Court decides New Jersey can end health care coverage for legal immigrants

A recent decision by a New Jersey appellate court has rendered a decision that allows the state to cut a health program that provided free or low-cost health care to legal immigrants. This may translate into lost health care coverage for 12,000 enrolled in the state's FamilyCare program.

U.S. immigrants and weight gain

A recent article on MSNBC.com shares the findings of a new study that indicate that some
mmigrants are known to put on weight after their move to the U.S. , with some approaching obesity levels within 15 years. The study focused on Asian-American and White college students. During the study, researchers found that children of immigrants are often embarrassed to eat foods associated with their home country in front of others. As a way to fit-in, the participants in the study sometimes chose Americanized food choices like hamburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches - which contain much more calories than the food consumed in their home countries.

The study is scheduled to be published in June in the journal Psychological Science.

Friday Roundup

Here are a list of articles/videos published within the last 7-10 days:

Health
1. Home temperature, sleep loss tied to obesity, Reuters/Yahoo News, February 23, 2011
Brief Intro:"When the researchers looked at a number of environmental factors, they found that sleep habits were related to the risk of becoming obese. For each hour of sleep people typically got each day, the odds of their becoming obese declined by 30 percent -- even with other factors like physical activity level and TV watching taken into account. "

Education
1. Say goodbye to textbooks in schools? CNN.com, February 21, 2011 (Video)
Brief Intro: "The iSchool initiative is hoping to spur a digital movement that could revolutionize the American education system."

Poverty
1. Bill seeks to drug test food stamp those receiving food stamps, WMUR9, February 23, 2011
Brief Intro:"A bill under debate in Concord would force recipients of food stamps to be subject to drug testing."

Immigrants
1. Indiana lawmakers pass immigration curbs like Arizona, Reuters/Yahoo News, February 23, 2011
Brief Intro: "The measure, passed on Tuesday night by a vote of 31-18, would allow state and local police to ask a person stopped for infractions like traffic violations for proof of legal residency if the officer has a "reasonable suspicion" they may be in the country illegally.

Another provision would call for, with some exceptions, the use of English only in public meetings, on Web sites and in documents. The bill still needs to be adopted by the state's House of Representatives, where opponents say they will now turn."

Friday Roundup

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

Health

1. New medical school model: Adopt a family to treat, Jan 5, 2011, NPR.org

Brief Intro:"Medical education in the U.S. is going through a growth spurt. After decades without a single new school, five new medical schools have opened since 2009, and 10 more are being accredited — a response to the growing doctor shortage.

Besides producing more doctors, many of the new medical schools are also trying to reshape medical education. Florida International University's College of Medicine in Miami is one of these new schools. Its approach to rethinking medical school is a community-based medical curriculum."

2. Health spending rose in '09, but at a low rate, Jan. 5, 2011, NYT.com

Brief Intro:"Total national health spending grew by 4 percent in 2009, the slowest rate of increase in 50 years, as people lost their jobs, lost health insurance and deferred medical care, the federal government reported on Wednesday."

Poverty

1. To beat back poverty, pay the poor, Jan 3, 2011, NYT.com (opinion blog)

Brief Intro:"Several factors contribute to Brazil’s astounding feat. But a major part of Brazil’s achievement is due to a single social program that is now transforming how countries all over the world help their poor."

Immigrant populations

1. State lawmakers outline plans to end birthright citizenship draws outcry, Jan 5, 2011, NYT.com

Brief Intro:" Conservative legislators from five states opened a national campaign on Wednesday to end the automatic granting of American citizenship to children born in the United States of illegal immigrants."

Education

1. Math that moves: Schools embrace the iPad, Jan 4, 2011, NYT.com

Brief Intro:"A growing number of schools across the nation are embracing the iPad as the latest tool to teach Kafka in multimedia, history through “Jeopardy”-like games and math with step-by-step animation of complex problems."

2. Georgia facing a hard choice on free tuition, Jan 6, 2011, NYT.com

Brief Intro:"The largest merit-based college scholarship program in the United States offers any Georgia high school student with a B-average four years of free college tuition.

But the Hope scholarship program is about to be cut by a new governor and Legislature facing staggering financial troubles."

The Least of These - Documentary on family detention

The Least of These is a 2009 documentary that takes a look at a family detention facility in Texas. The facility was formerly used a medium-security prison and is run by the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a private prison operator. Three attorneys set about to bring changes in both the policy and conditions of the facility by making their findings public and filing a historic lawsuit.

Click on the link above to view this 62 minute documentary in its entirety or visit the film website to learn more.

Mississippi Chicken - Documentary on immigrant poultry workers in Mississippi

Mississippi Chicken is an excellent documentary on the plight of Hispanic immigrants in a poultry town. The documentary provides a background of poultry industry in Mississippi detailing how the jobs were once occupied by white workers then blacks workers and finally Hispanics. The two main characters is a woman who is working to create a worker's center to help immigrant workers and a matriarch of a family, Guillermina.

Viewers will be provided with a better understanding of the kind of hardships immigrants face. While one hopes that the workers profiled in this work will succeed in making their way out of the situation, you'll end up being surprised and saddened at how their lives actually turnout.

Viewer's notes: The documentary does not have subtitles and much of the discussion is in Spanish. Warning:The first five minutes of the documentary shows raw footage of a pig being killed and prepared for a party.