An Ohio high school has agreed to remove part of its dress code after parents complained it was discriminatory. In the dress code sent out to parents June 14, Horizon Science Academy (HSA) noted that “Afro-puffs and small twisted braids–with or without rubberbands–are NOT permitted.”
After receiving a number of complaints, the school sent out an updated dress code Saturday, removing the Afro-puffs ban. The school’s dean of students Jayson Bendik issued an apology for anyone offended by the dress code, noting the inclusion as an error. “We had no intention of creating any bias,” Bendik said. “We made a mistake and we fixed that mistake immediately.”
Bendik noted that other concept schools have been informed of the change. According to him, a committee oversees the dress code for the school, but overlooked the ban. “As soon as we found out, we took the necessary action and made a correction,” he said. According to its 2011-2012 annual report, 26 percent of the school’s K-7 students are African-American.
James Knight, an advisory-board member for the school, said the ban was targeted at the school’s Black male students in an effort to improve their appearance. “It had nothing to do with young ladies, young African-American ladies. It was really more so addressing young African-American men here at this school,” he told the Huffington Post. “We want to maintain a certain type of college prep culture here, and we just want the young men to be well-groomed.”
“This information has offended many people and by no means did we have any intention of creating bias toward any of our students,” a member of the HSA administration told The Morning Journal. “Furthermore, we are taking the matter seriously and again apologize for any offense it may have caused.”
article by Hannington Dia via newsone.com
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Schools across the United States will get a face-lift when it comes to their vending machine selections. When a kid is having a snack attack they won’t be able to find things like high-calorie sports drinks and candy bars. Gone are the days of Flaming Hot Cheetos. Those items will be replaced with diet drinks, granola bars and other healthier items.
The Agriculture Department said Thursday that for the first time it will make sure that all foods sold in the nation’s 100,000 schools are healthier by expanding fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits to almost everything sold during the school day. Not only will this affect vending machine choices but as well as foods from the “a la carte” lines and bake sales.
The Associated Press reports that one of the biggest changes under the rules will be a near-ban on high-calorie sports drinks, which many beverage companies added to school vending machines to replace high-calorie sodas that they pulled in response to criticism from the public health community. Under the new rule, sodas and sports drink under 60 calories or less in a 12 ounce serving would be allowed in high schools. Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, carbonated water, 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, and low fat and fat-free milk, including nonfat flavored milks.
Some schools in the U.S. have already adjusted their menus, but not everyone has been an advocate.
From Yahoo News:
Sandra Ford, president of the School Nutrition Association and director of food and nutrition services for a school district in Bradenton, Fla., said in prepared testimony that the healthier foods have been expensive and participation has declined since the standards went into effect. She also predicted that her school district could lose $975,000 a year under the new “a la carte” guidelines because they would have to eliminate many of the foods they currently sell.
“The new meal pattern requirements have significantly increased the expense of preparing school meals, at a time when food costs were already on the rise,” she said.
Ford called on the USDA to permanently do away with the limits on grains and proteins, saying they hampered her school district’s ability to serve sandwiches and salads with chicken on top that had proved popular with students.
The Government Accountability Office said it visited eight districts around the country and found that in most districts students were having trouble adjusting to some of the new foods, leading to increased food waste and decreased participation in the school lunch program.
One advocate in healthier eating in schools has always been Michelle Obama. She believes parents can’t always police what their children consume when they’re in school, so healthier options should be mandatory.
“That’s why as a mom myself, I am so excited that schools will now be offering healthier choices to students and reinforcing the work we do at home to help our kids stay healthy,” Mrs. Obama said in a statement.
article by Yesha Callahan via clutchmagonline.com
As the company continues early production of its important new full-size pickup trucks, Akerson has elevated Alicia Boler-Davis to senior vice president of global quality and global customer experience. She had been a vice president of global quality and U.S. customer experience, reporting to Mary Barra, GM’s senior vice president of global product development.
Boler-Davis will now report directly to Akerson. The promotion came a week after GM earned the top spot among major auto manufacturers in the widely watched J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study that measure customer problems in the first 90 days of ownership.
Akerson made the announcement before a crowd of about 2,000 GM employees on Wednesday at the automaker’s Warren Technical Center to celebrate GM’s performance in the annual survey.
GM was the best-performing major auto manufacturer overall in the consumer study for the first time in its history and individual models from its brands took the top spot in eight of the vehicle market segments. The Chevrolet brand beat stalwarts like Toyota and Honda.
Calling the celebration his “most memorable day” since becoming CEO in September 2010, Akerson urged employees to guard against complacency. “This award gives us a glimpse of what it’s like to be on top,” he said.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzZolMOUSko&w=560&h=315]
Newark mayor Cory Booker has released his first television campaign ad for the New Jersey Democratic race for U.S. Senate. This ad is his first foray into the primaries which conclude in August. This ad is titled “Run”, and features Booker listing some of the successes he’s had tacking problems as mayor.
“I’ve proven that by bringing people together, even with big problems we can make big progress,” says Booker in the video. “Washington ducks our problems, I wont.” Booker is competing against his fellow Democrats Frank Pallone and Rush Holt to win the seat of the late Frank Lautenberg who passed away earlier this month.
article by Adrienne Green via thegrio.com
In the wake of Tuesday’s Supreme Court’s ruling to do away with a portion of the Voting Rights Act, the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus has revealed its plan to push back against the state’s voter identification law. Members of the caucus and the NAACP have announced a rally on July 11 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda. The state’s voter ID law is set to go on trial at the Commonwealth Court starting on July 15.
“It is vitally important that we continue to decry the gross perpetration of injustice upon our citizens. We will continue to stay on the offense,” said state Rep. Vanessa Lowery Brown (D-Philadelphia), the chairwoman of the Legislative Black Caucus, as reported by Penn Live.
Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson said that the voter ID law threatens voting rights by disenfranchising more than 750,000 people. An injunction was placed on the law last year and prohibited its enforcement during the 2012 election. The upcoming trial will decide whether it will be lifted or made permanent in the next election cycle.
Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson said that the voter ID law threatens voting rights by disenfranchising more than 750,000 people. An injunction was placed on the law last year and prohibited its enforcement during the 2012 election. The upcoming trial will decide whether it will be lifted or made permanent in the next election cycle.
Everyone should know this by now: Never count Oprah out. Oprah Winfrey returns to the top of Forbes’ annual Celebrity 100 ranking of the most powerful celebrities after two years in second place. She leads a female-dominated top 10 that includes Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Madonna, Taylor Swift and Ellen DeGeneres.
Even without her eponymous daytime talk show, Winfrey made an estimated $77 million between June 2012 and June 2013, down from last year’s $165 million. While she wasn’t the highest earner on Forbes’ list, her money, mixed with strong fame scores in metrics like press mentions and social networking power, pushed her to the top.
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a 1996 law denying federal benefits to legally married same-sex couples is unconstitutional, in a sign of how rapidly the national debate over gay rights has shifted. The decision was five to four, with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy writing the majority opinion, which the four liberal-leaning justices joined. (Read the decision.)
“The federal statute is invalid, for no legitimate purpose overcomes the purpose and effect to disparage and injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect in personhood and dignity,” Justice Kennedy wrote. “By seeking to displace this protection and treating those persons as living in marriages less respected than others.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts was in the minority, as were Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The ruling overturned the Defense of Marriage Act, which passed with bipartisan support and President Bill Clinton signed.
article via nytimes.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden is hailing Frederick Douglass for his work to bring about equal justice, leading a series of tributes at the unveiling of a statue of the 19th-century orator and writer.
Biden, along with Democratic Sen. Harry Reid and Democratic Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, used the U.S. Capitol ceremony to call for equal voting rights for citizens of the District of Columbia — an issue dear to Douglass’ heart. Biden said the people of the District “made the right choice” in selecting Douglass as their representative.
The 7-foot bronze likeness of Douglass joins sculpted statues of fellow blacks Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and Sojourner Truth in Emancipation Hall. Douglass was born a slave in 1818 in Talbot County, Md. and advised President Abraham Lincoln.
Related Article: Frederick Douglass Statue To Be Moved To The U.S. Capitol
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press via thegrio.com
TV director Paris Barclay (Sons of Anarchy, Glee, House) has been elected president of the Directors Guild of America for a two-year term, succeeding Taylor Hackford (Ray, Officer and a Gentleman) . Barclay was selected at the DGA’s convention on Saturday at DGA headquarters in Los Angeles. He’s the first African-American to serve as DGA president.
“I got surprisingly emotional about it when I was giving my acceptance speech,” Barclay told Variety. Hackford announced earlier this year that he would not seek a third term in accordance with the DGA tradition of presidents only serving two terms. The well-liked Barclay has served eight years as First VP and six years as Third VP.
Barclay also told Variety that other DGA members such as Steven Soderbergh and former president Michael Apted have been urging him in recent years to consider becoming president. “As time went on, I began hearing that from more and more people,” he added.
Apted made the nomination Saturday and Soderberg seconded it.
Barclay asserted that he will maintain the tradition of the DGA president being a working director — in his case as the executive producer of the sixth season of “Sons of Anarchy.” Once that season’s shooting is completed, he plans to continue directing episodes of other series that interest him along with a feature film.
MIAMI — The moment arrived. Players were spent, the emotional and physical toll zapping them of almost everything they had.
LeBron James had the ball at the top of the key. He drove right and with San Antonio Spurs guard Kawhi Leonard guarding him, James pulled up and drilled a 19-foot jump shot with 27.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter. He pumped his fists and the crowd went crazy.
With that shot of adrenalin, James stole the ball on the next possession, made the free throws and secured the victory. These are his kind of moments.
James finished with a game-high 37 points and led the Miami Heat to a 95-88 victory vs. the Spurs in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, giving Miami its second consecutive NBA championship.
James, the four-time MVP, was named Finals MVP for the second consecutive season.
BOX SCORE: Heat 95, Spurs 88
WATCH: Heat guard banks in a three at buzzer
DUNCAN: Watch his slow one-man fast break
The game was back and forth throughout. The Spurs’ biggest lead was seven at 11-4 and the Heat’s was six on a couple of occasions until the final seconds. This was the kind of game you expect in a Game 7, and the third competitive game of the series.