Friday Roundup

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

Education

1. Senate panel approves bill that rewrited education law; The New York Times, October 21,2011

Legislation rewriting the No Child Left Behind education law finally gained traction this week, and the Senate Democrat whose committee passed the bill said on Friday that progress became possible because lawmakers were irritated by the Obama administration’s offering states waivers to the law’s key provisions.

2. Texas trails most states, many countries in young adults with degrees; Statesman.com, October 21, 2011

Texas trails most other states and many developed countries in the percentage of young adults with a college degree, and demographic changes suggest the underperformance will worsen as time goes on. About 32 percent of Texans ages 25 to 34 have earned an associate's degree or higher, compared with 41 percent for the nation as a whole. Massachusetts ranks first among the states at about 54 percent, and South Korea led an international sampling at 63 percent.

Health
1. Study: Foreclosure crisis threatening America's health; USA Today, October 22, 2011
A new study finds that falling behind on your mortgage payments hurts more than just your finances, as the stress and financial strain that come with the struggle can also harm your physical and psychological health. People who reported that they had fallen behind on their mortgage between 2006 and 2008 reported more depressive symptoms, more food insecurity and were more likely to say they weren't taking prescription medications as prescribed because of cost.

2. Massive free health clinic serves more than 1,000 on first day; Los Angeles Times, October 21, 2011
More than a thousand people on Thursday took advantage of a massive free clinic that opened at the L.A. Sports Arena. The outreach event, which goes until Sunday, is expected to treat more than 5,000 patients for tooth decay, high blood pressure, diabetes and other medical needs. It is organized by CareNow, an L.A.-based nonprofit that assists urban areas with healthcare needs.

3. Change your neighborhood, improve your health; Time.com, October 20, 2011
When a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offered a program in the 1990s to move families out of poor neighborhoods, it created a unique opportunity not only to improve people's day-to-day lives, but also to study how a change in environment might impact their health over the long term. Now, more than a decade later, the researchers have found that families who moved to lower-poverty neighborhoods had lower levels of obesity and diabetes than those who stayed behind. What's more, the improvements in health were as significant as those that typically result from targeted diet and exercise interventions or the use of medications to treat diabetes.


Race
1. SC voter ID law hits some black precincts harder; Boston.com, October 19, 2011
South Carolina’s new voter photo identification law appears to be disproportionately affecting minority voters in one of the state’s largest counties and black precincts elsewhere, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. For instance, nearly half the voters who cast ballots at a historically black college in Columbia lack state-issued photo identification and could face problems voting in next year’s presidential election, according to the analysis of precinct-level data provided by the state Election Commission.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. Facebook teams up with Department of Labor, nonprofit groups to launch social jobs partnership; Scribbal, October 20, 2011
Brief Introduction: Facebook has teamed up with the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), DirectEmployers Association (DE) and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) to create the Social Jobs Partnership. The main aim of the initiative is to get unemployed Americans back to work by harnessing the power of social networks.

2. GlaxoSmithKline , Bill Gates -backed vaccine cuts Malaria infections by half; Forbes.com, October 18,2011
Brief Introduction: A vaccine invented at drug giant GlaxoSmithKline and funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation cut the rate of malaria infection in small children roughly in half, providing real hope of cutting the toll from a mosquito-borne disease that infects 250 million people a year and kills 800,000 children annually in sub-Saharan Africa.

3. Nonprofits bear burden of Illinois' unpaid bills; Bloomberg Businessweek, October 17, 2011
Brief Introduction: Illinois ranks first nationwide when it comes to nonprofit groups reporting late payments from the government, according to a survey last year by the nonpartisan Urban Institute. More than 80 percent of Illinois groups say their money doesn't come on time.

Grantmaking in 2009: average grant by category

2009 Foundation Grants: average grant by category

Foundation Giving Trends, a 2011 report produced by the Foundation Center, was recently released and covered grantmaking data for the 2009 year. In regards to the average grant amount awarded per category, the report determined that Human Services was ranked the lowest, with an average of $68,794 per grant and a median of $25,000. The category ranked the highest was International Affairs, Development, Peace, and Human Rights with an average of $311,376 per grant and a median of $50,000.

Top funders by category in 2009:

1. Arts and culture:
The American Art Foundation, Inc.

2. Education:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

3. Environment and animals:
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

4. Health:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

5. International Affairs, development, peace and human rights:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

6. Public Affairs:
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

7. Civil Rights and Social Action:
Ford Foundation

8. Science and Technology:
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

9. Social Sciences:
John Templeton Foundation

10. Religion:
Lilly Endowment Inc.

Friday Roundup

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

Health
1. "Supercommittee" decision may lead to cuts funding for public health initiatives; Washington Post, October 16,2011
Brief Introduction: Federal funding for medical research, disease prevention and a host of public health initiatives could be sharply reduced if the congressional “supercommittee” fails to agree on a deficit-reduction package, triggering automatic cuts. Public attention has largely focused on possible cuts to entitlement programs for seniors and the poor, Medicare and Medicaid, but health advocates are raising an alarm about many other smaller programs they say need to be protected.

2. Health insurance set up for the masses; Philly.com, October 16,2011
Brief Introduction: The federal government is taking on a crucial new role in the nation's health care, designing a basic-benefits package for millions of privately insured Americans. A framework for the Obama administration was released Thursday.

Education
1. Education funds sought to uncover cheating; Wall Street Journal, October 15, 2011
Brief Introduction: New York state education officials, in an attempt to boost confidence in test scores as they become part of teacher evaluations across the state, want to spend $2.1 million to hunt among millions of students' tests for evidence of cheating.

2. Education bill draws fire from rights groups; Washington Post, October 11,2011
Brief Introduction: A top Senate Democrat rolled out his plan Tuesday to revamp the main federal education law, but it immediately drew fire from civil rights groups that argued it would ease pressure on schools to provide quality education to all children, regardless of race or income. Under Harkin’s bill, the federal government would no longer require all students to meet achievement goals — a cornerstone of the current law. Instead, Harkin proposes to require that schools show that students are making academic progress.

Race
1. 5 diseases more common in minorities; ABC News, October 13,2011
Brief Introduction: Although more and more people are living longer with colorectal cancer, new research has found that black people with the disease aren't living as long as whites.

2. LAUSD agrees to revise how English learners, blacks are taught; Los Angeles Times, October 11,2011
Brief Introduction: The Los Angeles Unified School District has agreed to sweeping revisions in the way it teaches students learning English, as well as black youngsters, settling a federal civil rights investigation that examined whether the district was denying the students a quality education. The settlement closes what was the Obama administration's first civil rights investigation launched by the Department of Education, and officials said Tuesday that it would serve as a model for other school districts around the country.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. Federal security funds granted to hundreds of N.Y. nonprofits from 2006-2009 total in millions;NY Daily News, October 16,2011
Brief Introduction: Hundreds of New York nonprofit groups have gotten a slice of nearly $2 billion in national Homeland Security grants this year by claiming they face a "high risk" of a terror attack.

2. Infographic: How the top 50 nonprofits do social media; Huffington Post, October 15,2011
Brief Introduction: I get asked a lot if nonprofits are using social media effectively. After taking a look at the Nonprofit Times list of 100 top nonprofits based on income, the craigconnects team decided to look at who was proactively and effectively utilizing social media in August and September of 2011. Do the highest earning nonprofits use social media the most effectively? How are people responding and interacting? The deal is, with social media use on the rise, we decided to check this out and created an infographic to show the results.

3. A quest for hybrid companies that profit, but can tap charity; The New York Times, October 12,2011
Brief Introduction: A new type of company intended to put social goals ahead of making profits is taking root around the country, as more states adopt laws to bridge the divide between nonprofits and businesses. California is the latest state to adopt a statute permitting what is called flexible-purpose corporations, new companies that are part social benefit and part low-profit entities. The companies are now allowed under laws in more than a dozen states and two Indian tribes.

4. Job's wife backs education causes; Wall Street Journal, October 10,2011
Brief Introduction: Ms. Powell Jobs has become a leader in education policy, advising nonprofits and politicians, says Ted Mitchell, chief executive of NewSchools Venture Fund, whose board Ms. Powell Jobs joined five years ago. The Jobs family has donated millions of dollars to the group, he says, and her work "is even more effective because she does this work quietly, constantly, with incredible integrity and great insight."

Friday Roundup

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

Health
1. Dietary supplements risky for older women, study finds; Los Angeles Times, October 10, 2011
Brief Introduction: In an analysis of about 39,000 women tracked over 19 years, researchers led by a team at the University of Minnesota found that those who took multivitamins, vitamin B6, folic acid, magnesium, zinc, copper and especially iron died at higher rates during the course of the study than those who did not take supplements.

2. Physicians treating Latinos have high hurdles to jump, study shows; UCLA, October 10, 2011
Brief Introduction: Research out of UCLA and the City University of New York has found that primary care physicians who treat Latinos are less likely than physicians treating primarily white patients to believe they can provide high-quality care. Among the reasons: inadequate time with patients, patients' lack of ability to afford care, patients not adhering to recommended treatments, and difficulties in communicating.

Education
1. Proposal stirs charter school debate: choice vs. quality?; Detroit Free Press, October 11,2011
Brief Introduction: A legislative proposal to lift the state cap on charter schools would provide parents unprecedented options for K-12 education, but some critics fear it would litter the state with ineffective, profit-minded operators.

2. DPS special ed program gains; Detroit Free Press, October 7, 2011
Brief Introduction: It took two years of state pressure and the threat of losing millions in funding, but Detroit Public Schools has reformed its special education evaluation system to comply with state and federal laws. As a result, more of the 12,000 disabled students across the district are getting more time in regular classrooms, a goal shared by state education officials.

Race
1. Downsides of cancer rarely seen in black media; Reuters, October 5, 2011
Brief Introduction: Since people often get medical information from the media, Fishman and her colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia looked at whether there might be racial differences in how the media cover cancer care.

2. Hopkins researchers find place, rather than race, may be greater determinant of health; Stanford.edu, October 6, 2011
Brief Introduction: Of all the variables that contribute to health disparities, where patients live may be more significant than their race, according to findings published in the latest issue of Health Affairs.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. Philanthropy, now yielding financial returns; Forbes.com, October 10, 2011
Brief Introduction: For decades, giving for social benefit and investing for financial return have been practiced as separate and distinct activities. But today there are a range of philanthropic investment strategies available that simultaneously yield social and financial returns.

2. Study: Gates project spared 100K Indians from HIV; CBSNews.com, October 10, 2011
Brief Introduction: An estimated 100,000 people in India may have escaped HIV infection over five years thanks to one of the world's biggest prevention programs, an encouraging sign that targeting high-risk groups remains vital even as more donors focus on treatment, a new study suggests.

3. Organizations strive to solve the Latino childhood obesity epidemic; Fox News Latino, October 8, 2011
Brief Introduction: Salud America is a research network and online portal with a unique goal. The organization is a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and encompasses a network of Latino scientists and policy makers that aim to prevent obesity among Hispanic children in the United States.

4. Teens help create model digital library; Chicago Sun Times, October 10, 2011
Brief Introduction: Funded in part by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the project sprang from research on how digital media affect kids' literacy. "We are in one of those rare moments in time where what it means to be literate today, what it meant for us, is going to be different from what it means to be literate for our kids, " says DePaul University's Nichole Pinkard, who first envisioned the space.

Friday Roundup

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

Health
1. When the nurse wants to be called "Doctor"; The New York Times, October 1, 2011
Brief Introduction: Dr. McCarver calls herself a doctor because she returned to school to earn a doctorate last year, one of thousands of nurses doing the same recently. Doctorates are popping up all over the health professions, and the result is a quiet battle over not only the title “doctor,” but also the money, power and prestige that often comes with it.

2. Physicians sue Washington State for limiting emergency room visits; Global Post, October 2, 2011
Brief Introduction: The American College of Emergency Physicians is suing the state of Washington over its new policy of paying for only three non-emergency trips to the emergency room per year for low-income Medicaid patients.

3. Workers in construction, mines, food service more likely to smoke; Chicago Sun-Times, October 1, 2011
Brief Introduction: Construction workers, miners and food service workers top the list of occupations that smoke the most, according to a new government report. Experts say it might have as much to do with lower education levels as the jobs themselves.

Education
1. Illegal students face obstacles even after college; The Wall Street Journal, October 2, 2011
Brief Introduction: When Rhode Island became the thirteenth state to allow in-state tuition for illegal immigrants at public colleges, supporters heralded the move as one that would give students the kind of advanced education they need to succeed in the work force.

But students who are not here legally may still face a major obstacle even with the benefit of a college degree: Many have no immediate pathway to legal status and, under current federal immigration law, employers cannot legally hire them.

2. Once left behind, a single mom refuses to give up on her quest to read; Detroit Free Press, October 2, 2011
Brief Introduction: Thirty-eight-year-old Luvanis O'Neal kept her secret for more than 20 years by hiding in silence behind a sweet, demure smile. It was easier being quiet. Nobody asked questions of the shy girl.

Race
1. Black population concentrated in South: Census; NBC Washington, October 1, 2011
Brief Introduction: The majority of the United State’s population that identifies itself as black or African American is concentrated in the southern states, according to a new report by the Census Bureau.

2. More Hispanics listed themselves as White on U.S. Census; The Beacon News, September 30, 2011
Brief Introduction: In a twist to notions of race identity, new 2010 census figures show an unexpected reason behind a renewed growth in the U.S. white population: more Hispanics listing themselves as white in the once-a-decade government count.

What's new in Philanthropy

Articles of interest in philanthropy and nonprofits published in the last 10 days:

1. Three cars "for good" go to local nonprofits; JournalStar.com, September 28, 2011

Brief Introduction: The 100 Cars for Good promotional program was launched by Toyota in May, and nonprofits across the land competed to land a car. Local winners survived several rounds of cuts to make it to the final 500 -- and then each was assigned a day. On that day, they competed head-to-head with four other nonprofits of similar size, gathering votes via Facebook, Twitter, email and good ‘ol word-of-mouth.

2. The White House and National Science Foundation announce new workplace flexibility policies to support America's scientists and their families; WhiteHouse.gov, September 26,2011

Brief Introduction: Today, White House Council on Women and Girls Executive Director Tina Tchen, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John P. Holdren, and National Science Foundation (NSF) Director Subra Suresh announced the “NSF Career-Life Balance Initiative,” a 10-year plan to provide greater work-related flexibility to women and men in research careers. Among the best practices that NSF will expand Foundation-wide, are ones that will allow researchers to delay or suspend their grants for up to one year in order to care for a newborn or newly adopted child or fulfill other family obligations. — maximizing current policy to facilitate scientists’ reentry into their professions with minimal loss of momentum.

3. Meeting with Bill Gates, Nigerian president Jonathan re-affirms country's commitment to eradicating polio within two years; Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, September 30, 2011

Brief Introduction: In a meeting at the presidential villa on Thursday, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan told Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "that he was determined to eradicate polio within two years after the crippling disease re-emerged earlier this year."

4. High school students gain college credits at Akron Early College High School at University of Akron; Cleveland.com, October 2, 2011

Brief Introduction: Early college high schools, aimed at low-income, first-generation college students, were developed and funded in 2002 by several organizations, including The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation. More than 230 schools have opened in 28 states, including 10 in Ohio.

October CFL Podcast: Melanie Sciochetti & Bruce Compton from Pew (Librarian/Archivist)

This month, I had the opportunity to interview Melanie Sciochetti and Bruce Compton from Pew. Melanie is a librarian and library manager and Bruce is an archivist and senior manager for their Research & Records department. They share how they have worked together with their team to provide excellent service to their colleagues. Bruce also shares valuable tips for librarians looking to improve their collaboration with their organization's archivist.

This turned out to be an excellent podcast interview and I thank Melanie and Bruce for their participation.

MP3 file:

https://s3.amazonaws.com/onlinefiles/Interviews/Bruce_Melanie_Interview_Pew_MP3.mp3

WAV file:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/onlinefiles/Interviews/Bruce_Melanie_Interview_Pew_WAV.wav