Friday Roundup

Here is a listing of articles published in the last 7-10 days that may be of interest:

Health
1. Hospital drug shortages deadly, costly; Forbes.com, September 24, 2011
Brief introduction: A growing crisis in the availability of drugs for chemotherapy, infections and other serious ailments is endangering patients and forcing hospitals to buy from secondary suppliers at huge markups because they can't get the medications any other way.

2. California leads U.S. in measles cases; Los Angeles Times, September 22, 2011
Brief introduction: As more parents forgo measles vaccinations for their children, the number of Californians contracting the highly contagious disease has reached a 10-year high, outpacing every other state in the nation.

Education
1. Obama turns some powers of education back to the states; The New York Times, September 23, 2011
Brief introduction: Mr. Obama invited states to reclaim the power to design their own school accountability and improvement systems, upending the centerpiece of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law, a requirement that all students be proficient in math and reading by 2014.

2. 'Parent Trigger' law to reform schools faces challenges; The New York Times, September 23, 2011
Brief introduction: The Compton Unified School District has challenged a group of parents who collected hundred of signatures in order to enact change at one of the schools using the 'parent trigger' law. The parents want the under-performing school shut down and a charter school to take its place.

Race
1. Many black men in cold climates lack vitamin D; US News, September 23, 2011
Brief introduction: A new study suggests black men who live in areas of the United States with low sunlight are more likely to have vitamin D deficiency than whites who live in the same places.

2. Black teachers unfairly targeted by CPS layoffs, union says; Chicago Tribune, September 25, 2011
Brief introduction: The Chicago Teachers Union says that while fewer than 30 percent of teachers in CPS are African-American, they represent more than 40 percent of those getting pink slips this year, either for budgetary reasons or because of enrollment declines. Latino teachers, who represent 15 percent of teachers in CPS, make up about 12 percent of layoffs, union officials said.