Friday, April 30, 2010

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

uwnews.org | Survey shows that among whites, tea party supporters more willing than others to curtail civil liberties | University of Washington News and Information

April 26, 2010 | Politics and Government
Survey shows that among whites, tea party supporters more willing than others to curtail civil liberties
Catherine O'Donnell cath2@u.washington.edu

A new University of Washington survey shows that whites who are strong supporters of the tea party are apparently less committed to freedom and equality than those who oppose or are unenthusiastic about the movement.

"Our survey suggests that among tea partiers, there's less dedication to certain civil liberties," said Christopher S. Parker, a UW assistant professor of political science who leads the 2010 Multi-State Survey of Race & Politics. It examines what Americans, including supporters of the tea party, think about race, public policy, national politics and President Barack Obama.

Among whites who strongly support the tea party, 60 percent agreed that America "has gone too far in pushing equal rights." By comparison, only 23 percent of white tea party opponents agreed with that statement.

Additionally:

• 94 percent of tea party opponents said American society "should do whatever is necessary to ensure equal opportunity." Of all whites polled for the survey, 79 percent agreed with that statement. Tea party supporters agreed less. Sixty-four percent said America should do whatever's necessary.

• 72 percent of tea party opponents concurred that "we don't give everyone an equal chance in this country." By comparison, 55 percent of all whites and 23 percent of strong tea party supporters concurred with that idea.

• 77 percent of tea party opponents agreed that "if people were treated more equally, we'd have many fewer problems in this country." By comparison, 54 percent of all whites and 31 percent of tea party supporters agreed.

As a populist movement, the tea party opposes big government and excessive government spending. Its supporters have held numerous meetings and rallies across the country this past year, including large ones on Tax Day, April 15.

The survey also shows tea party opponents more strongly opposed to government detainment, surveillance and racial or religious profiling than party supporters.

The findings show:

• 90 percent of tea party opponents dissented from the idea that the "government can detain people as long as it wishes without trial." By comparison, 70 percent of all whites and 54 percent of tea party supporters dissented.

• 72 percent of tea party opponents disagreed that the government should be able to tap people's telephones. By comparison, 50 percent of all whites and 33 percent of tea party supporters held that position.

• 94 percent of tea party opponents agreed that "no matter what a person's political beliefs, he or she is entitled to the same rights as everyone else." By comparison, 89 percent of all whites and 81 percent of tea party supporters agreed.

• 74 percent of tea party opponents dissented from the idea that "the government should be allowed to profile someone because of race or religion." By comparison, 57 percent of all whites and 33 percent of tea party supporters opposed such moves.

"Paradoxically, tea party supporters talk about freedom from government but as the data suggests, many strongly support certain government activities that could limit freedom," Parker said.

The survey also drew opinions about President Barack Obama: 79 percent of tea party opponents said Obama is knowledgeable, 74 percent said he's intelligent, 86 percent said he's moral and 79 percent said he's a strong leader.

Among all whites, 60 percent said Obama is knowledgeable, 63 percent said he's intelligent, 61 percent said he's moral and 64 percent said he's a strong leader.

Tea party supporters were less approving than both of those groups: 38 percent said Obama is knowledgeable, 37 percent said he's intelligent, 32 percent said he's moral and 44 percent said he's a strong leader.

The poll reached 1,006 people in seven states. Six of them -- Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina and Ohio -- were battleground states in the 2008 presidential election. The seventh, California, was included to represent the West Coast.

The UW Center for Survey Research conducted the survey by phone from Feb. 8 to March 15. The sampling error margin is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The Washington Institute for the Study of Ethnicity, Race and Sexuality and the UW Department of Political Science paid for the survey.

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For more information, contact Parker at 206-543-2947 or csparker@uw.edu .
uwnews.org | Survey shows that among whites, tea party supporters more willing than others to curtail civil liberties | University of Washington News and Information

Monday, April 26, 2010

Brown Bailout

This is an advertisement for FedEx, but I believe they are largely right: Brown Bailout

George Will says it's not a bailout, but UPS is getting a competitive edge on FedEx: Labor in the Driver's Seat

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Friday, April 16, 2010

Cartoons of the Week

Cartoons of the Week


Cartoons of the Week

‘Don’t tell your parents’ — school health center arranges abortion

‘Don’t tell your parents’ — school health center arranges abortion

April 15, 2010 by Carol Warner
Posted in: Special Report

This school health center helped a student get an abortion during school hours — without telling her parents first. How did this parental-notification failure happen?
(The student’s name has been withheld to protect her privacy. Her mother has only been identified as “Jill” by KOMO News.)
The 15-year-old girl attends Ballard High School in Seattle.
At the beginning of the school year, Jill signed a permission slip that gave the school’s on-campus Teen Health Center the OK to treat her daughter.
Jill said she assumed that meant Ballard’s Teen Health Center might treat her daughter for headaches, earaches and such.
She realized the center’s staff might even spell out birth control options. Jill didn’t expect school health center staffers to put her daughter in a taxi and send her to have an abortion during school hours without being informed of the decision.
But that’s exactly what happened!
“[My daughter] took a pregnancy test at school at the teen health center,” Jill said. “Nowhere in this paperwork does it mention abortion or facilitating [an] abortion.
“We had no idea this was being facilitated on campus,” she continued. “They just told her that if she concealed it from her family, that it would be free of charge. [It] makes me feel like my rights [as a mother] were completely stripped away.”
The school heath center’s response
The Seattle School District pointed out that it doesn’t run the on-campus health clinic. It noted that the Swedish Medical Center runs the Teen Health Center inside the school. And the Swedish Medical Center says it protects students’ privacy.
Under Washington state law, an individual of any age “can consent to a termination of pregnancy,” according to T.J. Cosgrove of the King County Health Department, which administers the school-based programs for the health department.
The tricky gray area
Setting aside the obvious political and ethical arguments surrounding abortion, another big issue in this case is parental notification.
The recent alleged laptop spying incident in Pennsylvania proves that parents can get into litigious moods when they aren’t informed about what’s happening with their children.
Truth is, today’s technology makes communicating with parents easier than ever. Schools have myriad options, such as Web sites, phones, e-mails and text messages.
The school’s Web site lists services offered at the Teen Health Center. It mentions “birth control” and “confidential family planning,” but it doesn’t specifically spell out abortion. Neither does the electronic permission slip. Was “abortion” omitted intentionally?
Maybe, especially since the girl was allegedly told not to tell her parents so the abortion would be free.
Considering all of the tech options available for communicating with parents, do you think this school dropped the ball? Chime in below.

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‘Don’t tell your parents’ — school health center arranges abortion

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Investigations sit idle as LAPD detectives hit overtime caps - latimes.com

latimes.com

Investigations sit idle as LAPD detectives hit overtime caps

With its overtime budget decimated, the department is forcing officers to put cases on hold and take days or even weeks off. Despite an uptick in killings, the homicide unit is among the hardest hit.

By Joel Rubin
April 12, 2010


In January, Los Angeles Police Det. Nate Kouri was ordered to stop working.

One of the LAPD's most productive homicide investigators sat idle for six weeks, unable to follow any leads on old cases or pick up new ones. Kouri was not being punished for misconduct or for botching an investigation. He was benched for working too hard -- and he is not the only one.

With the city reeling from its worst financial crisis in decades, the LAPD has stopped paying officers overtime wages, except in rare situations. In lieu of cash, officials have implemented a strict policy of forcing cops to take time off when they accrue large amounts of overtime hours. Because of demanding work schedules that routinely require them to investigate a case into the night or through the weekend, homicide detectives have been among the first officers to be sent home in significant numbers.

The drain on homicide squads has hampered investigations, several detectives and top department officials said in interviews. Detectives said their investigations are frequently put on hold while they take days off, delaying witness interviews and other potentially important leads. And, in the crucial first hours after a killing, several supervisors said they now dispatch fewer detectives to the crime scene.

A rash of homicides in recent weeks has compounded the problem, placing increased strain on detectives already running up against overtime limits and leaving homicide supervisors to worry that a prolonged surge in killings will quickly overwhelm the stop-gap measures they are currently using to get by.

LAPD Chief Charlie Beck has used the rise in killings to underscore his frequent warnings to city lawmakers that further cuts to the department's budget would continue to compromise its ability to fight crime.

"The hours have to come from someplace," Beck said last week at a meeting with the Los Angeles Police Commission, which oversees the department. "It has a serious impact on our ability to respond to some of the large, violent incidents we've been experiencing lately. That is especially true of homicide investigations because of the long hours they demand."

In past years, the LAPD typically spent about $100 million in overtime. The department is planning to set aside less than $10 million for the upcoming fiscal year to cover certain work scenarios mandated under federal labor laws.

Before the city's fiscal crisis, an agreement between the department and police union called for officers to build up a bank of about 100 hours of overtime and then be paid cash for hours worked beyond that. Late last year, the department renegotiated the agreement and now officers are not paid until they have accrued 400 hours of extra work. To make sure no officer reaches that trigger point, the department's new policy forbids them from banking more than 250 hours.

In the Southeast Division, where Kouri works, the 11-person homicide squad was ordered to take off 700 hours in February -- a month when they opened five new investigations. The same group responded to five killings last February, but worked 500 hours of overtime to solve them.

Nine of the 14 killings this year in the Southeast area remain unsolved.

"That is horrible compared to our typical rates," said Det. Sal LaBarbera, a 24-year homicide veteran who supervises the Southeast squad. "All of those cases are solvable. None of them are mysteries. A few of them would likely already be solved, if I could just let my guys loose to work."

Similar situations are playing out elsewhere. Late on a recent Saturday night in the Newton Division, two killings took place in quick succession. Det. Kelle Baitx, the homicide supervisor, said typically he would have sent a team of two detectives to each of the crime scenes. That night, however, he had one team take care of both crime scenes because other detectives were approaching their overtime limits. One of the cases was later reassigned to another team during regular working hours.

"It's not ideal," Baitx said of the overtime cap, noting that as a general rule detectives handling a case should work the crime scene as well.

In the Foothill Division, when five slayings occurred in March, a detective assigned to work on old, unsolved killings was enlisted to help. It's a move supervisors in other divisions have made, highlighting concerns that the overtime crunch will deal a blow to the department's ability to solve cold cases.

Trying to balance the overtime limits with the need to solve cases, the supervisor in Foothill watched one of his detective's overtime hours climb as she worked one of the recent cases. After three days, when she typically would have pressed on through the weekend, he ordered her to stop and stay home for several days.

Supervisors said they are also seeing the policy take a toll on morale among their detectives. "It's really disheartening," said Kouri, who solved more than a dozen cases last year. "It goes against the mentality of homicide detectives. All we want to do is work our cases. That's what we feel we owe to the families of victims -- to work straight through."

Several detectives said they don't always drop their cases during down days, making phone calls and filling out paperwork on their own time.

The detectives are taking a financial hit as well, since roughly a third of their pay has traditionally come from overtime wages.

Many, like Kouri, who were over the cap from the start were forced to take extended leaves to lower their totals. Going forward, Beck put field commanders on notice that they were responsible for keeping their officers below the limit. At weekly meetings once reserved for reviewing crime-fighting strategies, the commanders are grilled on what they are doing to keep work hours in check.

Homicide squads are not the only units feeling the brunt of the overtime rule. Large numbers of officers in other specialized assignments, such as the SWAT, canine and bomb units, are also at or above the limit. And, in several stations situated in high-crime areas, the number of regular patrol and anti-gang officers above 200 hours of overtime has reached double digits.

The policy has had a significant effect on the number of officers available to work. Last year, officers decided to take about 17,000 hours off each month in compensation for overtime, department figures show.

In March, that number soared to nearly 60,000 hours. The increase in lost work hours was the equivalent to removing about 290 officers from the department roster.

"In homicide, we create our own luck by staying out there and beating bushes until we find what we need," said Det. Chris Barling, who oversees the LAPD's South Bureau homicide unit. "Are we going to miss something because my guys are being forced to take two days off in the middle of an investigation? Could this cause us to not solve a case? Sure."

joel.rubin@latimes.com



Investigations sit idle as LAPD detectives hit overtime caps - latimes.com
http://latimes.com/news/la-me-lapd12-2010apr12,0,834412.story

News: Who Really Failed? - Inside Higher Ed

News: Who Really Failed? - Inside Higher Ed

Who Really Failed?

April 15, 2010
Dominique G. Homberger won't apologize for setting high expectations for her students.

The biology professor at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge gives brief quizzes at the beginning of every class, to assure attendance and to make sure students are doing the reading. On her tests, she doesn't use a curve, as she believes that students must achieve mastery of the subject matter, not just achieve more mastery than the worst students in the course. For multiple choice questions, she gives 10 possible answers, not the expected 4, as she doesn't want students to get very far with guessing.

Students in introductory biology don't need to worry about meeting her standards anymore. LSU removed her from teaching, mid-semester, and raised the grades of students in the class. In so doing, the university's administration has set off a debate about grade inflation, due process and a professor's right to set standards in her own course.

To Homberger and her supporters, the university's action has violated principles of academic freedom and weakened the faculty.

"This is terrible. It undercuts all of what we do," said Brooks Ellwood, president of the LSU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors, and the Robey H. Clark Distinguished Professor of Geology. "If you are a non-tenured professor at this university, you have to think very seriously about whether you are going to fail too many students for the administration to tolerate."


News: Who Really Failed? - Inside Higher Ed