last year were 75 percent more likely than whites to be stopped.
The new law makes it more difficult to sue for housing or employment discrimination. It was among several changes to Missouri’s legal system. Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature and Republican Gov. Eric Greitens want to make the state a less favorable climate for lawsuits.
Kansas City, Missouri, has not lost any business due to the ban “to our knowledge,” said Derek Klaus, a spokesman for Visit KC.
The Missouri NAACP plans public meetings about the law this week in St. Louis, Kansas City and in Jefferson City.
Copyright © 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. | eng_Latn | 19,642 |
Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017), J5, J3 users must wait longer for Android Oreo | Google is currently beta testing Android P, but there are several handsets from various brands due to receive Android Oreo. According to the latest statistics, Oreo is powering as little as 5.7 percent of all Android smartphones in the world as most of the phones are still running Nougat, Marshmallow or even Lollipop.
If you're a Samsung smartphone user, you're well aware of how delayed the software rollouts can be. The flagship smartphone users get lucky with updates, but mid-range phones tend to get delayed longer. Such is the case with Samsung Galaxy J7 (2017), J5 and J3 smartphones, which have been long-overdue for Oreo update.
According to SamMobile, users of these smartphones are likely to wait longer for the software update based on Samsung Turkey's update tracker, Güncelmiyiz. While the Galaxy J-series phones were initially expected to get Android Oreo in July, it appears these phones will get updated in September.
Samsung's Güncelmiyiz tracker accurately shows a detailed roadmap for software updates as it did last year for the Nougat. But there's no reason for the delay in rolling out Oreo for Galaxy J7 (2017), sold as Galaxy J7 Pro in Turkey, Galaxy J5 (aka Galaxy J5 Pro) and Galaxy j3.
The only information available for anticipating users is that Android Oreo is "in the test phase" for the said handsets. The rollout will begin on September 28, 2018, but there's no guarantee that this date also applies for international rollout.
Android Oreo is a major update for Galaxy J-series phones. Several improvements are to be made with this new software, including extended battery life, faster booting, fluidic user experience and a boost in security. The update also includes Google security patch for April 2018 and Google Play Protect to prevent malware in apps.
There are interesting features that users will find striking, such as picture-in-picture feature, Rescue Party feature, Smart Text Selection and more. Samsung will add some of its own flavour to the new software by including new clock styles, app clones and Smart View. | Kentucky Senate Judiciary Chair Whitney Westerfield is pushing legislation aimed at reducing disparities in how minority youth are treated by the juvenile-justice system. (LRC Public Information)
FRANKFORT, Ky. – Legislation aimed at addressing the disparities in how Kentucky treats minority youth is on the Senate Judiciary Committee's agenda for Thursday.
The Senate Judiciary chair Whitney Westerfield has filed Senate Bill 20 that he says will collect "consistent" data on age, gender and race from places young people come into contact with: schools, law enforcement, courts and social services.
"Until we know where it is, because there are half a dozen or so points of contact for a kid in the system, we can't go very broad into policy changes to address it," he said.
Westerfield says it's the next step in adjusting the state's juvenile justice system, which underwent enormous reform three years ago. He hopes to take a vote on his bill in committee Thursday.
Edward Palmer, the pastor of The Sign of the Dove Ministries in Radcliff and a member of the state's Juvenile Justice Advisory Board, says after "kicking the can down the road" for decades, he's confident Westerfield's bill will move Kentucky closer to addressing the problem.
"To clearly identify what's causing those disparities and give us strategies as to how to begin to create better outcomes for minority kids," said Palmer.
According to The Pew Charitable Trusts, black youth are not more likely to engage in delinquent behavior than are white youth.
Westerfield says the harsher treatment can be "jaw dropping," citing statistics from last school year in Jefferson County where nearly 1,200 of the 1,700 school complaints were made against African-Americans, even though only 10 percent of the students are black.
"I don't know think anybody can say it's a school thing, a law-enforcement thing, a social-worker thing, we don't know," Westerfield added. "But we know that more kids than ought to be in there are in there, so yes, we know that it's there."
Because Palmer says, when kids self-report, research shows they say they all do the same thing.
"So the kids are telling us, 'Yeah, I try pot just like the kid in the west end of Louisville tries pot,'" Palmer continued. "So they're all doing the same thing. They all think the same way. The difference is the communities in which they live in and how their deviant behavior plays out and how the defiant behavior is detected or not detected."
Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.
Greg Stotelmyer , Public News Service - KY | eng_Latn | 19,643 |
The 1970 shootings left four student protesters dead; nine others were wounded .
A former student says audio recordings provide evidence of an order to fire .
The Justice Department found the recording inconclusive . | (CNN) -- The Justice Department has declined to reopen an investigation into the 1970 shootings at Kent State University that left four student protesters dead, after the agency found that enhanced audio recordings of the incident were inconclusive as to whether an order to fire was given. The students had been protesting the Vietnam War and the U.S. invasion of Cambodia when Ohio National Guard members opened fire. Nine others were wounded in the incident. The digitally enhanced 29-minute audio clip, originally recorded on a reel-to-reel machine on May 4, 1970, from the window of a university dorm, captured the sounds of the shootings, according to the Justice Department. The agency's decision came last week in response to a letter from former student Alan Canfora, 63, who was shot in the wrist during the incident and submitted the evidence to authorities in 2010. He says the digital version was dubbed from the original copy and contained proof of an order to fire, followed by 13 seconds of gunfire. CNN has listened to the recording and cannot confirm that account. But Canfora says an independent analysis by an audio professional on the same recording verifies a clear command to fire before the deadly gunshots. Eight Guardsmen were charged in 1974 for their alleged roles in the shooting but were acquitted because a judge ruled that the government could not prove its case. "It's always been the central mystery," Canfora said. "Was there or was there not an order to fire?" A federal investigation found the audio quality to be poor and "shouting to be unintelligible," according to a letter from Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. The letter says "no military-like voice commands to fire or otherwise were heard," adding that a statute of limitations bars prosecutors from reopening the case. Canfora argued that he never wanted the case retried but is seeking a "grand pronouncement of truth for the sake of the historical record." "Were looking for truth and healing," he added. "When you have a lingering injustice, there's no real feeling of closure." Canfora said victims of the shooting plan to announce May 3, the day before the 42nd anniversary, a plan to move the case to an international court. | A series of emails have exposed how University of North Carolina teachers would fake the grades of student athletes so they could stay at school. More than 3,100 students - nearly half of them athletes - were allowed to receive top grades in classes they never attended and only had to write one paper for. An email exchange between African and Afro-American Studies administrator, Deborah Crowder, and basketball counselor, Jan Boxill, in September 2008 revealed how teachers would inflate grades. Scroll down for video . An email exchange between the African and Afro-American Studies administrator and women's basketball counselor Jan Boxill (pictured) at the University of North Carolina revealed how teachers would inflate grades . Ms Crowder said: 'As long as I am here I will try to accommodate as many favors as possible. Did you say a D will do for [basketball player]?' Ms Boxill replies saying: 'Yes, a D will be fine; that's all she needs. I didn't look at the paper but figured it was a recycled one as well, but I couldn't figure from where! Thanks for whatever you can do.' At the time of these emails Boxill was the director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Philosophy, as well as the director of the UNC Parr Center for Ethics. And Crowder was the administrator of UNC's African and Afro-American Studies department. A report released on Wednesday revealed the extent to which academic and athletic staff members routinely ignored university rules in order to ensure the success of UNC student athletes. More than 3,100 University of North Carolina students, nearly half of whom were athletes, received artificially high grades through a 'shadow curriculum' which operated at the school, according to a report . University Chancellor Carol Folt keeps her head down as she prepares to address members of the media about the academic irregularities on October 22 . Here is the email exchange between the administrator for the UNC's African and Afro-American Studies department, Deborah Crowder, and the women's basketball academic counselor, Jan Boxill, in September 2008: . Crowder: 'As long as I am here I will try to accommodate as many favors as possible. Did you say a D will do for [basketball player]? I'm only asking that because 1. no sources, 2. it has absolutely nothing to do with the assignments for that class and 3. it seems to me to be a recycled paper. She took AFRI in spring of 2007 and that was likely for that class.' Boxill: 'Yes, a D will be fine; that's all she needs. I didn't look at the paper but figured it was a recycled one as well, but I couldn't figure from where! Thanks for whatever you can do.' Led by former high-ranking U.S. Justice Department official Kenneth Wainstein, the report found more far-reaching academic fraud than previous investigations by the school and the NCAA. Many at the university hoped Wainstein's investigation would bring some closure to the long-running scandal, which is rooted in an NCAA investigation focused on improper benefits within the football program in 2010. Instead, findings of a systemic problem in the former African and Afro-American Studies department could lead to NCAA sanctions and possible dismissal of additional UNC staff. Evidence: Kenneth Wainstein lead the investigation into claims the staff designed classes to keep certain students, like athletes, from flunking out. Pictured above at a news conference announcing the report on Wednesday . 'I think it's very clear that this is an academic, an athletic and a university problem,' chancellor Carol Folt said. The report outlined courses in the former African and Afro-American Studies department that required only a research paper that was often scanned quickly and given an A or B regardless of the quality of work. The school's board of trustees and the panel that oversees the state's university system reviewed Wainstein's findings during a closed-door meeting earlier Wednesday. A half-dozen officials and UNC Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham declined to say whether anyone would lose their job. The NCAA hit the football program in 2012 with scholarship reductions and a postseason ban, though the academic violations focused mainly on a tutor providing improper help to players on papers. The NCAA said it reopened its investigation in June because new information was available. Wainstein's staff has briefed NCAA investigators at least three times, plans another briefing on the final report and has 'enjoyed a strong cooperative relationship,' according to the report. The report outlined how the fraud ran unchecked for so long, as well as how faculty and administration officials missed or looked past red flags such as unusually high numbers of independent study course enrollments. It said athletics staffers steered athletes to classes that also became popular with fraternities and other everyday students looking for an easy grade. 'By the mid-2000s, these classes had become a primary — if not the primary — way that struggling athletes kept themselves from having eligibility problems,' the report said. UNC President Tom Ross shares a private conversation with Cancellor Folt at a meeting on the investigation Wednesday . The school hired Wainstein in February. Unlike previous inquiries by former Gov. Jim Martin and the school, Wainstein had the cooperation of former department chairman Julius Nyang'oro and retired office administrator Deborah Crowder — the two people blamed for the irregularities. Nyang'oro was indicted in December on a felony fraud charge, though it was dropped after he agreed to cooperate with Wainstein's probe. Crowder was never charged. It was Crowder who started the paper classes as a way to help struggling students with 'watered-down requirements' not long after Nyang'oro became chairman of the curriculum in 1992, according to the report. Though not a faculty member, she managed the courses by registering students, assigning them topics and then handing out high grades regardless of the work. By 1999, in an apparent effort to work around the number of independent studies students could take, Crowder began offering lecture classes that didn't meet and were instead paper classes. After her retirement in 2009, Nyang'oro graded papers 'with an eye to boosting' a student's grade-point average, even asking Crowder's successor to look up GPAs before he'd issue a grade for a course, according to the report. Nyang'oro stepped down in 2011 as chairman after accusations of undetected plagiarism surfaced against a former football player. In all, athletes made up about 47 percent of the enrollments in the 188 lecture-classified paper classes. Of that group, 51 percent were football players. Wainstein's staff reviewed records dating to the 1980s and interviewed 126 people, including men's basketball coach Roy Williams, who said he trusted the school 'to put on legitimate classes,' according to the report. Former basketball player Rashad McCants, who told ESPN in June that tutors wrote research papers for him and that Williams was aware that of no-show classes, didn't respond to numerous requests for interviews, according to the report. | eng_Latn | 19,644 |
Bryan Stevenson: The number of Americans in prisons has grown tremendously .
He says mass incarceration is an injustice that stains America .
Stevenson says justice system incarcerates minor criminals, locks up children for life .
He says America will be judged for its compassion for poor and condemned . | Montgomery, Alabama (CNN) -- I'm an attorney and I represent incarcerated people, both in my home state of Alabama and across the United States. I spend every day with people who are poor, disadvantaged, condemned and marginalized. I am persuaded that we can and should do better to create more hopeful and encouraging solutions to poverty, crime and inequality in this country. In the last 40 years, our society has witnessed unprecedented technological change, incredible innovation and a great deal of promise and success in many areas. Watch Bryan Stevenson's TED Talk . We have also seen growing inequality, increased levels of poverty and unprecedented rates of imprisonment. I have come to believe that, for all the things we have accomplished, injustice, poverty and mass incarceration are stains on our society. They cannot be ignored. In 1970 there were roughly 350,000 people in our jails and prisons. Today there are more than 2.2 million. That's not counting the nearly 5 million people who are on probation or parole. One in every 31 Americans is subject to some form of correctional control. This policy of mass incarceration did not come out of nowhere. It was born out of a politics of fear and anger based on now discredited theories. It was our response to problems in our society that we were not creative enough -- or perhaps not courageous enough -- to solve. Public safety is a legitimate priority for any nation, but it does not explain the fact that the United States now has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. TED.com: America's native prisoners of war . Mass incarceration has been our response to poverty. The boom in imprisonment coincided with a retraction of programs intended to pull Americans out of poverty. And incarceration itself has a lasting impact, not just on the economic mobility of former prisoners, but on the mobility of their children and families. There are now more than 46 million people living below the federal poverty line in the United States. Mass incarceration has been our response to mental illness. More than half the people in our jails and prisons have mental health problems and most are not receiving treatment. Many of these individuals also have substance abuse disorders. Veterans, suffering from PTSD from their combat experience, are at increased risk of suicide in prison. Mass incarceration has been our response to the oldest and most enduring problem of our nation: the problem of race. While more than one in 100 adults in America are behind bars, that number is one in 15 for African-American men. We frequently target communities of color with unequal enforcement of the law and subject too many young black and brown people to a presumption of guilt that results in disproportionate sentences and mistreatment. But the numbers alone don't tell the full story. Our sentencing practices in individual cases reveal the gross excesses of our system. TED.com: Hans Rosling's new insights on poverty . As we've locked up more and more people, sentences have gotten harsher. Misguided three-strikes laws have had the perverse result of sending people to prison for the rest of their lives for petty crimes like stealing a set of golf clubs. We are the only nation in the world that sentences children as young as 13 to die in prison. And we continue to have a death penalty that not only costs billions, but also produces unfair and unreliable results. For every nine people we have executed in the last 40 years, we have found one person on death row who was innocent. This error rate would be intolerable in any industry, yet where the difference is that of life or death, we are unwilling to speak up. Why? How has a problem that affects one in 31 Americans (not to speak of their children, families, and communities) been ignored for so long? The answer is that mass incarceration impacts mostly the poor, the historically disfavored, the racial minority: those whose voices are rarely heard. Spending on jails and prisons has required taking money away from education, public benefits and social welfare in too many states. Some conservatives and progressives have begun to recognize that it's time to dismantle the policies of mass incarceration. More of us must speak up. We must take responsibility for human suffering and despair even when we are conditioned not to see it. We need to challenge ourselves to work toward meaningful solutions, like rehabilitation and reform. We need to talk about the ugliest chapters of our history; we need to talk about race and poverty. Most of all we need to talk about injustice. Because until we confront injustice, I believe its stain will shadow all of our accomplishments. We need to talk about injustice, because who we are as a society cannot be accurately defined by our wealth, our technology, or our celebrities. We will be ultimately defined instead by our treatment of the poor, our compassion for the condemned, our commitment to our own humanity. We need to talk about injustice, so that we can create justice. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Bryan Stevenson. | The attorney representing the University of Oklahoma's disgraced fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon has said he believes the members - including those who chanted racial slurs - deserve a second chance. Stephen Jones, who represented Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, spoke at a press conference on Friday as he said he is seeking a 'non-legal' resolution with the university. Its president, David Boren, expelled the two students filmed leading the racist chant last weekend - but Jones said that Boren himself recently said that everyone deserves a second chance. 'We certainly think that's true for the members of the SAE house,' Jones continued. 'And perhaps even for the members who were involved in this unfortunate confrontation with the university and the basic values of SAE.' Scroll down for video . Stephen Jones, the attorney for the local chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon, said in a press conference on Friday that the students filmed making racist chants were just a small number of people at the event . Jones is representing students and alumni from the fraternity. He is not representing the two students, Parker Rice and Levi Pettit. He said that he hopes to reach a 'non-legal' resolution with the university, which he indicated acted hastily when it closed down the frat house on Monday. He added that he also wants to ensure the students - some of whom have received death threats - are granted their right to due process. 'I'm not ruling out a lawsuit,' he said. 'I'm saying that our preference is proceeding in a non legal solution... If that is not possible, then obviously we will have to consider other possibilities.' Jones also pointed out that hundreds of students and fraternity members had attended the event where the footage was filmed, and that the 'inexcusable' chant was the action of just a handful. 'We're talking about one incident with nine seconds of video on one of five buses,' he said. Ringleader: Parker Rice, a University of Oklahoma freshman from Dallas, has been identified as the conductor leading the 'there will never be a n***** in SEA' chant on Saturday. He has since been expelled . Outed: Levi Pettit was identified by his family on Tuesday night. They apologized for his 'disgusting' behavior. Right, Pettit - an accomplished golfer at his former school Highland Park - is pictured putting in a 2013 photo . Also on Friday, a spokesman for the fraternity's national headquarters revealed that officials with the Oklahoma chapter have stopped communicating with them. 'We have not heard from the Oklahoma chapter,' spokesman Brandon Weghorst said. 'They have not engaged us since the time the chapter was closed.' Weghorst said the national fraternity is moving forward with plans to expel all of the suspended members of the OU chapter, a move that will permanently revoke their membership. The frat house was shut down after a nine-second video recorded last weekend emerged showing members singing a song using racial slurs and referencing lynching. 'There will never be a n***** SAE' they were heard singing aboard a bus. The fraternity was closed immediately and all students and staff were ordered to remove their belongings from the frat house by Monday night. One of the alleged ringleaders, Parker Rice, said earlier this week that he has left the University of Oklahoma and is 'deeply sorry' for what he did. Lawsuit? The university's president, David Boren, pictured on Tuesday, ordered the chapter to close down . High profile: Jones is pictured in 1996 with Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, whom he represented . 'For me, this is a devastating lesson and I am seeking guidance on how I can learn from this and make sure it never happens again,' he said in a statement. 'My goal for the long-term is to be a man who has the heart and the courage to reject racism wherever I see or experience it in the future.' Brody and Susan Pettit, the parents of Levi Pettit, also apologized to the 'entire African American community' for their son's 'disgusting' actions. But the family added that they had raised him to be 'inclusive,' saying: 'We know his heart, and he is not a racist.' An investigation into the involvement of other members is still underway. Investigations into racism at Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity chapters have now extended to college campuses in Louisiana and Texas, the organization said Thursday. It came after its national office received word that members in those places knew the racist chant caught on video in Oklahoma. Shut down: Workers can be seen removing the letters from the SAE house on Monday after it was shut down . Moving out: Two men can be seen laughing as they remove furniture from the house on Monday . Spokesman Brandon Weghorst said the chapter at the University of Texas at Austin was being 'fully cooperative' and that a probe at Louisiana Tech in Ruston was in its early stages. He said no new allegations had been substantiated. 'We had no idea of this type of behavior was going on underground,' Weghorst said Thursday. 'This is the type of stuff (the chant), it goes underground and it goes under the radar. 'It's dangerous because — if we don't know about it, we can't stop it.' The president of the university's SAE had previously issued a statement denying that his chapter had ever performed a similar chant. Luke Cone said he could 'speak on the behalf of my fraternity brothers that we are all profoundly distressed' about the language in the video. The SAE chapter at Louisiana Tech did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment Thursday, but a university spokesman said it has been unable to substantiate an allegation that a former member participated in the chant in 2010. 'Once we learned that, we immediately got with the current chapter president and the leadership of that chapter to ensure this activity wasn't taking place here at Louisiana Tech,' said spokesman Dave Guerin. Anger: Protesters hold up signs outside the Rice family home in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday . 'They assured us that it wasn't. We can't really attest to back in 2010.' Some members of some of the largest SAE chapters in the country on Thursday denied any knowledge of the racist chant. 'In my four years, I never have seen anything or heard anything like that in my individual chapter,' said Will Sneed, past president of the SAE chapter at the University of Arkansas. Meanwhile, the University of Oklahoma football team expressed its outrage Thursday in a statement calling for fraternity leaders to be 'expelled, suspended or otherwise disciplined severely'. 'As a team, we have come to a consensus that, in any organization, the leadership is responsible for the culture created, and in this case, encouraged. ... Allowing this culture to thrive goes against everything it means to be a Sooner,' the players said. | eng_Latn | 19,645 |
Californians may have to request plastic straws at eateries | SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Sit-down restaurants in California may soon stop automatically providing disposable plastic straws with drinks unless customers request them.
The state Assembly advanced a bill Wednesday that would require dine-in restaurants provide single-use plastic straws only upon request.
Plastic straws contribute to the buildup of trash in the oceans, a major environmental and public health problem, Assemblyman Ian Calderon said. Fish and whales ingest plastic particulate, which can kill them or cause plastic to enter the human food supply when marine animals that have eaten plastic are consumed by people, he said. The Whittier Democrat described his bill as a "small step, but in the right direction."
Assemblyman Matthew Harper opposed the bill, saying it will make it harder for restaurants to do business in California. The Huntington Beach Republican said instead of passing a law regulating restaurants, the Legislature should impose harsher punishments for people who litter.
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Restaurants would be warned for first and second violations and fined $25 per day for subsequent violations, with an annual fine limit of $300.
The bill, AB1884, passed 45-17. It still requires approval from the state Senate and governor before it can become law. | ST. LOUIS (AP) — Some St. Louis hotels are losing meetings because of a travel advisory issued by the NAACP over concerns about a state law that rolls back discrimination protections for workers, a local tourism board said Monday, though its counterpart in Kansas City has reported no issues.
Explore St. Louis President Kitty Ratcliffe issued a statement saying several hotels told the agency they had lost meeting groups that were in the midst of contract negotiations. The statement offered no specifics, including how many hotels and meeting were involved.
Agency spokesman Anthony Paraino said the group didn’t have permission from hotels or groups to release details.
“Explore St. Louis fully supports non-discrimination, equal rights and fair and just due process for everyone, regardless of the color of their skin,” Ratcliffe said. “However, we are discouraged that the travel industry is being used as a weapon against politicians for their policies.”
The NAACP cited the new law in an advisory in July. The civil rights organization said the measure could make it tougher to hold people accountable for harassment and discrimination. The advisory also cited a report showing black Missouri drivers last year were 75 percent more likely than whites to be stopped.
The new law makes it more difficult to sue for housing or employment discrimination. It was among several changes to Missouri’s legal system. Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature and Republican Gov. Eric Greitens want to make the state a less favorable climate for lawsuits.
Kansas City, Missouri, has not lost any business due to the ban “to our knowledge,” said Derek Klaus, a spokesman for Visit KC.
The Missouri NAACP plans public meetings about the law this week in St. Louis, Kansas City and in Jefferson City.
Copyright © 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. | eng_Latn | 19,646 |
Missouri school removes gay student quotes from yearbook | A Missouri high school has removed yearbook quotes from two openly gay students.
Seniors Joey Slivinski and Thomas Swartz at Kearney School District had both decided to use their yearbook quotes to celebrate coming out while at school.
'Of course I dress well. I didn't spend all that time in the closet for nothing,' Slivinski's quote read.
'If 'Harry Potter taught us anything, it's that no one should have to live in the closet,' read Swartz's.
A Missouri high school has removed yearbook quotes from openly gay students Joey Slivinski (left, with his quote) and Thomas Swartz (right, with his)
But both students, who are openly gay, say they were shocked and hurt to find that neither quote had been included after the year books arrived.
Instead, they were left with just a blank space under each of their names. Neither student was consulted before the quote was pulled.
Slivinksi wrote that the decision made him feel like the school was 'ashamed of having a gay student.'
'Kearney School District showed me that I am not accepted for being who I am,' he wrote in a Facebook post liked hundreds of times.
The Kearney School District (Kearney High is pictured) claims it removed their quotes without warning over concerns that they could 'potentially offend' other students
Swartz (left) said the move had left a bitter taste at the end of many happy years at the school, while Slivinksi (right) wrote that the decision made him feel like the school was 'ashamed of having a gay student'
'I put a very innocent quote as my senior quote and they took it away from me with absolutely no warning or option to change it.
'Our schools are supposed to be a place that you can express being who you are. Today I realized Kearney isn't ready for me being me. I always thought Kearney was going up hill but quickly realized we're zooming down hill quick.'
The Kearney School District claims it removed their quotes without warning over concerns that they could 'potentially offend' other students.
'In an effort to protect our students, quotes that could potentially offend another student or groups of students are not published,' school's principal and Kearney School District Superintendent Bill Nicely said in a statement to the Washington Post. 'It is the school's practice to err on the side of caution.
'Doing so in this case had the unintentional consequence of offending the very students the practice was designed to protect. We sincerely apologize to those students,' it continued. 'We acknowledge our mistake and will use it as a learning opportunity to improve in the future.'
But both students, who are openly gay, say they were shocked and hurt to find that neither quote had been included after the year books arrived
Instead, they were left with just a blank space under each of their names. Neither student was consulted before the quote was pulled
But Swartz pointed out that the school had allowed other 'potentially offensive' quotes, such as one student who wrote: 'If I could vote, I would've voted for Trump because I can't stand having a woman as president.'
Swartz added that both he and Slivinski had submitted their quotes at the beginning of December last year, giving the school plenty of time to discuss changing them, but said that no one had approached them to say there was any problem.
The students are now planning to make stickers with their quotes to put in their friends' yearbooks.
But Swartz said the move had left a bitter taste at the end of many happy years at the school.
He said that the 'direct discrimination' had 'ruined' his last year at school, and was 'completely disheartened and angry' to have suffered 'this type of senseless censorship.' | SANITY RETURNS TO THE ACADEMY: Fresno State Reports Own Professor for ‘Trump Must Hang’ Tweet. | eng_Latn | 19,647 |
Poll shows 39.8 percent of students oppose building performing arts center on UEL site | The matrix pictured can be found here.
The Herald’s spring undergraduate poll, conducted April 5-7 in J. Walter Wilson, the Stephen Roberts ’62 Campus Center and the Sciences Library, found that students reported a drop in religious activity while attending the University. While about 24 percent of students participated in religious activities, such as attending church, religious fellowships or religious associations before attending Brown, only about 10 percent reported doing so while attending the University. The number of students who participated in religious events once or twice a month before attendance dropped from 10.2 percent to 5.5. Similarly, 42.7 percent of students surveyed reported not actively participating in religious events before attending Brown. But 69.1 percent of students reported that they do not actively participate in religious events while at Brown.
Following the February announcement by the Corporation that the Urban Environmental Lab may face demolition and the subsequent activism to save the building, about 40 percent of students strongly or somewhat disagree that the University should build a new performing arts center on the site of the current UEL. About 26 percent of surveyed students agreed that the performing arts center should be built, while about 34 percent had no opinion.
Following the Corporation’s February approval of a $1.061 billion operating budget plan for fiscal year 2018, which includes a 4.4 percent increase in undergraduate tuition and fees, the poll found that about 42 percent of students disapprove of the way the University is handling the budget. About 20 percent of students approved of the University’s handling of the budget, while about 38 percent had no opinion.
About 49 percent of students surveyed said they would feel comfortable going to the Title IX office, which handles cases of sexual and gender-based harassment, for assistance and support if they were ever in a situation that fell under its jurisdiction. Twenty five percent said they would feel uncomfortable going to the Title IX office for support, while 17 percent said they had no opinion. The results come in light of the recent resignation of the University’s Title IX program officer, Amanda Walsh, which left management of the office to an interim director.
The student body is roughly split regarding the University’s governance. Fifty four percent of students approve of the way President Christina Paxson P’19 is handling her position as president of the University, with about 12 percent reporting disapproval and 34 percent without opinion. Similarly, 49 percent of students polled approve of the way the Undergraduate Council of Students is handling its job representing and addressing the concerns of the undergraduate student body. About seven percent of students polled disapproved of UCS and 42 percent lacked an opinion.
In a period in which students, specifically women and those from historically underrepresented groups, are questioning the impact of President Donald Trump’s election in their lives, 4.4 percent of students reported changing their birth control in response to the current political climate. | By Precious Nicholas
UNITED Labour Congress of Nigeria, ULC, yesterday in Lagos, asked the Federal Government to name those behind the ghost workers said to have been uncovered by President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress, APC, government.
Reacting to President Buhari Democracy Day speech, ULC in a statement through its President, Mr. Joe Ajaero, berated the government over alleged insensitivity to the plight of Nigerian workers, expressing shock that the President did not deem it necessary to mention the issue of national minimum wage that workers had been clamouring for.
According to ULC, “the President’s address on Democracy Day fed us with the discovery of thousands of ghost workers and the billions of Naira saved in the process.
“While this is good if it is not the usual propaganda, we believe government should go beyond that and show us the faces of the people behind the ghost workers syndrome.
“If there are ghost workers, there will be those benefiting from it, there will be accounts receiving such funds. There will be Bank Verification Number, BVN, associated with such accounts and, ultimately, there will be names linked with such BVNs.
“We believe that for the anti-corruption battle to have any meaning, this government must identify such individuals and prosecute them in the courts of law.” | eng_Latn | 19,648 |
My alma mater jumps the shark | It was bad enough that an ACLU talk on free speech at The College of William and Mary (my school, class of 1971) was just shouted down by members of Black Lives Matter, and the College President made pious mutterings about free speech but does nothing. (He hasn’t yet answered my letter.) But that injury is compounded by this conference, which, as the site says, is “supported by generous funding from William and Mary’s philosophy department, Theresa Thompson ‘67, William and Mary Arts and Sciences, and the Carswell Fund of the Wake Forest University Philosophy Department.” Supported by the philosophy department? That’s where I began learning philosophy!
And seriously, the conference is to “help inspire more good work in this area”? More good work? Where’s the past good work?
Look at the topics. Here we truly have, as Dan Barker says about theology, “A subject without an object.” Now I have no doubt that at least one reader will endeavor to defend this as a worthwhile subject, but that reader would be wrong. | 1:06
Their basketball team just won the state championship, but this student section deserves a trophy too | eng_Latn | 19,649 |
Judge: Requiring more parking for mosque is unconstitutional | 1:40 Mini 'choo-choo' in York draws crowds for annual tradition Pause
2:01 South Carolina residents will automatically live in North Carolina as of Jan. 1
1:06 Trump supporters at Fletcher, NC rally
3:46 'He's reloading': 911 call from Emanuel AME after Dylann Roof shot 9 parishioners
1:53 911 call from domestic incident involving S.C. legislator Chris Corley
1:23 Dylann Roof target practice
0:40 Thai Fusion opens in Lake Wylie
1:02 Nikki Haley's last Christmas open house as governor
2:29 Meet George: The first mature male great white shark tagged by OCEARCH | Robert Menard, mayor of Bexiers, France, has been charged with incitement to hatred or discrimination after noting in a TV interview that 91 percent of the students in one class in his town are Muslim. "Obviously, this is a problem," he said. Menard says he was simply describing the reality of life in his town. | eng_Latn | 19,650 |
Ohio school district rejects transgender restroom policy | LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- A gender equality policy that would let transgender students use the restroom of their gender identity was voted down Monday night by a school district in southwest Ohio.
The Lakota Local School Board voted down the proposed policy, 3-2, according to cincinnati.com.
The defeat was a surprise to supporters of the policy, who expected it to pass, WLWT Channel 5 reports. According to cincinnati.com, supporters wept after the vote.
But the board members who voted no tell cincinnati.com they were concerned not enough time had been given to discussion of the issue, even though it's been under consideration for 18 months.
Lakota has been informally allowing transgender students to use the restroom of their choice.
But supporters were hoping the policy would be approved as a show of support from the district, the eighth-largest in Ohio.
"No one wants to stand out from the crowd and have everyone point to them as something other than the normal," Jonah Yokohama, an advocate with Heartland Transwellness Group, tells WCPO Channel 9. "If a trans student is not allowed to use the right facility for themselves with their peers, then they are being othered."
Lakota Schools are located in Liberty Township, which is north of Cincinnati. The district has more than 18,000 students. | Ozark University school cafeteria worker broke down in tears thanking Trump for tax cuts; she shares her story with 'Fox & Friends.' | eng_Latn | 19,651 |
The Debate To Disband College Campus Police | Most colleges and universities with more than 2,500 students operate their own law enforcement agencies. There’s a growing movement on campuses across the country — including in Michigan, Connecticut, California and Illinois — to defund and disband those police departments. From member station WILL, Lee Gaines reports that students of color at the University of Illinois say they’re over-policed, while campus officers say they’re a necessary part of college life. WILL is licensed to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The station’s editorial content and direction are independent of the university. This article was originally published on WBUR.org. | NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro speaks with Amy Rutenberg of Iowa State University about the role of the draft in American society and the arguments for and against women registering. | eng_Latn | 19,652 |
Patriots Win Third Super Bowl in Four Years | The New England Patriots overcome a strong Philadelphia Eagles defense and a surprise performance by Terrell Owens on their way to a 24-21 victory in Jacksonville, Fla. The win secures the team's place in NFL history with their third Super Bowl victory in four years. | The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling today that it was wrong of the city of New Haven to throw out a promotion exam because white firefighters did much better on it than minorities is getting a great deal of attention because the court reversed a decision that nominee Sonia Sotomayor had endorsed at the appeals court level. But on Talk of the Nation a short while ago, Los Angeles Times legal correspondent David Savage told host Neal Conan that Sotomayor had been doing what appeals court judges typically do -- following the precedent of decisions made in her circuit and by the Supreme Court. Savage also said it's not clear how much of an impact today's decision will have on other cities or government agencies because it is "hard to believe anyone could bungle" promotion exams "the way New Haven managed to bungle this." The New Haven Register has substantial coverage of the case from its beginning through today. It summarizes the case this way: Read More >> The city in 2004 decided to scrap two promotional exams because no African Americans and two Hispanic firefighters would have been eligible to vie for 15 vacancies in the ranks of captains and lieutenants. The city argued that the results had a disparate impact on minorities and could have opened up the city to a lawsuit by black firefighters under the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 20 firefighters and their lawyer argued that the city violated their equal protection rights and the disparate treatment provision of the landmark Civil Rights Act by discriminating against them because they are white. Today, the Register reports: Fire Lt. Matt Marcarelli, a plaintiff who scored first on the captain's test, said he felt "humbled...elated...and proud," Monday. | eng_Latn | 19,653 |
Study Abroad Program In Ghana Looks At Both Sides Of Slave Trade | Lehigh University in Pennsylvania takes students to Ghana to learn about the Transatlantic slave trade. The two professors in charge of the study abroad program come from different perspectives: one descended from slaves, the other’s ancestors helped the British trade slaves. Sara Hoover (@smhooverville) of Here & Now contributor WHYY has our story. | News Headlines: Sept. 28, 2007Baltimore Sun: At GOP Debate on Minority Issues, Absent Candidates Incur Resentment -- "Outside the debate hall at Morgan State University, African-Americans across the political spectrum used the phrase "slap in the face" when expressing their frustration at the decision of four leading Republican presidential candidates to skip last night's debate." More: Homeland Colors live blogged the event and asked questions of the candidates in attendance. Check out the open thread comments about the Republican snub. More Headlines:CNN: Mychal Bell of 'Jena 6' Released on Bail AP: Spain Fights Migration Via Senegal Ads ABC News: Judge Strikes Down Patriot Act Provisions Fox News: Oprah TV's Top Earner, Followed by Jerry Seinfeld The New York Times: McNabb: "Somebody Has to Speak About It" U.S. News & World Report: Like Other Schools, HBCUs Must Compete for Students | The New Affirmative Action Chicago Tribune: African-American Museum Opens Online RTE: Pregnant Halle Berry Receives Death Threats | eng_Latn | 19,654 |
Duke University Removes Robert E. Lee Statue From Chapel Entrance | A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee was removed from the entrance to Duke University Chapel early Saturday by order of the university president who said in a letter that the move was not only a safety measure but also meant to express the "abiding values" of the school. The decision to remove the statue from the Durham, N.C., campus, comes after it was defaced on Wednesday and follows violent clashes last week in Charlottesville, Va., between right-wing extremists and counterprotesters over plans to remove another statue of Lee. "I took this course of action to protect Duke Chapel, to ensure the vital safety of students and community members who worship there, and above all to express the deep and abiding values of our university," university President Vincent Price wrote in a letter to the campus community. "The removal also presents an opportunity for us to learn and heal," he said, adding, "We have a responsibility to come together as a community to determine how we can respond to this unrest in a way that demonstrates our firm commitment to justice, not discrimination; to civil protest, not violence; to authentic dialogue, not rhetoric; and to empathy, not hatred." He said that the statue "will be preserved so that students can study Duke's complex past and take part in a more inclusive future." Separately, a statue honoring pro-slavery secessionists outside the old Durham County courthouse was pulled down by protesters on Monday. The Associated Press writes: "Hundreds marched on Friday through downtown Durham in a largely peaceful demonstration against racism, leading to an impromptu rally at the site where the bronze statue was toppled. "Other monuments around the state have been vandalized since the Charlottesville protest. There have also been calls to take down a Confederate soldier statue from the campus of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill." | This from The Boston Globe about students on college campuses across the country struggling with ethnic tensions and racist attitudes: The subject of racial and ethnic tensions on college campuses has become so topical that a November episode of "Without a Trace" kicked off with a white student calling his black peer an affirmative-action "charity case" during class. Tufts University's conservative student newspaper, The Primary Source, generated controversy a year ago when it published a Christmas carol titled "O Come All Ye Black Folk." Asian students at Boston College complain of drunken alumni and students who shout racial epithets as part of their football game celebrations. Read the rest of the article, and tell us: Did you face similar run-ins during your time in school? How did you deal with it? | eng_Latn | 19,655 |
Analysis: Sotomayor Was 'Following The Precedent' In Firefighters Case | The Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling today that it was wrong of the city of New Haven to throw out a promotion exam because white firefighters did much better on it than minorities is getting a great deal of attention because the court reversed a decision that nominee Sonia Sotomayor had endorsed at the appeals court level. But on Talk of the Nation a short while ago, Los Angeles Times legal correspondent David Savage told host Neal Conan that Sotomayor had been doing what appeals court judges typically do -- following the precedent of decisions made in her circuit and by the Supreme Court. Savage also said it's not clear how much of an impact today's decision will have on other cities or government agencies because it is "hard to believe anyone could bungle" promotion exams "the way New Haven managed to bungle this." The New Haven Register has substantial coverage of the case from its beginning through today. It summarizes the case this way: Read More >> The city in 2004 decided to scrap two promotional exams because no African Americans and two Hispanic firefighters would have been eligible to vie for 15 vacancies in the ranks of captains and lieutenants. The city argued that the results had a disparate impact on minorities and could have opened up the city to a lawsuit by black firefighters under the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 20 firefighters and their lawyer argued that the city violated their equal protection rights and the disparate treatment provision of the landmark Civil Rights Act by discriminating against them because they are white. Today, the Register reports: Fire Lt. Matt Marcarelli, a plaintiff who scored first on the captain's test, said he felt "humbled...elated...and proud," Monday. | In Kentucky, a high school newspaper uncovered a disturbing story. For years, the State Police had used a training manual with quotations from Adolf Hitler. On today’s show, we spoke with the student journalists who discovered the story. We also spoke with Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League. At first, Sadiqa says she couldn’t believe the story was real. “I was absolutely shocked,” she said on today’s show. “What they have uncovered is the problem of America,” she added. “We have got to be honest about the fact that racism and hatred, they continue because these things are still being … daily taught to people who are in charge of serving and protecting.” In this web exclusive, Meghna Chakrabarti follows up with Sadiqa for an extended interview about policing, racism and what this reporting says about America. In this web extra … we hear from: Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League. Former judge. (@SadiqaReynolds) This article was originally published on WBUR.org. | eng_Latn | 19,656 |
Supreme Court Rejects Case Over Confederate Emblem On Mississippi Flag | The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up a case challenging the use of a Confederate emblem on the Mississippi state flag. Carlos Moore, an African-American lawyer from Mississippi who petitioned the court, had argued in court documents that the flag, visible in state buildings, courts and schools, symbolically expresses support for white supremacy. The flag incorporates the Confederate battle flag in its upper left corner. The justices did not provide a reason for rejecting the appeal. A federal appeals court in April rejected the lawsuit owing to lack of standing, as NPR's Camila Domonoske explained: "The central question was whether the man had standing to sue — which depended on whether he had experienced an 'injury in fact.' The appeals court didn't deny that the flag might have a deep and personal effect on the man. They said he demonstrated that he feels stigmatized. "But feeling stigmatized, they said, isn't the kind of injury you can sue the state over." In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Moore argued that the lower court interpreted the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause too narrowly. He called for the Supreme Court to declare Mississippi statutes on how the flag should be designed and displayed as unconstitutional. He also wanted the justices to deem unconstitutional a statute that called for schoolchildren in the state — such as his own daughter — to be taught "proper respect" for the flag and for the " 'official pledge of the State of Mississippi,' which reads: I salute the flag of Mississippi and the sovereign state for which it stands with pride in her history and achievements and with confidence in her future under the guidance of Almighty God." "The message in Mississippi's flag has always been one of racial hostility and insult and it is pervasive and unavoidable by both children and adults," Moore's appeal reads. "The state's continued expression of its message of racial disparagement sends a message to African-American citizens of Mississippi that they are second class citizens." Moore said in court documents that for him, exposure to the flag is "painful, threatening, and offensive." He added that seeing the flag at courthouses creates a "hostile work and business environment." In a Facebook post shared by his law firm on Monday, Moore praised his lawyers for "a valiant fight." He wrote: "If the state flag is to change it will be up to the people or the elected representatives. The public sentiment continues to change and I trust the flag will change in due season." He told The Associated Press that he has received five death threats because of the lawsuit. Moore's case was listed as one of dozens of cases that the Supreme Court decided not to take up, as is standard for the top court. Mississippi has been embroiled in debates about the flag for years, as Camila has reported. "In 2001, the state voted to stick with the controversial design. But some official bodies — cities, counties and universities, including the flagship University of Mississippi — refuse to fly the banner." | In Kentucky, a high school newspaper uncovered a disturbing story. For years, the State Police had used a training manual with quotations from Adolf Hitler. On today’s show, we spoke with the student journalists who discovered the story. We also spoke with Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League. At first, Sadiqa says she couldn’t believe the story was real. “I was absolutely shocked,” she said on today’s show. “What they have uncovered is the problem of America,” she added. “We have got to be honest about the fact that racism and hatred, they continue because these things are still being … daily taught to people who are in charge of serving and protecting.” In this web exclusive, Meghna Chakrabarti follows up with Sadiqa for an extended interview about policing, racism and what this reporting says about America. In this web extra … we hear from: Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League. Former judge. (@SadiqaReynolds) This article was originally published on WBUR.org. | eng_Latn | 19,657 |
Is An Apology For Slavery Enough? | Florida apologized last month for the state's role in slavery -- a history the legislature called, "shameful." Marvin Dunn's grandmother's father was a slave in Florida, and he's left wondering why he doesn't feel any better, given the apology: Maybe it's because the apology is a meaningless act that only a dolt or outright racist would oppose. It cost the state nothing and of course, there was not a word about the thorny question of reparations. As one of the African Americans to whom the apology was aimed, it was not enough. Dunn wrote an op-ed in Sunday's Miami Herald, laying out four specific steps that he believes would make the apology meaningful. What do you think? Does an apology make any difference? Should states go further? | News Headlines: Sept. 28, 2007Baltimore Sun: At GOP Debate on Minority Issues, Absent Candidates Incur Resentment -- "Outside the debate hall at Morgan State University, African-Americans across the political spectrum used the phrase "slap in the face" when expressing their frustration at the decision of four leading Republican presidential candidates to skip last night's debate." More: Homeland Colors live blogged the event and asked questions of the candidates in attendance. Check out the open thread comments about the Republican snub. More Headlines:CNN: Mychal Bell of 'Jena 6' Released on Bail AP: Spain Fights Migration Via Senegal Ads ABC News: Judge Strikes Down Patriot Act Provisions Fox News: Oprah TV's Top Earner, Followed by Jerry Seinfeld The New York Times: McNabb: "Somebody Has to Speak About It" U.S. News & World Report: Like Other Schools, HBCUs Must Compete for Students | The New Affirmative Action Chicago Tribune: African-American Museum Opens Online RTE: Pregnant Halle Berry Receives Death Threats | eng_Latn | 19,658 |
Suspension Rates 'Shock The Conscience,' Says Researcher | Suspensions in middle and high schools across the U.S. have risen dramatically in recent years. Two million students were suspended during the 2009 school year, and boys of color and children with disabilities were suspended at much higher rates than others. Host Michel Martin speaks with Daniel Losen, lead author of the new report "Out of School and Off Track," about why kids are being suspended and how that can affect them in the future. | In an op-ed piece for the <em>Daily Beast</em>, sports columnist Buzz Bissinger writes that an "insidious culture of sports in America" helped cover up the child sex abuse scandal at Penn State. He argues that the NCAA should ban the university's football program for five years. | eng_Latn | 19,659 |
Inside The Effort To Give Inmates Access To Federal Student Grants For College | Inmates are among the least educated people in America, but few prisons offer opportunities beyond a GED. What if people behind bars had access to federal money to help pay for college? | News Headlines: Sept. 28, 2007Baltimore Sun: At GOP Debate on Minority Issues, Absent Candidates Incur Resentment -- "Outside the debate hall at Morgan State University, African-Americans across the political spectrum used the phrase "slap in the face" when expressing their frustration at the decision of four leading Republican presidential candidates to skip last night's debate." More: Homeland Colors live blogged the event and asked questions of the candidates in attendance. Check out the open thread comments about the Republican snub. More Headlines:CNN: Mychal Bell of 'Jena 6' Released on Bail AP: Spain Fights Migration Via Senegal Ads ABC News: Judge Strikes Down Patriot Act Provisions Fox News: Oprah TV's Top Earner, Followed by Jerry Seinfeld The New York Times: McNabb: "Somebody Has to Speak About It" U.S. News & World Report: Like Other Schools, HBCUs Must Compete for Students | The New Affirmative Action Chicago Tribune: African-American Museum Opens Online RTE: Pregnant Halle Berry Receives Death Threats | eng_Latn | 19,660 |
Justice Investigating Handling Of Sexual Assault Reports At University Of Montana | The Obama Administration showed today that it's willing to take unprecedented steps to try to prevent sexual assaults on college campuses when the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it has opened a series of investigations into how the University of Montana in Missoula and local law enforcement agencies handled reports of sexual assaults. The Justice Department investigation will look not just at whether the university has adequately addressed the problem of sexual assault, but how local police and the county attorney responded as well. There have been at least 11 reported sexual assaults involving university students in an 18-month period, and in two recent allegations, women said a man forced them to drink alcohol that may have been laced with a date rape drug. "Basically, this is an investigation of the entire town," Katherine Redmond, founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes, told NPR. She lauded the Justice Department announcement and added, "hopefully this will sound a warning to a lot of other schools." Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez, in Missoula to announce the investigation, said sexual assault and sexual harassment "undermine women's basic rights and, when perpetrated against students, can negatively impact their ability to learn and continue their education." In 2010, a series of investigative reports by NPR and the Center for Public Integrity found that even when men are found responsible for sexual assault, there are often only weak consequences and usually it's the woman, who brought the complaint, who ends up dropping out of school. University of Montana officials have acted in recent months to tighten discipline policies and report alleged assaults in a more timely way to local police. After the Justice Department announcement, Jim Foley, University Executive Vice President of the University, told NPR: "We intend to cooperate fully. We look forward to the discussions with the Department of Justice and continue to do everything we can to stop sexual assault." It's the second time in a little over a year that the Obama Administration has taken ground-breaking action to address the issue of college sexual assaults. In April, 2011, the Administration announced new guidelines for schools and universities intended to push them to do more to prevent sexual assault and then to do a better job investigating when an assault is alleged. In 2010,the NPR and CPI investigative reports looked at the culture of secrecy around the way schools investigate allegations of sexual assault and the weak response by federal officials with regulatory oversight of campus safety. | This week Arkansas became the first state to outlaw gender-affirming health care for transgender youth, as the state legislature overrode a veto by Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Hutchinson tells NPR why he opposed the bill, which will become law later this summer. Dr. Joshua Safer, the executive director at Mount Sinai's Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, explains why gender-affirming therapies — such as puberty blockers or hormone treatment — are safe and healthy for trans youth. Misconceptions about trans people can be shaped by who tells their stories. Three trans journalists weigh in on how that should be done:Imara Jones is the creator of TransLash Media.Kate Sosin is a reporter at The 19th. Orion Rummler is a reporter at Axios. In participating regions, you'll also hear from local journalists about what's happening in your community.Email us at [email protected]. | eng_Latn | 19,661 |
Advocates Try To Help Migrants Navigate Trump's Public Charge Rule | The Trump administration's new public charge rule, which makes it more difficult for immigrants to get green cards if it looks like they might need public assistance, is set to go into effect on Oct. 15. Multiple groups, including several states and immigrants' rights advocates, are in court trying to delay the rule and ultimately block it. But there's already widespread confusion over how the rule would work, leading many immigrants to drop benefits unnecessarily. Advocacy groups are now trying to get the message out about what the rule actually requires so people don't go without needed medical, housing and nutrition assistance. The administration says the rule is needed to ensure that those who get green cards will be self-sufficient. One factor that immigration officials will consider in deciding whether someone might become a public charge is whether the individual already uses public benefits. Casa de Maryland, a nonprofit immigrant advocacy group, is among those challenging the new test. Member Monica Camacho Perez is a plaintiff in the case. The 25-year-old Baltimore resident was brought into the country illegally as a child and is now a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient. Camacho is worried about how the public charge rule might affect her ability to someday become a citizen. "You never know with this government. Everything can be used against you," she says. But like many other people, Camacho is not exactly sure how that would work. For example, she'd like to go to college full time but is reluctant to take out a student loan for fear it will hurt her future immigration status. In fact, under the new rule, student loans aren't supposed to be held against someone applying for a green card. Such misunderstandings are widespread. Camacho says she has relatives who have stopped getting food stamps for their children, who are U.S. citizens, even though use of such benefits by their children wouldn't count. George Escobar, chief of programs and services at Casa, says about a third of the group's members have raised concerns about how using benefits such as food stamps and Medicaid might affect their legal status. Many want to drop out of these programs just to be safe. Escobar says he tries to dissuade families from doing so. "The number of people that are actually being impacted by the public charge rule is actually very limited, but the chilling impact is what's much more concerning," he says. There are some estimates that nationwide, millions of people aren't getting nutrition and health assistance because they're so worried. Many live in mixed-status families, which include citizens and noncitizens. In reality, so few noncitizens are eligible for the safety net programs covered by the rule that the number who would be affected is estimated to be in the low tens of thousands. "What we're trying to do with our community right now, and what we've done, is provide culturally proficient education material, engage people, use every opportunity we can to engage people and educate them about what the public charge rule is and what it is not," Escobar says. Casa is part of a national network of groups trying to get the information out. They've printed up brochures, conducted training for social service providers and set up multiple websites that provide details on how the rule will work. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has also provided detailed explanations of the changes. But efforts to clear up the confusion have been complicated by uncertainty over the fate of the legal challenges and by the administration's multiple actions to limit both legal and illegal immigration. For example, the White House issued a new order on Oct. 4 that requires foreigners seeking visas to enter the U.S. to show they have health insurance or enough money to cover "reasonably foreseeable medical costs." Sonya Schwartz, an attorney with the National Immigration Law Center, says there are a few key points for immigrants to remember. "I think the first thing that's really helpful for people to know is that the public charge test does not apply to everyone," she says, noting that refugees, asylum-seekers and most current green card holders are exempt. She adds that only benefits used by green card applicants themselves, not those used by family members, are taken into account. The list of benefits considered is also generally limited to food stamps, housing subsidies and cash assistance. "Medicaid is also on the list, but there are so many exceptions about Medicaid that it doesn't affect a lot of people. So kids' use of Medicaid doesn't count. Use of Medicaid in schools doesn't count. Emergency Medicaid doesn't count," says Schwartz. Use of school nutrition programs, child care assistance and Medicare are also not supposed to be held against a green card applicant. Schwartz also points out that use of public benefits alone will not make someone a public charge. She says immigration officials weigh many thin | The number of "forcible rapes" that get reported at four-year colleges increased 49 percent between 2008 and 2012. That's the finding of an analysis by NPR's Investigative Unit of data from the Department of Education. That increase shows that sexual assault is a persistent and ugly problem on college campuses. But there's also a way to look at the rise in reports and see something positive: It means more students are willing to come forward and report this underreported crime. "It's a good thing that more victims are reporting because they're getting the help and support they need from their institutions," says Daniel Carter, a veteran advocate for better campus safety laws. "For far too long, they've been left on their own. And now they're getting the help they need, which is the first step in healing and recovery and ultimately ... finishing their education as wholly as possible." Carter is the director of a group called 32 National Campus Safety Initiative. He says there's still a long way for schools to go. This week, the White House told colleges and universities to take more action to prevent sexual assaults. And just in the past couple of years, many schools have taken on sexual assault investigations with more seriousness. School administrations have been prodded by students who are demanding better treatment. And schools have been pushed, since 2011, by new rules and laws from Washington, D.C. Among the schools that Carter and other advocates point to as being models is the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor. But that school, which gives a series of training sessions to first-year students on preventing sexual assault, has had its own controversy — showing just how hard it can be for schools to take on this problem. The University of Michigan is already doing most of the steps suggested by the White House to prevent sexual assaults on college campuses. For example, the school teaches "bystander education," which shows students how to step in and stop a dangerous situation that they see — such as a student trying to get another student drunk at a party. Students not only are taught the definition of consent but then role-play and practice saying "No" and even how to respond correctly — and graciously — when told "No." The data NPR analyzed show that reports of forcible sexual assaults between 2010 and 2012 have gone up 113 percent at the University of Michigan. "So if you say, look, University of Michigan, we want you to be aggressive. We want you to be focused. We want you to get your students to tell you what's going on, then our numbers are going to go up," says Royster Harper, the school's vice president for student affairs. "If you want low numbers, you're really saying to students, be quiet. We should expect the more education we do, the safer our students feel, the more they see us responding. We should expect our numbers to go up." And students have not been quiet. In February, a small group of students protested the way the university handled sexual misconduct allegations against a player on the football team. In 2009, a first-year student said the player, Brendan Gibbons, raped her at a fraternity party. But the case was dropped. Last August, the school adopted a new policy — based on new guidelines issued by the Department of Education in 2011 — that gave the school more leeway to conduct an investigation. A retired professor, who acts as a local watchdog, then filed a new complaint over the Gibbons investigation, and the case against the football player was reopened. And in December, right before Michigan went to a bowl game, Gibbons was expelled. But some students wanted to know whether the university had waited too long. University officials refused to turn over records to an investigative committee formed by the student government. Administrators say the records had to stay confidential. The student report concluded that the university took too long — more than 60 days — to investigate most allegations. In January, the school hired a second, full-time investigator — to look into reports of sexual assault. "If the University of Michigan still has a ways to go, but is doing a good job relative to everyone else, everyone else really needs to do a lot to catch up," says Michael Proppe, the student government president at the time, who established the student task force. By next fall, all schools around the country must comply with a new federal law, the Campus SaVE Act, which demands more assault prevention education and better investigations. MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: This week, the White House told colleges and universities it's time to take more action to prevent sexual assaults. Every school is already required to report to the federal government any crime that occurs on campus. NPR's investigative unit has been analyzing the data on this from the Department of Education. It found the number of reported forcible rapes at four-year colleges has gone way up - a 49 percent increase betwee | eng_Latn | 19,662 |
Beyond prediction: Using big data for policy problems | Fairness-aware Classifier with Prejudice Remover Regularizer | Learning and evaluating classifiers under sample selection bias | eng_Latn | 19,663 |
Certifying and Removing Disparate Impact | Fairness-aware Classifier with Prejudice Remover Regularizer | Statistical learning theory | eng_Latn | 19,664 |
The adoption of IM across corporate networks outside of the control of IT organizations creates risks and liabilities for companies who do not effectively manage and support IM use . | The adoption of IM across corporate networks outside of the control of IT organizations creates many risks and liabilities for companies who do not effectively manage and support IM use . | Claiming lead from Justice Ruth Ginsburg 's minority opinion , which invited the Congress to take action by amending the law , the Democrats announced their intention to intervene : House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller said that a bill was to be passed to avoid future court rulings in line with Ledbetter , clearly putting that `` a key provision of the legislation will make it clear that discrimination occurs not just when the decision to discriminate is made , but also when someone becomes subject to that discriminatory decision , and when they are affected by that discriminatory decision , including each time they are issued a discriminatory paycheck '' , as said by Rep. Miller . | eng_Latn | 19,665 |
Alternatively , a doughnut depositor can be used to place a circle of liquid dough ( batter ) directly into the fryer . | Or , a doughnut depositor can be used to place a circle of liquid dough ( batter ) into the deep fryer . | Claiming lead from Justice Ruth Ginsburg 's minority opinion , which invited the Congress to take action by amending the law , the Democrats announced their intention to intervene : House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller said that a bill was to be passed to avoid future court rulings in line with Ledbetter , clearly putting that `` a key provision of the legislation will make it clear that discrimination occurs not just when the decision to discriminate is made , but also when someone becomes subject to that discriminatory decision , and when they are affected by that discriminatory decision , including each time they are issued a discriminatory paycheck '' , as said by Rep. Miller . | eng_Latn | 19,666 |
However convenience stores make up for this with the convenience by having longer opening hours , serving more locations , and having shorter cashier lines . | However convenience stores make up for this with the convenience by having longer opening hours , serving more locations , and having shorter checkout lines . | Claiming lead from Justice Ruth Ginsburg 's minority opinion , which invited the Congress to take action by amending the law , the Democrats announced their intention to intervene : House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller said that a bill was to be passed to avoid future court rulings in line with Ledbetter , clearly putting that `` a key provision of the legislation will make it clear that discrimination occurs not just when the decision to discriminate is made , but also when someone becomes subject to that discriminatory decision , and when they are affected by that discriminatory decision , including each time they are issued a discriminatory paycheck '' , as said by Rep. Miller . | eng_Latn | 19,667 |
When the benchmark price is equal to the marginal cost of production , as it is in perfect competition , then ratio of the overcharge to market price is the Lerner Index of market power . | The Lerner Index has an upper limit of one when the pure monopoly price is charged in a market . | Claiming lead from Justice Ruth Ginsburg 's minority opinion , which invited the Congress to take action by amending the law , the Democrats announced their intention to intervene : House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller said that a bill was to be passed to avoid future court rulings in line with Ledbetter , clearly putting that `` a key provision of the legislation will make it clear that discrimination occurs not just when the decision to discriminate is made , but also when someone becomes subject to that discriminatory decision , and when they are affected by that discriminatory decision , including each time they are issued a discriminatory paycheck '' , as said by Rep. Miller . | eng_Latn | 19,668 |
Following Barnum 's orders , the lawyer offered Nutt 's parents a large sum of money to sign their son to a five-year contract . | Following Barnum 's orders , the lawyer offered Nutt 's parents a large sum of money to sign their son to a five year contract . | Claiming lead from Justice Ruth Ginsburg 's minority opinion , which invited the Congress to take action by amending the law , the Democrats announced their intention to intervene : House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller said that a bill was to be passed to avoid future court rulings in line with Ledbetter , clearly putting that `` a key provision of the legislation will make it clear that discrimination occurs not just when the decision to discriminate is made , but also when someone becomes subject to that discriminatory decision , and when they are affected by that discriminatory decision , including each time they are issued a discriminatory paycheck '' , as said by Rep. Miller . | eng_Latn | 19,669 |
The trained operator at the variable speed control box regulates the unit 's Buck-and-Spin speed , as well as spin direction . | The trained operator at the speed control box controls the unit 's speed as well as spin direction . | Claiming lead from Justice Ruth Ginsburg 's minority opinion , which invited the Congress to take action by amending the law , the Democrats announced their intention to intervene : House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller said that a bill was to be passed to avoid future court rulings in line with Ledbetter , clearly putting that `` a key provision of the legislation will make it clear that discrimination occurs not just when the decision to discriminate is made , but also when someone becomes subject to that discriminatory decision , and when they are affected by that discriminatory decision , including each time they are issued a discriminatory paycheck '' , as said by Rep. Miller . | eng_Latn | 19,670 |
Feelings of embarrassment , shame , frustration , fear , anger , and guilt are frequent in people who stutter , and may actually increase tension and effort , leading to increased stuttering . | These people may feel embarrassment , shame , frustration , fear , anger , and guilt These feelings may increase stress and effort making the person stammer more . | Claiming lead from Justice Ruth Ginsburg 's minority opinion , which invited the Congress to take action by amending the law , the Democrats announced their intention to intervene : House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller said that a bill was to be passed to avoid future court rulings in line with Ledbetter , clearly putting that `` a key provision of the legislation will make it clear that discrimination occurs not just when the decision to discriminate is made , but also when someone becomes subject to that discriminatory decision , and when they are affected by that discriminatory decision , including each time they are issued a discriminatory paycheck '' , as said by Rep. Miller . | eng_Latn | 19,671 |
As an example , the chance of not rolling a six on a six-sided die is 1 - ( chance of rolling a six ) . | For instance , suppose that you want to know the probability of rolling two dice and getting a certain combination ( it could be two 6s or a 3 then a 5 , just any two ) . | Claiming lead from Justice Ruth Ginsburg 's minority opinion , which invited the Congress to take action by amending the law , the Democrats announced their intention to intervene : House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller said that a bill was to be passed to avoid future court rulings in line with Ledbetter , clearly putting that `` a key provision of the legislation will make it clear that discrimination occurs not just when the decision to discriminate is made , but also when someone becomes subject to that discriminatory decision , and when they are affected by that discriminatory decision , including each time they are issued a discriminatory paycheck '' , as said by Rep. Miller . | eng_Latn | 19,672 |
Throwing the hurley ( e.g. , to block a ball going high over one 's head ) is illegal , though camogie players may drop it to make a handpass . | Throwing the hurley ( e.g. to block a ball going high over one 's head ) is illegal , but camogie players may drop it to make a handpass . | Claiming lead from Justice Ruth Ginsburg 's minority opinion , which invited the Congress to take action by amending the law , the Democrats announced their intention to intervene : House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Education and Labor Committee Chairman George Miller said that a bill was to be passed to avoid future court rulings in line with Ledbetter , clearly putting that `` a key provision of the legislation will make it clear that discrimination occurs not just when the decision to discriminate is made , but also when someone becomes subject to that discriminatory decision , and when they are affected by that discriminatory decision , including each time they are issued a discriminatory paycheck '' , as said by Rep. Miller . | eng_Latn | 19,673 |
Cricket has reputation as a sport "played by gentlemen"
Reputation tarnished by Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds controversy .
Indian spinner Singh denied racially insulting Australian Symonds .
Indian coaches say they teach aspiring players etiquette from a young age . | NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- It's 6.30 a.m. on a rainy morning in New Delhi. Modern School is closed for the summer, but its sports fields are bursting with energy. Around 30 boys, between the ages of seven and 17 are running around, some swinging bats in the air, others practicing their bowling. They come here five days a week to attend a cricket coaching camp. "Cricket takes commitment," says the star student here, 17-year-old Arjun Gupta. The row between India's Harbhajan Singh (left) and Australia's Andrew Symonds has turned the spotlight on "sledging" in cricket. Gupta is passionate about the game. He's already representing the state of Delhi in the under-17 category. He dreams of playing for his country one day. His coaches, Uday Gupte and Navin Chopra say he has the talent to do that. He also has the right attitude. "Cricket is played by a gentleman," says Gupte, adding that the sport requires tremendous discipline, both on and off the field. Some question whether cricket still deserves that reputation -- after an incident on the cricket pitch in January escalated into a bitter racial row between India and Australia. The incident took place during a test match in Sydney. Indian player Harbhajan Singh allegedly called Australia's Andrew Symonds "big monkey" -- an allegation the Indians did not take lightly. The incident created unprecedented controversy in both cricket-loving countries. But there was no conclusive proof that Singh racially insulted Symonds, says Chetan Chauhan, who was the manager of the Indian cricket team at that time. India threatened to quit the tour if Australia found Singh guilty of racial vilification. Eventually Singh pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of using abusive language. The International Cricket Council overturned an initial three-test ban, replacing it with a financial penalty and the tour went on. Six months later, the so called 'monkey" incident is still a sensitive issue in India. Few believe Singh said the word monkey -- and even if he did -- they doubt he meant it as a racial insult. In India, the word monkey has a different context, explains Chauhan. "It's used to describe someone who has extra energy, or is cheeky." Exactly what went on or which words were used during a heated exchange between Singh and Symonds is still unclear. What the incident did, though, is turn the spotlight on "sledging" in cricket -- which until then, was a sport known for its tolerance and civil on-the-field behaviour. Should "sledging" be banned? Have you say . "There are two types of sledging," points out former cricket player, Imran Khan. "One is when in the heat of the moment players exchange hot words, swear at each other. There is this other sledging that I think should be stamped out, which is pre-planned and where it's almost clinical that somehow players plan to go and upset players by being abusive or saying things that are deeply offensive which would get a negative reaction." Watch Imran Khan discuss sledging in the sport » . Players, professional and amateur, admit that some form of sledging takes place on the field. But cricket legend Colin Croft warns the ICC must step in when the attacks go too far. "All sportsmen at the top of the game, because they work harder, the adrenaline is pumping, they are going to try to get you off your game and sledging is I suppose intended to do that," he says. "But when it becomes too personal, too cultural, you've got to be very careful and that's where the ICC should come in and say, 'Look, if you cross a certain line you're gonna be put out of the game.' Simple as that." Cricket has its own code of conduct, says Chopra, one of the Modern School coaches, adding it's never too early to start teaching aspiring cricketers the etiquette of the sport. "If some incident takes place, I tell my students, just avoid it. Don't answer back with your mouth. Get back at them with your game." Arjun Gupta says he tries to follow that advice. And that his fellow students and he live by one golden rule when playing cricket matches. "Off the field, we are friends," he says. His coaches say that's what makes him a gentleman. | (CNN) -- So we thought Asian kids did great in school. Think again. A new study suggests that women and minorities are less likely to receive early support from potential academic mentors. Researchers from Wharton, Columbia and NYU ran an interesting field experiment: Pretending to be students, they e-mailed more than 6500 professors at top U.S. universities admiring each professor's work and asking to meet. The e-mails were all identical except for the senders' names. Names that one can associate with a gender or race -- like Brad Anderson, Meredith Roberts, LaToya Brown, Juanita Martinez, Deepak Patel, Sonali Desai, Chang Wong, and Mei Chen -- were used. The researchers found that faculty were most likely to respond to e-mails from white males. But more surprising was the high level of racial bias against Asians and Indians -- professors were likeliest to ignore e-mails from these students. One of the researchers noted, "We see tremendous bias against Asian students and that's not something we expected. ... A lot of people think of Asians as a model minority group. We expect them to be treated quite well in academia." The study highlights the pernicious nature of the "model minority" stereotype of Asians, and the fact that Asians are still viewed as the most foreign "other" in our American culture -- perhaps the biggest outsiders in the politics of "not like us." A common refrain I hear from well-meaning friends and colleagues is: "What's so bad about the Asian stereotype? Seems to me Asians have done all right." I get it. As a woman of color, I'm keenly aware that on the spectrum of bias, there are plenty of worse things to be called than good at school. It doesn't sound so terrible to be thought of as hardworking or quiet when there are so many more obviously sinister racial myths out there to bust. But the flip side of the model minority myth is an assumption that Asians do just fine and don't need any mentoring or help in the academic or professional world. Whether due to bias or mere lack of interest, the professors in the study treated Asian and Indian students differently despite their reputation for academic achievement. And this lack of mentorship while in school may lead to an achievement gap in the workplace. There's still a huge disparity between the percentage of Asians graduating at the top of their class from the best schools in the country and the percentage of Asians who go on to achieve top leadership positions in their chosen fields. Disturbingly, I have heard thoughtful colleagues wonder aloud whether the underrepresentation of Asians in senior leadership roles is due to systemic, external factors that should be addressed with reform in the workplace, or whether it's Asians who are responsible for taking themselves out of the C-suite pipeline because "they're just happy being the worker bees." Is there any truth to the perceptions that Asians are passive, lack leadership skills and assertiveness, are unwilling to take initiative or risk, and even unable to have fun or a decent sense of humor? Some people definitely think so. I'm not the only American of Asian descent who has been told, in the form of a compliment, that I'm surprisingly outgoing, funny, or sociable -- for an Asian. I still get friendly compliments on my "very good English." And at one of my very first legal job interviews, one judge put it succinctly: "I've always thought your people were very bright." It's the very benignity of these model minority stereotypes that render them so persistent and difficult to eradicate. So, what can we do about it? We can start by improving mentor and sponsor programs. Mentors and mentees are too often arbitrarily paired in the corporate world. Employers should consider the real affinities that may actually exist within their workforce and offer employees the tools, training and access to identify, cultivate and maintain their own meaningful mentor and sponsor relationships. At one law job early in my career, I was assigned to a "mentor" who himself had only been at the firm a few weeks. Why? He was from Seoul. I'm from California and grew up in D.C. And I'm not even Korean-American. Meanwhile, I went to a college that graduates about 400 students a year, and a white male senior partner whose office was down the hall had gone to this same small college, yet no one at the firm had stopped to think that perhaps I might have something in common with him. Sure, it's also incumbent on people to take initiative and simply walk down the hall and introduce themselves to potential mentors. But it would be incredibly helpful and transformative for the gatekeepers -- in academia, the corporate world, public service, media, entertainment and the arts, whatever path talented young people might choose -- to recognize the subtle, unconscious biases that sometimes prevent Asians from achieving their true potential. Maybe then Asians in America can be recognized for bringing more to the table than just being good at school. Q & A with author Helen Wan about 'The Partner Track' | eng_Latn | 19,674 |
The segregation is most prominent in New York City charter schools where white students account for just 1 per cent of enrollment .
There is also a growing disparity in the Upstate New York cities of Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester .
The researchers suggest lawmakers push policies to allow students to chose which schools they wish to attend, without placement exams .
In New York City, students can chose which school they go to but must get a certain score on an 8th grade exam to attend college preparatory schools .
Dropout Nation reports that just seven black students were admitted to elite Stuyvesant High School this year . | By . Associated Press . and Daily Mail Reporter . New York state has the most segregated public schools in the nation, with many black and Latino students attending schools with virtually no white classmates, according to a report released Wednesday. The report by the Civil Rights Project at the University of California at Los Angeles looks at enrollment trends from 1989 to 2010. In New York City, the largest school system in the U.S. with 1.1 million pupils, the study notes that many of the charter schools created over the last dozen years are among the least diverse of all, with less than 1 per cent white enrollment at 73 per cent of charter schools. There's also a marked difference at the city's nine specialized schools, designed to prepare students for college. Anyone living New York City can attend these schools, but they must get a high score on a standardized exam administered in the eighth grade. Alike: A new report by the Civil Rights Project revealed that New York State's public schools are the most segregated in the nation. Above a chart showing the uniformity in race at public schools . At elite Stuyvesant High School in lower Manhattan, just seven black students and 21 Latino students were admitted this year compared to the 164 white students and 680 Asian students. It was the same story at Bronx Science, which admitted 557 Asian students, 252 white students, 50 Latinos and 18 black students, according to data reported in Dropout Nation. 'To create a whole new system that's even worse than what you've got really takes some effort,' said Gary Orfield, co-director of the Civil Rights Project and an author of the report. He and his fellow researchers say segregation has the effect of concentrating black and Latino students in schools with high ratios of poor students compared with the statewide average. Black and Latino students who attend schools that are integrated by race and income level perform significantly better than their peers in segregated schools, the authors note. The study suggests that New York's segregation is largely due to housing patterns but that it could be mitigated through policies intended to promote diversity. Separation: Manhattan's Stuyvesant High School is one of the most segregated schools in New York state, with just 8 black students admitted to the college preparatory this year. Above, students leave the lower Manhattan campus on March 25 . Elite: Stuyvesant High School is one of New York City's nine specialized schools. Any New York City resident can attend the school, but they must secure a high score on an eighth grade placement exam . 'In the 30 years I have been researching schools, New York state has consistently been one of the most segregated states in the nation — no Southern state comes close to New York,' Orfield said. Other states with highly segregated schools include Illinois, Michigan and California, according to the Civil Rights Project. In New York, about half of the state's public school students were from low-income families in 2010, the report says, but the typical black or Latino student attended a school where close to 70 per cent of classmates were low-income. The typical white student went to a school where just 30 per cent of classmates were low-income. 'For New York to have a favorable multiracial future both socially and economically, it is absolutely urgent that its leaders and citizens understand both the values of diversity and the harms of inequality,' the study's authors say. New York City Department of Education spokesman Devon Puglia did not address the findings of the report, but said, 'We believe in diverse classrooms in which students interact and grow through personal relationships with those of different backgrounds.' In this Dec. 3, 2013 file photo, Adofo Muhammad, center, principal of Bedford Academy High School, teaches 10th and 11th graders in his Global Studies class in the Brooklyn Borough of New York . State Education Commissioner John King called the findings troubling and added, 'The department has supported over the years various initiatives aimed at improving school integration and school socioeconomic integration, but there's clearly a lot of work that needs to be done — not just in New York but around the country.' The report, which used U.S. Department of Education statistics, also noted increasing segregation in upstate cities including Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse. In the Syracuse metropolitan area, the report says, the number of black students increased by 4 per cent between 1989 and 2010, but black isolation increased dramatically. In 1989 the typical black student went to a school that was one-third black, but in 2010 the typical black student went to a school that was nearly half black. Pedro Noguera, a New York University education professor, said it's disturbing that policy makers have focused so little on racial integration in recent years. Desegregation: Institutionalized segregation in America's schools became illegal with the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Above, Linda Brown attends her new, majority-white, school in September 1954 . 'We've been talking about reforming schools in New York and elsewhere. This issue was never addressed,' Noguera said. He added, 'When you concentrate the neediest kids together in under-resourced schools they tend not to do very well.' The UCLA report recommends that state and local education agencies develop policies aimed at reducing racial isolation and promoting diverse schools. The report suggests voluntary desegregation programs in upstate cities like Rochester, where low-income populations are surrounded by more affluent communities. In New York City, Orfield said, a system of unscreened 'choice' schools would foster more diversity than the current New York City high school choice system, which sees entrance tests at top schools excluding most black and Latino students. 'If you just offer choice, the people with the best information will get into the best schools,' he said. Requel Russell-George, the mother of two students at Public School 169 in the Bronx, which has about 75 per cent black and 19 per cent Latino students, said she feels the school is 'excellent' but she would like to see more diversity. 'I do feel that it would be great for our children and other children to be exposed to other cultures,' Russell-George said. 'You're more knowledgeable and things are not mysterious to you as you get older.' | The SAT college exam will undergo sweeping changes on what's tested, how it's scored and how students can prepare, College Board President and CEO David Coleman said Wednesday. Standardized tests have become "far too disconnected from the work of our high schools," Coleman said at an event in Austin, Texas. They're too stressful for students, too filled with mystery and "tricks" to raise scores and aren't necessarily creating more college-ready students, he said. The SAT to be released in spring 2016 is designed to change that, he said. The test will include three sections -- evidence-based reading and writing, math and an optional essay -- each retooled to stop students from simply filling a bubble on the test sheet. "No longer will it be good enough to focus on tricks and trying to eliminate answer choices," Coleman said. "We are not interested in students just picking an answer, but justifying their answers." The test will shift from its current score scale of 2400 back to 1600, with a separate score for the essay. No longer will test takers be penalized for choosing incorrect answers. To prepare students for the test, the College Board will partner for the first time with Khan Academy to provide free test preparation materials, starting in spring 2015. Afterward, income-eligible students will receive fee waivers to apply to four colleges for free. Why the test is changing . The last major changes to the SAT came in 2005, when it altered some question formats, added a written essay and changed its score scale from 1600 to 2400. For this change, Coleman cited the need to create more opportunities for students, rather than obstructing them with test questions that felt detached from their educations and the preparation colleges needed. Coleman, who joined the College Board in 2012, has spoken critically of his organization's test and discussed how it could be improved. "Admissions officers and counselors have said they find the data from admissions exams useful, but are concerned that these exams have become disconnected from the work of high school classrooms and surrounded by costly test preparation," Coleman said. In recent years, another exam, the ACT, has gained popularity as several states adopted it as part of their standardized testing programs. And while the majority of four-year colleges require an exam score for admission, hundreds of schools have shifted to test-optional policies that allow students to decide what to submit -- or whether to share a test score at all. Indeed, students' grades and the academic rigor of their courses weighs more heavily in college admissions decision than standardized test scores, class rank or professed interest in a particular school, according to the National Association for College Admission Counseling's 2013 "State of College Admission" report released in January. The report was based on surveys sent to public and private high schools, postsecondary institutions and data from the College Board, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Census Bureau. "I'd like to be optimistic and believe some of this is going to be good," said Steve Syverson, a member of the NACAC board and dean of admissions emeritus for Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin -- a test-optional school. "I just don't know how it will work out." Syverson was part of NACAC's Commission on Standardized Testing that in 2008 urged standardized test makers to adhere more closely to school curricula, colleges to consider more about applicants than seductively simple test scores and society to stop rating schools based on standardized test scores. Syverson was intrigued by the Khan Academy partnership, he said, and pleased with the direction Coleman seemed to be taking the test. He wonders whether fee waivers and others changes are meant to draw back students and schools that have turned away from the SAT or testing in general. Until he sees the passages students will be reading, the questions they're answering and the way colleges react, he has to remain skeptical. "Some of this is just words. They had a lot of great language around the last change," in 2005, Syverson said. "The angst about the exams has just continued to grow." How the test will change . Sections of the redesigned SAT might sound similar to the current test, but the changes are significant, Coleman said. The reading and writing sections will include questions that require students to cite evidence for their answer choices, and will include reading passages from a broader range of disciplines, including science, history, social studies and literature. Test takers will no longer be asked to complete sentences with obscure words they might have memorized from flash cards. Instead, students will have to consider the context of how words like "synthesis" and "empirical" are used. They're not "SAT words" as they've come to be known, Coleman said, but words students are likely to encounter again. "We must do all we can to foster this daily work that prepares students," Coleman said. The math section will no longer allow calculators to be used on every portion. It will focus on data analysis and real world problem-solving, algebra and some more advanced math concepts -- areas that most prepare students for college and career, Coleman said. "It is not that helpful to tell students, 'To get ready, they should study all of math,'" Coleman said. The essay, which the SAT added in 2005, will now be optional. SAT essays have faced criticism over the years from educators who said they focused too much on what test takers wrote, not whether their statements were true, or their arguments reasonable. Coleman said the College Board would now take responsibility for "unintended consequences" of how the essay test was designed. Essays will be scored separately from the rest of the test, and the prompt will remain basically the same in every test: It will ask students to consider a passage and write an essay that analyzes how the author made an argument, used evidence and styled ideas. The redesigned test will take about three hours, with an additional 50 minutes for the essay, and will be administered by print and computer; the current test is available on paper only. How students can prepare . Last year, when Coleman announced plans to redesign the SAT, he said it would launch in 2015. Toward the end of 2013, he delayed the launch to 2016 in order to allow partners more time to prepare. That means more time for students, educators and guidance and admissions counselors to understand the changes -- and more time for the College Board's Khan Academy test prep program to gear up. Partnering with the free, online resource is intended to make the SAT more transparent, and cut back on perceptions of inequality around expensive test preparation services, Coleman explained Wednesday. "If there are no more secrets," Coleman said, "it's very hard to pay for them." Students' classrooms are meant to be the best preparation for the redesigned SAT. The College Board's Khan Academy tools will supplement that learning. "It's going to meet students where they are," said Salman Khan, the Khan Academy creator. "We'll take you as far back as you need to go or as far forward as you need to go." Khan emphasized that he is planning to challenge the existing test prep industry by offering high quality, easily accessible tools. "This isn't just a 'Hey, since it's free, it's better than nothing," he said. "Our intention in this partnership is this will be the best thing out there, and it happens to be free." On April 16, the College Board will release more detailed specifications about the test and sample test questions. Some Khan Academy tools will be available to help students taking the SAT before the redesigned exam launches, Coleman said. For students, Coleman said, "we hope you breathe a sigh of relief that this exam will be focused, useful, open, clear, and aligned with the work you will do throughout high school." What do you think of changes to the SAT? Share in the comments, on Twitter @CNNschools or on CNN Living's Facebook page. | eng_Latn | 19,675 |
What race should I put on my college applications? | What race should I put on college applications? | Why are people still discriminating against color of skin in 2016? | eng_Latn | 19,676 |
What are the pros and cons for colleges in using affirmative action criteria? | What are the pros and cons for students attending colleges that use affirmative action criteria? | What are the advantages and disadvantages of rooting an android phone? | eng_Latn | 19,677 |
India has given a third-gender status to transgender people, recognizing them as citizens .
India and Australia are the latest countries who provide a 'third gender' option in legal documents .
Petition launched in the U.S. is demanding legal recognition for 'non-binary genders'
Same-sex marriage continues to be illegal in several countries, including many Asian countries . | Simran Mahant's excitement is palpable ahead of heading to the nearby polling booth in a small village in northern India. This is the first time that the 23-year-old transgender dancer will vote in the country's parliamentary election. With an official identity stamp, Simran will also be able to get a passport and travel abroad. The first destination? "Singapore," says the dancer. "Seeing everyone vote made me feel there is something abnormal about me," says Simran, through an interpreter. "Now, I have my own identity." Simran is among the three million transgender Indians who will now be entitled to the same rights and welfare support given to other socially and economically disadvantaged classes. Transgender is a broad community encompassing people whose gender identity does not align to their assigned sex. In a landmark judgment passed on Tuesday, the country's highest court has recognized transgender people as a third sex, allowing them equal access to education, healthcare and employment, and prohibiting discrimination against them. Third gender . The move reflects a growing wave of recognition of the rights of transgender for equal recognition internationally. Earlier this month, the Australian High Court also ruled that the government should legally recognize a third gender, in response to a case filed by a sexual equality campaigner in Sydney. Even social networking site Facebook has announced plans to offer users new gender options. "Even though we are at a very early stage, there is an unstoppable movement in the world towards recognition of their rights," says Hong Kong-based Michael Vidler, a human rights lawyer. According to a 2012 report by the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, 20 countries have recently passed progressive legislation on the issue, including Argentina, Uruguay, and Portugal. Last year, Germany became the first European country to allow parents of intersex children -- those born with both genitals -- to mark their birth certificates with an "X." Asian countries including Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh have also been visible in their efforts in the last few years to implement policies recognizing "third gender" people. In India, this is the first time citizens can choose an "others" option on voter ID cards. Simran, who makes a living by dancing at weddings and festivals, was adamant about not ticking a female or male option on the voter ID card. "The authorities wanted documents to prove my gender," said Simran. "The doctor refused to give me a medical certificate. I was asked to get a police inquiry done, but no one agreed to take responsibility." Having their gender recognized will help transgender people access government schemes. For some, it finally means getting something as basic as an electricity connection or a bank account. "Till now, many departments didn't even know something like a third gender existed," says Dhananjay Chauhan, who runs Saksham Trust, an NGO working for LGBT rights in India. Right to marriage versus identity recognition . However, even as transgender people are no longer coerced to conform to specific genders in certain countries, they are still denied acceptance in most. Same-sex marriage remains illegal in countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan. India's historic ruling now prohibits discrimination against transgender people on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation, but activists say it conflicts with the country's existing stance on homosexuality. Last December, the Indian Supreme Court reinstated Section 377 of the Indian penal code, making gay sex a punishable offense. "This new judgment contradicts Section 377, which has been used and misused to harass sexual minorities," said Delhi-based Shaleen Rakesh, a gay rights activist and director of the India HIV/Aids Alliance. "If the government wants to synchronize the law with this judgment, the perfect timing and opportunity is now here." In other countries, the fight is centered on legal recognition of transgender people. In the United States, laws vary depending on the state as some prohibit gender-based discrimination. As the LGBT community continues its struggle for equality, the nature of the fight remains specific to each country. In India, Simran's battle is with the word used in official documents. "What do you mean by 'others'? I am a transgender. I should be known by just that." | Washington (CNN) -- A divided federal appeals court on Friday struck down Michigan's controversial ban on consideration of race and gender in college admissions. The 2-1 panel at the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded the voter-approved ban on "preferential treatment" at state colleges and universities was unconstitutional, and "alters Michigan's political structure by impermissibly burdening racial minorities." The issue is likely to renew the national, political and legal debate over affirmative action, which the Supreme Court could be poised to resolve in the coming months. The affirmative action ban was passed five years ago in a referendum and was added to the state's constitution, barring publicly funded centers of higher education from granting "preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin." That prompted a series of lawsuits and appeals from various groups. "The university is reviewing the possible implications of the court's decision, and recognizes that there may be further legal steps as well," Kelly Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the University of Michigan, said Friday. She would not speculate how or when the school would need to alter its policies in response to the court's ruling. A state appeal to the Supreme Court is almost certain, setting up a potentially heated election-year debate in 2012 over whether race and gender preferences are still a socially necessary step. The issue comes after the justices in 2003 ruled that while Michigan universities could use race as a factor in choosing which students to admit, they could not make race the determining factor in deciding whether applicants are accepted. The appeals court has now said the Michigan law violated the Constitution's equal protection laws. "Because less onerous avenues to effect political change remain open to those advocating consideration of non-racial factors in admissions decisions, Michigan cannot force those advocating for consideration of racial factors to go down a more arduous road than others without violating the Fourteenth Amendment," said Judges R. Guy Cole and Martha Daughtrey, both named to the bench by former President Bill Clinton. In dissent, Judge Julia Smith Gibbons said voters had a right to pass this kind of referendum, even though school officials ultimately make the individual admissions decisions. "Having no direct or indirect influence on the bodies vested with authority to set admissions standards -- the faculty committees -- the people of Michigan made a political change at the only level of government actually available to them as voters," said Gibbons. "The Michigan electorate, therefore, as opposed to choosing a more complex structure for lawmaking, employed the one method available to exert electoral pressure on the mechanisms of government." The current controversy was sparked by the earlier Supreme Court decisions. In two cases from the University of Michigan, the divided high court said the university's law school could give preferential treatment to minorities -- as one factor in the admissions process -- but could not set quotas or use a point system. Writing for the majority in the law school case, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said the Constitution "does not prohibit the law school's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body." The moderate-conservative O'Connor has since left the bench, replaced by the more right-leaning Justice Samuel Alito, who could prove the decisive vote if the current case reaches the Supreme Court. The referendum effort was led by Jennifer Gratz, who was at the center of the high court case eight years ago. As a white student, she was put on the waiting list for undergraduate admission to the state's largest university. She eventually attended another school, and became the lead plaintiff in a subsequent reverse discrimination lawsuit. She ultimately prevailed at the Supreme Court -- long after she had graduated -- and then began a public campaign to end racial preferences in admissions. Efforts over decades to create a diverse classroom have been controversial. The famous Brown v. Board of Education high court ruling in 1954 ended segregation of public schools, but sparked nationwide protests and disobedience by states who initially refused to integrate. In 1978 in the so-called Bakke case, the justices said universities have a compelling state interest in promoting diversity that allows for the use of affirmative action. That issue involved a reverse discrimination claim by a white man denied admission to law school. And the high court in 2007 struck down public school choice plans in Seattle and Louisville, concluding race could not be a factor in the assignment of children. Those school districts had sought to use raced-based criteria to achieve diversity. The issue in recent years is whether and when affirmative action programs -- while constitutionally permissible now -- would eventually have to be phased out as the goal of obtaining diversity is met. O'Connor in her 2003 decision predicted, "The court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today." The justices could be asked to decide whether Michigan's current policy meets that legal and social test. The current case is Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary v. Regents of the University of Michigan (08-1387). | eng_Latn | 19,678 |
The Supreme Court will hear arguments for Fisher vs. University of Texas .
The case will determine the fate of affirmative action in public universities .
Ruben Navarrette: Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor will likely take the issues personally .
Navarrette: The ways we see issues are often shaped by personal experiences . | San Diego (CNN) -- Now that we have Sonia Sotomayor, a Latina, on the Supreme Court, the esteemed body will soon find itself in the middle of a telenovela. The storyline involves the contentious issue of affirmative action, which is central to Fisher vs. University of Texas, a case that is scheduled to come before the court this fall. It will cast a spotlight on two of the court's justices: Sonia Sotomayor and Samuel Alito. Affirmative action seems to be intensely personal to both of them, though for very different reasons. First, let's take a minute to note just how similar Alito and Sotomayor are in terms of their background. Both are baby boomers, born just a few years apart. Alito is 61 years old and Sotomayor is 57. They grew up in neighboring states. Alito is from New Jersey and Sotomayor is from New York. Both came from ethnic, working-class families. Alito's parents were teachers, Sotomayor's father was a tool-and-die worker and her mother was a telephone operator. Finally, both went to Princeton University and Yale Law School, where both served as editors of the Yale Law Journal. Given all those similarities, what could these two Supreme Court justices possibly have to argue about? Affirmative action. That's what. Will the Supreme Court strike down affirmative action? Alito has highlighted in a 1985 job application for promotion to officials in the Justice Department of the Reagan administration that he belonged to a group called Concerned Alumni of Princeton. And what were the Princeton alumni so concerned about? Why, that there were supposedly too many women and minorities being admitted to the prestigious but predominantly white institution. Sotomayor has said that she is a "product of affirmative action" and the "perfect affirmative action baby." Although she graduated with honors from both Princeton and Yale Law School, she admitted that her test scores "were not comparable" to her classmates at both schools. Now imagine how these two justices will weigh in on the case of Fisher v. University of Texas. This is not the first time that the University of Texas at Austin has found itself in the eye of a storm because of its admissions policies. In the 1990s, Cheryl Hopwood successfully sued the law school at UT for its affirmative action program. In an attempt to preserve diversity gains, the Texas Legislature passed the "10 percent rule," which required public universities in the state to admit students from the top 10 percent of the graduating class of every Texas high school. The idea was that ethnic diversity can be achieved without explicitly considering the race factor. But, in 2003, after the Supreme Court gave public colleges and universities the green light to take race into account as a factor in admissions, the University of Texas revised its policies accordingly to admit students who didn't make it into the top 10 percent. This is the policy now being challenged. Abigail Fisher and Rachel Michalewicz, two white students who didn't get into the University of Texas as undergraduates in 2008, claim that it was their race that kept them out, since minority students who they considered less qualified were admitted. Were there no other white students admitted to the University of Texas that year? We can assume there were, and so the idea that it was the plaintiffs' race that kept them out is questionable. Even so, commentators who follow the Supreme Court closely are predicting that the case will deliver a death blow to affirmative action for public colleges and universities. There are at least five justices who will probably oppose racial preferences, including Alito. Meanwhile, the dissenters are likely to include Sotomayor. Don't be surprised if her dissent in this case will contain a tone that is unmistakably personal. Maybe Sotomayor will reflect on Thurgood Marshall's dissent in the landmark 1978 Supreme Court case, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, which also involved a challenge to race-based admissions. In that case, a majority of the justices agreed that Allan Bakke, a 32-year-old white male, should have been admitted to the University of California Davis Medical School. Bakke had been denied admission, he claimed, because of a special program that set aside for African-Americans 16 of the 100 seats in the entering class. Marshall -- who was the only African-American justice on the Court and probably the only one who ever experienced racial discrimination firsthand -- did not agree that Bakke should have been admitted, and he wrote a powerful dissent that none of his white colleagues could have written. It is at moments like this -- when more women and minorities are in places of power and influence -- that we see the payoff of affirmative action and other efforts to expand educational and professional opportunities for all Americans. We're all human. We view controversial issues with our heart, as much as with our head. We see them through a lens shaped by personal experiences. As a Mexican-American graduate of an Ivy League university, here is what my lens tells me. Part of what Alito and the other Princeton alumni were really concerned about was that -- if something wasn't done to keep women and minorities out of prestigious colleges and universities -- one day, white males may have to deal with them as equals. Watch how Sotomayor handles this case about affirmative action, and you'll see: That day is here. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Ruben Navarrette Jr. | January 8, 2014 . On Wednesday's edition of CNN Student News we examine the violence in Iraq and the U.S. response to it. We introduce you to the first woman to head the Federal Reserve and take a look at how some are handling the latest blast of super-cold weather. And we dive into a debate over artificial colors in some of your favorite candies. On this page you will find today's show Transcript, the Daily Curriculum and a place for you to leave feedback. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. DAILY CURRICULUM . Click here for a printable version of the Daily Curriculum (PDF). Media Literacy Question of the Day: . If you were a producer, what information might you include in a report explaining what the Federal Reserve is? Key Concepts: Identify or explain these subjects you heard about in today's show: . 1. insurgents . 2. Federal Reserve . 3. artificial food coloring . Fast Facts: How well were you listening to today's program? 1. According to the video, what are some reasons behind the increase in violence in Iraq? 2. To what position has Janet Yellin been appointed? What is unique about her appointment? 3. Why are thousands of petitioners asking the Mars candy company to remove artificial colors from M&Ms? How has the company responded? Discussion Questions: . 1. What is the U.S. government's position on the current violence in Iraq? Do you agree or disagree with this position? State your rationale. 2. Is your region experiencing severe winter weather? If so, how are you dealing with it? 3. What is your opinion on artificial colors in foods? Would you be willing to pay more for foods that have natural colors? Why or why not? CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists and educators who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show and curriculum. We hope you use our free daily materials along with the program, and we welcome your feedback on them. FEEDBACK . We're looking for your feedback about CNN Student News. Please use this page to leave us comments about today's program, including what you think about our stories and our resources. Also, feel free to tell us how you use them in your classroom. The educators on our staff will monitor this page and may respond to your comments as well. Thank you for using CNN Student News! Click here to submit your Roll Call request. | eng_Latn | 19,679 |
Marsha Sampson Johnson: It's only fair that the wealthiest pay higher tax rates .
She says some have redefined "fairness" as "when I win"
Johnson: We have been taught that fairness is not one-sided; it's about others, as well .
She says the spirit of innovation and achievement is snuffed out when things are not fair . | Atlanta (CNN) -- On Monday, I signed an online petition standing with President Obama, Warren Buffett and others to urge Congress to pass the Buffett Rule. It was a small gesture to stand for what is fair. The Buffett Rule, simply stated, requires the wealthiest Americans to pay taxes at rates not less than rates paid by middle-income Americans. Current loopholes that allow millionaires and billionaires to have unfairly low tax rates would be closed. It's only fair. So much has happened this year to focus our attention on what is fair: Obama's State of the Union address, the Trayvon Martin case, the rhetoric around the Supreme Court's review of the Affordable Care Act and Paul Ryan's proposed budget, with its cuts to services to middle- and low-income Americans. What has happened to the concept of fairness? I'll tell you: It's been retooled. No longer is it defined as my parents taught me. I hear their voices saying, "Play fair," "Share (my toys) and play fair," "Don't cheat. Play fair." "You'll have your turn at bat, play fair." "Don't fight, play fair." "Win fair." Even in the midst of segregation, with its pervasive lack of fairness on every front, they never wavered in their lessons about fairness. More important, there was clarity of meaning. Fairness was at the heart of being a good person. Fairness was about how I related to others, combined with how others related to me. Fairness was not one-sided. In my early 30s, I worked for someone who said, "Fair is when I win." It was his attempt to clarify inherent complexities in the term "fair." It was then I awakened to a definition of "fair" I had not known, definition in which the individual determined fairness by how the situation affected him and him alone. Fair had been retooled. Its meaning had shifted. In this year's State of the Union message, Obama said, "We can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot and everyone does their fair share and everyone plays by the same set of rules." I know what those words mean to me. I now know they may mean something very different to others. Some heard the same words and thought, "Fair is when I win." How else can we explain the person who got his job because of personal or family connections, now protesting another person getting a job because of government or corporate initiatives? How else can we explain cuts or freezes in salaries for workers and huge pay raises and bonuses for top executives? How else can we explain board members approving such bonuses, saying "it's only fair"? How else can we explain how those with the most financial resources pay the lowest tax rates? Fair? Over my 60-plus years of living, I have been close to people of varied socioeconomic levels and life experiences. The differences are often striking. Take health care. I was working as a corporate executive during the developmental stages of H.R. 3962, the Affordable Care Act, currently under review by the Supreme Court. There, I was with my peers in our good jobs with comprehensive health insurance. Some were indifferent to health care reform, while others were vehemently against it. For me, it was personal. Affordable, accessible, quality health care for every person was only fair. Was it "only fair" because I had more personal contact with poor people or sick people or people without health insurance? Was it "only fair" because I knew the challenges and outrageous costs faced by my mother, who struggled with multiple sclerosis, or my sister, who has sarcoidosis? Perhaps. But still today, as a retiree, I think it only fair. My peers, for the most part, were good people. Yet there were times I thought their attitudes and actions most unfair. It really scares me that "fair," as I know it, may have gone for good. The bright flames of innovation, hard work, and individual and collective achievement are snuffed out when people feel that they do not have a fair shot. Snuffed out when rules change to fit the whims of those in power. Snuffed out because people stop trying and give up on their dreams. As a teenager, I fell in love with the writings of the brilliant poet Langston Hughes (1902-67). In his "Dream Deferred," he asked: . "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore -- And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over -- like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?" God grant me strength to fight for what is fair. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Marsha Johnson. | (CNN) -- When administrators at White Pass Jr. Sr. High School in Randle, Washington, asked students to dress up as their favorite celebrities for Spirit Week, Mason Mudge and Chandler Krueger did just that. Mudge came as Miss America. And Krueger dressed up as Nicki Minaj. But Principal Gary Stamper reportedly wasn't feeling their school spirit. According to CNN affiliate KING5 News, Stamper told the boys to change -- or go home. "If they really wanted Spirit Week, then why punish somebody for being spirited and all that?" Krueger asks. The 10th-graders refused to switch clothing and left school. The next day, many of their classmates skipped American Pride Day and instead came to school dressed as the opposite sex in protest of what had happened. Superintendent Chuck Wyborney told KING5 News that things should have been handled differently with Krueger and Mudge. None of the students on the second day were asked to change. "I think it's really awesome that all the kids support me and support the decisions that I made," Mudge said. More schools around the country are adopting acceptance policies in support of transgender children and children who don't conform to gender norms. Wyborney told KING5 News that this was a learning opportunity for both students and staff. | eng_Latn | 19,680 |
The court concludes in a 2-1 ruling that the voter-approved ban is unconstitutional .
The case is likely to renew a national debate over affirmative action .
The University of Michigan is reviewing the implications of the ruling, a spokeswoman says . | Washington (CNN) -- A divided federal appeals court on Friday struck down Michigan's controversial ban on consideration of race and gender in college admissions. The 2-1 panel at the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded the voter-approved ban on "preferential treatment" at state colleges and universities was unconstitutional, and "alters Michigan's political structure by impermissibly burdening racial minorities." The issue is likely to renew the national, political and legal debate over affirmative action, which the Supreme Court could be poised to resolve in the coming months. The affirmative action ban was passed five years ago in a referendum and was added to the state's constitution, barring publicly funded centers of higher education from granting "preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin." That prompted a series of lawsuits and appeals from various groups. "The university is reviewing the possible implications of the court's decision, and recognizes that there may be further legal steps as well," Kelly Cunningham, a spokeswoman for the University of Michigan, said Friday. She would not speculate how or when the school would need to alter its policies in response to the court's ruling. A state appeal to the Supreme Court is almost certain, setting up a potentially heated election-year debate in 2012 over whether race and gender preferences are still a socially necessary step. The issue comes after the justices in 2003 ruled that while Michigan universities could use race as a factor in choosing which students to admit, they could not make race the determining factor in deciding whether applicants are accepted. The appeals court has now said the Michigan law violated the Constitution's equal protection laws. "Because less onerous avenues to effect political change remain open to those advocating consideration of non-racial factors in admissions decisions, Michigan cannot force those advocating for consideration of racial factors to go down a more arduous road than others without violating the Fourteenth Amendment," said Judges R. Guy Cole and Martha Daughtrey, both named to the bench by former President Bill Clinton. In dissent, Judge Julia Smith Gibbons said voters had a right to pass this kind of referendum, even though school officials ultimately make the individual admissions decisions. "Having no direct or indirect influence on the bodies vested with authority to set admissions standards -- the faculty committees -- the people of Michigan made a political change at the only level of government actually available to them as voters," said Gibbons. "The Michigan electorate, therefore, as opposed to choosing a more complex structure for lawmaking, employed the one method available to exert electoral pressure on the mechanisms of government." The current controversy was sparked by the earlier Supreme Court decisions. In two cases from the University of Michigan, the divided high court said the university's law school could give preferential treatment to minorities -- as one factor in the admissions process -- but could not set quotas or use a point system. Writing for the majority in the law school case, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said the Constitution "does not prohibit the law school's narrowly tailored use of race in admissions decisions to further a compelling interest in obtaining the educational benefits that flow from a diverse student body." The moderate-conservative O'Connor has since left the bench, replaced by the more right-leaning Justice Samuel Alito, who could prove the decisive vote if the current case reaches the Supreme Court. The referendum effort was led by Jennifer Gratz, who was at the center of the high court case eight years ago. As a white student, she was put on the waiting list for undergraduate admission to the state's largest university. She eventually attended another school, and became the lead plaintiff in a subsequent reverse discrimination lawsuit. She ultimately prevailed at the Supreme Court -- long after she had graduated -- and then began a public campaign to end racial preferences in admissions. Efforts over decades to create a diverse classroom have been controversial. The famous Brown v. Board of Education high court ruling in 1954 ended segregation of public schools, but sparked nationwide protests and disobedience by states who initially refused to integrate. In 1978 in the so-called Bakke case, the justices said universities have a compelling state interest in promoting diversity that allows for the use of affirmative action. That issue involved a reverse discrimination claim by a white man denied admission to law school. And the high court in 2007 struck down public school choice plans in Seattle and Louisville, concluding race could not be a factor in the assignment of children. Those school districts had sought to use raced-based criteria to achieve diversity. The issue in recent years is whether and when affirmative action programs -- while constitutionally permissible now -- would eventually have to be phased out as the goal of obtaining diversity is met. O'Connor in her 2003 decision predicted, "The court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today." The justices could be asked to decide whether Michigan's current policy meets that legal and social test. The current case is Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary v. Regents of the University of Michigan (08-1387). | January 8, 2014 . On Wednesday's edition of CNN Student News we examine the violence in Iraq and the U.S. response to it. We introduce you to the first woman to head the Federal Reserve and take a look at how some are handling the latest blast of super-cold weather. And we dive into a debate over artificial colors in some of your favorite candies. On this page you will find today's show Transcript, the Daily Curriculum and a place for you to leave feedback. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. DAILY CURRICULUM . Click here for a printable version of the Daily Curriculum (PDF). Media Literacy Question of the Day: . If you were a producer, what information might you include in a report explaining what the Federal Reserve is? Key Concepts: Identify or explain these subjects you heard about in today's show: . 1. insurgents . 2. Federal Reserve . 3. artificial food coloring . Fast Facts: How well were you listening to today's program? 1. According to the video, what are some reasons behind the increase in violence in Iraq? 2. To what position has Janet Yellin been appointed? What is unique about her appointment? 3. Why are thousands of petitioners asking the Mars candy company to remove artificial colors from M&Ms? How has the company responded? Discussion Questions: . 1. What is the U.S. government's position on the current violence in Iraq? Do you agree or disagree with this position? State your rationale. 2. Is your region experiencing severe winter weather? If so, how are you dealing with it? 3. What is your opinion on artificial colors in foods? Would you be willing to pay more for foods that have natural colors? Why or why not? CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists and educators who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show and curriculum. We hope you use our free daily materials along with the program, and we welcome your feedback on them. FEEDBACK . We're looking for your feedback about CNN Student News. Please use this page to leave us comments about today's program, including what you think about our stories and our resources. Also, feel free to tell us how you use them in your classroom. The educators on our staff will monitor this page and may respond to your comments as well. Thank you for using CNN Student News! Click here to submit your Roll Call request. | eng_Latn | 19,681 |
Court will hear oral arguments on Tuesday in Michigan case .
Challenge again raises thorny, unresolved questions over race .
Michigan referendum banned race and sex discrimination in admission decisions . | The Supreme Court on Tuesday will confront its biggest case of the term so far, another high-profile challenge to affirmative action in college admissions. The planned hour of oral arguments raises anew thorny, unresolved questions over race and remedies. The justices are being asked to decide the constitutionality of a voter referendum in Michigan banning race- and sex-based discrimination or preferential treatment in public university admission decisions. The high court just 16 weeks ago affirmed the use of race at the University of Texas, but made it harder for institutions to justify such policies to achieve diversity. In that dispute, a white student said the college's existing affirmative action policy violated her "equal protection" rights, while civil rights supporters of such programs claim Michigan's ban also has the same effect. A federal appeals court last year concluded the affirmative action ban, which Michigan voters passed in a 2006 referendum, violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection guarantees. It was the latest step in a legal and political battle over whether state colleges can use race and gender as a factor in choosing which students to admit. "The question before the Supreme Court is whether you can have a constitutional amendment enacted by the people of a state that prevents the legislature from adopting affirmative action," said Thomas Goldstein, publisher of SCOTUSblog.com and a prominent Washington attorney. "Is that a form of discrimination against minorities, or is it actually an implementation of a colorblind Constitution that itself ends discrimination?" The law was passed seven years ago with support of 58 percent of voters. It was added to the state's constitution, and bars publicly funded colleges from granting "preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin." That prompted a series of lawsuits and appeals from a coalition of civil rights groups and University of Michigan faculty and students, who counter the law actually burdens state residents, denying them the opportunity to persuade state and college officials to apply affirmative action. "Proposition 2 unconstitutionally gerrymanders Michigan's political process," said Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, "and relegates the critical topics of racial diversity and access to educational opportunity to a separate, distant, and far more cumbersome playing field-- one that is unplayable for all practical purposes." Many of the prestigious institution's faculty and student body say classroom diversity remains a necessary government role. Michigan voters approved the ban after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that while state universities could use race as a factor in choosing which students to admit, they could not make race the determining factor in deciding whether applicants are accepted. The current ban "embodies the fundamental premise of what America is all about: equal opportunity under the law," said Bill Schuette, Michigan's attorney general. "Entrance to our great universities must be based upon merit." The referendum effort was led by Jennifer Gratz, who was at the center of the decade-old high court case. As a white student, she was put on the waiting list for undergraduate admission to the state's largest university. She eventually attended another school, and became the lead plaintiff in a subsequent discrimination lawsuit. After the Supreme Court's 2003 decision, she began a public campaign to end racial preferences in admissions. "This will be an important day in the fight for true equality," said Gratz, who is now CEO of the XIV Foundation, which advocates for "equal treatment." "How the court rules in this case will have national importance, determining whether or not citizens have the right to choose equality over discrimination." The Michigan ban also prohibits the state from considering race and gender in public hiring and public contracting decisions. But the current high court case deals only with the college admissions portion. Efforts over decades to create a diverse classroom have been controversial. The Brown v. Board of Education high court ruling in 1954 ended segregation of public schools, but sparked nationwide protests and disobedience by states that initially refused to integrate. In the 1978 Bakke case, the justices ruled universities have a compelling state interest in promoting diversity, and that allows for the use of affirmative action. That issue involved a discrimination claim by a white man denied admission to law school. The referendum issue has been around at least since 1996, when California voters endorsed Proposition 209, which bans use of race, sex, or ethnic background by state agencies in areas of education, and government hiring and contracts. The U.S. Supreme Court in 1997 refused to consider lawsuits challenging the law, also known as the California Civil Rights Initiative. But the high court under Chief Justice John Roberts has made the issue a key part of its docket in recent years, and it could serve as a major legacy of the current conservative majority. A ruling in the Michigan appeal however may be limited in scope. "The Michigan case isn't an opportunity for the conservatives on the court, for example, to say that affirmative action's unconstitutional," said Goldstein. "But the justices can send signals to state legislatures, and to the public more generally, that either affirmation action is something they think should be encouraged, or something for which they're very suspicious." Two years into Roberts' tenure, the conservative majority in 2007 struck down public school choice plans in Seattle and Louisville, concluding race could not be a factor in the assignment of children to schools. Those school districts had sought to use raced-based criteria to achieve diversity. The debate in recent years is whether and when affirmative action programs -- while constitutionally permissible now -- would eventually have to be phased out as the goal of obtaining diversity is met. Now-retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor -- who wrote the key ruling a decade ago in the initial Michigan cases -- said, "The court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today." The justices are now being asked once again to decide whether Michigan's current policy in this case meets that legal and social test. Justice Elena Kagan will not hear this petition, leaving the possibility of a 4-4 high court tie and no important precedent being established. The case is Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary (12-682). A written ruling could come as late as June. | Middle class students face losing out on places at top universities as growing numbers of them adopt a scheme which prioritises disadvantaged pupils for places. Top universities are signing up to a scheme that means disadvantaged teenagers don’t need to obtain the same grades as their better-off rivals to get a place. Twelve universities including Birmingham, Warwick, King’s College and Bristol are already involved in the Realising Opportunities programme which involved them giving ‘alternative offers’ to disadvantaged students. Top universities are signing up to a scheme that means disadvantaged teenagers don't need to obtain the same grades as their better-off rivals to get a place . And it has now been revealed that three more universities have entered the scheme - Goldsmiths, University of London; Sheffield and Sussex. The Universities say the scheme promotes ‘fairer access’ and will increase the number of pupils from working-class families and poorly performing state schools going to university. But critics say it is unfair to discriminate against hard-working pupils from middle class backgrounds, and say the scheme does nothing to solve the root cause of educational disadvantage. Dr Martin Stephen, former chairman of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) and ex high master of prestigious St Paul’s School, London, said asking universities to address inequality in this way was letting schools ‘off the hook’ and was like ‘applying a bandage to lung cancer.’ Dr Stephen, who is now director of education for GEMS Education UK, said: ‘This isn’t an answer to a problem, it an evasion of a problem. ‘I think it’s because our school system has failed to do the right thing by our children and we want an easy fix. Dr Martin Stephen, former chairman of the Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference (HMC) said asking universities to address inequality in this way was letting schools 'off the hook' ‘Our schools are not helping disadvantaged children to achieve respectable grades and these things don’t do anything about that problem. In fact, if anything, they take the pressure off. ‘It’s like saying that if enough people can’t afford to buy a Rolls Royce, you lower the price. ‘That’s not the point really, is it? It’s acting on the point of supply, not the point of production. We have a supply line that’s not working.’ The move comes amid mounting pressure from the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) on England’s most selective universities to set ‘challenging’ targets to recruit pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. A-Level students who attend a school with below average exam results or high numbers of poor pupils are eligible to join Realising Opportunities. They must meet at least two criteria including live in a ‘low participation’ neighbourhood; be eligible for discretionary payments, free school meals or come from a home where neither parent has attended university. The pupils must have also achieved at least eight A* to C grades at GCSE including English and maths, with a minimum of five at A*/A or B. Students who successfully complete the programme - which includes E-mentoring, online study skills courses and entering an Extended Project Qualification - ‘benefit from alternative offers or additional consideration’ from partner universities, according to the group’s website. It says: ‘Many partner universities will give an alternative offer worth up to two A level grades or equivalent.’ For example, where a middle class student might be told they need three A grades to get into a university, a student deemed as ‘disadvantaged’ would only need three B grades. At Birmingham University, ‘dual offers’ are made to Realising Opportunities students who have met subject-specific entry requirements. This is equivalent to 40 Ucas tariff points and equates to an entry reduction of up to two A-levels grades, such as BBB instead of AAB. Bristol also offers up to two A-level grades lower than the standard offer following completion of the programme. King’s College London, which usually makes offers as high as A*AA in certain subjects, is prepared to go as low as BBB for some RO students. More than 1,200 teenagers from ‘educationally and socially disadvantaged backgrounds’ have been supported through the national programme so far. Universities Minister David Willetts said: ‘The expansion of Realising Opportunities is good news, and will help even more young people from less advantaged backgrounds benefit from the transformational experience of higher education.’ Professor Les Ebdon, head of OFFA, has previously backed the use of differential offers for students from struggling state comprehensives - allowing them to win places with lower grade A-levels than those from high-flying schools. Universities wishing to charge up to £9,000 a year must draw up an ‘access agreement’ - signed off by Professor Ebdon- setting out how they will attract and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds. OFFA has the ultimate power to fine universities £500,000 or ban them from charging tuition fees of more than £6,000 if they fail to widen access to under-represented groups. Earlier this week, Bahram Bekhradnia, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute, claimed that UK universities should be more explicit in attempts to ‘socially engineer’ admissions in favour of poor students. | eng_Latn | 19,682 |
Pentagon: Transgender people can enlist in military Jan. 1 - KULR8.com | News, Weather & Sports in Billings, Montana | WASHINGTON (AP) - The Pentagon official tells The Associated Press that transgender people can enlist in the military beginning Jan. 1, despite President Donald Trump's opposition.
The new policy reflects growing legal pressure on the issue and the difficult hurdles the federal government would have to cross to enforce Trump's demand to ban transgender individuals from the military. Two federal courts already have ruled against the ban.
Potential transgender recruits will have to overcome a lengthy and strict set of physical, medical and mental conditions that make it possible, though difficult, for them to join the armed services.
Maj. David Eastburn says the enlistment of transgender recruits will start Jan. 1 and go on amid the legal battles. The Department of Defense also is studying the issue.
(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) | Please enable Javascript to watch this video
OKLAHOMA CITY - Back and forth, a measure that appeared to be dead at the state capitol is instead moving forward.
It's a proposal that impacts how science is taught in Oklahoma classrooms.
“This bill allows for alternative views. The term 'alternative facts' can be at play in this bill,” said Bob Melton, STEM Facilitator with Putnam City Public schools.
Science teachers across the state along with several state and national organizations are opposing the bill they said strips local control in the classroom.
Senate Bill 393 allows science teachers the freedom to explore and question scientific theories and doctrines - everything from evolution to creationism.
“Why is just science singled out? Is social studies not open for debate, as well? What about English?” Melton said.
We tried to talk with one of the sponsors of the bill, Senator Josh Brecheen. But, similar to what his office told us back in March, he wasn't available at this time for an interview.
The other author of the bill last week told a committee many teachers complained about not being able to debate current scientific theories.
They wanted to take part in an open discussion that wouldn't be restricted in the classroom.
However, science teachers we spoke with said the bill opens the door to non-science based theories.
“One of our parents said it could very well be that somebody wants to represent Bigfoot as an accurate science theory,” said Elizabeth Allan, Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education.
Allan, a UCO biology professor, said in the end the bill will hurt students needing to pass college entrance or AP exams or even applying for jobs in STEM field.
“It opens the door to allow for inaccurate science to be taught along accurate science,” Allan said.
The bill narrowly passed committee last week 4 to 3.
It now heads to the full House for a vote. | eng_Latn | 19,683 |
New report warns against using ACT, SAT in lieu of state tests | Dive Brief:
Achieve, a national education non-profit, is cautioning California and other states against substituting the ACT or SAT for state accountability tests, citing concerns over whether college readiness tests adequately measure how well students are learning state academic standards, EdSource reports.
Under the ESSA flexibility, California is currently considering a bill that would require the state superintendent of public instruction to select a college readiness test as an alternative to the current Smarter Balanced test beginning in the 2019-20 school year.
Though 13 states already plan to offer the SAT or ACT instead of state assessments and more states are considering the move, Achieve warns that the test substitution will “distort” teacher priorities as they align instruction to the new tests.
Dive Insight:
The Every Student Succeeds Act allows states more flexibility regarding testing options, but this flexibility seems to be creating more stress — at least initially — as they struggle to make the best decisions for their students. California seems to highlight that struggle as it weighs the options.
College readiness exams, such as the ACT and SAT, are shorter, allow more time for classroom instruction, and offer all students the opportunity to take college readiness tests for free, an important step toward college admission. On the other hand, critics argue that the college assessments are not fair to all students and do not adequately measure learning of specific state standards.
To make the issue more complicated, there is money involved. In an earlier article from EdSource, John Fensterwald wrote: “Switching to SAT or ACT also would mean a loss of revenue for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, a states-run organization in which California is a governing member and the largest contributor.” And IB educators who have examined the two tests federally funded under the Obama administration — Smarter Balanced and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC — say they are just glorified multiple-choice tests.
In an article in US News and World Report, John Murphy, principal of South Side High School in Rockville Centre, NY, which offers IB courses to all students regardless of grade-point average, said of these tests: "We have to be practical, and prepare kids so they can pass the tests. But the tests are so flawed that it's impossible to base instruction on them." | Listen to the episode in the player below, or through your favorite podcast app.
1:43: Paula Gallagher, a Baltimore County librarian and Roughly Speaking book critic, recommends "Mozart's Starling," a non-fiction look at the great composer's relationship with a bird and how starlings, once favored as pets, came to be considered a nuisance in the United States. ➤Jump to this segment
Paula Gallagher, a Baltimore County librarian and Roughly Speaking book critic, recommends "Mozart's Starling," a non-fiction look at the great composer's relationship with a bird and how starlings, once favored as pets, came to be considered a nuisance in the United States. 5:43: The General Assembly has authorized the state attorney general, Brian Frosh, to sue the Trump administration to protect Maryland’s interests — and Frosh is now empowered to do so without first getting the permission of the Governor. In his story about this in today’s Baltimore Sun, reporter Ian Duncan says the assembly left behind “a kind of night watchman” to keep an eye on Washington while the legislature is in recess. But what actions by the Trump administration would prompt Frosh and other Democratic attorneys general to go to court? We’ll also hear of efforts to stop price gouging by pharmaceutical companies and how the state legislature reformed a bail system that Frosh believes would ultimately have been found to be unconstitutional. ➤Jump to this segment
To listen to the episode, download the file from our server. Using our app? Go to baltimoresun.com/roughlyspeaking to listen to the podcast. Subscribe to the podcast: iTunes Google Play More options Discover more episodes: | eng_Latn | 19,684 |
Subtle bias against students may be present in online classes | A new study by education researchers suggests that the kind of subtle racial discrimination known as implicit bias found in brick and mortar classrooms may be present in online college classes.
Researchers from Stanford, the University of California - Irvine and Vanderbilt University began by creating fictitious online student identities. They chose names that suggested racial and ethnic identity, such as Todd, Emily, Tyrone, Tanisha, Mei, Tao, Priyanka, and Samir. They then posted comments using those personas in class forums for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC).
“The names that had been assigned a white male name were twice as likely to get a response relative to all other seven categories,” said Stanford professor Thomas Dee, a co-author of the study.
The study’s findings come as California is preparing to create a new online community college targeting more than two million people while a recent survey found that the vast majority of California’s college students are Latino, black, or Asian American, while nearly two thirds of tenured college faculty are white.
Dee said the research focused on class forums because most online courses now allow students to watch a professor’s lecture at the time of their choosing; that makes interaction in online class forums an important part of the learning process. If some students are getting less attention based on their perceived race or ethnicity, he said, that raises questions about whether the student is receiving the same quality of education as the other students.
“When students find their engagement rebuffed or getting signals that maybe they don’t belong in that setting as much, that can really set them back in terms of their critical intrinsic motivation to learn,” Dee said.
The study’s findings don’t indicate online college faculty are racist, Dee said. Instead, they suggest that some of the same subtle biases seen in person are present when classes are offered digitally.
There’s little research on the topic, Dee said, and these findings should prompt colleges to find out if there’s implicit bias in online courses.
“I think the study is provocative. I think it raises some important questions,” said Laura Hope, executive vice chancellor for educational services and support for the California Community Colleges. “Whether or not I think it’s a deep issue within the community colleges, I think it’s something we’re addressing.”
The college system is a massive provider of online college courses. In the 2016-2017 academic year, 860,000 students took online classes through the system’s 114 campuses. Hope said the amount of training online faculty receive on implicit bias varies from campus to campus.
Even though the study raises important issues, Hope said, researchers’ decision to focus on MOOCs – which are open to any person and often enroll thousands of students – makes the comparison with her system’s online classes an apples to oranges comparison.
“In a MOOC, you may have a single instructor interacting with 400 students,” Hope said. Her system’s online courses have much lower enrollment “where the instructor actually knows the students much better.”
The study's authors said the comparison is fair because the dynamics in online forums in MOOCs and college online classes are similar. | LONDON Underground commuters have been slammed for refusing to give up their seats for a "pregnant woman".
A female blogger donned a fake pregnancy bump to test out Londoners’ willingness to stand for a pregnant lady. In the clip, Anna Whitehouse, founder of the Mother Pukka blog, can be seen getting ready to take her journey. When she gets onto the Tube, the blogger is greeted with heads down and silence. In the end, four out of 10 passengers offer their seats as the actress faces rude reactions from the majority.
SWNS RUDE: A mother care blogger tested out London Underground commuters' manners
“I felt like I was an encumbrance,” Anna said. “I felt that I had to make a big deal out of being pregnant, really putting it on by rubbing the bump. “Failing that, (I was) actually asking which makes you feel very uncomfortable. “People are just not connected to what’s going on around them. We’re all focussed on things that aren’t going on around us.”
SWNS BUMP: The blogger felt she 'had to make a big deal' to get a seat on the London Underground | eng_Latn | 19,685 |
New Study Says Undocumented Workers Pay $81 Million in Oregon Taxes Each Year | A new report released today by the Oregon Center for Public Policy says that undocumented Oregonians pay $81 million a year in various Oregon taxes. Janet Bauer, the analyst for OCPP, a left-leaning think tank, who prepared the report, writes that 116,000 undocumented residents in Oregon would pay nearly 50 percent more in taxes-up to $119 million a year-if they could gain legal status.
Start the conversation, or Read more at Willamette Week. | Skip in Skip x Embed x Share CLOSE At the London Film Festival premiere of director Dee Rees' "Mudbound" - a sprawling American epic about race and identity - stars Mary J. Blige and Carey Mulligan talk about the film's potential to educate. (Oct. 5) AP
The major thesis of the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey’s report is that the correlation between poverty and race is “undeniable.” (Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Hurricane recovery efforts, President Trump’s petulant tweets and the massacre in Las Vegas have dominated the news in recent days, sucking up most of the oxygen in newsrooms and relegating some important stories to the back pages.
One such story was the release of a report by the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey calling on policymakers and concerned citizens to address what it believes to be structural racism permeating the state’s institutions, resulting in racial injustice and economic inequality.
The 131-page report, “The Uncomfortable Truth: Racism, Injustice and Poverty,” doesn’t break much new ground in cataloging racial and ethnic disparities. It underscores the vast differences in the poverty rates among blacks, Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites in all age categories. It notes that the poverty rate for blacks is more than twice that of whites and even higher for Hispanics, and that 6.4 percent of non-Hispanic whites were living below the poverty limit, compared with 17.4 percent of blacks and 18.6 percent of Hispanics.
What sets this report apart from others on race and poverty is that it connects the dots on the impact of state policy in the areas of housing, immigration, voting rights, school funding and health care, and provides a comprehensive blueprint for tackling the problems. It rightly traces many of those problems to housing and school segregation.
MORE: Former police chief seeks $1M, claims bias against white cops
MORE: Karl Towns speaks out on Charlottesville, racism
The report, in the works for two years, offers dozens of recommendations, many of them controversial, as Renee Koubiadis, APN’s executive director, conceded at a press conference announcing the report’s release. “Not everyone who participated agreed with all findings,” she said. “Some feel the report goes too far and may feel uncomfortable with that. Others may feel it does not go far enough.”
The report made five major recommendations:
Make addressing structural racism an explicit public priority.
Require racial impact statements for all state legislation and rulemaking with potential disparate impacts.
Require data collection and dissemination by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
Reinstitute the public advocate.
Strengthen the Division of Civil Rights.
While the report’s main thesis — that the correlation between poverty and race is “undeniable” — may prompt some to dismiss the report out of hand, it would be a mistake to do so. The report’s authors addressed that concern early on: “Although it may appear we have put racism behind us, and some may even subscribe to the belief that we live in a new color-blind post-racial America, this is hardly the case. ... In reality, racism operates along a wide and complicated spectrum. The spectrum includes active, explicit prejudice and varying levels of preferential treatment, but the more fundamental characteristic is access to power and opportunity. When different racial or ethnic groups have different levels of access to power and opportunity, whether the reasons for that difference come from prejudice, or history, or any number of other factors, racism is operating.”
MORE: Editorial: Trump keeps fanning racial flames
A series of recommendations are made in each of the major categories the report addresses: housing, economic justice and employment, criminal justice, legal protection, youth and children, and health, hunger and mental health. There is a lot to chew off. But special attention should be paid to the recommendations regarding fair housing, exclusionary zoning and racial segregation in the schools. Recommendations for the latter include working toward racial and socioeconomic integration, consolidating school systems, improving and expanding inter-district public school choice and integrating classrooms within school districts. All are essential to closing the racial achievement and income gaps.
This report should be required reading for anyone concerned about racial and economic inequality and the deteriorating racial climate in the U.S. Candidates seeking office in the Nov. 7 election should thoroughly digest the report, be prepared to intelligently discuss it during the final weeks of the campaign and be ready to act on some of its more important recommendations if they are elected.
MORE EDITORIALS
Read or Share this story: http://on.app.com/2y0IClo | eng_Latn | 19,686 |
Capps Applauds Repeal of Military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Policy | Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, on Tuesday applauded the repeal of the military’s failed and discriminatory “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
Capps has long supported the repeal of DADT and worked closely with the Palm Center, a think tank formerly based at UCSB that focused on research related to DADT, on the issue.
Her statement follows:
“Today is a historic milestone in the struggle to achieve full equality for LGB Americans. Ending the discriminatory ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy is a tremendous civil rights victory for our country,” Capps said. “But repeal was not just the right thing to do for LGB Americans; it also strengthens our country’s national defense. America will be a stronger nation and better protected now that all qualified Americans who are willing to make the tremendous sacrifices that serving in the military requires can do so with honesty and integrity. This is a good day for equality and a good day for our military.
“Now that our nation’s servicemen and women will be able to serve openly while protecting our freedom, it is a good time for us to pause and recognize the other ways that they — and all LGB Americans — are still second-class citizens. From establishing full marriage equality to fairness in immigration policy, banning employment discrimination and ending DOMA by passing the Respect for Marriage Act, we still have a long way to go. We must not let this hard-fought victory distract us from the fight for equality on other fronts.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the tens of thousands of service members who have been so wrongly denied their civil rights in return for their valuable service to our country. I also want to acknowledge and applaud the Palm Center, which has done tremendous work in advancing this debate over the past 10 years. It has truly been an honor to work with Dr. Aaron Belkin and the entire staff of the Palm Center on this issue. The Palm Center’s thoughtful analysis and detailed studies over the last several years have played an essential role in this critical debate.”
Capps was a long-standing original co-sponsor of legislation to repeal DADT and voted to end the policy on Dec. 15, 2010, when it was approved in a bipartisan vote of 250-175. President Barack Obama signed the legislation into law on Dec. 23, 2010.
On July 22, President Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen certified that the U.S. military was ready for the repeal of DADT, which would take effect 60 days after the date of certification — on Sept. 20.
— Ashley Schapitl is press secretary for Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara. | COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Mitchell High School is pushing their seniors to finish their last year strong.
Now they have the support of a state official.
Lieutenant Governor Donna Lynne signed her name on a letter that was sent out to all high school seniors in Colorado.
The letter speaks on their last 100 days of high school and making it worthwhile.
The school says it’s one way they’re hoping to keep seniors performing at their best, even when “senioritis” may start kicking in.
It’s all part of the Individual Career Academic Plan, better known as ICAP, where students can learn important job skills like building resumes and how to apply for scholarships.
“We have a very high population of first generation students, which means they have no exposure to college culture. And so, even just getting them to fill out the FAFSA, for the financial aid application, which is a requirement of ICAP, is a huge eye opener when they realize they can get basically Pikes Peak Community College for free,” said Kim Kohler, college and career counselor at Mitchell High School.
“It’s helped me out in several ways you know, like building a resume you know, I had a little resume together, but it wasn’t a like, a professional type resume until I talked to the College and Career Center,” said senior Reyna Revello.
ICAP is a required program by the state and district that helps schools focus on preparing students for life after high school. | eng_Latn | 19,687 |
Parents urged not to give details of children’s nationality and birthplace | Teachers’ union passes motion at annual conference challenging government’s use of data collected by state schools in England
Parents are being told not to supply information on their children’s nationality and birthplace being demanded by the government, amid fears that the information could be used to enforce immigration laws.
The National Union of Teachers’ annual conference passed a motion condemning the Department for Education’s attempts to record pupils’ nationality and country of birth in the national pupil database (NPD), with delegates told that the details could be passed to the Home Office and police.
“The problem with this information is that it will be used to reinforce racist immigration controls. It can lead to raids and deportations. So we need to shout from the rooftops that parents should not comply with this. They don’t have to do it,” Jan Nielsen, a teacher from Wandsworth in south-west London, told delegates.
#BoycottSchoolCensus: why parents are refusing to reveal their child's nationality Read more
Since September 2016, the DfE has asked parents to supply the nationality details of individual pupils enrolled in state schools in England, as part of the termly school census.
While parents are not legally obliged to supply the information, controversy emerged when it was revealed that the DfE regularly passed on NPD information in response to requests from the police and Home Office.
The motion passed by the NUT conference in Cardiff requires the union to challenge the government’s use of the data, and help schools inform parents “that they are not required to provide census information even though the schools are required to ask for it”.
Des Barrow, a teacher from Hackney, said there had been “shocking examples” of how the data collection was taking place in some schools.
“In a primary school in my borough, parents were told that they had to provide birth certificates and passport numbers, which is completely untrue. In a school in Berkshire, different letters were sent out to children depending on their ethnicity,” Barrow said.
“This is shocking, this should not be happening. There’s no educational worth whatsoever in collecting this data.
Elsewhere in the conference teachers spoke of incidents of racism they encountered. Sharon John, a black primary school teacher, recalled a job interview where a school governor told her: “We could really do with a gospel choir.”
“I smiled, I didn’t say anything but I racked my brains to think: was that part of my training?” she told delegates.
BME teachers often given stereotypical roles in schools, survey finds Read more
Niparun Nessa, a teacher from Oldham, said she had regularly been confused with the only other Asian member of staff at a school she had worked. “Everyone assumed we were the same person – both children and staff,” she said.
The conference also passed a motion calling for a strike ballot of members “if no progress is made in talks with the government” over restoring the value of teachers’ salaries to 2010 levels. Delegates at the conference have previously approved industrial action in protest at school funding cuts, and an internal ballot to boycott primary school tests.
Kevin Courtney, the NUT’s general secretary, said the government’s pay policies over the last six years had resulted in 15% real-terms cuts to teachers’ pay.
“The NUT has repeatedly warned that if the government continues its strategy of below-inflation pay awards for teachers, cutting the real value of pay and reducing its competitiveness, teacher supply problems will persist and the quality of education provision will decline,” Courtney said after the motion was passed. | Bills aimed at preventing what Vermont lawmakers and Republican Governor Phil Scott have called unconstitutional overreach on immigration issues by the Trump administration are moving quickly through the state Legislature.
The bills were introduced in the House and Senate last week on the heels of President Donald Trump's executive orders that included banning people from seven majority Muslim countries. The law would prevent state and local law enforcement from participating in federal immigration actions and from collecting personal information.
Senate President Pro Tem Democrat Tim Ashe says the Senate opted to take action on the bill first. He says the bill will likely be out of the Senate Judiciary Committee and ready for a vote by Thursday.
If enacted, the law would go into effect July 1.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. | eng_Latn | 19,688 |
More On The Declining Quality Of Law Schoo… | HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE, LEGAL EDUCATION EDITION: More On The Declining Quality Of Law School Applicants. | The Daily Alert from Michigan Lawyers Weekly brings you the latest legal news every morning in your email. You’ll get headline news, a link to the day’s Top Opinion and more! Sign up | eng_Latn | 19,689 |
Judge rejects Trump administration move to end program protecting Dreamers | WASHINGTON — A federal judge ruled Tuesday against the Trump administration’s decision to end a program protecting some young immigrants from deportation, calling the Department of Homeland Security’s rationale against the program “arbitrary and capricious.”
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates in Washington wrote that the decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, “was unlawful and must be set aside.”
Bates wrote that DHS’ decision “was predicated primarily on its legal judgment that the program was unlawful. That legal judgment was virtually unexplained, however, and so it cannot support the agency’s decision.”
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Bates gave DHS 90 days to “better explain its view that DACA is unlawful.” If the department cannot come up with a better explanation, he wrote, it “must accept and process new as well as renewal DACA applications.”
DACA allowed immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, known as Dreamers, to stay and work legally under renewable permits. President Donald Trump announced last year that he would end the program started by President Barack Obama. It was officially rescinded in March, but DHS is continuing to issue renewals because of previous court orders.
Bates’ ruling Tuesday night comes in a pair of cases whose lead plaintiffs are the NAACP and Princeton University. He is the third judge to rule against administration plans to end the program. | UPDATE 3-U.S. judge orders more environmental analysis of Dakota pipeline
WASHINGTON, June 14 A federal judge ordered the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reconsider its environmental review of the Dakota Access Pipeline on Wednesday, opening up the possibility that the line could be shut at a later date. | eng_Latn | 19,690 |
Federal appeals court considers kids' climate change lawsuit | A federal appeals court is weighing in on an unusual lawsuit by a group of young people who say the Trump administration is violating their constitutional rights by failing to address climate change.
A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Monday from attorneys for the administration and the 21 young people, who range in age from 10 to 21.
The Trump administration wants the 9th Circuit to order a lower court to dismiss the suit, saying it is broad and without merit.
The San Jose Mercury News reports that two of the judges voiced skepticism about the administration's request.
The lawsuit was originally filed against the Obama administration in 2015. | Please enable Javascript to watch this video
OKLAHOMA CITY - Back and forth, a measure that appeared to be dead at the state capitol is instead moving forward.
It's a proposal that impacts how science is taught in Oklahoma classrooms.
“This bill allows for alternative views. The term 'alternative facts' can be at play in this bill,” said Bob Melton, STEM Facilitator with Putnam City Public schools.
Science teachers across the state along with several state and national organizations are opposing the bill they said strips local control in the classroom.
Senate Bill 393 allows science teachers the freedom to explore and question scientific theories and doctrines - everything from evolution to creationism.
“Why is just science singled out? Is social studies not open for debate, as well? What about English?” Melton said.
We tried to talk with one of the sponsors of the bill, Senator Josh Brecheen. But, similar to what his office told us back in March, he wasn't available at this time for an interview.
The other author of the bill last week told a committee many teachers complained about not being able to debate current scientific theories.
They wanted to take part in an open discussion that wouldn't be restricted in the classroom.
However, science teachers we spoke with said the bill opens the door to non-science based theories.
“One of our parents said it could very well be that somebody wants to represent Bigfoot as an accurate science theory,” said Elizabeth Allan, Oklahomans for Excellence in Science Education.
Allan, a UCO biology professor, said in the end the bill will hurt students needing to pass college entrance or AP exams or even applying for jobs in STEM field.
“It opens the door to allow for inaccurate science to be taught along accurate science,” Allan said.
The bill narrowly passed committee last week 4 to 3.
It now heads to the full House for a vote. | eng_Latn | 19,691 |
Ted Kaczynski, the so-called "Unabomber," listed his eight life sentences as an "award"
The entry was listed in the Harvard class of 1962 alumni report .
The Harvard Alumni Association say they "regret publishing Kaczynski's references" | At a college reunion, it's common for alumni to share post-collegiate achievements with each other. But a report compiled for this year's 50th reunion class at Harvard University contained an unusual entry. Ted Kaczynski, the so-called "Unabomber" and Harvard alumnus, listed his eight life sentences for a string of bombings that killed three people and wounded 23 others as an "award" in the class of 1962 report. The Harvard Alumni Association said in a statement Thursday that they "regret publishing Kaczynski's references to his convictions and apologize for any distress that it may have caused others." The Boston Globe published an apparent photo of the entry, which lists Kaczynski's occupation as "prisoner" and his address as "No 04475-046, US Penitentiary-Max, P.O. Box 8500, Florence, CO 8126-8500." In the section where alumni list their awards, Kaczynski's entry reads: "eight life sentences, issued by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, 1998." Kaczynski's entry was published in a class reunion report, which was distributed in advance of the 1962 reunion. All members of the class who submit their own entries are included in each year's report, according to the alumni association. Kaczynski was arrested in 1996 and pleaded guilty in 1998 for sending bombs through the mail from 1978 to 1995. | By . Alexandra Klausner . PUBLISHED: . 17:50 EST, 4 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 22:03 EST, 4 December 2013 . The Dean of Undergraduate Education at Harvard University, Jay M. Harris, announced on Tuesday that the most commonly awarded grade at Harvard is, 'actually a straight A.' Shockingly, the median grade is lower than the most common grade at an A-. Harris addressed the faculty on Tuesday in response to a question from government professor Harvey C. Mansfield '53 regarding the college's apparent grade inflation, reported The Harvard Crimson. At Harvard University the most commonly awarded grade is an A . Government professor Harvey C. Mansfield (left) confronted The Dean of Education Jay M. Harris (right) on Tuesday about the rise in A's and the lowering of educational standards . During the meeting's question and answer period, Mansfield piped up and said, ' a little bird has told me that the most frequently given grade at Harvard College right now is an A-' He called Harvard's grading practice 'indefensible.' 'If this is true or nearly true, it represents a failure on the part of this faculty and its leadership to maintain our academic standard,' he continued. Harvard University is an Ivy League school known for academic excellence . Mansfield told The Harvard Crimson that he was 'depressed' upon hearing that an A was the most commonly awarded grade but said he was not 'surprised.' 'I thought the most prevalent grade was an A-minus, which is bad enough,' Mansfield said Tuesday to Boston.com. When I asked the question [about the most frequently given grade], it was worse,'he said. 'Nor was I surprised at the embarrassed silence in the whole room and especially at the polished table (as I call it),' Mansfield said in regards to the table at the front of the room where high-ranking administrators sit. Terrell Woods class of 2011 gave their opinion to MailOnline. 'In regards to the grade inflation scandal at the moment I would say I personally never felt my grades were inflated. I think that’s something everyone might say. I 'd say if there were any credence to the story it would have to do with departmental differences. In larger departments, students are more able to choose course work they’d be better at succeeding in. Economics, for instance, is one of the largest departments at Harvard. I studied visual and environmental studies which are much smaller departments.’ Harvard's grading policy was also criticized in 2001 but little has been done to curb inflation . Mr Mansfield believes that the grade inflation takes away merit from the University's most talented students. He told Boston.com that he actually awards students two separate grades: the one that will go on their transcript and the one that they 'deserve.' 'I didn’t want my students to be punished by being the only ones to suffer for getting an accurate grade,' he said, adding that administrators must be the ones to change the grading methods. Boston.com spoke to students who didn't necessarily recognize the grade inflation. 'I just find that hard to believe because it’s pretty hard to get an A in any class,' said Connor Mangan, 20, a junior neurobiology major. A Harvard economics major Seiste Goffard, 20 said,'I think it [grade inflation] definitely exists.' 'I think students and faculty, the data they have all point to the fact that it’s an issue here more than elsewhere,' she continued. This is actually not the first time Harvard went under fire for a lackadaisical grading policy. In 2001, John Stossel did a story for ABC on how grades, 'don't mean what they once meant' at Harvard. Mansfield was quoted as saying back then, 'To a give a student a C is like plunging a sword into his vitals.' Mansfield said he's been fighting the inflation battle for years--years before 2001. One student named Jimmy Davis told Stossel that he knew students who were awarded a B or B- for doing less than 5 per cent of the coursework. Grading measures have drastically changed over the years at Harvard. In 1969, 25 per cent of students got C's and lower. Only 7 per cent got A's back then. In 2001 only 9 per cent got a C or lower and over 26 per cent got A's. One cheeky Harvard student told Stossel that perhaps students are smarter now than the Harvard students in the 1960s. Yale University wants to tackle its grade inflation problem but fears that toughening standards will sway students towards attending other schools . Is this Just a Harvard problem? Apparently not. Schools such as Princeton and Yale have openly discussed their schools' own grade inflation. Yale Daily News reported that last spring, Yale's ad hoc committee found that 62 per cent of Yale College grades between 2010 and 2012 were in A range. There was a similar grade inflation problem at Princeton. When the school took measures to implement a new policy, It wasn't an entirely positive outcome. Critics call Yale's attempts to lower grades, 'grade deflation.' The New York Times reports that when Princeton implemented a stricter grading policy to curb A's, less students applied/ enrolled in the school for fear that an overly competitive school (more so than equally regarded schools with more lenient grading policies) would hurt them in the future Job market . Princeton students reported that they were unhappy due to lower grades and fear that they will have trouble competing against Ivy League peers (at equally regarded schools) in the job market . In 2009, students in the A range at Princeton fell below 40 per cent. In 2010, 32 per cent of students said the grading policy was their top source of unhappiness followed by lack of sleep at 25 per cent. The dean of the undergraduate college at Princeton in 2010, Nancy Weiss Malkiel, said that the goal was to have no more than 35 per cent of grades in classes be in the A range. The Yale Daily New reports that ever since Princeton implemented the strict grading policies, Princeton's admissions yield dropped from 73.1 per cent for the class of 2007 to 68.7 to the class of 2013. When the Mail Online tried to contact several Ivy League schools about their mean and median grade point averegages, all of the schools said that they could not 'disclose that information.' Gradeinflation.com had some scattered data about grade inflation at Ivy League schools. Data was measured based on a scale of 4.0 being the highest--or an 'A'. The average G.P.A at Dartmouth in 1931 was 2.33. There was a dramatic increase over the years. In 2007 it went up to 3.42. At Columbia university the average G.P.A was 3.20 in 1982 and went up to 2.42 in 2006. Cornell saw an increase in G.P.A in more recent years. In 1990 the average G.P.A. was 3.13 and in 2006 it went up to 3.36. Perhaps grade inflation is not a Harvard problem, but a problem of the current generation of college students at Ivy League Schools and beyond. | eng_Latn | 19,692 |
Nigeria: Emir Sanusi Wants Sciences Taught in Indigenous Languages | Kano — Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II has called on the Federal Government to introduce teaching of sciences in indigenous languages as a measure to bridge existing gaps in learning and development strategies.
The Emir made the call during the launching of a book on pregnancy and safe motherhood published in Hausa language. The Emir said it would be very important and easier comprehended if sciences were taught in indigenous languages, and challenged the authorities concerned to take the opportunity of translating all the related science literatures into indigenous languages.
In his address, the Kano state deputy Governor Professor Hafiz Abubakar said it was high time that Nigeria looked inwards to utilize the nation's vast human resources to ensure the needed shift from wanton deaths among pregnant women.
The deputy governor announced that as a matter of urgency, the state government would sponsor a program in one of the radio stations that would allow the book on pregnancy and safe motherhood to be read to the general public. | The proposed training, which would have been provided by volunteers at no cost to the state, would occur during orientation for legislators at the beginning of each session.
The bill was not prompted by the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, but several who testified in support of the training said better cultural understanding could have prevented some of the conflicts that arose during the protests.
The Senate Government and Veterans Affairs Committee amended the bill to a legislative management study to consider the need for cultural competency training for legislators, other elected and appointed officials and state employees.
Sen. Shawn Vedaa, R-Velva, a member of the committee, said Tuesday, Feb. 14, the bill was amended to a study because several committee members felt requiring the training "was overstepping legislation."
Sen. Dick Dever, R-Bismarck, spoke in favor of the bill as a way to repair relationships that have been strained during the pipeline protests.
"I think there have been damages done to the relationships between our general population and the population south of here through recent events," Dever said.
The Senate voted to amend the bill to a study, but ultimately the bill failed in a 20-26 vote on Tuesday.
Sen. Richard Marcellais, D-Belcourt, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and one of the bill's sponsors, said he is disappointed with the vote.
"It's not going to improve the communications or relations between the state and tribes," he said.
Marcellais sponsored similar legislation in 2009 that also failed in the Senate with a similar vote. | eng_Latn | 19,693 |
Michigan bans race- and sex-based discrimination in university admissions .
A federal appeals court last year concluded the 2006 ban violates the U.S. Constitution .
Attorney: "This is a tremendous day for black and Latino students in the entire country"
State: The ban embodies the fundamental premise of what America is all about . | Washington (CNN) -- The Supreme Court agreed Monday to confront another high-profile challenge to affirmative action in college admissions. The justices will decide the constitutionality of a voter referendum in Michigan banning race- and sex-based discrimination or preferential treatment in public university admission decisions. The high court is currently deciding a separate challenge to admissions policies at the University of Texas, which did not involve a voter referendum. A federal appeals court last year concluded the affirmative action ban, which Michigan voters passed in a 2006 referendum, violated the U.S. Constitution's equal protection laws. Appeals court strikes down Michigan's affirmative action ban . It was the latest step in a legal and political battle over whether the state's colleges can use race and gender as a factor in choosing which students to admit. The ban's opponents say classroom diversity remains a necessary government role. "We think this is a tremendous victory for the tens and hundreds of thousands of students who fought for affirmative action for decades," said Michigan attorney George Washington when the 6th Circuit ruling came out in November. He represents the By Any Means Necessary coalition that sued to overturn the ban. "This is a tremendous day for black and Latino students in the entire country," Washington added. The office of Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette will defend the ban when oral arguments are held in the fall. The ban "embodies the fundamental premise of what America is all about: equal opportunity under the law," Schuette said. "Entrance to our great universities must be based upon merit." The law was passed seven years ago with support of 58% of voters. It was added to the state's constitution, and bars publicly funded colleges from granting "preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin." Opinion: Keep affirmative action but reform it . That prompted a series of lawsuits and appeals from various groups. Michigan voters approved the ban after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that while Michigan universities could use race as a factor in choosing which students to admit, they could not make race the determining factor in deciding whether applicants are accepted . The referendum effort was led by Jennifer Gratz, who was at the center of the high court case. As a white student, she was put on the waiting list for undergraduate admission to the state's largest university. She eventually attended another school, and became the lead plaintiff in a subsequent discrimination lawsuit. After the Supreme Court's 2003 decision, she began a public campaign to end racial preferences in admissions. The Michigan ban also prohibits the state from considering race and gender in public hiring and public contracting decisions. But the current high court case deals only with the college admissions portion. Efforts over decades to create a diverse classroom have been controversial. The Brown v. Board of Education high court ruling in 1954 ended segregation of public schools, but sparked nationwide protests and disobedience by states who initially refused to integrate. In the 1978 Bakke case, the Supreme Court ruled universities have a compelling state interest in promoting diversity, and that allows for the use of affirmative action. That issue involved a discrimination claim by a white man denied admission to law school. Opinion: Chief justice out to end affirmative action . The Supreme Court is now considering whether the University of Texas' admissions practices aimed at creating campus diversity violate the rights of some white applicants. Arguments were held in October and a written ruling is pending. The high court under Chief Justice John Roberts has made the issue a key part of its docket in recent years, and it could serve as a major legacy of the current conservative majority. The justices in 2007 struck down public school choice plans in Seattle and Louisville, concluding race could not be a factor in the assignment of children to schools. Those school districts had sought to use raced-based criteria to achieve diversity. The issue in recent years is whether and when affirmative action programs -- while constitutionally permissible now -- would eventually have to be phased out as the goal of obtaining diversity is met. Now-retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor -- who wrote the key ruling a decade ago in the initial Michigan cases -- said, "The court expects that 25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today." The justices are now being asked once again to decide whether Michigan's current policy meets that legal and social test. The case is Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, Integration, and Immigrant Rights and Fight for Equality by Any Means Necessary (12-682). Opinion: Taking affirmative action personally . | (CNN Student News) -- January 28, 2014 . Today's show explores some traditions and history surrounding the U.S. president's annual State of the Union address. We also visit China for a look at what's considered the world's largest annual mass migration. And we report on a development in the debate over whether some U.S. college athletes should be paid. On this page you will find today's show Transcript, the Daily Curriculum, and a place for you to leave feedback. TRANSCRIPT . Click here to access the transcript of today's CNN Student News program. Please note that there may be a delay between the time when the video is available and when the transcript is published. DAILY CURRICULUM . Click here for a printable version of the Daily Curriculum (PDF). Media Literacy Question of the Day: . If you were producing online coverage for the State of the Union address, what elements would you include? Key Concepts: Identify or explain these subjects you heard about in today's show: . 1. State of the Union . 2. Lunar New Year . 3. NCAA . Fast Facts: How well were you listening to today's program? 1. What is the name of the annual speech that the U.S. president gives before Congress? Where does this take place? Who sits behind the president? Who else is in attendance? Why is one member of the Cabinet not present? How does the opposing party participate? 2. What is China's biggest social holiday? When does it take place this year? What animal is associated with the upcoming observance? 3. Who is Ed O'Bannon? What is he best known for? What are his current occupations? What action is he pursuing regarding college athletes? Discussion Questions: . 1. According to the video: How is the State of the Union speech a kind of "homework assignment" from the Framers of the Constitution? What topics do you think the president will address in his State of the Union speech tonight? What priorities would you like to see him establish? Why? How do you think the Republican Party should respond? 2. How do the Chinese celebrate their biggest social holiday? What challenges face holiday travelers in the world's most populous nation? 3. According to the video, why is Ed O'Bannon suing the NCAA? What do opponents to this suit say in response? Why do you think O'Bannon believes that this suit is more impactful than his college career was? 4. Do you think that college athletes should be paid? State your rationale. CNN Student News is created by a team of journalists and educators who consider the Common Core State Standards, national standards in different subject areas, and state standards when producing the show and curriculum. We hope you use our free daily materials along with the program, and we welcome your feedback on them. FEEDBACK . We're looking for your feedback about CNN Student News. Please use this page to leave us comments about today's program, including what you think about our stories and our resources. Also, feel free to tell us how you use them in your classroom. The educators on our staff will monitor this page and may respond to your comments as well. Thank you for using CNN Student News! Click here to submit your Roll Call request. | eng_Latn | 19,694 |
Kamala Harris' War Against Truancy: Was It Necessary And What Went Wrong? | NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Molly Redden, a senior politics reporter with HuffPost, about Kamala Harris' years-long campaign against truancy in California and why it remains controversial. | Recent college graduates are facing a tough job market. Kamla Charles, career counselor at Valencia College and NPR education reporter answer questions about looking for a job in times of pandemic. | eng_Latn | 19,695 |
1. Billboard + Sanchez | THE POLICY OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN CALIFORNIA'S STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM ENDED QUIETLY THIS MONTH. BUT ABOLISHING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION DOESN'T SEEM TO BE A TREND. NOR DOES IT HAVE VIGOROUS SUPPORT. NPR'S CLAUDIO SANCHEZ LOOKS AT THE FUTURE OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN EDUCATION. | [Youtube] Chevrolet presenter Rikk Wilde had a difficult time presenting a brand new truck to Major League Baseball MVP Madison Bumgarner of the Giants on Wednesday night. Twitter lit up as Wilde seemed to forget his entire speech, saying the Chevy has the leading “technology and stuff.” Chevy’s social media team immediately embraced the hashtag #TechnologyAndStuff and says it may turn it into a wider marketing campaign. | deu_Latn | 19,696 |
Affirmative Action: Is It Still Necessary? | In a 2003 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to uphold affirmative action and said it expected that in 25 years, "the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary." The court will hear a case involving race-conscious admissions at the University of Texas in the fall. | NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to Renee Mahaffey Harris, president of the Center for Closing the Health Gap, about why Blacks and Latinos are not well represented in clinical vaccine trials. | eng_Latn | 19,697 |
Kansas Weighs Alternates to Teaching Evolution | Hearings in Topeka Thursday will raise new questions about how the theory of evolution should be taught in the state's schools. Advocates of intelligent design propose new education guidelines to encourage teachers and students to consider other viewpoints. | An Oklahoma legislative panel is reviewing the latest Advanced Placement U.S. History course and could cut funding for it in the state's schools. Lawmakers complain the course focuses on the negative. | eng_Latn | 19,698 |
Justices Rule For Parents Of Special Ed Student | The Supreme Court on Monday made it easier for parents of special education students to get reimbursement for private school tuition. School administrators fear that the 6-3 ruling will lead to a jump in private school placements. The student in the case is known simply as "T.A." The Forest Grove School District, outside of Portland, Ore., noticed that he was having problems in high school but suspected marijuana use was the cause and refused to give him special education services. Toward the end of his junior year, T.A.'s parents pulled him out of public school and sent him to a private residential academy. The parents then sued the school district to recover the $65,000 they spent on private tuition. The school district argued that the parents stepped over the line and lost the ability to seek reimbursement when they transferred him without first giving public special education a try. Attorney David Salmons, who represented T.A.'s family, says the history of the litigation shows that the district had not done its job. T.A.'s parents had raised concerns about their son before they pulled him out of school, and a school psychologist questioned whether he might have attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. "The hearing officer concluded that any further notice to the school district would have served no purpose," Salmons says, "because the school district was applying the wrong legal standard and would have denied the child services in all circumstances." Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens noted that schools have an affirmative obligation to "identify, locate and evaluate all children with disabilities." He said it would be wrong to reward the school district for refusing to find a child eligible for special services. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas joined the dissent, written by Justice David Souter, which said Congress envisioned private tuition payments only for students who already had been receiving special education services in public schools. Lindsay Jones of the Council for Exceptional Children says the majority decision will hurt school systems because it removes the incentive for parents to collaborate with educators. "Under that situation," she says, "parents don't have to even seek special education services or work with the district before they ask that the district pay for their private placement." Jones' group, which represents special educators, wants Congress to rewrite the special education law and clarify the limits on when parents can ask for private school tuition. But attorneys for families say the decision will not lead to a spike in private placements. Salmons notes that the family has won only the right to argue for reimbursement. "Keep in mind," he says," that the decision today does not guarantee the parents reimbursement for private school tuition. The parents have the burden of showing that there was a failure to provide a free appropriate public education, and they have the burden to show that their private placement was appropriate." Private placements get a lot of publicity and are blamed for soaking up education dollars. But they make up only a small percentage of special education cases, and many are resolved with a school district's consent. Lawyers for special education students say they hope this decision will stop cases from going to court by encouraging districts to act quickly to identify students with learning problems. MELISSA BLOCK, host: The Supreme Court released another important decision today - that ruling makes it easier for parents of special education students to get reimbursed for private school tuition. The case comes from Oregon. The family of a high school student wants the local district to pay for a boarding school their son attended. As NPR's Larry Abramson reports, school administrators around the country now fear the ruling will lead to a jump in private school placements. LARRY ABRAMSON: The student in this case is known simply as T.A. The Forest Grove School District outside Portland, Oregon, noticed that T.A. was having problems in high school, but suspected marijuana use was the cause and refused to give him special education services. Toward the end of his junior year, T.A.'s parents pulled him out of public school and sent him to a private residential academy. For the school district, that's where the parents stepped over the line and lost the ability to seek reimbursement. Francisco Negron is with the National School Boards Association. Mr. FRANCISCO NEGRON (National School Boards Association): Congress really intended for parents and schools to work together to find the best placement for a child with special needs. ABRAMSON: The Forest Grove School District argued the parents should be barred from recovering the $65,000 in tuition. But today, in a 6 to 3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the family can sue. T.A's parents had raised concerns about their son before they pulled him out of school | Congress has passed a ban on what opponents call "partial-birth abortion." In a separate case, the Florida legislature has passed a bill ordering a patient's feeding tube to be reinserted. We'll discuss the intersection of legislation and the courts.<BR><BR> Guests: <BR><BR> <STRONG>Julie Rovner</STRONG><BR> *NPR health correspondent<BR><BR> <STRONG>Richard Knox</STRONG><BR> *NPR health and science correspondent<BR><BR> <STRONG>S.V. Date</STRONG><BR> *Tallahassee bureau chief for the <EM>Palm Beach Post</EM><BR> *His latest novel is <EM>Black Sunshine</EM> (Putnam, 2002)<BR><BR> <STRONG>Jeffrey Rosen</STRONG><BR> *Associate professor at George Washington Law School<BR> *Legal affairs editor at <EM>The New Republic</EM><BR><BR> <STRONG>Sylvia Law</STRONG><BR> *Professor of constitutional law at New York University<BR> *Has represented people seeking the right to choose at the beginning and at the end of life (specializing in health care, human rights) | eng_Latn | 19,699 |
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