This is a situation close to my heart and any decent human being.
NO MESSAGE IS THAT IMPORTANT...BELIEVE THAT!!!!!
A day after talk show queen Oprah Winfrey focused on the dangers of texting while driving, two members of the Georgia House of Representatives introduced bills that would ban the practice.
“Don’t tempt fate,” said Rep. Amos Amerson (R-Dahlonega), quoting Winfrey. “That text or call can wait.”
Amerson and Rep. Allen Peake (R-Bibb County) introduced similar bills that will likely merge. Under Peake’s bill, HB 938, anyone found guilty of writing, sending or reading a text message while driving would be fined $50 to $100 and have two points placed on his driver's license. Amerson’s bill would set the fine at $300.
“Texting while driving is a rising problem among teenagers and adults and a leading cause of traffic accidents,” Peake said. “When someone texts while driving they are endangering their own lives, as well as all other drivers and pedestrians they may pass. This legislation saves lives.”
Both Peake and Amerson said they know from their own experience. Amerson said that the grandson of one of his constituents recently died in a head-on collision. When police checked his cellphone, they found he had sent six text messages between the time he got in his car and the accident.
Peake said he “used to text like crazy,” once passing a driver who got his legislative license plate and later called to complain.
“I was a terrible example to the state and to my three kids. I had to make changes before I hurt myself or someone else,” Peake said. “I can remember driving three or four miles and having no idea what I had just done because of texting.”
Kevin W. Bakewell, senior vice president of the AAA Auto Club South, tried to put that in context: Someone driving 70 mph, he travels 100 feet per second. While writing just a three-second text message, a driver can go the length of a football field without looking at the road.
“And that is scary,” Bakewell said, adding that the ban on texting is AAA’s top legislative priority. “There is no instance where taking your hands off the wheel, where taking your mind and eyes off the road, is safe. The sooner this becomes a law, the better.”
If either bill passes, Georgia would join 19 other states -- including North Carolina and Tennessee -- in banning texting while driving.
Over on the Senate side, Bill Heath (R-Bremen) has introduced a bill, SB 306, that would allow drivers to freely use Bluetooth-type devices.
Heath said that across the state, some drivers have been ticketed for using Bluetooth devices by officers who were following an old code that banned the practice except for motorcycle riders.
UNCF—the United Negro College Fund—today announced that the nation’s largest minority scholarship program, the Gates Millennium Scholars Program(GMS), has awarded good-through-graduation college scholarships to this year’s cohort of 1,000 students. The Class of 2010 Gates Millennium Scholars represents 45 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories: American Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The scholarships can be used to pursue degrees in any undergraduate major at the college or university of the recipients’ choice. For the full press release and a list of the 1,000 Scholars alphabetically by last name, by home state or by the high school's city and state, please click here and select news.
Students are eligible to be considered for a GMS scholarship if they:
• Are African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian and Pacific Islander American, or Hispanic American • Are a citizen/legal permanent resident or nationals of the United States • Have attained a cumulative GPA of 3.3 on an unweighted 4.0 scale or have earned a GED • Will enroll for the first time at a U.S. located, accredited* college or university (with the exception of students concurrently pursuing a high school diploma) in the fall of 2011 as a full-time, degree-seeking, first-year student. First-time college enrollees can also be GED recipients. • Have demonstrated leadership abilities through participation in community service, extracurricular or other activities • Meet the Federal Pell Grant* eligibility criteria; and • Have all three forms (Nominee Personal Information Form completed by the student, Nominator Form completed by an educator familiar with the student’s academic record and a Recommender Form completed by a person familiar with the student’s leadership and community service) submitted by the deadline.
Gates Millennium Scholars Program
The Gates Millennium Scholars Program (GMS), established in 1999, was initially funded by a $1 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The goal of GMS is to promote academic excellence and to provide an opportunity for outstanding minority students with significant financial need to reach their highest potential by:
Reducing financial barriers for African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian Pacific Islander American and Hispanic American students with high academic and leadership promise who have significant financial need;
Increasing the representation of these target groups in the disciplines of computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health and the sciences, where these groups are severely underrepresented;
Developing a diversified cadre of future leaders for America by facilitating successful completion of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees; and
Providing seamless support from undergraduate through doctoral programs, for students selected as Gates Millennium Scholars entering target disciplines.
The GMS Scholarship Award Provides:
Support for the cost of education by covering unmet need and self-help;
Renewable awards for Gates Millennium Scholars maintaining satisfactory academic progress;
Graduate school funding for continuing Gates Millennium Scholars in the areas of computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health or science;
Leadership development programs with distinctive personal, academic and professional growth opportunities.
Program Accomplishment:
Funded more than 13,000 Gates Millennium Scholars since the inception of the program
Obtained a 79.9% graduation rate in five years*
Supported Gates Millennium Scholars enrolled in more than 1,500 colleges and universities
Supported Gates Millennium Scholars representing 50 states and five outlying areas
Graduated over 5,000 Gates Millennium Scholars since the program's inception
Five year retention rate of 87.7%*
*Reflects cohorts 1 through 4
Administration:
UNCF—the United Negro College Fund—administers the Gates Millennium Scholars Program (GMS). To reach, coordinate and support the constituent groups, UNCF has partnered with the American Indian Graduate Center Scholars, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund to assist in implementing the program.
The GMS Advisory Council has six members: six members from higher education and one member representing the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Advisory Council members include:
Dr. Gilberto Cardenas, Assistant Provost, Institute of Latino Studies at University of Notre Dame
Dr. David Chang, former Chancellor, Polytechnic University
Youlonda Copeland-Morgan, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management, Financial Aid Service, Syracuse University
Dr. Shaun R. Harper, Assistant Professor, Higher Education Management, University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education
Carmen D. Lopez, Executive Director, College Horizons Inc.
Margaret Daniels Tyler, Senior Program Officer, Education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The GMS program is more than just a scholarship. The GMS program offers Gates Millennium Scholars with ACademic Empowerment (ACE) services to encourage academic excellence; mentoring services for academic and personal development; and an online resource center that provides internship, fellowship and scholarship information.
Stay tuned here for future Gates Millennium Scholars initiatives.
Memorial Day is a day in which we actively remember those military service members who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country. It is also a time to remember and reflect on our ancestors, relatives, and friends. There are numerous ways to celebrate the day. Most visit cemeteries in order to place flags and flowers on the graves of loved ones. But how did this tradition start?
Before President Barack Obama was able to get the Health Care Bill passed recently, a conservative senator stated that the issue of health care reform would be President Obama’s Waterloo: it would break him. The senator was referring to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 in which the French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, was defeated by a coalition of European nations. The Battle of Waterloo ended Bonaparte’s rule as emperor. After the battle, he was sent into exile and died six years later.
However, if it were not for Waterloo, we wouldn’t have a Memorial Day to celebrate. No, I’m not talking about the Battle of Waterloo. I’m talking about the city, Waterloo, New York.
In 1865, a man by the name of Henry C. Welles thought it a good idea to honor the Civil War veterans who had died. Up to that point, only the Civil War vets who were alive were honored. Welles told his friends and associate that he thought it would be a good idea to place flowers on the graves of the patriotic dead.
Nothing happened.
A year later, with the help of veteran’s and local citizenry support, Welles and a deeply patriotic General by the name of John B. Murray held three ceremonies in honor the war dead. Eventually, the town of Waterloo joined with other towns in holding the observance on May 30 of every year. Today, the holiday is held on the last Monday in May, but the town of Waterloo has been officially recognized as the town that started a local event that eventually evolved into a national holiday. So whether you only recognize the day as time off from work, or take time to honor those who have fought and died, it is important to understand the origin of this national holiday.
Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is the Mayor of Newark, New Jersey and a Democrat. Booker is a former Newark Councilman and community activist. Booker was elected Mayor in 2006, becoming the 36th mayor of Newark.
The son of African-American trailblazers (Cary and Carolyn Booker were among the first African-American executives at IBM), Booker was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in the predominantly white, affluent town of Harrington Park in Bergen County, New Jersey.[1] He is an alumnus of Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan where he was an All-American football player.[2] Following graduation, Booker traveled west to study at Stanford University and earned a B.A. in political science in 1991 as well as an M.A. in sociology the following year. He played varsityfootball — he made the All–Pacific Ten Academic team — and was elected to the council of (four) presidents. In addition, he ran The Bridge, a student-run crisis hotline and organized help for youth in East Palo Alto from Stanford students.[3] While at Stanford, Booker also became good friends with Rachel Maddow.
After Stanford, Booker won a Rhodes Scholarship and studied at The Queen's College, Oxford, where he was awarded an honors degree in modern history in 1994. While at Oxford he became friends with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and became President of the L'Chaim Society, the local chapter of Chabad, and brought together a diverse community there.
Booker obtained a J.D. in 1997 from Yale Law School where he started and operated free legal clinics for low-income residents of New Haven. He was also a Big Brother, and was active in the Black Law Students Association. Booker lived in Newark during his final year at Yale and following graduation served as Staff Attorney for the Urban Justice Center in New York and Program Coordinator of the Newark Youth Project.
From 1998 to 2006, he lived in Brick Towers, a troubled housing complex in Newark's Central Ward. Booker organized tenants to fight for improved conditions. In November 2006, as one of the last remaining tenants in Brick Towers, Booker left his apartment for the top unit in a three-story rental on Hawthorne Avenue in Newark's South Ward, an area described as "a drug-and gang-plagued neighborhood of boarded-up houses and empty lots."[4] Brick Towers has since been demolished and a new mixed-income development will be built there in 2010.[5]
In 1998, Booker won an upset victory, beating a four-term incumbent to get elected to the Newark Municipal Council, a council known for its corruption and hard-fought elections.
Once on the Council, Booker proved to be an unconventional public official. In 1999, he went on a 10-day hunger strike, living in a tent in front of one of Newark's public housing projects (Garden Spires), to protest open-air drug dealing and the associated violence. For five months in 2000 he lived in a contemporary motor home, parking on street corners where drug trafficking frequently occurred.[6]
He proposed a variety of Council initiatives that impacted housing, young people, law and order and the efficiency and transparency of City Hall, but was regularly rebuffed by a resistant Municipal Council and often outvoted 8–1. While on the Council, Booker became an outspoken advocate of education reform.
In 2002, rather than run for re-election as Councilman, Booker decided to run for Mayor of Newark. This pitted him against longtime mayor, Sharpe James. In this campaign and the next, James' supporters questioned Booker's suburban background, calling him a carpetbagger who was "not black enough" to understand the city.[7] Booker was defeated, 53 percent to 47 percent. Filmmaker Marshall Curry chronicles the campaign in his documentary Street Fight, which was nominated for the 2005Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
As expected, Cory Booker announced on February 11, 2006 that he would again run for mayor, an intention he had made clear after his loss in 2002.
On March 6, 2006, Deputy Mayor (and State Senator) Ronald Rice entered the race, adding "that Mayor James had encouraged him to run but noted that if the mayor decided to join the race, his candidacy could change."[9] On March 27, 2006, James announced that he would not seek a sixth term, preferring to focus on his seat in the New Jersey Senate.[10]
Rice ran a campaign attacking Booker for raising over $6 million for the race. Booker's campaign outspent Rice's 25 to 1. Booker tried to identify Rice as a "political crony" of former mayor Sharpe James, to whom Booker lost in 2002.[11][12]
On Election Day, May 9, 2006, Newark's nonpartisan election took place. This time Booker won with 72 percent of the vote, soundly defeating Rice. Booker's entire slate of City Council candidates, known as the "Booker Team," swept the Council elections, giving Booker firm leadership of the city's government.
Before taking office as mayor, Booker sued Sharpe James’ administration in order to terminate cut-rate land deals favoring two redevelopment agencies. Each organization had recently been created by the Municipal Council and listed Sharpe James as a member of its advisory board. The Municipal Council claimed that these low prices were necessary to promote development in Newark's blighted neighborhoods; however, Booker argued that the state’s “pay-to-play” laws had been violated and would furthermore cost the city more than $15 million in lost revenue if these land deals were approved at the next council meeting. Specifically, Booker referenced a case on Broad and South streets – a piece of land that would generate $87,000 under the proposed land deals yet was valued at $3.7 million under current market rates.[13] On June 20, 2006, Superior Court Judge Patricia Costello ruled in favor of Booker, stating that his attorneys had "made a persuasive argument that campaign contributors were given discounted land deals".[14]
In late June 2006, before Booker took office, New Jersey investigators foiled a plot, led by Bloods gang leaders inside four New Jersey state prisons, to assassinate Booker. The plot was led by New JerseyBloods gang leader Lester Alford, an inmate in East Jersey State Prison in Woodbridge Township, New Jersey. The plan called for prisoners in four New Jersey state prisons to riot and then for Bloods gang members on the outside to assassinate Booker simultaneously. The threats against Booker are believed to be in response to Booker's campaign promises to increase the number of police on the streets and take a harder line on crime.[15][16][17]
Booker campaigning for Barack Obama in Newark.
Booker assumed office as mayor of Newark on July 1, 2006, and is only the third person to govern the city since 1970.[18][19][20] After his first week in office, Booker announced a 100-day plan to implement reforms in Newark. Some of the proposed changes included: Adding police officers; ending background checks for many city jobs, an effort to help former offenders find employment in the city; refurbishing police stations; improving city services; and expanding summer youth programs.[21][22]
On October 16, 2006, Booker formally introduced his administration's first adopted Newark City Budget. The approved $697.1 million budget resulted in an 8.3% increase in the city's property tax, which is one of the largest property tax increases in the city's history. The budget also increased the number of city employees from 3,968 to 4,197.[23][24]These increases were cited as necessary to fix the structural financial deficit and secure a solid foundation for Newark’s future. Booker pledged to not increase taxes the following year, a promise he kept – the City of Newark has not raised taxes in over two years. His administration has also since reduced the size of government with a 2009 Budget proposal containing 3935 city employees. In addition, the City of Newark has for the last two consecutive years received the GFOA’s Distinguished Budget Presentation Award, reflective of the Booker Administration’s continued commitment to an honest, transparent budgeting process ending decades of neglect and setting a foundation to balance the city’s finances.[25][26]
One of the mayor's first priorities was to reduce the city's crime rate. Booker appointed Garry McCarthy, former Deputy Commissioner of Operations of the New York Police Department, as the director of the Newark Police Department.[27] Public safety in Newark has been overhauled under Director McCarthy’s lead. A new Central Narcotics Division was created as well as a Fugitive Apprehension Unit which has been responsible for the capture of 11 out of 12 Most Wanted Felons in Newark. In addition, major technological advances have been made to crime-fighting initiatives such as citywide camera and gunshot detection systems. Community-oriented and privately funded programs such as the Crime Stoppers and Gun Stoppers anonymous tip lines have made a important impact in crime prevention and apprehension of criminals in Newark. Crime reduction has been such a central concern to the Booker Administration that Booker, along with his security team, was known to personally patrol the streets of Newark until times as late as 4 a.m. early in his first term.[28]
Crime has dropped significantly in the City of Newark, which currently leads the nation in violent crime reduction. From 2006-2008, crime dropped by the following percentages: murders 36%, shooting incidents 41%, rapes 30%, and auto thefts 26%.[28] In 2008, Newark had its lowest murder rate since 1959.[28] Despite the success indicated by these statistics, as the global economic recession set in, robberies rose 27% in 2008 and another 10% through late June 2009.[28]As of July 26, 2009, murders are down 42% overall, rapes are down 41% overall and robberies are down 12% since 2008.[29]
The month of March in 2010 marked Newark’s first murder-free month in over 44 years. As of April 1, 2010, the murder rate in Newark was the second best since 1941 and crime rates for aggravated assaults, robberies, carjacking, and shootings were also down for the first quarter compared to 2009.[30]
In addition to lowering crime, Booker has both doubled the amount of affordable housing under development, and quadrupled the amount under predevelopment. Booker has slashed the city budget deficit from $180 million to $73 million.
Despite criticisms, Booker has also raised the salaries of many city workers.[28] Most recently, however, the Booker Administration and the City of Newark imposed one-day-a-month furloughs for all non-uniformed employees from July through December 2010, as well as two-percent pay cuts for managers and directors currently earning more than $100,000 a year. Citing the reason for the pay cuts, Booker noted, “In 2006, we took over a city in financial crisis. We have made significant steps to address our financial future and decided that we would not balance the budget on the backs of our residents.” Booker has reduced his own salary twice since taking office, voluntarily reducing his salary by 8% early in his first year as mayor. None of Booker’s senior managers have received pay increases since taking office.[31]
Mayor Booker’s leadership has attracted approximately $100 million in private philanthropy to the City of Newark and a variety of nonprofits and public/private partnerships have been created and used to better the lives of Newark residents. In April of 2008, the Newark Charter School Fund was established to provide grants in support of Newark’s charter schools to support a successful public school system in Newark.[32]The City of Newark also works with GreenSpaces, which has committed $40 million toward the largest park expansion initiative in over a century with a total of twenty one park construction and rehabilitation projects scheduled for completion in every ward by the end of 2010.[33]To support the Newark Police Department, the Newark Police Foundation was established in 2006 and provides funding and other services to the Police Department which has had a significant impact on the NPD’s ability to pay for necessary resources that would otherwise not be readily funded through the department’s budget.[34]
In an effort to make government more accessible, Booker's administration has held regular open office hours during which city residents can meet personally with the Mayor to discuss their concerns.[35]
Booker was honored in October 2009 by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence with the Sarah Brady Visionary Award for his work in reducing gun violence. [36]
Booker made news when on December 31, 2009, a constituent used Twitter to ask the mayor to send someone to her father's house to shovel his driveway because her father, who was 65 years old, was going to attempt to do it himself. Booker responded by tweeting; "I will do it myself where does he live?" Other people volunteered, including one person who offered his help on Twitter and 20 minutes later the mayor and some volunteers showed up and shoveled the man's driveway. [1]
Urban Prep Academy senior Keith Greer, along with his classmates, celebrates the news they will receive a free prom in Chicago because 100 percent of the graduating class was accepted into 4-year colleges or universities. (Tribune photo by Heather Charles / March 5, 2010)
The entire senior class at Chicago 's only public all-male, all-African-American high school has been accepted to four-year colleges. At last count, the 107 seniors had earned spots at 72 schools across the nation.
Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools chief Ron Huberman surprised students at an all-school assembly at Urban Prep Academy for Young Men in Englewood this morning to congratulate them. It's the first graduating class at Urban Prep since it opened its doors in 2006. Huberman applauded the seniors for making CPS shine.
"All of you in the senior class have shown that what matters is perseverance, what matters is focus, what matters is having a dream and following that dream," Huberman said. The school enforces a strict uniform of black blazers, khaki pants and red ties -- with one exception. After a student receives the news he was accepted into college, he swaps his red tie for a red and gold one at an assembly.
The last 13 students received their college ties today, to thunderous applause. Ask Rayvaughn Hines what college he was accepted to and he'll answer with a question. "Do you want me to name them all?"
For the 18-year-old from Back of the Yards, college was merely a concept--never a goal--growing up. Even within the last three years, he questioned if school, let alone college, was for him. Now, the senior is headed to the prestigious Morehouse College in Atlanta , Ga. next fall. Hines remembers the moment he put on his red and gold tie. "I wanted to take my time because I was just so proud of myself," he said. "I wanted everyone to see me put it on."
The achievement might not merit a mayoral visit at one of the city's elite, selective enrollment high schools. But Urban Prep, a charter school that enrolls using a lottery in one of the city's more troubled neighborhoods, faced difficult odds. Only 4 percent of this year's senior class read at grade level as freshmen, according to Tim King, the school's CEO.
"I never had a doubt that we would achieve this goal," King said. "Every single person we hired knew from the day one that this is what we do: We get our kids into college."
College is omnipresent at the school. Before the students begin their freshman year, they take a field trip to Northwestern University . Every student is assigned a college counselor the day he steps foot in the school.
The school offers an extended day--170,000 more minutes over four years compared to its counterparts across the city--and more than double the number of English credits usually needed to graduate.
Even the school's voicemail has a student declaring "I am college bound" before it asks callers to dial an extension.
Normally, it takes senior Jerry Hinds two buses and 45 minutes to get home from school. On Dec. 11, the day University of Illinois at Champaign- Urbana was to post his admission decisions online at 5 p.m., he asked a friend to drive him home.
He went into his bedroom, told his well-wishing mother this was something he had to do alone, closed the door and logged in.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" he remembers screaming. His mother, who didn't dare stray far, burst in and began crying.
That night he made more than 30 phone calls, at times shouting "I got in" on his cell phone and home phone at the same time.
"We're breaking barriers," he said. "And that feels great."
A few weeks ago, I was watching the “Hope for Haiti” telethon and it reminded me of the time I volunteered at the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) television station in Wichita, Kansas. One spring, I remember walking into the place that brings us shows like Mystery! American Playhouse, Masterpiece Theater and American Experience. I was expecting to see this grand operation, but what I saw was people just like me. There were people punching in on the clock and there were workers and managers tucked away in little cubicles and there were cameras. Lots of cameras. One lady, I forget her name, introduced herself to me as either the manager or the producer. I don’t remember which. I also don’t remember if there was a director there at the time, but I do remember there being a man who helped the volunteers who were interested in running a camera. That’s where I came in. This station, like most PBS stations, tries to provide diverse programming on a budget consisting mainly of private membership donations, grants and individual donations. So, they needed camera operators to volunteer to film the telethon. I volunteered to be cameramen. My job was to stand behind the camera during the on-air pledge drive. All I did was stand behind the camera with a donut in one hand while my other hand was on the “zoom in” button. I did this for two hours a night every night for about a week. It was the easiest job I ever had and it was a lot of fun. But, more than that, I felt like I was doing something fun and productive all at the same time.
Guess what? It’s that time again. Spring is the season to spring into action. The flowers will do it. Soon, they will spring into life and out of their wintry hiding places in the hard, cold ground. So will we. Some of us will get a little bounce in our step as winter turns to spring and we shed our coats and gloves for short-sleeve shirts and other spring attire. As the temperature climbs steadily upward, let’s take that as our cue to do something positive.
Let’s start by praying for the people of Hait and Chile. Estimates are that the Chilean earthquake released 1,000 times more energy than the one that struck Haiti and the Chilean earthquake has left over 700 people dead so far.
It’s easy to find the negative and it’s easy to complain about the state of the world after disasters such as Haiti and Chile. On the other hand, an old adage states that if you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem. The world’s not perfect. Nobody’s perfect, but by engaging ourselves we become more perfect. What are you waiting for?
