9 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(04/18/06 4:00am)
Nebraskan politicians have settled on a possible solution for the de facto segregation present at schools in the state capital: de jure segregation.
Last week, the Nebraska state legislature passed a controversial measure, signed into law by the governor, that divides Omaha Public Schools into three districts - one mostly white, one mostly black and one mostly Hispanic.
The bill originally proposed a combination of the 11 school districts in the Omaha area into a learning community under a single tax base.
Sen. Ernie Chambers, Nebraska's only black state senator, attached a two-page amendment to the legislation that called for the racial redistricting so that black educators would be able to control schools in black areas.
"There is an idea that schools for African-American children were better suited to teach them before the end of segregation," said George Noblit, an education professor at UNC.
He said that some members of the black community attribute poor academic performance to integration and believe that black teachers and administrators are better suited to educate black students.
Noblit said that diversity is a key factor in education but that education after integration hasn't used diversity as an effective tool.
"My answer is yes, with a caveat," he said about whether diversity is important. "The caveat is that you have to address the diversity directly if it's going to be of any help."
The bill passed the legislature 31-16 despite heavy opposition locally and a warning from the state attorney general that the measure likely would be found unconstitutional.
Penny Sophir, a member of the Omaha school board, said that the board is united against the separation of the district and that the entire area is shocked at the actions of the legislature.
"Everyone seems to be stunned that our state of Nebraska is going to be the first state to go back to segregation," she said.
Sophir said she is hearing from the community daily about their displeasure with the action whether she's responding to e-mails or standing in line at the post office.
"They just cannot believe what the legislature is doing," she said.
She said she disagrees with Sen. Chambers about the state of schools in Omaha.
"My own children have graduated from these same schools," she said. "They have gone on to college and flourished with their education."
Sophir and Noblit both said the state will have a hard time putting the law into effect because of the amount of money it will take to divide the district into three equal districts.
"The equalization of facilities, supplies, libraries - that is going to be the big ticket," Noblit said.
He said the responsibility is going to fall primarily on the state to provide that funding.
"If this is such a good idea, is the legislature willing to pay for it?" he asked.
"If they're willing to do that, then it has a chance. If they don't, then economic disparities are going to form between the districts."
Noblit said that while it's a difficult issue, changing times might require different solutions.
"African-Americans running their own schools looks a lot more attractive now than it did in 1954."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(04/11/06 4:00am)
Book lovers might want to open up space on their hard drives for some iTomes.
The Caravan Project, a partnership of publishers based at the UNC Press, recently secured a grant from the MacArthur Foundation that will allow the publishers to experiment using digital media to distribute books.
The demonstration period, which is expected to begin in 2007, will release non-fiction books in traditional hardcover editions, along with e-books and audio books available for download in their entirety or in chapters.
"What we're trying to do is make books available to people where, when and how they want them," said Peter Osnos, executive director of the Caravan Project.
Osnos helped secure a grant to fund the creation of prototype services for the publishers involved in the project.
"We wanted to have a way for publishers to create this product without incurring undue cost," he said.
"That has made it a lot easier to get publishers to say, 'Yes.'"
Kate Douglas Torrey, director of the UNC Press, said the goal of the project is to allow book publishers to make use of the opportunities afforded by modern technology.
"As we move into an arena where consumers are used to a menu of choices and selections all the time, book publishing has to respond to this issue," she said.
She added that the alternative forms of media will create a test of consumer choice in how to obtain information.
Historically, the types of books that the project is seeking to create have not been available as audio books because of the high costs that accompany studio recording and editing.
But, advances in audio technology, specifically in the conversion of digital text files, have drastically reduced the cost of audio publishing.
Osnos compared listening to an audio book or e-book to seeing a movie in an actual theater, renting it on DVD or watching it on demand.
"All of us are aware that information and entertainment are going through major changes," Osnos said.
"In two or five years, the whole idea of being home to watch television at a certain time will be ancient history."
Osnos said that the issue of piracy that accompanies products in a digital medium is not something that concerns the project's planners.
"People have been able to pirate books for a while now," he said. "You just Xerox it."
He said the final product will show the true value of Caravan's goals.
"The only way to catch the future is to show we provide good, quality information."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(03/28/06 5:00am)
UNC-Charlotte is taking steps to become a national center for finance education by bringing a slice of Wall Street life to campus.
The university's Belk College of Business will dedicate an interactive trading room today to be used by business and finance students.
"Charlotte has tried to promote itself as a center of finance," said Richard Buttimer, a professor of finance and real estate at UNC-C.
"This training room is one of the first tangible examples of that pursuit."
The trading room will have more than 20 computers linked by two Sun Microsystem servers that will allow students to create complex financial portfolios. There also will be a real-time ticker around the ceiling to imitate an actual trading floor.
The training facility will give graduate and undergraduate students the opportunity to learn about trading with the latest technology and will allow the faculty to conduct laboratory research on economic trends, Buttimer said.
"We'll use students to create economic models for experimental issues," he said. "It will kind of be like the experiments you have to take for credit in an introductory psychology course.
"Hopefully, our tests won't be so uncomfortable."
One specific group that will have access to the new trading room will be the Student Managed Investment Fund, a group of students who learn about real-time application of financial concepts by using actual money from a university endowment.
The group, established in 1997, is made up of seven students who can invest in an actual portfolio that is managed by the group.
"This year, the students started with about $200,000," said Samuel Kirkland, a faculty adviser to the Fund. "That number tends to fluctuate based on how well they did the year before."
Two UNC-Chapel Hill programs - the Investment Management Club and Applied Investment Management Program - also let students learn by working with University money, said Allison Reid, director of public relations for the Kenan-Flagler Business School.
The Applied Investment Management Program gives 24 students the opportunity to manage two portfolios worth $1.2 million total.
Kirkland said the new room will be a tool that will offer a wide range of benefits to the students' operations.
"We haven't really thought about how we will take full advantage of the new space," he said. "The main benefit is the experience interacting with complex financial instruments."
He also said that using real money gives the students even more reason to take their homework seriously.
"When it's real money, you're not as likely to take as many risks," he said. "There's real life pressure and accountability for the money you have. It heightens the experience."
Buttimer said that using money and working with new technology will give students an education that can't be matched in the classroom.
"At the end of the day, they can tell an employer, 'I have been able to do this with actual money and been a success,'" Buttimer said.
"That has more credibility than we could ever give them."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(02/21/06 5:00am)
Getting parents in low-income families back in the classroom is a key part in helping to better their economic situation, according to a state report released last week.
Published by the N.C. Budget and Tax Center, the report details the state of low-income families and makes new proposals to bring N.C. poverty statistics in line with the national average.
The report shows that one-third of North Carolina's working families are classified as low-income, meaning the family earns less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2003, that level was $37,620 for a family of four.
North Carolina's proportion of low-income families is higher than the national level as well as those in neighboring states.
"We've made progress recently," said John Quinterno, a research associate at the center and author of the report. "Unfortunately, in the wrong direction."
He said the best way to make a dent in the number of low-income families in the state is through educational development and training parents for new industries.
"We have gone through a restructuring that took a lot of the middle ground," he said. "We have people now who were prepared for a different work force."
The report found that one-third of North Carolina's low-income, working families have at least one parent who has neither finished high school nor received a GED - ranking the state the nation's eighth worst.
"The question we have to ask is how do we change the system to help that fact," Quinterno said.
He said that to diverge from the path North Carolina is traveling down, three specific issues must be addressed together: education and training, economic development and income support.
"These issues are often debated separately, but we want them to be discussed as a comprehensive, interconnected system," he said.
A main proposal of the report is to use the community college system in the state to educate parents in low-income families.
He said community colleges provide a good environment because they prepare their students to go directly into the local workforce.
"We have a very strong community college system in North Carolina because it was designed from the start to be a system," he said.
Brandon Roberts, manager of the Working Poor Families Project, said the proposal is a strong one, but will not be an immediate cure-all.
"You're not going to reverse North Carolina from being in the bottom third overnight," he said.
"If everything the plan proposes was done today and people took notice, the big numbers could change in four to six years.
"For individual families, things could change tomorrow."
Quinterno said the reaction to the report will be important for the future of all state families.
"It could get much better or become much worse for workers. It depends on how smart we are in what we do."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(02/14/06 5:00am)
N.C. voters seem to be willing to give President Bush the benefit of the doubt when it comes to wiretapping, according to a poll conducted last week.
Public Policy Polling, a polling firm based in Raleigh, surveyed 487 North Carolinians on Feb. 7 to gauge public opinion on the president's wiretapping policy and the possibility of impeachment.
Of the 487 people polled, 53 percent thought the wiretapping was legal, 51 percent approved of the wiretapping and 50 percent thought President Clinton's offense of lying under oath was a more impeachable offense.
"We weren't surprised by the results of the poll," said Dean Debnam, owner and president of Pubic Policy Polling.
Debnam said the results, which had a 4.4 percent margin of error, show a clear divide along party lines.
"Republican perceptions and Democratic perceptions are often diametrically opposed on most issues," Debnam said.
He said North Carolina's status as a moderate state explains why the results are fairly close with a slight advantage to the right.
While opinions statewide lean away from impeachment, a new organization has been created in Chapel Hill with the express purpose of impeaching the president.
The Grass Roots Impeachment Movement Organizing Committee, or GRIM for short, seeks to inform the public about impeachment issues, said Wes Hare, a founding member of the group.
"There are two goals for the organization," Hare said. "One is to give people who are concerned about this issue a chance to speak out."
"The other is to make sure (U.S. Rep.) David Price knows there is a strong base for impeachment here in Orange County."
Hare said if Price, a Democrat who represents the 4th district, which includes Orange County, doesn't support a bill to investigate misconduct in the Bush administration, GRIM will consider supporting another Democratic candidate.
"I think what President Bush has done and gotten away with is worse than what President Nixon did," Hare said.
Al McSurely, a civil rights lawyer and fellow member of GRIM, described a less intense vision for the organization.
"We want to make impeachment an issue at congressional elections," McSurely said.
He also said GRIM is not trying to threaten Price into supporting the impeachment bill.
"The only question for GRIM will be who is the most effective candidate to go to the plate and show the president with his pants down," he said.
"We think Price would be best as long as he would step up."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(01/31/06 5:00am)
DURHAM - On the eve of President Bush's annual State of the Union address, Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., gave his own version, focusing on the administration's performance during the past year.
The president's annual address will be broadcast live at 9 p.m.
Watt spoke on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, of which he is now chairman, at the N.C. Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Durham, outlining his criteria for assessing the country.
"You'll probably hear a different story tomorrow night," he said to an audience of about 200 people.
U.S. Rep. David Price, D-N.C., whose constituents include those in Orange County, also attended.
Throughout his speech, Watt stressed his desire to work on behalf of the black community.
"We knew we were black well before we knew what a Democrat and a Republican were," said Watt, who represents District 12.
Watt talked about many hot button issues including poverty, economic stability and health care. He also offered some strong words regarding the Supreme Court nomination of Samuel Alito.
"If the balance shifts, and it will with this nominee, things will get worse," he said. "We need to stop this nominee to the Supreme Court."
He asked the audience to contact Sens. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and Richard Burr, R-N.C. and "tie up their lines," so they know what their constituents think.
"Don't just sit and think that all of this is in the future," he said. "This is happening right now."
Watt also weighed in on the rumors of a potential presidential impeachment. He drew on his experience with President Bill Clinton's impeachment to give perspective on the issue.
"If there's one thing I learned, it's that we need to be careful in how we use the impeachment process," said the 13-year Congress veteran.
"I haven't ruled out that the president has done something illegal, but I don't think we should readily rush to impeach. If we did that, we'd have an impeachment every four years."
Watt tried to give the president a grade based on his performance in office but added the disclaimer that opinions would be different depending on individual situations.
"Some people in this country are doing really well," he said. "I wouldn't fault them for giving him an A."
"But if a teacher only taught the top 5 percent and ignored the rest, what grade would you give?"
Watt still had some compliments for the president.
"I sorta like George Bush," he said. "He's a nice guy. His policies are terrible, though."
Bert Collins, chairman of the board for N.C. Mutual Life, said he was proud to give Watt a chance to speak in Durham.
"It's important to give people a chance to hear what people like Congressman Watt have to say," he said. "We need people who understand the subject to inform us all."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(01/30/06 5:00am)
Organizations across North Carolina are up in arms about the latest federal budget bill under review in the House.
More than 100 organizations have signed a letter sent to N.C. representatives, asking them to vote down the bill when it is considered by the House Wednesday.
If passed, this bill would cut $40 billion by changing Medicaid fees and benefits, cutting back on funding for child support collection and making cutbacks in other areas, opponents say.
The bill originally passed in the House on Dec. 19, right before the chamber's winter holiday break. The vote was made at 6 a.m. after an all-night session, with only five hours to review the 774-page bill.
Once in the Senate, the bill underwent a few changes, and now it's back in the House for approval.
The groups that support this letter include the N.C. Child Advocacy Institute, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the N.C. Justice Center, and the AARP.
Sorien Schmidt, legislative director for the N.C. Justice Center, said the bill is detrimental to the states and will be especially harmful in North Carolina.
"There are going to be significant cuts to those who can afford it the least in North Carolina," Schmidt said.
"This is hurting people directly," she said, "namely, those people who are already in need of help."
The changes to Medicaid will make it more difficult to qualify for the service and require payments of $20 to $100 for services that cost $3 now, the letter stated.
Schmidt said the bill is an example of the federal government shirking its responsibilities and putting excessive pressure on the states to do the work.
"To face a federal cut like this, it's really up to the states to pick up the slack," she said. "Right now, North Carolina just isn't in a position to support those that the federal government drop."
Several N.C. representatives have already expressed disfavor with the bill.
In November, before the budget was originally passed, U.S. Reps. Bob Etheridge, David Price, and Brad Miller, all Democrats from North Carolina, issued a joint press release criticizing a similar plan that would take money from Medicaid, Medicare, child-care support and other services.
"The cuts to Medicaid will snip some of the last frayed strands of the safety net that President Reagan promised a generation ago would always be there for those who could not fend for themselves," Miller said in the press release.
Joanne Peters, press secretary for Etheridge, said that the representative believes that this new version of the bill will harm North Carolinians.
"He doesn't believe this tax cut would actually help anything," Peters said. "He believes the budget is an exercise in misplaced priorities."
Rev. William Barber, president of the N.C. NAACP, said his organization will not stop fighting these changes, even if the bill passes.
"We will continue to speak out against these ruthless policies," Barber said.
"We oppose the bill. Period. We oppose the methodology that cuts taxes for the rich and undercuts opportunities for the poor. That's just not American."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(01/24/06 5:00am)
After a semester hiatus, universities forced to close because of Hurricane Katrina are welcoming students back to their collegiate home.
With months of construction behind them and millions of relief dollars spent, the campuses are prepared for their 2006 spring classes, officials said.
"We are delighted to have the students back," said Mike Strecker, director of public relations at Tulane University.
Strecker said that while the damage estimates at Tulane were in the millions, the campus is ready for the students.
"I'd say construction is 90 percent completed, but campus is still fully functional," he said. "It's very much the same campus that they left behind."
He called the general mood "joyous" since classes started last week, and he said students are excited to be back in New Orleans.
He said hundreds of students spent the weekend cleaning up the neighborhoods surrounding the university.
"Just having the students back in school is great," he said. "Great for them, great for us, and great for the city."
Clarke Edwards, a Tulane sophomore from Greensboro, is glad to be back after spending the last semester enrolled at Duke University.
"It's been really wonderful - like the first week of last year all over again," he said.
The positive mood that pervades the campus is what he says is the best part about returning to school.
"One of my biggest gripes last year was that people were really apathetic," he said. "Now, there is an excitement that the students share that adds so much to the campus."
He said the return has been made easier because the campus looks similar now to how he left it.
"When you look around campus, you almost forget that there was a hurricane," he said. "A lot of grass and trees are dead, but superficial stuff like that will be fixed eventually."
The students at Tulane and other universities are taking advantage of their proximity to areas affected by Katrina to both help damaged communities and to learn from what has happened.
At Loyola University New Orleans, students are taking action in different ways to take part in efforts across the city.
"The students have come back with a determined mind set to take action and help the community," said Walter Harris, provost and academic vice president at Loyola.
He said students in the business school have formed a group called the Loyola Corps that offers assistance to local businesses to help them get back on their feet.
He also said the university has designed Katrina-related courses in subjects like environmental studies and sociology to examine the effects of the hurricane.
"We have very special circumstances right now," Harris said. "Katrina offers us a real laboratory to study an important issue. For other places, Katrina has become a textbook case. We here are living it."
Richard Tucker, a representative for the office of media and public relations at Xavier University of Louisiana, echoes Strecker and Harris about the positive mood that the students bring to Xavier, but he said campus life is not quite back to normal.
"The students are pretty much on an island here," Tucker said. "The restaurants and grocery stores that they used to go to just aren't there anymore."
He said that most of the campus is open to students and ready for use but that the gymnasium, which had just been refloored, was ruined.
Tucker said the campus is operational but looks significantly different from before.
"Many students were shocked to see it, but if they had seen it a month ago, they would have been really shocked," he said.
Despite any problems that they face, Tucker said the university will continue to work to return to the level at which it operated before Katrina.
"The devil is in the details," he said. "You can get everything back in place, but it's the small things that have to be right to make things normal again."
Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(09/28/05 4:00am)
The global threat of an avian flu pandemic was spotlighted Tuesday in a speech by the director-general of the World Health Organization.