Friday Roundup

Here are articles of interest that have been published within the last 7-10 days:

Health
1. Walgreens tackles food deserts, NYT.com, November 12, 2010
Brief Intro: Walgreens is participating in an experiment that will help people in food deserts by selling fresh fruits and vegetables in ten locations.
2. Battle lines drawn over Medicaid in Texas, NYT.com, November 11, 2010
Brief Intro: Some Republicans in the Texas legislature are floating the idea of opting out of the federal Medicaid program, as they believe that state's participation in that program and CHIP is helping to bankrupt the state.

Education
1. Proficiency of Black students is found to be far lower than expected, NYT.com, November 9, 2010
Brief Intro: A new report called "A Call for Change," has been released by the Council of the Great City Schools group, shows that the achievement gap between both black and white students is worse than expected. The report, which focuses on Black males shows that only 12% of fourth grade Black boys are proficient in reading - compared to 38% of White boys. In math, only 12% of eighth grade Black boys are proficient compared to 44% for White boys.