Week in Headlines

Texas Politics
Murky Land Deals Mark Governor Rick Perry's Past

War & Peace
Before WikiLeaks Arab Media Documented Civilian Deaths

Veterans Issues
VA Creates Registry for Soldiers Exposed to Chemicals in Iraq

Education
New Federal Rules Take Aim at College Textbook Costs

Economy
Economic Growth Slowed to 2.4% Rate in 2nd Quarter

Poverty
Teenagers are the Hidden Homeless

Crime & Justice
Prisoners Exposed to Extreme Heat During Summer

Environment
Gulf of Mexico Has Long Been a Sink of Pollution

Climate Change
Scientists Say Global Warming is Continuing

Science & Technology
Scientists Inch Towards Finding "God Particle"

Health Care
Medical Device Problems Hurt 70,000 Kids Annually

Human Rights
Slavery in Our Time

Immigration
Mentally Ill Adrift in U.S. Immigration System

Women’s Issues
Women Fight More Than Fire in the FDNY

GLBT Issues
Missouri Bans Discrimination on Sexual Orientation

Race & Racism
Study Finds Victim's Race Can Skew Death Sentences

From the Blogs
Burnt Orange Report:
In Texas Children Are Victims of Bad Public Policy

Mean Rachel:
The Devil's in the Details

FireDogLake:
Why Conservatives Hate Keynes

Why Justice is Not Color Blind

Recently there has been a national conversation about race and racism, but this conversation has been inadequate at best and detrimental at worst. The problem is that the conversation has not been about racism as a systemic and institutional problem, but the conversation has been about whether or not individual acts of prejudice constitute racism. This conversation then completely ignores the structural problems that create racial disparities, and therefore completely misses the point of what our national conversation about race should be about. Perhaps the most significant source of structural racism is the United States justice system, where justice is not always blind.

According to a recent study, a defendant accused of killing a white person in North Carolina is nearly three times as likely to get the death penalty than someone accused of killing a black person. This study looked at death sentence in North Carolina over a 28 year period, and examined 15,281 homicides in the state of which 368 resulted in death sentences. The results of the study where that the odds of receiving a death sentence in cases where the victim was white were 2.96 times as high as the odds in cases with black victims. This finding is not unique. According to another study, blacks who kill whites are significantly more likely to face the death penalty in Maryland than are blacks who kill blacks or white killers

Race is not only one of the determining factors in who receives the death penalty, but in who is stopped by the police, especially when police are racially profiling. In New York 575,304 people stopped and frisked by the New York Police Department last year, and information was gathered on individuals being detained to build a database on citizens who had not committed any crime. According to a report by New America Media, 87% of those who where detained where people of color. While Governor Paterson recently signed a law that made it illegal for police to randomly detain and frisk individuals and to compile their private information, this illustrates another example of the structural racism that exists in the justice system.



However, President Obama will soon sign a bill that was passed by Congress this week that will reform the mandatory federal sentences for crack and powder cocaine violations. Since 1986 someone convicted of possession of five grams of crack was required to be sentenced to at least five years in prison, and possession of 10 grams requires a 10-year minimum sentence, however those sentences are 100 times more server than someone convicted of possession of the same amounts of powder cocaine. The racial element comes into play when you consider that blacks are far more likely to be arrested for possession of crack than whites who are more likely to be arrested with cocaine. Even though crack and cocaine are essential the same drug, they where treated differently even though the only difference was the people who where likely to use them. According to an article in the New York Times, the law changes the amount of crack that would require a five-year minimum sentence is raised to 28 and for a 10-year sentence is raised to 280 grams.

While this new law reduces the racial disparities in the justice system, although many experts believe it does nor reduce it enough, the fact remains that structure racism still exist throughout several aspects of the justice system. From a Justice Department study that found that that blacks are far more likely than whites to have their cars and persons searched after a traffic stop, even though whites, when searched, are more than four times as likely to have drugs or other illegal contraband, to a report by Human Rights Watch that found that a majority of persons admitted to prison for drug offenses are black, even though there are about six times more white users nationwide.

For all of the rhetoric that the mainstream media likes to use about the idea of a “post-racial” the fact is that America is still deeply divided along racial lines. We are even divided along racial lines when it comes to the fundamental right to equal protection under the law. Before we talk about color blindness we should talk about the fact that our justice system is not even blind to color.

Local News: Texas A&M to Produce Renewable Aggie Energy

Aggie Brand Energy on the Way
By Matthew Watkins

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

If T-shirts, hats and 12th Man towels aren't enough for Texas A&M fans, they'll soon be able to show their school spirit on their power bills.

No, it's not an Aggie joke. The university announced this week that it's joined a partnership with Champion Energy Services and Branded Retail Energy to promote Aggie Energy, electricity for A&M fans.

Specific details of the deal haven't been announced, but it's expected to bring in millions of dollars for A&M, said Shane Hinckley, assistant vice president for business development.

"The athletic department will be the recipient of some of the revenue generated, but the university will also receive money for scholarships, Bonfire Memorial maintenance and Corps of Cadets scholarships," Hinckley said.

Bryan and College Station residents won't have full access to the product because they live in regulated energy markets. But people in deregulated areas, like most of West Texas, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston will be able to purchase the 100 percent renewable energy.

Still, Hinckley said, Aggie fans in the Bryan-College Station area will likely be able to enroll in a limited program in the future.

Rates have not been announced, but officials said they will be comparable with other renewable energy prices. Buyers may also receive access to free or discounted tickets to A&M athletic events, Aggie merchandise or other benefits that aren't available to the general public. The product will officially launch Sept. 3.

"Aggie Energy is a unique opportunity for loyal alumni and fans to support the university and its athletics program with something they need and use every day," said Scott Fordham, president and CEO of Champion Energy.

The company also announced a similar deal with the University of Texas. Both schools have participated in unconventional marketing ideas, including burnt orange and maroon shuttles at airport parking lots. The Longhorns have also recently announced H2Orange, a purified water for sale in a bottle shaped like the University of Texas at Austin Tower.

Published on Thursday, July 29, 2010

Tonight on Biased Transmission

Tonight on Biased Transmission our guests will be Dr. George Vaults and Shirley Chambers, and we will be discussing the E.A. Kemp High School Reunion that will be taking place the first weekend in August. This reunion includes all classes since the opening of Kemp in 1931. Topics of conversation will include education for African Americans in Bryan, the desegregation of the schools, and the personal experiences of the students who will be attending this reunion.

Listen to Biased Transmission every Wednesday on 89.1FM KEOS College Station-Bryan from 6-7pm, to hear Teddy Wilson, Michael Alvard, Danny Yeager, and Ann Preston. If you have a question or comment you can call the KEOS Bell Studios: 979-779-5367 during the show.

Biased Transmission on Facebook

Biased Transmission on Livestream

Biased Transmission Online Archive of Shows

Local News: Bryan City Council Prepares Five Year Plan

Bryan Working on 5-year Plan
By Cassie Smith

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

The Bryan council set the city's five-year projects plan on Tuesday and agreed to look into improving the traffic flow around businesses near Briarcrest Drive.

Councilman Mike Southerland asked for the review of the area around Walmart, Wells Fargo and Lowe's, saying the recent expansion of Walmart in College Station and a new Lowe's there requires Bryan officials to invest in the area to protect its sales tax revenue.

City Manager David Watkins said the city would have to coordinate with the Texas Department of Transportation to discuss the options for connecting Freedom Boulevard to Earl Rudder Freeway.

The city's five-year projects plan allows staff members to proceed with identified improvements in the 2011 fiscal year and forecast needs for future years.

City staff members said the bidding market continues to be highly competitive and bond rates continue to be low, making investments in public infrastructure a wise decision.

Resident Michael Hartmann asked council members to look into making the city more handicap-friendly.

He said there are too many restaurants that don't have Braille or large-print menus available for the blind.

"If we're to grow, as far as the city goes, we need to kind of step up to the plate and address these issues," he said.

Councilman Paul Madison requested a workshop item for a future council meeting to look at where the city is and where it may need to go regarding the issue.

Also at the meeting, the council:

* Approved funding more than $58,700 to Texas A&M University's Easterwood Airport.

Funding for the airport was approved by the council in February, but that contract was not the one approved by the university, Watkins said, adding the changes were minor.

Southerland raised concerns that the council was approving an agreement that went into effect in October.

Chief Financial Officer Charles Cryan said the airport had not been paid yet, and the discrepancies between the city's version and the university's version of the contract had to be resolved.

* Approved an agreement with Oney Hervey Properties LLC for a residential development along South College Avenue.

City officials said the agreement provides an incentive for the redevelopment of distressed properties.

Lindsey Guindi, assistant director of development services, said the agreement includes an annual reimbursement of property tax collected on the increased value of the properties and improvements. She said that the reimbursements require a minimum property value increase of $1 million and that the term of the agreement is seven years or a cumulative sum of $80,000 in reimbursements, whichever occurs first. The reimbursements, however, won't be made until the property values increase, she said.

Mayor Pro Tem Ann Horton said she was hopeful the agreement would encourage other developers to move toward similar revitalization projects in the city, but she expressed a desire to formalize a plan for future incentive packages.

"I would really like to see us have a policy and know how we're going to do this in the future," Mayor Pro Tem Ann Horton said.

* Delayed a decision to adopt an investment policy for the city with the Public Funds Investment Act.

Southerland made a motion to send the item to the city auditor for review before adopting it.

"I just think this is a very, very important policy," he said.

Cryan said the policy -- which is similar to what's currently in place -- allows the city to invest public funds to ensure the preservation of capital, meet daily cash flow demands, conform to all applicable statutes and local policies governing the investment of public funds and provide reasonable investment returns.

* Adopted a resolution relating to the use of public funds for economic development.

City officials said it is in the best interest of the city to create a policy outlining various costs directly related to the construction of public infrastructure and other development costs. This will provide future developers and city staff a guideline for what categories of costs the council may approve for reimbursement, though it will not guarantee that any particular project will be accepted.

Published on Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Texas Size Failure: Children in Texas Among the Nation’s Most Disadvantaged

According to a new report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Texas ranks 34th nationally in a state-by-state study on the well-being of America’s children. There are also significant areas in which Texas is among the worst in the nation, and these ranks represent a failure in many of the public policies instituted over the last two decades.

Texas is among the very worst in preventing teenage pregnancies. The teen birth rate in Texas in 2007 was 64 births per 1,000 females ages 15-19, which is considerably higher than the national rate of 43 births per 1,000. Texas ranked 48th in the nation in teenage pregnancies, and only New Mexico and Mississippi ranked higher. This follows a nationwide trend of increased teenage pregnancies. According to a report by the Guttmacher Institute, after a decade of declining teenage pregnancies the nationally teen pregnancy rate rose 3% in 2006, which reflected an increase in teen birth of 4%. The report notes that the cause of the decline in teenage pregnancies in the 1990s was due to more and better use of contraceptives among sexually active teens. However, during the 2000s sex education programs aimed exclusively at promoting abstinence, and these programs have lead to increasing teen pregnancy rates especially in states such as Texas.

After radically socially conservative Republicans gained control of the Texas State Board of Education, they began to push education “reforms” which included abstinence only education. According to a report by the Texas Freedom Network, most Texas students (94%) receive no instruction about human sexuality apart from the promotion of sexual abstinence. Also, sexuality education materials used in Texas schools regularly contain factual errors and perpetuate lies and distortions about condoms and STDs. These types of programs do not prevent teenage pregnancy, and they do not prevent teenagers from being sexually active. However, they do prevent teenagers from using contraceptives when they do become sexually active. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics’ teen pregnancy policy, affirmed that the evidence does not support abstinence only education as the most effective method to keep young people from having unintended pregnancies.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation also found that child poverty in Texas is well above the national average, and ranks 43rd in the nation in child poverty. In Texas 23% of the children live in poverty compared to 18% of children nationally living in poverty. Since 2000 the number of children living in poverty in Texas increased by more than 240,000, leaving a total 1.5 million Texas children living in poverty. This is significant because poverty leads to so many other ways in which we fail our children. Texas ranks last in child food insecurity; 1.6 million do not have consistent access to food. Also, low birth weight children born in Texas have increased by 17 percent since 2000, infant mortality has increased by 11 percent since 2000, and the number of children with special health or medical needs has jumped by 42% since 2001. These statistics are compounded when you consider that over the last ten years Texas has highest rate of uninsured children in the nation. Poor economic and health conditions lead to children attending school less, scoring lower on test, and being more likely to drop out.

While the Texas legislature focusing on a $18 billion budget shortfall that was created due to the lawmakers not address the shortfall during the last legislative session, and Texas Republicans focus on wedge issues such as immigration it is unlikely that policy changes will be made to address these problems. These problems are also disproportionately affecting children of working class families and children of people of color. The people that will lose are the people with the least amount of voice: children. If changes are not made then we are ensuring that the next generation of Texans grows up at a significant economic disadvantage to the rest of the nation and the rest of the world.

Local News: Texas A&M Professors Favor Keeping Staff Over Pay Raises

Faculty Pick Staff, Profs Over Pay Raise
By Maggie Kiely

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

Given the choice between giving up a pay hike or saying goodbye to a colleague, an overwhelming majority of Texas A&M professors and teachers participating in a faculty survey picked foregoing the extra money.

About 47 percent of faculty members, or 1,274, responded to a survey that Executive Committee members of the Faculty Senate created to gauge the opinions of faculty members when it comes to reallocating money for merit purposes.

University administrators are proposing to reallocate $21 million over a two-year period starting in September 2011 to build a merit raise pool. That doesn't include the proposed $39 million in state reductions President R. Bowen Loftin has recommended after hearing from college deans and unit leaders about where the possible reductions could be made. State leaders have asked public universities to prepare for 10 percent cuts, saying that's the worst-case scenario.

The three-page survey, released Monday, had five questions, including one asking which college the faculty member belonged to. The largest responses came from Liberal Arts and Science, with 200 each. Agriculture had 195 responses, the College of Engineering reported 177 and business had 123.

Eighty-one percent of the survey's respondents, or 986 faculty members, disagreed with the administration's proposal to make more budget cuts beyond those required by the state. That means the vast majority are against A&M administration trying to reallocate the funds to support strategic initiatives that have yet to be outlined by A&M leaders.

Just over 1,000 faculty who responded favored giving raises up for one year to retain instructors and staff up for termination, according to the results.

"What I got from the results is that faculty members are very concerned that some of their colleagues are going to lose their jobs," said Faculty Senate Speaker Bob Strawser. "That's why they're willing to forego their raises."

Loftin has said merit raises are needed to retain high quality faculty.

But Bob Bednarz, former speaker of the Faculty Senate, said the idea that faculty would leave solely based on financial reasons isn't reflected in survey results.

"The faculty went without a raise last year, and I think to some extent people have a perception of the faculty as this elite, pampered group," he said. "But most of them really are committed to doing the best job the can and having Texas A&M prosper."

The fact that almost 65 percent, or 788, of participating faculty indicated they'd be willing to do without merit raises for two years emphasizes how far professors will go to ensure positions are kept, Bednarz said.

Almost 925 faculty members said they'd support giving the merit raise money available to the lowest-paid employees to offset the $60 to $70 monthly increase in health premiums, according to the survey.

A&M faculty weighs in

* 82 percent of 1,274 that responded would rather forego a merit raise for a year than allow their peers and staff members to be let go under proposed budget cuts.

* 64 percent said they'd be willing to do so for two years.

* 80 percent said they don't support the administration's proposal to make additional budget reductions beyond those required by the state to create funds for reallocation to support strategic initiatives.

* 75 percent said they'd support making merit raises available to the lowest-paid employees to offset the $60-70 monthly increase in health insurance premiums.

Published on Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Texas Progressive Alliance Roundup - July 26, 2010

The Texas Progressive Alliance wishes Lois the corpse flower a restful and well-earned dormant period as it brings you this week's blog highlights.

WhosPlayin posted a document explaining the link between benzene and natural gas drilling and production operations, and examining a few recent air quality studies in the Barnett Shale.

The Texas State Board of Education helps their cronies out and undermines public education with one swift move to support Charter Schools with our money. CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme sees hedge fund operators racking up the $$$.

Off the Kuff took a look at campaign finance reports for Harris County candidates and State Reps. Along the way, he answered the burning question "What kind of man subscribes to Glamour magazine?"

This week, Hank Gilbert continued to dominate Todd Sleazy Staples. See the latest at McBlogger.

Eagle Ford Shale residents already have water impacts from fracking and now eminent domain is headed your way. TXsharon is trying to warn Eagle Ford Shale residents to learn from mistakes made in the Barnett Shale on Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Over at TexasKaos, lightseeker brings together evidence on Rick Perry's governing sytle in Rick Perry - Death before Bad Image ! Do the Dirt With Bureaucracy! [Updated] .

Neil at Texas Liberal spent the week on vacation in Seattle. While in Seattle, Neil took a boat cruise that went through the Ballard Locks on the Lake Washington Ship Canal. These free government built and operated locks are used by all types of commercial and pleasure craft. As they use this free government service, I'm doubtful that any boat owners go on about socialism or insist on paying what a private business would charge to use the locks.

The right wing unleashed a frenzy of race-baiting last week, from the continuing assault on Ill Eagles to the New Black Panther Party contrivance to the Andrew Bretbart/Shirley Sherrod dust-up. They struck gold with the last one, but all parties involved -- from the White House to the NAACP to FOX News -- ended the week with egg on their faces. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs summarized the sordid affair.

On July 21st Three Wise Men celebrated six years on the intertubes. Here's Xanthippas with a retrospective, and some thoughts in general about why we do what we do.

Local News: Baylor Leading Study on Effects of Deployments on Military Families

Baylor professors leading study on effects of deployment on military families
By Regina Dennis (Tribune-Herald staff writer)

From the Waco Tribune-Herald

A team of Baylor University professors is spearheading a research project to study the impacts of deployment on a soldier’s family.

The team is conducting focus groups this week in Waco and Killeen to gather stories from veterans and their family members to learn how each deals with the stress of deployment and separation.

Dr. Jim Ellor, Baylor social work professor and leader of the research effort, became interested in doing a military study after a project on post-traumatic stress disorder in conjunction with the Center for Excellence at the Waco Veterans Affairs hospital.

“I was fascinated to see if there was a way we could bring families into (the VA’s PTSD study),” Ellor said. “When you start taking a look at post-traumatic stress or any kind of military stress, whether it reaches the diagnostic level of PTSD, there are all kinds of emotional issues, and you can’t just think about the soldier . . . You’ve got to think about their families.”

A number of graduate students in the school of social work had spouses who were deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, Ellor said.

The research project team includes five Baylor professors from the social work, psychology and family and consumer science schools, as well as Lt. Col. Sharon Reese of Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood.

A social worker from the VA will also assist in compiling the data from the focus groups.

About a dozen people participated in focus groups the team conducted three weeks ago in Killeen. At least six people have committed to focus groups this week in Waco and Killeen.

Ellor said the goal is to gather information from at least 50 participants.

“If you get one or two people, then you get one or two people’s stories,” Ellor said. “If you get half a dozen or a dozen people telling their stories, there’s a synergy to them that really helps you to find trends and really hear voices.”

The study will also look at how parents cope with having a child deployed to a combat zone, as well as parents’ influence on how the child handles stressful events.

Ellor also has a personal interest in the research findings. His daughter’s fiance will soon enter the U.S. Air Force.

“I have to wear those shoes myself now and ask the question ‘How’s that going to impact me when he gets deployed?’ ” Ellor said, adding that the couple recently became engaged.

In each focus group, participants will be divided into three groups, one each for veterans, spouses and parents. The researchers have six main questions to spark conversation.

“It’s interesting to kind of hear the different perceptions,” Ellor said of splitting participants into different groups. “The perception of the soldier often moves to ‘My wife held up better than I thought she might,’ and you might listen to the wife and she’ll say, ‘Boy, was that hard.’ ”

The research team will produce a transcript of the conversations, removing any information that identifies the participants. The team will then analyze the information, looking for similar themes and issues, and write a report on its findings.

The next stage will likely involve developing techniques to help shield family members and soldiers from the stressful effects of deployment.

“The outcome would be, one, how do you help people cope with the deployment experience,” Ellor said. “But the ‘pie in the sky’ — what we really hope we might be able to do — is find ways that if you use them in training, you might be able to prevent some of the stress of deployment.”

Published on Sunday, July 25, 2010

Week in Headlines

War and Peace
Mogadishu Fighting Kills 52 Civilians in a Week

Veterans Issues
We Live With Ghosts and Demons

Economy
President Obama Signs Six-Month Extension of Unemployment Benefits

Education
Texas Schools Score Well in Language But Poor in Math

Environment
China Tops U.S. in Energy Use

Health Care
New Gel Cuts Risk of HIV Infection

Immigration
Border Crossings Prompting Rescues

Human Rights
Kyrgyz Security Forces Committing Human Rights Violations

Reproductive Rights
What It's Like to Have an Abortion in Texas

Women’s Issues
Obama Administration Announces New Programs and Action for Equal Pay

GLBT Issues
Binational LGBT Couples Separated by Immigration Laws

From the Blogs
Anarcha-Feminism:
Nonviolent Anarchy

Blue Bloggin:
Answer That Question Republicans!

Mean Rachel:
Como se dice "hypocrites?"

Empathy Deficit: The Republicans Obstruct Relief to Struggling Americans

This week the Congress passed a $34 billion dollar extension of benefits to Americans who have been out of work for more than 26 weeks, and these benefits where passed along party lines with the Republicans in the Senate blocking the benefits for weeks. Congressional Republicans argued that the benefits should not be passed unless a corresponding amount of budget cuts could be made, however, another argument that Republicans have offered is that unemployment benefits themselves are a disincentive to find work. At a time when long term unemployment is high than at any time since the Great Depression, and there are five workers applying for every one job these arguments seem ludicrous. The unemployment benefits will help 2 million struggling Americans, and the extension of benefits will last through November.

The idea that unemployment benefits will unacceptably add to the deficit is a relatively weak argument, considering that the fall in consumer demand if unemployment benefits are not extending in the long run will add more to the deficit in lack of tax revenue. Also, it seems a bit disingenuous for Republicans to lecture anyone on deficits or government spending. According to analysis by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, significant causes of our current deficits where due to the 2001 and 2003 Bush Administration tax cuts (which by the way Republicans are still arguing doing not need to be paid for with corresponding cuts in the budget). The other idea that unemployment benefits are a disincentive for people to find employment is another weak argument when you consider that there are not enough jobs for American workers. What these arguments are about is plain and simply politics.

While Republicans constantly talking about supporting small business they have been doing little to actually support small business. According to a report by the New York Times, Congressional Republicans have blocked a bill aimed to support small business by providing for government lending programs and grant several tax breaks to small businesses. Part of the legislation is a proposed $30 billion lending program that would make credit available to small businesses through local banks which Republicans have characterized as a “mini-bailout.” According to the New York Times the legislation also includes $12 billion in tax breaks for small businesses, including provisions that would allow quicker tax write-downs of capital expenditures and a break on capital gains taxes.

Republicans are also blocking legislation to fund National Housing Trust Fund which was established to fund construction of affordable rental homes for low-income people. According to a report by The Hill, Senate Republicans have once again been blocking the legislation that would cost $1.065 billion due to their concerns about the deficit. Because of the delay in the funding construction of over 10,000 rental homes have been which adds to an estimated shortfall of 3 million low-income units. At a time when the number of homeless families has increased by an estimated 30 percent since 2007, Republicans continue to obstruct relief to struggling American families in the Great Recession.

While denying aid to struggling Americans, prominently Republicans have been calling for an extension of the Bush era tax cuts that benefited the wealthiest of Americans and have contributed to the greatest inequity of wealth in America since before the Great Depression. Congressional Budget Office analysis shows that extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would do little to stimulate the economy because tax cuts for high-income are low in effectiveness because higher-income households are more likely to save rather than spend a larger fraction of their increase in after-tax income. Also, as Republicans argue for reducing the deficit the CBO analysis finds that extending the Bush era tax cuts would cause the deficits and debt to be $826 billion higher over the next ten years than if they are allowed to expire. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities also reported that “exempting small business income from the scheduled increase in the top tax rates would do little for the economy in the short term; only the top 3 percent of people with any business income would benefit. Over the long term, such an exemption would likely harm the economy and the budget by encouraging tax avoidance and reducing revenues.”

The last obstructions by Congressional Republicans are not about the economy or about the federal budget, but purely about politics. The Republican Party for too long has used wedge issues to distract working class and middle class Americans to vote against their better economic interests, and the Republicans are laying the ground work to do the same this November. While this strategy has lead to electoral success, and will likely lead to electoral success again during the midterm elections, the Republicans are lacking something which will prevent them from gaining a serious advantage during the upcoming election. Ideas. The Republican Party is campaigning on a platform of no ideas, because if the American people are exposed to their ideas they may recognize they are the ideas that lead to the Great Recession in the first place.

Local News: Brazos Valley Community Needs Identified

United Way Spelling Out Community Needs
By Maggie Kiely

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

The perception by some that United Way may be an organization that only raises money and writes checks is soon to be a descriptor from the past, community leaders predicted.

Officials with United Way of the Brazos Valley -- an organization that joins with local agencies to provide resources to residents so that their quality of life is improved -- hosted a Wednesday forum that they hope will bring the area's best resources together in ways that will continue to change lives.

"We've spent the last 40 years talking," said Hank Roraback, president and CEO of the organization. "We're through talking."

About 100 people from across Brazos Valley met in College Station to tackle a complicated task: Assessing the community's needs.

Community members from an array of professions -- teachers, bankers, elected officials, small and large business owners, special services providers and more -- came together to brainstorm, discuss and prioritize ways in which they believe United Way could better assist the community.

"I've got an amazing staff, but it's not our United Way, it belongs to the community," Roraback. "If we don't check the pulse of the community every once in a while, we're not doing our jobs."

The last time a similar joint meeting happened locally was in 2003, officials said.

At that time, three key focus areas were identified in the community: Health, education and financial stability. The same focus areas were used for Wednesday's assessment meeting.

To give everyone an idea of where Brazos Valley is struggling, officials detailed the research behind the problems, including the educational levels of residents, poverty statistics, health needs and the number of residents uninsured.

The data was collected for nine months through household surveys, community leader interviews, 2-1-1 calls asking about unmet needs and 2007-08 estimated census data.

After receiving the information, participants split up into small groups that focused on education, health or finances, and then talked about what was lacking or could be improved under the respective categories.

The education discussion group made a few things clear when it comes to improving childhood and adult learning.

For one, they said, there needs to be more accessible and affordable after-school care for younger kids. Taking the Boys and Girls Club to surrounding counties was stipulated as a goal.

Providing more opportunities and resources for adults seeking their GEDs was another recommendation, and finding ways to help non-English-speaking parents learn the language also was emphasized.

The financial stability break-out group suggested more financial education should be offered, such as training how to balance a check book or learning how to properly budget and cut costs. More awareness needs to be brought to the public about resources available, especially in rural areas, group members reported.

Creating more opportunities for affordable housing has been and should continue to be a priority, according to the group.

When it came to health, participants in that group said a variety of issues need to be addressed, including obesity, dental, prenatal care, mental health, passenger safety, fire education and substance abuse. There's no detox facility in the area, they said.

Roraback said after hearing from participants, it's apparent United Way already is headed in the right direction.

"I don't think we heard anything that says you're massively off-track," he said, adding that United Way will take the recommendations to its board and build the suggestions into a three- to five-year strategic plan that will be ready in August.

"It will include all aspects of where we want to be when we grow up," Roraback said.

While officials acknowledged that some of the assessment data collected was dismal, the agency's president ended the meeting on a positive note.

Through the 27 agencies that the local United Way funds, the following is made possible:

* 25 percent of babies born in Brazos Valley get care at The Prenatal Care

* 4,213 residents get health care

* 5,745 people receive drug-abuse treatment and counseling

* 2,742 kids have a safe place to go after school

* 6,697 residents get mental health care

* 455 children have healthy meals

* 134,000 annually are touched in some way by agency programs

United Way community assessment

Education

* Of the 3,062 household surveys submitted, 6 percent reported they never completed the 9th grade.

* In Grimes, Leon, Madison and Robertson counties, more than 25 percent of adults don't have a high school education.

Financial Stability

* With the exception of Burleson County, all Brazos Valley counties have a median household income lower than the state average of $49,078.

* The poverty level in Brazos Valley is higher than the national average of 13 percent.

* More than 50 percent of Valley students qualify for free and reduced lunch program.

Health

* 96,082 residents in Brazos Valley are uninsured.

* At least 1/3 of pregnant mothers in the area do not receive prenatal care in the first trimester.

* Brazos Valley obesity rates are similar to the Texas rate of 29 percent.

Published on Thursday, July 22, 2010

Tonight on Biased Transmission

Tonight on Biased Transmission out guest will be Texas A&M University Faculty Senate Speaker-Elect Michael Benedik. We'll discuss his research some but mostly focus on the proposed Texas A&M budget cuts and what faculty actually do at Texas A&M. This week is also the KEOS 2010 Summer Fund Drive, and we will be asking for your financial support!

Listen to Biased Transmission every Wednesday on 89.1FM KEOS College Station-Bryan from 6-7pm, to hear Teddy Wilson, Michael Alvard, Danny Yeager, and Ann Preston. If you have a question or comment you can post it here, or call the KEOS Bell Studios: 979-779-5367.

Biased Transmission on Facebook

Biased Transmission on LiveStream

Biased Transmission Online Archive of Shows

Local News: Texas A&M to Eliminate Hundreds of Faculty and Staff

A&M Plans for Hundreds of Reductions
By Vimal Patel

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

The equivalent of 210 faculty and staff positions could be eliminated from Texas A&M, along with 275 additional spots that are vacant and represent those who are retiring, documents released Tuesday show.

The preliminary plans, submitted by the deans of the colleges and heads of units, paint the first comprehensive picture of what a “worst-case scenario” of a budget reduction could look like for the 49,000-student university. They were released following an open-records request filed by The Eagle on Friday.

“We are a people-focused business — there’s no other way to get around that,” said Texas A&M President R. Bowen Loftin in an interview Tuesday morning. “In particular, the state funding that we receive goes almost entirely to pay people’s wages and salaries. So if that money's reduced, there’s not much else you can do but reduce people.”

The plan reflects a 10 percent state reduction — $39 million at Texas A&M University for the year starting September 2011. A&M leaders also want to reallocate $21 million to fund merit pay and strategic spending, making the total reduction commitment $60 million from the colleges and units.

The final state reduction amount won’t be known until next summer, and depends on the state’s fiscal health. Estimates place the shortfall for the next biennium in the range of $11 billion to $17 billion.

Loftin and Interim Provost Karan Watson stressed during an interview that the plans are far from final and could change. A series of discussions are taking place. A committee with representation of faculty, staff, deans, students and administrators was meeting Tuesday to comb through the initial plans.

Discussions with targeted groups will unfold over the next two weeks, and after that, with the broader university community in town-hall-like meetings until September.

Squeezing the Belt

The planned reduction amounts to 93 filled faculty and 118 staff. The vacant and retiring positions slated for elimination include roughly though not exactly 100 faculty and 175 staff.

The Mays Business School, charged with planning a $3.4 million reduction in fiscal year 2012, has slated a loss of 26.5 full-time equivalent faculty positions, including nearly 23 currently filled, the documents show. That would correspond to a loss of roughly 200 course sections, officials wrote.

Through the elimination of nearly 12 FTE non-tenure track faculty and 12.5 staff positions, along with faculty retirements, departures and reassignments, the College of Engineering has planned to make a $2.8 million dent in its $5.5 million reduction goal.

In the College of Liberal Arts, which has the most students, the equivalent of 16 faculty positions would be eliminated to save nearly $1.37 million. The college, which has been charged with $4.7 million in reductions, has also slated 10 vacant faculty positions to be eliminated.

The College of Science has planned to cut 21 lecturers, roughly a third of the college’s force, along with about 60 graduate assistant positions. The pair of moves would save about $2.2 million of the college’s nearly $5 million reduction amount, but with a severe impact on teaching and research, officials say.

“Unfortunately, we have no other place to cut any further,” a summary states.

Lowest Paid, Hardest Hit

Cutting tenured and tenure-track faculty is more difficult and would hurt the university's academic reputation, so the reduction would naturally fall most heavily on non-tenured instructors, which include lecturers, teaching assistants and adjunct and visiting faculty.

“My biggest problem is so much of my budget is tied up in tenured and tenure-track faculty,” said Joseph Newton, dean of the College of Science.

The college’s five departments — biology, chemistry, math, physics/astronomy and statistics — each have budgets of between roughly 50 and 75 percent tied up in the salaries of tenured and tenure-track faculty, Newton said.

In fact, all 93 filled faculty positions slated for reduction are non-tenure track. The 92 tenured or tenure track positions that are slated for elimination are either vacant or represent retirements.

This could have a disproportionate impact on class sizes, since non-tenure track faculty’s efforts are more often solely dedicated to teaching than their tenured counterparts, who often conduct research.

Economy to Play Role

Legislators such as Rep. Fred Brown, a Bryan Republican, said the cut is expected to be less than state entities have been asked to plan for because of signs of economic recovery.

Watson told the Faculty Senate last week that officials expect it to be about half the size, but that it’s only prudent to plan for the worst.

However, Loftin said, if the reduction amount of $39 million from the state turns out to be less, the money will not go back to the units and colleges, but remain centrally to be spent on strategic priorities.

“Our goal is to identify ways to reinvest funding across the university,” Loftin said. “If we don’t have to take a reduction of $39 million from the state, we’re going to have additional funds to put against our highest priorities.”

Several, including top leaders such as Loftin and academic leaders, such as Jorge Vanegas, dean of the College of Architecture, have said this could be a time of opportunity.

“You cannot sugarcoat this,” said Vanegas, whose college has planned for $1.37 million in reductions, earlier this month. “But you can’t overinflate it, either. Yes, it’s going to hurt, but the way I look at this, it’s a chance to reinvent ourselves.”

Published on Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Cost of Arizona Anti-Immigration Law in Money and Hate

The debate over immigration has been pushed into the national conversation since the Arizona state legislature passed Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, otherwise known as SB1070. Since Arizona Governor, Republican Jan Brewer, signed SB1070 into law there have been seven separate lawsuits filed against the law, including a lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice. In federal court last week Judge Susan Bolton heard arguments from both sides of Salgado v. Brewer, and this week Judge Bolton will hear arguments in the case brought by the Justice Department. These lawsuits argue that the law is unconstitutional on different grounds including that it violates civil liberty, that it causes racial profiling and that it is an unlawful regulation of federal immigration law.

This law has come at a significant price to Arizona. While the state is facing a budget deficit of more than $4.5 billion dollars, the law is going to cost the state millions of dollars. In addition to the $10 million in initial cost of implementing the law, county and municipal law enforcement agencies will be forced to spend millions of dollars enforcing the law. According to the Immigration Policy Center law-enforcement agencies in Yuma County alone will have to spend between $775,880 and $1,163,820 in processing expenses; jail costs would be between $21,195,600 and $96,086,720; attorney and staff fees would be $810,067-$1,620,134; and additional detention facilities would have to be built at unknown costs. Arizona will also be affected by Latino and immigrant populations that may migrate to states with less hostile environments towards these populations. According to a 2008 study by the Udall Center for Studies in Public Policy at the University of Arizona, the Latino and immigrant generated $10.2 billion in state economic output, and generated tax revenues of roughly $776 million.

While the arguments in the courts begin, Governor Brewer began soliciting donations for the legal cost of defending the law in court. To date the legal defense fund Keep Arizona Safe has collected approximately $1.2 million in donations from over 24,000 individuals from almost every state. However, the legal defense fund has attracted controversial supporters. The Southern Poverty Law Center reported that the white supremacist political party American Third Position announced “a triple-digit donation to Arizona’s Border Security and Immigration Legal Defense Fund.” Also, the Southern Poverty Law Center reports that largest and oldest white nationalist forum on the internet, Stormfront.org, is promoting the legal defense fund. Anti-immigrant sentiment among racist and white supremacist organizations is not surprising, however, it is surprising that a lawyer at the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) also wrote the law.

It is in the midst of this backdrop that something potentially dangerous is occurring in the Arizona desert. First reported by New America Media, and then reported by the New York Times; armed groups with neo-Nazi affiliations have started patrolling remote areas of the Arizona desert in search of undocumented immigrants. The group identifies with the National Socialist Movement (a neo-Nazi organization). The leader of the group is Jason Ready, who has a history of violence and racist rhetoric towards Latinos and undocumented immigrations documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center. In 2006, Ready ran for City Council in Mesa and was endorsed by Arizona State Representative, Republican Russell Pearce, who is among Arizona’s most anti-immigrant lawmakers.

During a summer when undocumented immigrant deaths crossing the border are on a record pace, the stage is being set so that the heat will not be the only thing in the desert that endangers undocumented immigrants lives. Accord to a report by KPHO Channel 5 out of Phoenix, there has already been an increase the numbers of white supremacist and racist organizations such as neo-Nazi groups in Arizona. While the new anti-immigrant law in Arizona could cost the state millions of dollars, there could be an even higher cost in the lives of undocumented immigrants.

Local News: Stimulus Having a Direct Affect on Area Families

Stimulus Dollars Fund Summer Food Program for McLennan County Families
By Cindy V. Culp (Tribune-Herald staff writer)

From the Waco Tribune-Herald

Putting food on the table this summer should be a little easier for as many as 14,000 McLennan County families.

Federal stimulus dollars are funding a new program aimed at alleviating child hunger during the months school is out.

The Summer Family Nutrition Program will allow food banks and pantries to give families an additional 50 pounds of food each month through September.

Because the usual family allotment is 85 pounds per month, the extra food is a big boost, said Buddy Edwards, executive director of Caritas, a local relief agency that operates a food bank. Caritas is coordinating the local program, which began at the beginning of the month.

“This is a great supplement,” Edwards said. “Our (client) numbers have been extremely large.”

The idea behind giving families extra food during the summer months is that children are eating more meals at home, Edwards said. During the academic year, low-income children can receive free or reduced-price breakfast and lunch at school.

Some campuses continue to offer free meals during the summer, but participation wanes. In 2008, for example, only 6 percent of the 28,700 McLennan County children who got free or reduced-priced meals during the school year got summer meals.

Families enrolled in certain federal programs are automatically eligible for the extra summer food, Edwards said.

Those programs include food stamps, free or reduced-price school lunches, Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program and the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program.

Other Families Eligible

Families that don’t participate in such programs can qualify based on income, Edwards said. Those with incomes up to 185 percent of the federal poverty line are eligible. That works out to those with salaries up to $2,246 per month for two people or $3,399 for a family of four.

The only other criteria is that families must have one child younger than age 18.

The extra food will be given out this month, next month and in September. Families must register, but the process is short and simple, Edwards said.

Besides Caritas, five other local pantries are participating in the program. Families can get the extra food from only one site, however.

Projections from the Capital Area Food of Texas, an Austin group that works with Central Texas relief agencies, show 14,065 McLennan County families are likely eligible for the extra food, Edwards said. Fewer than 400 families have signed up so far, he said.

In total, the Austin group is receiving $10.6 million to help provide extra summer food in the 21 counties it covers, communications manager Kim Willis said. The money comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

It is only good for this year, but the program could be re-funded, she said.

“We’re hoping that it continues,” Willis said.

Published on Monday July 19, 2010

Texas Progressive Alliance Roundup - July 19, 2010

The Texas Progressive Alliance has never lost containment and needs no relief wells as it brings you this week's blog roundup.

Neil at Texas Liberal visited the Houston Museum of Natural Science and took a picture of the corpse flower. The flower will smell like rotten flesh when it blooms. This has been a major topic of conversation in Houston over the past week.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is happy that over 700,000 Texans will now be able to get health insurance despite the negative efforts of John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Bay Area Houston has alot to discuss like the Socialist Republican the Freedom Kissing in the Galveston GOP and the WARTS of America.

Off the Kuff wrote about a new report on water conservation from the Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation.

McBlogger wants to know, Why is Todd Staples whining about Hank Gilbert being mean? Wasn't Staples the one who personally leveled personal attacks before the primary was over? Turns out, Staples can't really give a punch or take one.

Renew Houston's Stephen Costello had a 'come-to-Jesus' with the Harris County Democrats at their Brown Bag Luncheon last week. Open Source Dem was in attendance and filed a report, posted at Brains and Eggs.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is totally irritated by endless political talking heads. Republicans refuse to define the term ENTITLEMENT, because it is what they target to slash. They will only speak in very broad terms. Answer That Question Republicans!

WhosPlayin reports that Lewisville's City Council narrowly overturned the administrative suspension of new gas well permitting, but did go ahead and order staff to review the City's ordinances to see if there is room for improvement.

Amy Goodman on Challenging Corporate Media

Week in Headlines

Media
Cappuccino and Citizen Journalism

War and Peace
Toxic Sand is Another Enemy in Afghanistan

Veterans Issues
Army Reports Record Number of Suicides for June

Economy
US Trade Deficit Widens To $42.3 Billion In May

Education
Summer Meal Program Isn't Reaching Students Who Need It

Environment
US Issues Revised Offshore Drilling Ban

Immigration
Officer Sues Over Arizona Immigrant Law

Human Rights
ICC Warrant for Al-Bashir on Genocide

Reproductive Rights
California Crisis Pregnancy Centers Mislead Women

Women’s Issues
Rape Defendants to be Granted Anonymity

GLBT Issues
LDS Official Involved in Argentina Marriage Battle

Race and Racism
Nashville Schools See Racial Disparities In Suspensions

From the Blogs
Feminist Law Professors:
Prison Parenting in Texas

Texas Freedom Network:
Common Sense on Sex Education

From Austin to A&M:
Geek Forums and Gender

Local News: Texas A&M Professor Studies Oil Spill Site

Prof, Student Study Oil Spill Site
By Denice Hernandez

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

A Texas A&M atmospheric science researcher was in the Gulf of Mexico this week taking air samples for the National Weather Service at the site of the oil spill.

Don Conlee, an instructional associate professor, went to sea on Saturday with senior meteorology major Dion Delao to launch weather balloons and collect air samples that will help meteorologists make forecasting observations near the oil spill and complement ongoing research.

The Aggies were on a research vessel contracted by BP with other scientists and technicians who were on a mission to collect samples from the underwater oil plume.

Conlee said the National Weather Service asked the university to help develop "a rapid capability to launch a balloon in places where it would really matter."

"We are lucky and grateful that BP and the ship operator, TDI-Brooks International, have allowed us to embark on a space-available, not-to-interfere basis," Conlee said.

The Cooperative Institute of Applied Meteorological Studies funded the ultra-portable weather balloon system and the Atmospheric Sciences department and the College of Geosciences helped with travel expenses, he said.

The upper-air weather balloon launches -- rarely seen in the ocean -- have proven to be successful, Conlee said, and it will help improve the forecasting efforts of the National Weather Service.

The procedures will also contribute to the efficiency of ongoing operations and cleanup efforts in and near the spill area, he said.

"We have found that the ultra-portable upper-air balloon system is relatively easy to use, and that the data will indeed be useful," he said. "We have been successful in communicating the data all the way to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction, where the main weather models can use the data in addition to various meteorologists who are directly forecasting."

Delao helped Conlee with every aspect of the mission by preparing and launching weather balloons and collecting air-quality samples.

The meteorology student also got a taste of oceanography field work by helping collect water samples for Ian MacDonald, a professor from Florida State University who was on the ship.

Delao said the experience was eye-opening.

"Right before my eyes were all kinds of ships, drilling rigs, the flare -- everything that you see on TV -- working to stop the spill," he said.

"In the water you could see the oil. I don't think that words can really describe the way that I felt when I saw it. The view of the site just kind of put everything into perspective. Both the good and bad."

Delao said it was a privilege to be a part of the effort and hopes to have more opportunities like it in the future.

"I am proud that I can say that I have gotten to contribute in some way to the forefront of both scientific exploration and, mainly, operational weather support on an incident with such a magnitude as this," he said.

Delao is the second student to accompany Conlee to the Gulf.

Conlee and atmospheric sciences graduate student Greg Seroka went on a four-day trip last week to set up balloon procedures that would be used during the second trip.

"Both got to be involved in some small positive way in this remarkable and, of course, tragic event," Conlee said.

The research team's surface weather samples will also be used by other agencies and universities in their work on the spill site, he said.

Published on Thursday, July 15, 2010

Tonight on Biased Transmission

This week on Biased Transmission our studio guest are Brad Dressler, a creative strategist with BCD design and Texas A&M who works with clients to assess and develop integrated marketing and social media needs, and Cody Marx Bailey, an advocate and leader in open source, free culture and distributed organizations. Our topics of conversation tonight will include social media in higher education, current and upcoming trends in social media, and the impact of social media on our culture.

Listen to Biased Transmission every Wednesday on 89.1FM KEOS College Station-Bryan from 6-7pm, to hear Teddy Wilson, Michael Alvard, Danny Yeager, and Ann Preston. If you have a question or comment you can post it here, or call the KEOS Bell Studios: 979-779-5367.

Biased Transmission on Facebook

Biased Transmission on LiveStream

Biased Transmission Online Archive of Shows

Affirmative Action and Public Opinion

Perhaps you could file this under “unsurprising-public-opinion,” but a recent public opinion poll found that a plurality of Americans opposes affirmative action programs and a majority of Americans oppose government programs utilizing affirmative action. According to a new Rasmussen Reports poll, 46% of Americans surveyed “oppose affirmative action programs,” while only 32% of those surveyed “favored” those programs. When asked about whether or not they favor or oppose “government programs that give special treatment when hiring to women and minorities,” 55% oppose those programs while only 29% favor them. The report states, that “blacks are more than twice as likely as whites to favor affirmative action and programs that give special treatment in hiring to women and minorities.” Although because Rasmussen Reports does not make the crosstabs public (that is unless of course you pay for the premium content), it becomes difficult to breakdown the poll based on racial and gender lines. However, examining similar polls from Gallup shows that people of color, regardless of political ideology, favor affirmative action programs 3 to 1. The Gallup polls show that there is much less support among whites who oppose affirmative action programs more than support, and conservative whites oppose those programs nearly 3 to 2.

Once again white America remains oblivious to the realities of people of color, whether it is to the economic realities that they face during the Great Recession that I wrote about last week or whether it is the lack of opportunity because of systemic institutional racism due to a history of racial oppression. In fact it is this history, which has largely been erased from or rewritten in the history books, that has created the need for affirmative action. Four hundred years of creating a society based on white supremacy and racial subjugation cannot simply be erased after 40 years of civil rights progress. Even so some conservative commentators like to invoke the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. to criticize affirmative action and to claim that we should only judge people based on the content of their character. However, what would Dr. King actually think about affirmative action? Interestingly enough Dr. King did make clear his position on affirmative action when he said that “whenever this issue of compensatory or preferential treatment is raised, some of our friends recoil in horror. The Negro should be granted equality, they insist, but should ask for nothing more. While at first that seems unreasonable, in fact it is unrealistic, for it is obvious that if you take a man and put him at the starting line of a race, 300 years after another man, the first man would have to perform some incredible feat in order to catch up.”

The truth is while ending affirmative action for people of color would not only not significantly benefit whites, but that whites also benefit in many other ways from their own versions of affirmative action. According to a study conducted by Princeton University, “ignoring race in elite college admissions would result in sharp declines in the numbers of African Americans and Hispanics accepted with little gain for white students.” The research found that eliminating affirmative action would have a disproportionate affect on students of color; the acceptance rate for black candidates would probably decrease from 33.7 percent to 12.2 percent and the acceptance rate for Latino applicants would probably decrease from 26.8 percent to 12.9 percent. However, the acceptance rate of white students would rise by only 0.5 percentage points. One study found that for every student of color who benefited from affirmative action in college admissions, there are two whites who failed to meet normal qualification requirements but who were admitted because of parental influence, alumni status or because of other favors. In the United State Supreme Court case Gratz v Bollinger it was argued that because there were 85 students of color who were accepted to the University of Michigan Law School despite having lower test scores and grades than the plaintiff it constituted discrimination; however, there were 1,400 white students with lower test scores and grades that were also accepted.

American has been a nation based affirmative action for most of its existence, but it has been an affirmative action for whites. Whether it was the wealth created for the white elite through slavery during the early years of the republic to the racial disparities in income, education, and health care today created by institutional system racism. While whites, especially those who identify as political as conservatives, may profess opposition to affirmative action, they support maintaining of a de facto affirmative action for whites.

Local News: City of Bryan and BTU Working Together on Records Request

City, BTU Working Together on Request
By Maggie Kiely

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

Bryan officials said Monday that they're more confident the information struggle between City Hall and BTU is one step closer to being over.

BTU board members met Monday with city officials to discuss the letter Mayor Jason Bienski sent to the board Friday requesting that it follow a July 30 deadline to hand over budget details City Manager David Watkins said he's been requesting since last year.

Watkins, who is responsible for putting together the city's budget, said he needs the line-item budget, complete with personnel and salary information, to determine how to best serve taxpayers.

During the meeting, Hank McQuaide, BTU's board chairman, made a point to make sure what the city is requesting can be delivered on time.

"We'll have it done," BTU General Manager Dan Wilkerson told the board, which is appointed by the council.

Financial officials from the city and BTU have already begun meetings to reformat the requested budget information in the same way other city departments do, Wilkerson said.

McQuaide said that, before he read the letter from Bienski, he was under the impression that all the information Watkins had asked for had been provided.

"But I discovered there was considerably more information requested," he said.

Watkins said the city has been asking for the specific information outlined in the letter for more than a year and all he's seen is summarized or condensed budgets.

McQuaide disagreed.

"You have received that information, I have taken it [to city hall] twice," he said.

Watkins reiterated to McQuiade that while he has seen general information, what he has received hasn't been detailed enough.

"I've never seen a breakdown of how incentives are given out," he said. "We've been asking for that for a year. If we can get all this information by July 30, that's fine."

Watkins said if he does receive the information by July 30, he will still have to work quickly to wade through the documents for potential cost savings and efficiency changes -- something he said he's had the time to do with other department budgets for months.

Published on Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Texas Progressive Alliance Roundup - July 12, 2010

The Texas Progressive Alliance doesn't need to go to South Beach to form a dream team. We've had one all along, and here are the highlights.

Off the Kuff wrote about the problems of how we deal with the mentally ill in the criminal justice system, and a pilot program in Houston to handle the "chronic consumers" more efficiently and compassionately.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wonders why the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judges weigh their religious beliefs and superstitions against a defendant's religion?

Bay Area Houston says that conservative politicians in Houston have declared an end to the "Tax and Spend" name calling in Houston.

TXsharon made a statement at the EPA Hydraulic Fracturing Hearing in Ft. Worth and used industry's own studies and statements to prove that hydraulic fracturing needs federal regulation under the SDWA. Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS.

Nat-Wu triumphantly returns to Three Wise Men to write about the possibilty of a double-dip recession and even a third depression on the economic horizon.

Lightseeker ponders Who is Killing our Democracy? as he examines the links between the latest numbers scandal from the Texas Education Agency and the larger issues of the death of public understanding and civil conversation. Check it out : Who is killing our Democracy?

Campaign season is always a blast, especially watching the Democrats beat the fool out of the Republicans. This week, McBlogger take a look at a nice solid beating Hank Gilbert gave Sleazy Todd Staples.

Neil at Texas Liberal is glad that the Green Party will be on the 2010 Texas ballot. Voters deserve options.

There's a few reasons why Voter ID just won't fly in Texas, and PDiddie has them at Brains and Eggs.

School districts in Texas are facing an extraordinarily tough year, financially, due to state funding formulas and falling property values. As one North Texas school district considers a tax rate increase, WhosPlayin takes a light-hearted look at some of the dire consequences if we don't raise school district tax rates.

This week at Left of College Station, Teddy covers the closed meetings, closed books, and the lack of information between the Bryan City Council and BTU. Also, a look at why white America may be in a recession but black America is in a depression. Left of College Station also covers the week in headlines.

Local News: College Station Increases Oversight of Research Valley Partnership

CS Raises Oversight of RVP
By Matthew Watkins

From the Bryan-College Station Eagle

College Station council members agreed last week to be more active in overseeing how the Research Valley Partnership manages city funding, but the economic development group's top official said he expects no major shift in its relationship with the city.

At Thursday's workshop meeting, council members passed a resolution that did three things: It stated the council's intentions to be more specific in dictating what it wants the RVP to accomplish with city money; it called for the formation of a committee of local government representatives to oversee the growth of a biomedical research corridor; and it called for the RVP to stop producing reports touting its economic benefit to the region that some have called unrealistic.

All three of those changes were recommended by Councilman John Crompton, who was critical of the council's oversight of the RVP.

"We have put, in my three years on the council, close to $1 million in the RVP," Crompton said. "I don't think we have gotten our money's worth. I don't know that, but I don't think we have. When I look around, I don't see that much that has come into College Station as a result of that."

His comments came after a presentation by RVP leadership that was designed to demonstrate the agency's benefit to the city. RVP officials gave the council a report compiled by an Austin consulting firm that said the RVP has assisted 65 businesses in relocating to or expanding in the Bryan-College Station area. Those projects have returned $4.26 in tax revenue for every $1 of government money spent, the report estimated.

That figure is based on the assumption that those projects wouldn't have happened without the RVP's help, which Crompton said was a "charade."

"To me, it isn't a useful metric at all," he said.

Brazos County Judge Randy Sims expressed some of the same concerns when the RVP leadership presented the same report to the Brazos County Commissioners Court last month. The Bryan City Council will see a similar presentation in the coming weeks.

Crompton said he would prefer to see a report that listed the help the RVP provided in each of the 65 projects. Other council members agreed, and his resolution was unanimously approved.

It's unclear what effect the resolution's other two provisions will have on the way the RVP and the city operate together.

The proposed committee would oversee the operations of the RVP's biggest current project, a strip of land along the Bryan and College Station border where officials hope to use Texas A&M to lure biomedical companies and their high-paying jobs.

The council requested members of the College Station and Bryan city councils, Texas A&M and the A&M System review the incentives that companies should be offered and how infrastructure would be provided to the area. The board would operate much like the Brazos Valley Solid Waste Management Agency, which oversees Bryan and College Station's landfill partnership, Crompton said.

Brazos County is also participating in the project and was not included in the resolution, but officials said that was an oversight.

Todd McDaniel, president and CEO of the RVP, said people working on the corridor had indicated that they would have likely recommended a committee even without the council's urging.

"The BVSWMA model is a good way to go," he said.

And McDaniel said the RVP has always worked for the government entities that support it.

The organization has an annual budget of about $1.2 million a year. Most of its funding comes from the area's three major governments: Bryan, College Station and Brazos County each contribute about $300,000 to the partnership each year; A&M contributes more than $100,000; and about $120,000 come from private sector contributors.

The agency has four full-time employees and a few part-time workers and interns. It has an oversight board of its own, made up of local government officials and business leaders.

"What the RVP has been doing over the past five years is based upon clear, and, by and large, unanimous direction of that board," McDaniel said. "If the board knows specifically what the city of College Station wants the RVP to be doing, then I am confident that it will take that under consideration along with the other partner 'to do' lists and direct staff accordingly while honoring the mission of the organization."

Published on Sunday, July 11, 2010

Week in Headlines

Local News
Slave Cemetery in Marlin Set for Official Dedication

National Politics
Despite Pledge to Curtail Corporate Earmarks, Politicians Pursue Them

Economy
Jobs Report Shows Economic Rebound May be Stalling

Environment
Gulf Awash in 27,000 Abandoned Wells

Immigration
DREAM Act Receives Renewed Interest in Immigration Debate

Human Rights
Immigrant Workers Get Assistance When Bosses Refuse to Pay

Reproductive Rights
ACLU Asks that Religiously-Affiliated Hospitals Provide Reproductive Healthcare

GLBT Issues
Judge Topples US Rejection of Gay Unions

Race and Racism
Black Women May Not Get Depression Treatment

From the Blogs
Blue Bloggin:
How the War Depresses the US Economy

Latina Lista:
Why Immigration Reform Trumps Border Security

Grits for Breakfast:
Red-Light Camera Backlash Brewing

White Recession, Black Depression

The economic downturn has had devastating effects on all Americans, and economist are predicting that there are long to be long term affects and that the economy will not recovery fully for a significant amount of time. According to the last report from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, 14.6 million people are currently unemployed, 9.5%. The long term unemployed, those who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, make up 6.8 million of the jobless Americans. However, the economy has had a disproportionate effect on people of color, in an economy where people of color have already long been at a disadvantage. The latest statistics show that while the overall unemployment rate for whites is 8.6%, the unemployment rate for Latinos is 12.4% and the unemployment rate for blacks is 15.4%. While white America may be in the middle of the Great Recession, people of color in America are in the middle of a prolonged depression.

While white America is just now waking up to the realities of the difficulties of joblessness in America, people of color in America have been very aware of this reality for a long period of time. During the second half of the 1980’s and then again in the 1990’s mainstream America was enjoying significant economic growth, but of course this economic growth was not equitable. Since the 1980’s the gap between the upper class and the middle class in America has been growing, and during the last decade there was the greatest disparity in income equality since the 1920’s. However, underneath the class differences the racial differences in income and wealth have gone virtually unnoticed. New America Media reported on a study that showed over the last 23 years the gap between the average net worth of African-American families and white families has more than quadrupled. The study, conducted by Brandeis University’s Institute on Assets and Social Policy, found that the average white family has accumulated $95,000 more in total wealth than the average African-American family. These disparities have a direct affect on class mobility and the opportunities that are available to people of color.

During the current Great Recession it is much more difficult for people of color to find employment, even with the benefit of college degree or other important qualifications. According to an article in the New York Times, the unemployment rate for black male college graduates 25 and older last year was twice that of white male college graduates; 8.4 percent among black men compared with 4.4 percent among white men. There are several factors that have place impediments in the way of people of color, and systemic racism is the most significant factor. It begins even before the first interview. According to study published in Social Problems, white males receive substantially more job leads for high-level supervisory positions than women and people of color. It continues as people of color apply for employment. According to a study published in The American Economic Review, job applicants with black-sounding names received 50 percent fewer callbacks than those with white-sounding names. Even when managers of color are hiring employees, it is more likely that whites will be hired. A study published in The Journal of Labor Economics found that white, Asian and Hispanic managers tended to hire more whites and fewer blacks than black managers did. In fact systemic racism is so prevalent that according to a study by Devah Pager published in the American Journal of Sociology, black applicants without criminal records are no more likely to get a job than white applicants just out of prison.

Then when you look at the effects that the economy has had on communities of color you see even more devastating effects that continue to reinforce these racial disparities. Communities of color have a higher risk of home foreclosure, as statistics from the Center for Responsible Lending show that while black and Latinos had a 21% risk of home foreclosure whites only had a 14.8% risk of home foreclosure. A report from the CRL noted that between 2009 and 2012, $194 and $177 billion will have been drained from African-American and Latino Communities. Statistics have shown that people of color were the most likely to be uninsured before the recession and today they are two-and-a-half times more likely to be uninsured than whites. Lack of access to health care leads to higher rates of untreated illness, and systemic racism is a contributing factor hypertension among people of color. As municipalities around the country struggle to deal with limited resources and a decreasing amount of tax revenue it forces them to cut public services. The cutting of public services, such as public transportation, disproportionately affects communities of color.

While Congress continues to fail to pass unemployment insurance extensions, many Americans attempt to find work and to sustain on a limited social safety net. It becomes easier for whites to ignore the significant problems in communities of color when they themselves are struggling, but it is exactly this privilege of obliviousness that continues the cycle of systemic racism and creates barriers for people of color. The American worker continues to struggle, and people of color continue to live through what has become the Great Black Depression.