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Girls From Displaced Families Get Introduction to College and Engineering at Cal State Long Beach

By goodblacknews on August 13, 2013
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Courtney Shumate, 10, of Compton, is spending a week living at Cal State Long Beach, learning about college life and engineering. Twenty-nine girls participated in the program August 8, 2013, in Long Beach. During this workshop, the participants built prosthetic arms. (Francine Orr, Los Angeles Times / August 7, 2013)
Submerged underwater, a robot built out of PVC pipes snaked back and forth near some foam “sea sponges.”  Next to the small wading pool, 11-year-old Nailah Lewis intently worked a set of controls on top of a wired plastic box. Her electrical engineering experiment had entered its final testing phase.  The task: Design a tool to pick up objects underwater.  Around the pool, a group of young girls leaned over the edge, dangling their hands in the water and shouting encouragement. Nailah’s 8-year-old sister, Ayailah, called out: “Come on, Ni Ni!”

Watching proudly nearby with a camera in hand was Nailah’s mother, Dana Lewis, 39, who is determined to see her both young daughters go to college.  She found a positive motivating force in a new Cal State Long Beach program.  The program, “Engineering Girls — It Takes a Village,” is unusual in its focus on recruiting young girls, ages 9 to 15, from displaced families.  Over the last four months, school officials worked with the Century Villages at Cabrillo, a transitional housing community, to recruit girls and bring them to the university in August for one week of engineering workshops.
Officials said that the program, which began Aug. 5 and ended Sunday, was specifically designed for girls because the engineering field is dominated by men. But coordinators also aimed to expose an underrepresented community with limited opportunities in science, math and engineering.  It came along with a full taste of college life, with the girls sleeping in the dorms and eating three all-you-can-eat meals a day.
Of the 29 girls who participated, 25 came from homeless families. All were African American, and most lived in single-parent homes.  Three were being raised by their grandparents.  “A lot of these girls are underprivileged, so an experience like this not only changes and impacts their lives, but re-creates their future,” said Lewis, who was one of several women who accompanied their daughters and participated in the program. Lewis moved into the Villages with her mother and two daughters when it opened five years ago.

Singer Darius Rucker Gets Street Named After Him in South Carolina Hometown

By goodblacknews on August 12, 2013

darius-rucker-e697ea0f63c7db6eDarius Rucker has hit the top of the charts both the leader of Hootie and the Blowfish and as a solo country artist. And now, a street in his hometown bears his name.  The pavement leading to the North Charleston Coliseum in South Carolina where Hootie and the Blowfish played in the 1990s shortly after it opened was renamed Darius Rucker Boulevard on Monday, reports the Associated Press.  
Rucker grew up in the Charleston area and was on hand for the ceremony along with North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey.  Rucker says he may return to the coliseum this fall to play a country set. But first he plays with Hootie and the Blowfish next week at the Family Circle Stadium on Daniel Island.
article via eurweb.com

'Mandatory Minimum' Sentences to End for Many Non-Violent Drug Offenders

By goodblacknews on August 12, 2013

Eric Holder
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors will no longer seek long, “mandatory minimum” sentences for many low-level, nonviolent drug offenders, under a major shift in policy aimed at turning around decades of explosive growth in the federal prison population, Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. announced today.  The nation’s top law enforcement official called for a “fundamentally new approach” to enforcing drug laws in order to help alleviate prison overcrowding and reduce race-based disparities in drug prosecutions.

“It’s clear – as we come together today – that too many Americans go to too many prisons for far too long, and for no truly good law enforcement reason. It’s clear, at a basic level, that 20th-century criminal justice solutions are not adequate to overcome our 21st-century challenges,” Holder told the annual meeting of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates in San Francisco. “And it is well past time to implement common sense changes that will foster safer communities from coast to coast.”
The new policy involves the prosecution of low-level, non-violent drug offenders who have no ties to gangs, cartels or other large-scale organizations. They will be charged with offenses that — like those for most crimes — specify a range of months or years, allowing judges to decide sentence length.  Holder has long argued that mandatory minimums are contributing to the fact that the number of inmates in federal prisons has increased by 800 percent since 1980, far faster than the growth of the U.S. population.

Mellody Hobson and George Lucas Welcome Baby Girl

By goodblacknews on August 12, 2013
Director George Lucas and Mellody Hobson
Director George Lucas and Mellody Hobson attend the 40th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on June 16, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)

Mellody Hobson, 44, and George Lucas, 69,  have welcomed their first child together into the world, according to reports. Their daughter, Everest Hobson Lucas, was born on Friday, August 9, various sources say, and was reportedly carried via a surrogate.  Hobson and Lucas recently married in late June at Lucas’ Skywalker ranch in Marin County, Calif. Hobson, the president of the financial management firm Ariel Investments, had been dating Lucas, one of the most successful producers and directors in Hollywood history, for several years before their nuptials. This is Hobson’s first marriage, and a second for Lucas.
Hobson, an on-air personality who offers financial advice for CBS, is also the chairperson of Dreamworks animation.  Lucas, creator of the Star Wars film franchise, previously made headlines through selling his production company Lucasfilms Ltd. to the Walt Disney company for $4.05 billion in October 2012.  In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Hobson credited her strong bond with Lucas to their both being, “extraordinarily open-minded people” who “are open to what the universe brings us.”
Keeping an open mind allowed each partner to perceive the value in the other.  “We didn’t have preconceived ideas about what a partner should be, and so we allowed ourselves to discover something that was unexpected,” Hobson said.
Everest is Hobson’s first child. Lucas also has three adopted children who are now adults.
article by Alexis Garrett Stodghill via thegrio.com

New York City's Stop-and-Frisk Practice Violated Rights of Minorities, Judge Rules

By goodblacknews on August 12, 2013
Leroy Downes, a plaintiff in the stop-and-frisk trial, spoke at a news conference after a federal judge ruled that the practice violated the rights of minorities. (Ruth Fremson/The New York Times)

In a repudiation of a major element in the Bloomberg administration’s crime-fighting legacy, a federal judge has found that the stop-and-frisk tactics of the New York Police Department violated the constitutional rights of minorities in New York, and called for a federal monitor to oversee broad reforms.  In a blistering decision issued on Monday, the judge, Shira A. Scheindlin, found that the Police Department had “adopted a policy of indirect racial profiling” that targeted young minority men for stops. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said the city would appeal the ruling, angrily accusing the judge of deliberately not giving the city “a fair trial.”

The mayor cited the benefits of stop-and-frisk, crediting the tactic for making the city safer and for ridding the streets of thousands of illegal guns.  But in her ruling, Judge Scheindlin found that in doing so, the police systematically stopped innocent people in the street without any objective reason to suspect them of wrongdoing.  The stops, which soared in number over the last decade as crime continued to decline, demonstrated a widespread disregard for the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, as well as the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause, according to the 195-page decision.

Judge Scheindlin’s criticism extended beyond the conduct of police officers; in holding the city liable for a battery of constitutional violations, the judge found that top police officials acted with deliberate indifference. She said that police commanders were content to dismiss allegations of racial profiling as “a myth created by the media.”  Citing statements by the mayor and Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, Judge Scheindlin accused the city of using stop-and-frisk as a checkpoint-style policing tactic, with the intent of deterring minorities from carrying guns on the street.

“I also conclude that the city’s highest officials have turned a blind eye to the evidence that officers are conducting stops in a racially discriminatory manner,” she wrote.  The judge designated an outside lawyer, Peter L. Zimroth, to monitor the Police Department’s compliance with the Constitution.

Judge Scheindlin also ordered a number of other remedies, including a pilot program in which officers in at least five precincts across the city will wear body-worn cameras in an effort to record street encounters. She also ordered a “joint remedial process” — in essence, a series of community meetings — to solicit public input on how to reform stop-and-frisk.

Jamaican Sprinter Usain Bolt Wins 100-Meter World Title as Lightning Strikes

By goodblacknews on August 12, 2013

A bolt of lightning strikes just after Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt wins the 100-meter title at the IAAF world championships in Moscow. (Olivier Morin / AFP/Getty Images / August 11, 2013)
A bolt of lightning strikes just after Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt wins the 100-meter title at the IAAF world championships in Moscow. (Olivier Morin / AFP/Getty Images / August 11, 2013)

Usain Bolt actually needed encouragement from the crowd to strike his famous “lightning bolt” pose after reclaiming the 100-meter world title on Sunday.  Maybe that’s because the usually ebullient Jamaican runner has found a new gimmick.  An incredible photo has surfaced, showing a bolt of lightning striking overhead at the IAAF world championships in Moscow just after Bolt crossed the finish line in 9.77 seconds, well ahead of American runner-up Justin Gatlin (9.85).

The race took place in a heavy downpour, which led to a slow start by Bolt, the two-time reigning Olympic champion and world record holder in the event.  But he quickly overtook Gatlin, the 2004 Olympic gold medalist who upset Bolt during a meet in Rome earlier this year.  Bolt, who lost the world title two years ago due to a false start, did nothing flashy as he crossed the finish line or afterward, straying from the usual antics his fans have become accustomed to.
But, then again, Mother Nature seems to have taken care of that for him.
article by Chuck Schilken via latimes.com

Costco Pays Workers Fair Wage and Offers Benefits

By goodblacknews on August 11, 2013

The workers hold similar positions at these companies. Levels of experience vary but the wages are representative of the average worker we interviewed.
Can a company pay its workers well and also make money?  Many aren’t quite hitting the right balance. Hundreds of dissatisfied workers at major American companies like Wal-Mart (WMT), McDonald’s (MCD) and Wendy’s (WEN) have joined protests nationwide in the past year demanding higher wages and better benefits.  One company that hasn’t had to deal with such strikes is Costco (COST).
The no-frills warehouse chain pays its hourly workers an average of just over $20 an hour, compared to just under $13 at competitor Wal-Mart. Even President Obama praised Costco in a recent speech about helping the middle class.  The recession has been good for companies that targeted budget-minded customers. Sales at Costco have grown an average of 13% annually since 2009, while profits have risen 15%. Its stock price has more than doubled since 2009.
During the same period, discount retailer Wal-Mart’s sales grew an average of 4.5% each year, profits rose 7%, and its stock price increased 70%.  Costco seems to be investing some of those profits back into its employees.  Cesar Martinez, a 37-year-old fork lift operator, has worked at a Costco in North Carolina for 19 years. He makes $22.82 an hour, gets health benefits and a pension plan. He manages to save, and doesn’t worry about hospital bills for his daughter, who suffers from asthma.

NIH Finally Makes Good with Henrietta Lacks' Family – And It's About Time, Ethicist Says

By goodblacknews on August 10, 2013

This 1940s photo made available by the family shows Henrietta Lacks. In 1951, a doctor in Baltimore removed cancerous cells from Lacks without her kno...
Over the past six decades, huge medical advances have sprung from the cells of Henrietta Lacks, a poor, African-American mother of five who died in 1951 of cervical cancer. But Lacks never agreed that the cells from a biopsy before her death taken could be used for research. For years, her own family had no idea that her cells were still alive in petri dishes in scientists’ labs.
They eventually learned they had fueled a line called HeLa cells, which have generated billions of dollars, but they didn’t realize until this spring that her genome had been sequenced and made public for anyone to see. 
On Tuesday, the National Institute of Health announced it was, at long last, making good with Lacks’ family. Under a new agreement, Lack’s genome data will be accessible only to those who apply for and are granted permission. And two representatives of the Lacks family will serve on the NIH group responsible for reviewing biomedical researchers’ applications for controlled access to HeLa cells. Additionally, any researcher who uses that data will be asked to include an acknowledgement to the Lacks family in their publications.
The new understanding between the NIH and the Lacks family does not include any financial compensation for the family. The Lacks family hasn’t, and won’t, see a dime of the profits that came from the findings generated by HeLa cells. But this is a moral and ethical victory for a family long excluded from any acknowledgment and involvement in genetic research their matriarch made possible.
It took more than 60 years, but ethics has finally caught up to a particularly fast-moving area of science: taking tissue samples for genetic research. Thanks to the efforts of a dogged journalist, some very thoughtful science leaders in Europe and the U.S., and an ordinary family willing to learn about a complex subject and then to do the right thing to help you and me and our descendants, a long-standing wrong has now been fixed. 

Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson Announces $1.2M Grant to Help Ex-Offenders Turn Their Backs on Crime

By goodblacknews on August 9, 2013
Rep. Hank Johnson with Charles Sperling, alongside the Board of Directors and staff at STAND
Rep. Hank Johnson with Charles Sperling, alongside the Board of Directors and staff at STAND

LITHONIA, GA – Congressman Hank Johnson has just announced a $1.2 million federal grant to a metro Atlanta community-based project that is committed to helping offenders straighten out their lives.  Standing to Achieve New Directions (STAND, Inc.) will receive the award from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), a branch of the Department of Health and Human Services.  The non-profit organization, established in 1999, provides services for ex-inmates, with an emphasis on rehabilitating former prisoners and helping repeat offenders break their cycle of crime.
“It’s absolutely critical to bridge a pathway for individuals coming out of incarceration experiences so they can successfully reintegrate into society,” says Charles Sperling, executive director and founder of STAND.  The grant monies will facilitate a new initiative, launched this month, to support about 90 newly released inmates every year over a period of three years. The scheme, which is offered on a voluntary basis, will provide a spectrum of resources and support, from behavior health services and housing to employment needs.
“STAND has a proven track record of helping former inmates turn their lives around,” said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), in a statement. “Encouraging people released from prison to be productive members of society not only strengthens our communities; it saves taxpayers billions of dollars.”

Obama Signs Student Loan Deal

By goodblacknews on August 9, 2013
Members of the Morehouse College 2002 graduating class sing their school song during commencement ceremonies May 19, 2002 in Atlanta. (Photo by Erik S. Lesser/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama signed into law Friday a measure restoring lower interest rates for student loans, pledging the hard-fought compromise would be just the first step in a broader, concerted fight to rein in the costs of a college education.  Encircled by lawmakers from both parties in the Oval Office, Obama praised Democrats and Republicans alike for agreeing — finally — on what he called a sensible, reasonable approach to student loans even as he cautioned that “our job is not done.”
“Feels good signing bills. I haven’t done this in a while,” Obama said, alluding to the difficulty he’s faced getting Congress to approve his legislative priorities, such as gun control and budget deals.  “Hint, hint,” he added to laughter.
Friday’s ceremony capped a frenzy of negotiations that led to a rare bipartisan compromise to lower rates before classes resume. About 11 million students this year are expected to have lower interest rates, saving the average undergraduate $1,500 on interest charges on this year’s loans.  The legislation links student loan interest rates to the financial markets. It offers lower rates this fall because the government can borrow money cheaply at this time. If the economy improves in the coming years as expected, it will become more costly for the government to borrow money, and that cost would be passed on to students.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, called it “a good day” and a fine example of what Washington can accomplish when petty partisanship is put aside.  “With the stroke of a pen, we’ve now officially taken the politics out of student loans,” Boehner said. “By linking interest rates to markets, this law — part of the Republican jobs plan — means students will see lower rates and won’t have to worry about Washington suddenly making it harder to pay for their education.”