Florida Courier - September 28, 2012

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Nielsen report: Black consumers still vital, still growing B4, B5

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SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 4, 2012

VOLUME 20 NO. 39

IMPROVING – BUT STILL BAD COMPILED FROM WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS

Florida ranks near the bottom of 50 states graduating Black boys from high school. Pinellas County (St. Petersburg) is identified again as one of the worst large school systems in America with regard to educating Black boys.

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SCHOTT FOUNDATION FOR PUBLIC EDUCATION

The latest Schott Foundation report – the title is taken from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream speech’ – says that the racial academic achievement gap between Black and White male students will take 50 years to close if it improves at the current rate.

Black media underutilized Study: companies ignore Black consumer power

BY GEORGE E. CURRY NNPA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

new report from the Schott Foundation for Public Education finds that only 52 percent of Black male and 58 percent of Latino male ninth-graders graduate from high school four years later while 78 percent of White, non-Latino male ninth-graders graduate four years later.

The report suggests that without policies that create opportunity for all students, strengthens supports for the teaching profession and strikes the right balance between support-based reforms and standards-driven reforms, the U.S. will become increasingly unequal and less competitive in the global economy.

Some improvement According to “The Urgency of Now: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males,” the national graduation rate for Black males has increased by 10 percentage points since 2001-02, with 2010-11 being the first year that more than half of the nation’s ninth-grade Black males graduated with a regular diploma four years later.

Yet, this progress has closed

the graduation gap between Black male and White, nonLatino males by only three percentage points. At this rate, it would take nearly 50 years for Black males to achieve the same high school graduation rates as their White male counterparts.

Bottom three Among the states with the largest Black enrollments, North Carolina (58 percent),

Maryland (57 percent), and California (56 percent) have the highest graduation rates for Black males while New York (37 percent), Illinois (47 percent) and Florida (47 percent) have the lowest. Arizona (84 percent) and Minnesota (65 percent) were the only states within the top 10 ranked states, in graduation rates, with over 10,000 Black males enrolled.

Which large school systems most successfully graduated Black males on time? Montgomery County, Md. and Newark, N.J. – both at 74 percent.

These two systems served as the benchmark for graduation rates of Black male students for states enrolling more than 10,000 Black students.

Far short The Black male graduation See REPORT, Page A2

CAMPAIGN 2012 / REP. PAUL RYAN

Less than 800 hours till voting starts

Companies that fail to advertise with Black media are missing an opportunity to effectively reach nearly 43 million African-Americans whose $967 billion annual buying power is projected to exceed $1 trillion in three years, according to the new study released by Nielsen and the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA).

“Still the largest racial minority group in America, with a projected buying power of $1.1 trillion by 2015, Black consumers remain at the forefront of social trends and media consumption,” the study found.

The findings were released last week at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.

Sharing info “Our collaboration with the NNPA has been successful,” said Susan Whiting, vice chair of Nielsen, a premier global information and measurement company.

“NNPA’s insertion of the report into its 200 publications allows Nielsen access to millions of African-American consumers, and allows us to share vital information that will help increase the awareness of Blacks’ consumer power.”

And according to the report, that power is considerable.

“Since 2000, the total U.S. population only increased by 11.3 percent, while the Black population increased by 17.9 percent, a rate that is 1.6 times the greater overall growth,” the Nielsen study said. The report noted that the U.S. Black population is larger than 163 of the 195 countries in the world,

JOE BURBANK/ORLANDO SENTINEL/MCT

Republican vice president candidate Paul Ryan delivered remarks during a rally at the University of Central Florida in Orlando last week. He’s the latest of the presidential campaign’s candidates and surrogates to crisscross Florida for votes during the race’s home stretch.

See MEDIA, Page A2

SNAPSHOTS FLORIDA | A3

POLITICS | B1

Report scrutinizes FAMU College of Law Displaced Haitians get extension to stay in US FINEST | B3

Meet Marissa

ALSO INSIDE

A glance at Obama’s promises

Early voting battle appears over

BY BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

The war over early voting in Florida ahead of November’s presidential election appeared to wind down Monday, with a federal court refusing to block a portion of the state’s controversial 2011 elections law.

In a ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan denied a request from Democratic Congresswoman Corrine Brown and other Black voters to issue an injunction to keep the state from reducing the number of early-voting days ahead of the Nov. 6 elections – when Florida could

play pivotal roles in deciding which party wins the White House, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House.

Hours vs. days The voters had argued that the changes, which would reduce the number of early-voting days from Corrine at least 12 to no more than Brown eight, would disproportionately affect minority voters, who are more likely to take advantage of early voting than White voters.

The state had countered that elections officials were allowed to offer more hours on each of those days, and that the changes applied equally to all voters.

Corrigan relied heavily on evidence that many counties would offer as many as 12 hours a day in early voting and would require some Sunday voting, a potential opening for the “souls to the polls” get-outthe-vote efforts of some Black churches.

“Because Florida’s Early Voting Statute allows early voting during non-working hours, as well as voting during the weekend, including one Sunday, voting times which are important to African-American voters, as well as to (get out the vote) efforts, the Court cannot find that the 2011 Early Voting StatSee VOTING, Page A2

COMMENTARY: GEORGE E. CURRY: COMPANIES CONTINUE TO INSULT BLACK CONSUMERS | A2 COMMENTARY: CHARLES W. CHERRY II: RANDOM THOUGHTS OF A FREE BLACK MIND | A4

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FOCUS

SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 4, 2012

Companies continue to insult Black consumers When I was in the process of reading and writing about Nielsen and the National Newspaper Publishers Association’s report on African-American buying power for this week’s Black newspapers, I was reminded of how many top companies continue to take advantage of Black consumers while providing little, if anything, in return.

They are not the only ones at fault – so are we.

People treat you the way you allow them to treat you. The same can be said of corporations, though they are not, as Mitt Romney contends, people.

The Nielsen report notes that Black spending power, which totals $695 billion a year, is expected to soar to $1.1 trillion by 2015. And very few of those dollars are reinvested by advertising in the Black media.

It’s a matter of respect.

As Black publishers point out, if a company advertises in the Washington Post or the New York Times, it could be speaking to anyone. However, when it advertises in the Black media, we know they are speaking directly to our audience

George E. Curry NNPA COLUMNIST

and are taking us seriously as valued consumers.

Big names missing For the most part, that’s not happening. When Nielsen lists the top companies advertising with Black media, some familiar names are nowhere to be found. Eight of the top U.S. 10 banks are not on the list of top 10 financial/insurance companies advertising in the Black media.

JP Morgan Chase has overtaken Bank of America as the top bank in the U.S., with assets of $2.2 trillion. Don’t shed any tears for second-place Bank of America, which has assets of $2.13 trillion, or CitiGroup with $1.8 trillion.

Neither of them is among the top 10 entities advertising with the Black media.

But African-Americans hold checking or savings accounts at all three banks.

Let’s put them on notice

by sending them a copy of this column and my story, which is carried in this week’s NNPA papers and is posted on BlackPressUSA.com. Tell them that by the time the next Nielsen report comes out a year from now if they are not on that list, they will be added to one of our lists – not the one people brag about.

If banks can disregard us, we can disregard them by closing our accounts and moving them to a bank that shows its appreciation.

If you have accounts at either JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank (CitiGroup), Bank of New York Mellon, PNC Financial Services, State Street Corp., Capital One or SunTrust Banks, put them on notice today that they will lose a valuable customer if they continue along this path.

Contact them In terms of a national campaign, I suggest first focusing on the three largest banks. Let the “banksters” know how you feel about their actions. Here’s contact information for

MEDIA from A1 including Argentina, Poland, Canada and Australia.

“The average income for African-American households nationwide is $47,290 with 35 percent earning $50,000 or more,” the report stated. Ten percent of Black households earn $100,000 or more each year. The study noted, “The Black population and its aggregate buying power is overall more geographically widespread and more diverse than other ethnic and racial segments.”

Missed opportunities Cloves Campbell, chairman of the NNPA and publisher of the Arizona Informant newspaper, said, “Marketers underestimate the opportunities missed by overlooking Black consumers’ frustration of not having products that meet their needs in their neighborhoods. And companies that don’t advertise using Black media risk having African-Americans perceive them as being dismissive of issues that matter to Black consumers.

This report demonstrates what a sustainable ad influential economic force we are.”

Benjamin Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, stated that African-American readers

REPORT from A1 rate of most of Florida’s largest school systems improved greatly, but are still far short of Schott’s 74 percent benchmark.

They are as follows: Palm Beach/West Palm Beach (55 percent, up from 22 percent in 2008); Broward/Fort Lauderdale (52 percent, up from 39 percent); Miami-Dade (49 percent, up from 27 percent); Orange/Orlando (49 percent, up from 33 percent); Hillsborough/Tampa (47 percent, up from 35 percent); Polk/Lakeland (46 percent, up from 29 percent); Duval/Jacksonville (36 percent, up from 23 percent); Pinellas/St. Petersburg (34 percent, up from 21 percent).

Though Pinellas is the worst large system in Florida with regard to Black boys, it’s not the worst.

The Rochester, N.Y. system is the worst, graduating only 9 percent of its Black male students on time.

Other poor performers include Detroit (20 percent),

CHARLES W. CHERRY II / FLORIDA COURIER

NNPA President and CEO Bill Tompkins gives remarks about the latest Nielsen-NNPA study. give more credence to ads placed with Black media than those that appear in the general interest publications. And the Nielsen research supports that view. According to the report: • Ninety-one percent of Blacks believe that Black media is more relevant to them; • Eighty-one percent believe that the products advertised in Black media are more relevant to them; • Seventy-eight percent would like to see more Black models/actors used in ads (51 percent said they would purchase a product if the advertising portrayed Blacks positively); • Seventy-seven percent of African-Americans said Black media has a better understanding of the needs and issues that affect them; • Seventy-three percent believe Black media keeps

Philadelphia (24 percent), Cleveland, Ohio (28 percent), Jackson, Miss. (28 percent) and Norfolk, Va. (32 percent).

‘Willful neglect’ Founded in 1991,the Schott Foundation for Public Education’s mission statement is “to develop and strengthen a broad-based and representative movement to achieve fully resourced high quality pre-K-12 public education.”

“These graduation rates are not indicative of a character flaw in the young men, but rather evidence of an unconscionable level of willful neglect, unequal resource allocation by federal, state and local entities and the indifference of too many elected and community leaders. It’s time for a support-based reform movement,” said John H. Jackson, president and CEO of the Schott Foundation.

Who succeeds?

Three of the four states with the highest graduation rates for Black males were states with a rela-

them in touch with their heritage; • Sixty-eight percent want to see more commercials directed specifically to Black audiences; • Sixty-seven percent of Blacks want to see more advertising targeting Black consumers.

‘We cover ourselves’ NNPA President and CEO Bill Tompkins said Black media plays a unique role in the AfricanAmerican community.

“The general media does not cover us as well as we cover ourselves,” he said. Tompkins noted that Black media receives only 2 percent of the $120 billion advertising dollars spent with general media.

Top companies The top 10 companies advertising with the Black media were Proctor & Gamble ($75.3 mil-

tively small number of Black males enrolled in the state’s schools: Maine (97 percent), Vermont (82 percent), Utah (76 percent). This seems to indicate that Black boys, on average, perform better in places and spaces where they are not relegated to under-resourced districts or schools. When provided similar opportunities, they are more likely to produce similar or better outcomes as their White male peers.

The report cites the need to address what the Schott Foundation calls a “pushout” and “lockout” crisis by reducing and reclaiming the number of students who are no longer in schools, and improving the learning and transition opportunities for students who remain in school.

Blacks and Latinos face disproportionate rates of out-of-school suspensions – effectively being pushed out of opportunities to succeed. Many who remain in schools are locked out of systems with well-resourced schools and where teachers have

their top officials:

Mr. James Dimon Chairman and CEO, JP Morgan Chase 270 Park Avenue, 39th Floor New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-270-1111 Fax: 212-270-1121 Email: jamie.dimon@jpmchase. com

Mr. Brian T. Moynihan CEO, Bank of America Corporation 100 N. Tryon St. Charlotte, N.C. 28255 Phone: 704-386-5681 Email: Brian.T.Moynihan@bankofamerica.com

Mr. Vikram Pandit CEO, Citibank 399 Park Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Phone 212/793-1201 or 212/559-1000 Email: vikram.pandit@citi.com To add insult to injury, $182.5 billion of our tax dollars went to bail out American International Group – or “Notorious AIG,” as comedian Bill Ma-

lion), L’Oreal ($39.9 million), McDonald’s ($34.9 million), Johnson & Johnson ($27.7 million), Verizon Communications ($26.3 million), National Amusements ($24 million), Hershey ($23.5 million), Comcast ($23.4 million), General Motors ($23.1 million) and Berkshire Hathaway ($23.1 million).

The top advertisers by categories in the first quarter of 2012 were automotive, quick restaurant service, motion pictures, wireless telephone service, pharmaceutical, auto insurance, insurance, direct response service, restaurant and department stores.

The top insurance/financial advertisers in the first quarter of 2012 were Berkshire Hathaway ($6.9 million), Allstate ($6.2 million), State Farm ($3.4 million), Progressive ($3.3 million), Bancorp ($2.3 million), Wells Fargo ($2 million), Nationwide ($1.7 million), PGC Holdings ($1.7 million), Zurich Financial ($1.5 million) and JLL Partners ($1.4 million).

The top 10 restaurant advertisers in the first quarter of this year were McDonald’s ($8.2 million), Yumi Brands ($3.1 million), Doctors Assoc.

[Subway] ($1.9 million), Domino’s Pizza, Darden Restaurants, Wendy’s, 3G Capital (all $1.7 million each), DineEquity ($1.4 million), 3G Capital Papa John’s ($1.2 million) and AFC Enterprises

the training, mentoring, administrative support, supplies and the facilities they need to provide children with a substantive opportunity to learn, according to the report.

Stop suspensions To cut down the alarming pushout rate, the Schott Foundation is supporting the recently launched “Solutions Not Suspensions” initiative, a grassroots effort of students, educators, parents and community leaders calling for a nationwide moratorium on out-ofschool suspensions.

Schott also calls for students who are performing below grade level to receive “Personal Opportunity Plans” to prevent them from being locked out of receiving the resources needed to succeed. The report also provides the following recommendations for improving graduation rates for young Black and Latino men: • Expand learning time and increase opportunities for a well-rounded education, including the arts, music, physical ed-

her calls them – but they have not reciprocated with the Black media. AIG, the largest insurance company in the world, is MIA-Missing In Action.

You can’t turn on the television without seeing one of those horrendous man/ape commercials about GEICO. Yet, GEICO is monkeying around with us by also being absent from the list of top advertisers.

African-Americans overindex on mobile phones.

Verizon is a top advertiser with the Black media but not AT&T, Sprint or T-Mobile. If they haven’t joined the list by next year, we should pull the plug on them.

Let’s unify At various times and to varying degrees, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the NAACP, among others, have had a public grading system for Corporate America. But that measurement has been abandoned.

It’s time to reinstate it.

Instead of competing with one another, this is an excellent opportuni-

($796,000).

In the first quarter of 2012, the top 10 health and beauty advertisers were Procter & Gamble ($10.9 million), L’Oreal ($9.6 million), Unilever ($5.4 million), Johnson & Johnson ($4.4 million), KimberlyClark ($2.4 million), Pfizer ($2.4 million), Estee Lauder ($2.3 million), Artal Luxemborg ($2.1 million), Eqyss International ($1.8 million) and NAC Marketing ($1.7 million).

Missing from lists There were some glaring omissions from the Top 10 lists. Among banks, for example, only No. 4 Wells Fargo, with assets of $1.3 trillion, and No. 5 U.S. Bancorp, with assets of $340.12 billion, were top advertisers with the Black media. Missing from the list were JP Morgan Chase, with total assets of $2.27 trillion, Bank of America ($2.13 trillion), CitiGroup ($1.8 trillion), Bank of New York Mellon ($325.25 billion), PNC Financial Services ($271.21 billion), State Street Corp. ($216.3 billion), Capital One ($206.02 billion) and SunTrust Banks ($176.86 billion).

Also missing from the Top 10 insurance and financial list were Liberty Mutual, Travelers Group, American International Group (AIG), Farmers, USAA, Hartford, Chubb, American Family and Met Life.

ucation, robotics, foreign language, and apprenticeships.

• States and cities should conduct a “redlining” analysis of school funding, both between and within districts, and work with the community and educators to develop a support-based reform plan with equitable resource distribution.

“Black and Latino children under the age of 18 will become a majority of all children in the U.S. by the end of the current decade, many of whom are in lower-income households located in neighborhoods with under-resourced schools,” said Michael Holzman, senior research consultant to the Schott Foundation.

“We do not want our young Black and Latino men to have to beat the odds; we want to change the odds. We must focus on systemic change to provide all our children with the opportunity to learn.”

For the full report, including detailed state data, log on to www.flcourier.com.

ty to prove that our civil rights organizations have what they call “operational unity” and join together to produce an annual Economic Report Card. Given its ties to Corporate America, perhaps Marc Morial and the National Urban League can take the lead on this.

As Jackson said at the press conference releasing the Nielsen report on Black buying power, perhaps we should stop boasting about our spending power and closely examine what companies spend with us. And based on those findings, we should do what the lady who reads the church announcements each Sunday admonishes – to govern ourselves accordingly.

George E. Curry is editor-in-chief of the National Newspaper Publishers Association News Service and editorial director of Heart & Soul magazine.

Contact him via www. georgecurry.com. Follow him at www.twitter.com/ currygeorge.

VOTING from A1 ute denies equal access to the polls,” he wrote.

Wanted two Sundays Brown and others had argued that the Sunday required for early voting, nearly a week-and-a-half before the election, was not as good as the Sunday immediately before Election Day, which some supervisors used for early voting under the old law.

“I had really hoped that the judge would allow counties to restore voting on the Sunday immediately before Election Day, but at least we will have one Sunday of early voting guaranteed,” Brown said in a statement issued by her office following the ruling.

Brown vowed to hold a pair of voter-registration drives Tuesday and Sunday in an effort to counter what she portrayed as an effort by the GOP to suppress the Black vote.

Fight could continue Brown and the voters could still push forward with the remainder of their lawsuit against the changes, but Corrigan’s ruling means he doesn’t believe they have a good chance of winning the case. And the sides aren’t supposed to let him know whether they want to move forward until December – after the elections.

Corrigan’s order comes a few days after state Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, and a pair of voting-rights organizations abandoned an administrative case challenging the implementation of the law in 62 of the state’s 67 counties. That fight centered over whether Secretary of State Ken Detzner could require some counties to follow the new law while five counties that must gain federal approval for any voting changes held elections under the old law.

But federal officials eventually green-lighted the early voting change, making the challenge moot.

CORRECTIONS The Sept. 14-20 issue’s front-page headline cited the date of the destruction of the World Trade Center as 2011 rather than 2001.

The Sept. 21-28 issue’s front-page headline, ‘DEPENDENTS, VICTIMS AND BUMS,’ was incorrect. Mitt Romney never mentioned ‘bums’ in his videotaped comments, so the word should not have been in quotations.

Please forgive the errors.

september 28 - OCTOBER 4, 2012

FLORIDA

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An examination of FAMU’s law school Orlando-based program has improved but lags in academics, other areas, report states

schools nationwide.

Life experiences weighed The median LSAT score for students admitted to FAMU’s law school in 2010-11 was 148. The median score among students at both UF and FSU was 162.

The American Bar Association report stresses that while the law school is allowed to consider factors such as a student’s background and life experiences when determining who to admit, it is not clear whether FAMU is admitting students who can graduate law school and pass the bar exam even after multiple attempts.

“Certainly, it is admitting students who, by numerical predictors at least, could easily be identified as being at risk of either failing to graduate or failing the bar exam,” the report says.

BY DENISE-MARIE ORDWAY ORLANDO SENTINEL (MCT)

ORLANDO – Florida A&M University’s law school in Orlando is “well positioned to thrive” but still falls short in academic quality and a number of other areas, according to a new report from the American Bar Association.

One key conclusion from the report: More than 30 percent of the students entering FAMU’s College of Law do not graduate or pass the Florida Bar exam, even after multiple attempts. And those who borrow money to pay for their educations leave with about $96,000 in debt, on average.

FAMU’s law school already ranks last among Florida’s 11 law schools in the percentage of students who pass the bar exam on their first try.

Significant improvement Last week, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners announced that 68 percent of FAMU students passed the most recent exam the first time around, compared with 91 percent of students at the University of Florida and 89 percent at Florida State University, two of the more established statefunded law schools.

While the 68 percent passage rate is low, it does indicate significant improvement. Just three years ago, when the law school in downtown Orlando earned full accreditation from the American Bar Association, the rate was less than 53 percent.

The 84-page report released by the American Bar Association offers insight into how the school

State to help some who lost homes to foreclosure NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

Claim forms are being sent out to more than 167,0000 Florida residents who lost their home to foreclosure between 2008 and 2011 who may be eligible for payment under a national settlement, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Monday.

The nation’s five largest mortgage servicers, Ally/ GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, agreed to the $25 billion national settlement to settle charges the servicers routinely signed foreclosure-related documents outside the presence of a notary and without knowing whether the facts they contained were correct.

LeRoy Pernell, above, is dean of FAMU’s law school. He said the American Bar Association’s report is a gathering of facts — not findings related to violations or a lack of compliance to accreditation standards. has grown and changed. A team of experts who visited the program earlier this year compiled the report as part of a regularly scheduled review of its accreditation.

The bar association’s Accreditation Committee will meet in January to discuss the report and FAMU’s accreditation.

Criticism of FAMU It’s tough to say whether the report could impact the law school’s accreditation, but longtime FAMU trustee Bill Jennings of Orlando thinks the program’s accreditation is not in jeopardy. Jennings, who helped lead the push to bring the law school to Orlando, hesitated to comment further because the report was not supposed to be released to the public.

The American Bar Association would not comment on the report or the accreditation process. But its report contains a lot of

criticism of FAMU. The report, obtained by the Orlando Sentinel through a public records request, also cites as concerns the school’s low faculty morale and continuing cuts to funding.

In addition, at the time the report was written, two of the four associate deans were planning to leave and several administrative positions were either vacant or had been eliminated to reduce costs.

areas we will need to work on,” said Pernell. “The accreditation standards are quite extensive and we want to make sure that the (FAMU) law school is doing everything it can to meet those.”

Pernell added that FAMU officials are continuing to check the accuracy of the information included in the report and that improvements have been made since the team of experts visited in March.

No violations report

Changes coming

LeRoy Pernell, the law school’s dean, pointed out that the American Bar Association’s report is a gathering of facts — not findings related to violations or a lack of compliance to accreditation standards.

He also stressed that such reports are designed to highlight weaknesses as a way to help law schools improve.

“The reports are often very helpful in pointing out

For example, starting this fall semester, firstyear law students are required to take two courses designed to help them bolster the analytical skills they will need to be successful in law school and on the bar exam. Previously, only struggling students were required to take those classes.

Pernell said he expects such changes to help boost the law school’s bar exam

passage rate.

The American Bar Association, however, suggests there is a link between the low passage rate on bar exams and the law school’s admissions policies.

Lower GPAs The FAMU law school admits students with lower grade-point averages and scores on the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT, than many other schools.

But administrators stand by the school’s mission of offering educational opportunities to minority students and others who otherwise might not have them.

For example, the median GPA was a 3.10 for students admitted to FAMU’s law school in 2010-11. Meanwhile, the median GPA at UF’s law school was a 3.64 and the median at FSU was a 3.47, according to the Law School Admission Council, which collects a variety of data annually from law

Rigor lacking FAMU already has been sharply criticized in recent months for the large number of lower performing students it admits to undergraduate programs at its Tallahassee campus.

State officials recently required the university to submit a plan to drastically reduce those numbers in the coming years as a way to boost its low graduation rate.

Only 12 percent of students who enter FAMU as freshmen earn bachelors’ degrees within four years, according to data from 2010-11.

The Bar Association report also says that although faculty size has increased steadily at FAMU’s law school and faculty members continue to improve their teaching and scholarship, the “rigor in the classroom and on examinations is sometimes lacking, a problem particularly important given the lower entering credentials of the students and difficulties passing the bar exam of many graduates.”

Displaced Haitians will be allowed to stay in US an extra 18 months

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES THE MIAMI HERALD (MCT)

MIAMI – Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has extended temporary protected status for Haitians living in the United States for another 18 months, beginning Jan. 22, 2013.

The Department of Homeland Security is expected to publish a notice in the Federal Register this week announcing the decision, which will allow about 60,000 Haitian citizens to remain in the United States until July 2014. Haitians will have 60 days to re-register from the day that the notice is published.

Haitian advocates and immigration activists welcomed the news and said they were grateful, but complained that a double standard and discrimination against Haitians continue.

“We had no doubts that TPS would be extended given the incountry conditions right now.

We just were not sure if it was going to happen before or after the elections,” said Marleine Bastien, founder of Haitian Women of Miami.

“We are grateful that it’s extended even though it is with the same failings that we have brought to the attention of the Department of Homeland Security.”

Many concerns Bastien said students who arrived in South Florida after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti cannot go to college because they are being charged prohibitive outof-state tuition. Some who are in nursing school cannot sit for their nursing exam because of their TPS status.

She also said Haitians continue to be deported to Haiti despite the sluggish recovery from the earthquake and a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 7,000 and infected more than a half mil-

MIKE STOCKER/SUN SENTINEL/MCT

Shown on Jan. 7, 2011, Suze Lubin, right, of Haiti, received temporary protected status and applied for TPS for her mother Marie Toussaint. Here, they pose for portrait in Lubin’s North Lauderdale, Florida home. lion people.

Also of concern for Bastien and other activists is what they say is DHS’ refusal to approve a Haitian family reunification parole for thousands of Haitian families who have already been approved to join their U.S.-citizen and legalresident family members in the United States.

According to the department’s own statistics, there are 112,000 Haitians in the pipeline.

“These people have been waiting two and a half to 11 years,” said immigration activist Steve Forester, noting that about 15,800 of those waiting are minors. “These petitions have already been ap-

proved by DHS. It’s senseless given the conditions in Haiti that people should have to wait for so long. At least make a start somewhere, beginning with some of the most vulnerable. It just takes DHS’ decision.”

Isolated protests In Haiti, the number of people still in tents has dropped from 1.5 million to just under 400,000. And while donors and the Haitian government have been highlighting the improvements in recent days, it comes as the country has been rocked by isolated protests in some of its major cities. Protesters

are complaining about rising prices and government corruption.

Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, responding to the crises last week on a local Haitian radio station, urged the population to remain calm, saying “You have a government that’s working on behalf of your interest.”

In recent days, however, Lamothe has come under criticism by protest organizers for referring to protesters as “mercenaries.” Seeking to clarify the statement, he told Haitian journalist Nancy Roc in an email that the reference was to those looting and burning tires and not the protesters per se.

EDITORIAL

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september 28 - OCTOBER 4, 2012

Stop economic segregation One of the most insidious forms of racial discrimination and injustice is the growing manifestation known as racially motivated “economic segregation.”

Across the United States during the eight years of the Bush administration between 2001 and 2008, banking and mortgage companies were systematically deregulated.

Black Americans, in particular, were disproportionately targeted and segregated for subprime, high interest mortgages and housing loans that were far beyond acceptable lending practices. The result was massive financial devastation and loss in the Black American community with the highest foreclosure and bankruptcy rates in the nation.

Today, Black Americans are still reeling from the housing crisis coupled with a debilitating

DR. BENJAMIN F. CHAVIS, JR. NNPA COLUMNIST

unemployment rate beyond 14 percent. But we are entering into a questionable period of American history and politics when it is not popular or politically correct for those who have been targeted for exploitation, discrimination and economic injustice to speak out publicly for fear of being perceived or mischaracterized as mere irresponsible “victims” or “freeloaders” in our national society.

Blacks are victims What former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said about the

47 percent of Americans who in his view do not pay taxes and who see themselves as “victims” is only touching the surface of the serious economic and social realities for millions of Americans.

What should be deeper at issue is why Black Americans and other people of color in America are economically segregated and discriminated against in the U.S. economy?

Economic segregation is the deliberate premeditated targeting and separation of people based on race, class or on some other social factor that denies equal access to economic opportunity and justice. Decades ago there were many unjust public policies and laws that attempted to justify education segregation .

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: SACKED

Christopher Weyant, The Hill

Random thoughts of a free Black mind, v. 155 Schott Foundation report – Florida has shown improvement in educating our state’s Black boys, but it’s moved from ‘F’ status to a ‘D.’ Thus, I won’t congratulate Florida’s educational leadership for improving the system from “disgracefully abysmal” to just “poor,” because education in many of the predominately Black schools many of our children attend have always been underfunded and under-resourced. And that willful neglect was by deliberate design as a consequence of race and class, and of targeting teachers’ unions for destruction and public education for corporate takeover...

Obama’s ‘four corners’ offense – Basketball fans know the “four corners” was a pre-shot clock stall tactic to hold the basketball and retain a lead until the game ran out. Most polls now have Bro. Prez leading by 5 to 10 points, with early voting starting next week in some states.

Bro. Prez’s strategy is now to get through the debates without a major mistake, stay away from major controversies, do no press conferences or interviews with real journalists, hope the Middle East doesn’t blow up, wait for Mitt Romney to again open mouth and insert foot, and air millions of dollars of anti-Romney TV attack ads. Next week, I’ll tell you why that strategy won’t pull Black Floridians to the

quick takes from #2: straight, no chaser

Charles W. Cherry II, Esq. PUBLISHER

polls and how Obama’s folks are still running a risky 2008-style campaign in 2012.

Bro. Prez, do you really want to continue to take Black Floridians for granted? If so, ask Alex Sink and the Florida Democratic Party what happened in 2010...

Nielsen report – Nielsen’s research verifies the economic power of Black America as well as its connection to the Black Press – something we’ve known about for years. I’ve read the full report (downloaded from www.nielsen.com; click on Reports and Downloads), and it tells so much about who we are. I’m using it to determine goods and services I buy; if they don’t support the Black Press, I won’t support them. Look for a list next week of who’s a friend and who’s a pimp...

Contact me at ccherry2@gmail. com; holler at me at www.facebook. com/ccherry2; follow me on Twitter @ ccherry2.

Opinions expressed on this editorial page are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of the newspaper or the publisher.

THE CREDO OF THE BLACK PRESS The Black Press believes that Americans can best lead the world away from racism and national antagonism when it accords to every person, regardless of race, color or creed, full human and legal rights. Hating no person, fearing no person. The Black Press strives to help every person in the firm belief...that all are hurt as long as anyone is held back.

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However, current events received prior to deadline will be considered before any information that is submitted, without the Publisher’s prior approval, after the deadline. Press releases, letters to the editor, and guest commentaries must be e-mailed to be considered for publication. The Florida Courier reserves the right to edit any submission, and crop any photograph, for style and clarity. Materials will not be returned.

Charles W. Cherry, Sr. (1929-2004), Founder Julia T. Cherry, Senior Managing Member, Central Florida Communicators Group, LLC Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Cassandra CherryKittles, Charles W. Cherry II, Managing Members Dr. Glenn W. Cherry, Chief Executive Officer Charles W. Cherry II, Esq., Publisher Dr. Valerie Rawls-Cherry, Human Resources Jenise Morgan, Senior Editor Lynnette Garcia, Marketing Consultant/Sales Linda Fructuoso, Marketing Consultant/Sales, Circulation Angela VanEmmerik, Creative Director Chicago Jones, Eugene Leach, Louis Muhammad, Lisa Rogers-Cherry, Circulation James Harper, Andreas Butler, Ashley Thomas, Staff Writers Delroy Cole, Kim Gibson, Photojournalists MEMBER National Newspaper Publishers Association Society of Professional Journalists Florida Press Association Associated Press National Newspaper Association

Redlining not new The Supreme Court ruled in 1954 that separate and unequal public schools were unconstitutional. Economic segregation, like education segregation, is a violation of civil rights and should also be declared unconstitutional. “Redlining” is not a new phenomenon when it comes to systematic racial discrimination in the housing marketplace. The 1968 Fair Housing Act made it a federal law for sellers and landlords not to discriminate against buyers and renters.

Yet, it is important to note the recent proactive work and progress of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB) concerning the economic impact of the housing crisis on Black America.

During the Annual Legislative Conference of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) held in Washington, D.C., NAREB sponsored a forum on the “State of Housing in Black

America.” NAREB President and CEO Julius Cartwright emphasized, “It is urgently important that we mobilize and take action to address the myriad of critical issues that we have identified documenting housing-related disparities for African-Americans across the nation.”

We need to raise up a new generation of freedom fighters and entrepreneurs who are neither afraid nor ashamed to call out and fight discrimination and economic segregation in all of its forms.

Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is president of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and Education Online Services Corporation.

He can be reached at drbenjamin.chavis@gmail.com. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Important school issues are ‘off the table’ The Chicago teachers strike got national attention, much of it presuming that the biggest issues are pay and evaluation.

But the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has stated that the two sides have in fact been very close on pay.

And union members have no objection to evaluation.

They just want a system not so skewed to standardized, high-stakes testing.

These tests aren’t particularly good ways to measure teacher performance and, even worse, have the perverse effect of forcing teachers to teach kids to take tests rather than to love learning.

But the big issues for these schools and for the teachers aren’t talked about because they are officially “off the table.” CTU teachers are most concerned about class size, about adequate facilities, about wrap-around services from social workers to nurses, about well-rounded curricula including art and music and languages, about early childhood education that helps children come to school ready to learn.

tional opportunities provid-

Rev. ed by the schools where they Jesse L. teach.

It’s not surprising that Jackson, teachers react when a conSr. TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

are 160 elementary schools without a library; 140 are in the poorer South Side of the city.

Even though a staggering 80 percent of inner-city teen boys are exposed to violence, 675 schools share about 205 social workers.

Schools often must choose between art and music, if they are lucky enough to have either.

Too often, Chicago is not providing the basics in public education for its most needy children. The CTU published a report detailing these concerns. But under state law, they can’t negotiate about them unless their employer agrees -- and neither Mayor Rahm Emanuel nor school officials will consent to enter into negotiations about these crucial conditions.

Schools not safe

Teachers can’t negotiate

This isn’t fancy stuff. One concern is that classrooms reach temperatures of up to 98 degrees in summer; yet only 29 percent of schools are air-conditioned. Another is about textbooks for the first day of school. Many of Chicago’s elementary and middle schools have no safe place for recess, and few have age-appropriate playground equipment. There

When the teachers strike ends and children return to class, teachers will get the blame for the performance of the students. But they can’t negotiate about crushing poverty, broken families and hard streets that impact the hearts, souls and minds of the children they teach.

And teachers can’t even negotiate about the quality of the facilities and the educa-

tractually agreed 4 percent pay raise is revoked or the school day and school year are lengthened without negotiations. They are frustrated at the lack of respect paid to the needs of the children they teach. And they are bound to be frustrated at the lack of respect paid to their own contracts.

Impoverished schools No one likes when teachers strike. But teachers are on the front line. In a time of spreading poverty and rising hunger, with harsh exploitation of the poor by landlords and payday lenders, poor children too often come to impoverished schools.

Teachers take the rap for poor student performance without having the power to change what gets in the way of learning. Grading teachers on the basis of a machine-graded test cannot substitute for schools with playgrounds and social workers, classes with manageable numbers, or roofs that don’t leak.

Poverty, inequality, violence, race and investment matter. They must be a part of any long-term solution

The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. is president and CEO of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Occupy the vote: No bullies at the polls “Eligible Americans have a civic duty to vote, and government at the federal, state, and local level has a responsibility to protect voters from illegal interference and intimidation.” - Bullies at the Ballot Box report Last week, a new report by Common Cause and Demos, entitled “Bullies at the Ballot Box,” took direct aim at Jim Crow-like tactics designed to challenge and intimidate voters at the polls.

The report especially notes the campaign of intimidation that is currently being waged by a Tea Party affiliated group called True the Vote, which has set a goal of training and deploying as many as one million poll watchers “to challenge and confront other Americans as they go to the polls in November.”

Voters face danger True the Vote has said they want to make the experience of voting “like driving and seeing the police following you.” Earlier this year, we saw what happened when an overzealous citizen decided to follow and confront a teenager with a hoodie whose only “crime” was walking while Black. As the new report states, “There is a real danger that voters will face overzealous volunteers

MARC H. MORIAL TRICE EDNEY WIRE

who take the law into their own hands to target voters they deem suspect.”

These mostly conservative groups claim their purpose is to protect against voter fraud – a solution in search of a problem, since the incidence of voter fraud in America is miniscule. The only fraud is their real intent, which is to gain political advantage for their preferred candidate by disenfranchising, suppressing or bullying progressive voters who tend to be people of color, the elderly, students and people with disabilities.

Poll stalking intimidation The Bullies at the Ballot Box report raises awareness about this threat and outlines what is legal and permissible when it comes to challenging a voter’s eligibility both before and on election day. It also assesses the ability of ten key swing states to protect the rights of voters who may face this type of poll-stalking intimidation.

The intimidation tactics

by True the Vote and others, along with new voter ID laws in at least 30 states, and the elimination of early and weekend voting in several others, could seriously impact the outcome of the November election.

Stephen Spaulding of Common Cause, a co-author of the report put it this way: “We’re concerned about this well-organized, well-funded effort to suppress the vote by challenging voters in the run-up to the elections and on Elections Day, and fostering a climate of intimidation.

The issue is their techniques are just throwing up barriers to eligible Americans, who just want to cast their ballot.”

We agree. That’s why the National Urban League has devoted this year to removing those barriers through our “Occupy the Vote” campaign.

To read the full Bullies at the Ballot Box Report visit: http://www.demos.org/ publication/bullies-ballotbox-protecting-freedomvote-against-wrongful-challenges-and-intimidation

Marc Morial is president/CEO of the National Urban League. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

SEPTEMBER 28 - october 4, 2012

EDITORIAL

47 percent has made extraordinary contributions So, welcome to Romneyville, an evolving plutocracy where the super-rich have convinced itself by birthright or wealth-right that it is their manifest destiny to govern the rest of us by their self-indulgent rules. Through outright insults or innuendoes they clearly have divided the nation into: makers vs. takers, the counted vs. the discounted, the greater beings and the lesser beings and those not worth bothering with at all.

Romney’s inelegant language concludes that 47 percent of his fellow Americans are not worth bothering with because they don’t pay federal income taxes. That was not a gaffe, nor a misspoken phrase. It is a state of mind that sees the non-rich as belonging on the wrong side of the track and the government as the personal valet of the rich to transfer wealth by limiting the survival resources of the so-called weak and unfit— a cross between laissez faire and social Darwinism.

It is obnoxious that GOP presidential contender Mitt Romney made such selfish comments at a $50,000- a- plate dinner, an amount three times as much as millions of the working poor net in a year, if they are lucky enough to still have a job.

Moreover, the secretly recorded event was held at the tony Bridgehampton mansion of Marc Leder, who like Romney is known for heading a private equity firm with a reputation for taking over businesses, squeezing profits through closures which send workers into the unemployment lines, where they join the ranks of those criticized by the Romney crowd for not working.

the breaking up of corporations and outsourcing of businesses get on their high-horses and label us as a lesser species that somehow enjoy being dependent and needing help-- not for buying more yachts or private planes – but for basic food, shelter and employment.

Why can’t this crowd understand that millions of those who they berate have made extraordinary contributions to this country? Included in their unworthy “47 percent” are soldiers whose pay is exempted from federal income taxes while serving in or hospitalized while serving in active combat zones. Some are students who are future taxpayers, those who work every day but don’t make enough money to pay federal taxes and seniors living on limited incomes.

I have worked two or three jobs since I was 16 years old, worked my way through college to earn three degrees. So at 70 years old I receive Medicare and Social Security something I have paid into through payroll taxes for 50 years.

I still work and constantly seek more work to fill in a substantial gap that Social Security does not cover. I volunteer and serve without pay for many social causes. It is disheartening to see how Romneyville paints people like me as undeserving moochers.

Lesser species label

Punishing the needy

I find it galling that Romney’s crowd who have played such a role in tanking the economy through lobbying for de-regulation, fueling the subprime housing crisis,

I am angry not at the rich for being rich, but for the disdain people like Romney and side kick Paul Ryan hold for those not in their country-club existence and

REV. BARBARA REYNOLDS TRICEEDNEYWIRE.COM

Romney’s inelegant language concludes that 47 percent of his fellow Americans are not worth bothering with because they don’t pay federal income taxes. That was not a gaffe, nor a misspoken phrase. It is a state of mind that sees the nonrich as belonging on the wrong side of the track and the government as the personal valet of the rich to transfer wealth by limiting the survival resources of the so-called weak and unfit—a cross between laissez faire and social Darwinism. their insistence of punishing the needy. How else do you explain their zeal to kill Obama’s Affordable Care Act, which could be the difference between life and death for those who couldn’t afford health care?

They act like arsonists who burn down your houses and scold the occupants for being homeless, which eerily describes how a plutocracy operates. While the right defines the left as socialists, the left must examine the workings of a plutocracy.

In a 2010 lecture at Boston University journalist Bill Moy-

A5

VISUAL VIEWPOINT: VOTER ID DELAYS

John Cole, The Scranton Times-Tribune

ers described how a plutocracy is chocking out democracy. He said that certain conservative groups have created a “shadow party” determined to be the real power in Washington just like Rome’s Opus Dei in Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code.”

In this shadow party the plutocrats reign. “We have reached what former Labor Secretary Robert Reich calls ‘the perfect storm that threatens American democracy: an unprecedented concentration of income and wealth at the top; a record amount of secret money, flooding our democracy; and a public becoming increasingly angry and cynical about a government that’s raising its taxes, reducing its services, and unable to get it back to work. We’re losing our democracy to a different system’ It’s called plutocracy.”

Clean money needed Moyers said the fraction of one percent of Americans who now earn as much as the bottom 120 million Americans includes the top executives of giant corporations and those Wall Street hedge

funds and private equity managers who are buying our democracy.

What can make us whole again?

Moyer warned: “Our government is being bought. Until we get clean money we’re not going to get clean elections, and until we get clean elections, you can kiss goodbye government of, by, and for the people. Welcome to the plutocracy.”

The problem with a plutocracy, the one percent does not have a welcome mat out for the 99 percent or the 47 percent, the rebuked and the scorned outsiders. No one concedes power without a demand, abolitionist Frederick Douglass once said. So it is up to the 1 percent to find a way to crash the party.

Dr. Barbara Reynolds is a lecturer at universities and seminaries, an author of six books, and a book coach. Contact her via www.reynoldsworldnews. com. Click on this story at www. flcourier.com to write your own response.

Blacks’ lives not better under President Obama African-Americans will cast their votes for President Barack Obama again despite what his presidency continues to cost us.

As President Obama seeks a second term there is no expectation of any change in Blacks’ voting patterns. Though Blacks are no better off under Obama than during either of the Bush presidencies, Blacks will certainly give Obama strong support on Nov. 6.

The Republicans’ nominee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has little history with African-Americans.

Anti-African-American segments within the GOP make Republican office-seekers’ outreach appeals to Blacks difficult, if not impossible. Romney’s Mormon faith puts many African-Americans off because for much of their history.

Mormons considered Blacks to be inferior to Whites.

Don’t support Romney The Romney-Ryan campaign illustrates that the divide that existed between African-Americans and the Republican Party in the

will not do that. My course will.”

WILLIAM REED BUSINESS EXCHANGE

past has now become a chasm.

It’s being reported that Obama currently has 94 percent of Black American voters’ support. There’s little effort on the part of RomneyRyan to cut into that lead.

According to the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll conducted in August, zero percent of African-Americans support Romney, though he has made overtures that include comments he made to the NAACP in Houston: “I am running for president because I know that my policies and vision will help hundreds of millions of middle-class Americans of all races, will lift people from poverty, and will help prevent people from becoming poor. My campaign is about helping the people who need help. The course the president has, has not done that – and

has avoided mentioning almost entirely. In having to be twice as good and half as Black, Obama What hope and change?

Actually, the course Obama is illustrates the false promise and on has caused Blacks’ conditions double standard of integration. to worsen over the past three years. There is no need to ask Obama mediocre Obama’s presidency has been “have Blacks’ lives gotten better” under Obama’s presidency; the mediocre at best. Barack has had disproportionately poor employ- three years to apply his remedies ment rates among African-Ameri- to the problems facing us and the cans is worse; the economy under best he and the Democrats can do Obama has increased people’s is continue to blame the GOP and need for federal assistance, such a president who left office four as food stamps. In their pledge years ago. The Democrats had a “to guard Obama’s back,” Blacks veto-proof Senate and a majority have accepted a level of leader- in the House during Obama’s first ship the majority of Americans two years in office.

Republicans took over the see as subpar.

What has Obama & Co. done House as a direct result of votto deserve an encore? Too many ers’ dissatisfaction with Obama’s Blacks are still seeking “hope and first two years in office. Bush left change” that will never come. us about $4 trillion in debt. UnMost African-Americans miss the der Obama, that debt is now $16 fact that the majority of Ameri- trillion. When Obama became cans are “mad as hell and not go- president, the unemployment rate was 7.7 percent. Now it’s ing to take it anymore!”

As a candidate, Obama said we 8.1 percent. And, federal govneeded to reckon with race and ernment’s business contractwith slavery, America’s original. ing with Black-owned firms deBut as our first Black president, he creased under Obama.

Black voters need to recognize the Democrats as derelict as the Republicans in discussing issues of concerns to African-Americans, such as strengthening families; unemployment/economic empowerment; urban training programs; violence in our communities; institutional racism; AIDS and health issues; unequal justice; drug use and incarceration.

How dumb are we? Where are our demands for representation?

Despite a “Blackout” on dissenting opinions about Obama’s presidency, some Black Americans feel their best interests haven’t been served and won’t be over the next four years – no matter who sits in the White House.

William Reed is head of the Business Exchange Network and available for speaking/ seminar projects through the Bailey Group.org. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

Weathering the Arab Spring recoil Now that the so-called Arab Spring has sprung, we are beginning to feel the recoil, and it hurts. Who knows how much more it’s going to hurt in the next few months or so? All of the countries that sprang up against their leaders, which resulted in thousands of deaths, subsequent chaos, and geopolitical upheaval, are now trying to figure out what their next move will be. And what are the implications for the United States in this aftermath of the Arab Spring?

Initially portrayed as a beautiful and much-needed change in the political landscape of the so-called “middle east,” the Arab Spring conjured up notions of springtime, a new beginning and roadmap to nirvana in nations that have suffered under corrupt, evil, greedy despots for decades.

Forgot about recoil Now, with the latest news of uprisings, bombings, riots, and assassinations of Americans, even a diplomat, many are wondering what the “spring” was all about.

We forgot about the recoil.

In full context, the touting of the

tail wagging the dog.

JAMES CLINGMAN NNPA COLUMNIST

Arab Spring made some folks feel that the lockdown of the “middle east” was coming to an end. Democracy would take hold and relations between the West and its long-time enemies, even though we had financially supported most of them, would be changed forever. So much for that scenario.

Now that the recoil has come, this nation is faced with even more of our young people dying on battlefields with no victory in sight.

We are entertaining doomsday predictions of more wars, even nuclear wars. There is the very real probability that our “best friend” in that part of the world, Israel, will launch a strike against the “evil empire” of the east, Iran, which may start world war III. At a minimum, it will cause a spike in gas prices the likes of which we have never seen. Talk about the

Party over here Russia, China and the U.S. are at odds over the whole mess, and who knows where that relationship will go? Embassies are closing, diplomats are on alert, religious doctrines are at odds with one another, even to the point of non-believing “infidels” being killed; cartoons and films are being promoted, no doubt to incite more unrest and chaos, and all the while we are sinking further in debt and facing hyperinflation.

This gives new meaning to the old school refrain, “Party over here!”

Less than two months from the presidential election, our candidates are spending more time raising money at swank venues, hobnobbing with those who can afford to pay the $50,000 per plate for the privilege of exchanging a few words and shaking a few hands.

We see them on various TV shows talking about the most ridiculous things, laughing and hamming it up with hosts who want to know what the candidates wear when they go to bed,

or how their dogs are doing, or what their favorite food is, or who their favorite TV personality is, while never mentioning the war in Afghanistan and soldiers who are being killed by folks who are supposed to be their friends. As a citizen of first-century Rome must have said, “I smell smoke.”

All out war How much more do we have to see before we realize that this country, this world, is on an economic kamikaze mission? Even more serious is the ever-present danger of all-out war, started by Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s concern over Iran developing a nuclear weapon, despite the fact that Israel and other countries have nukes. And Pakistan’s nukes may soon find their way into the hands of its young U.S.-hating rioters.

Get your wheelbarrows ready; you’ll need them to carry all of the dollars it will take to buy a loaf of bread.

Practically speaking, young people are being gunned down and murdered in the streets of Chicago at record rates; some

parts of Detroit have become ghost towns; folks on the West Coast are paying more than $4 for a gallon of gasoline; several cities have filed bankruptcy and others are on the verge of doing so; veterans are not treated fairly when they return home; and poor people are so far off the political radar screen they may as well not even exist.

With all of that going for us, the final result from the Arab Spring will be a recoil that impacts and exacerbates oil prices, foreign aid, diplomatic relations and, most important, more young people dying in vain in wars that will never lead to victory.

Economically, the recoil from the Arab Spring will propel us into the ionosphere of higher prices, national debt, and even more poverty.

James Clingman is founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber, He is an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati and can be reached through his Web site, blackonomics.com. Click on this story at www.flcourier.com to write your own response.

TOj A6

FLORIDA

september 28 – OCTOBER 4, 2012

State’s jobless rate remains at 8.8 percent; jobs added

BY MICHAEL PELTIER THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

TALLAHASSEE – Florida’s August jobless rate remained unchanged from July, standing at 8.8 percent as the economy’s jerky recovery continues, the Department of Economic Opportunity reported last week.

The August rate was 1.2 points lower than in August 2011 and represented an increase of 77,800 nonagricultural jobs over the year. Total non-agricultural employment grew by 23,200 from July, a net increase that included a loss of 5,200 government positions.

“The month of August showed that 28,000 more Floridians found employment in the private sector and are able to provide for their families,” Gov. Rick Scott said in a prepared statement. “This increase in new jobs is proving that the decisions we’re making here in Florida are pointing our state in the right direction.”

Construction still lags Nationally, the unemployment rate in August fell to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent in July, a drop attributed to more people giving up job searches instead of finding jobs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported earlier this month.

The figure was 1.2 percentage points below an adjusted 9.3 percent rate in August 2011.

Florida’s non-agricultural workforce topped 7.3 million in August, an increase of 77,800 jobs from a year ago, or 1.1 percent, the agency reported.

The business and professional sector led the pack, increasing by 4.0 percent, or 42,700 jobs from August 2011. Construction continues to lag, falling 2.6 percent, or 8,500 jobs, from a year ago.

Florida’s civilian workforce fell by 10,000 from July but showed an increase of 9,000 employees over the year, according to figures adjusted for seasonality.

Lowest rate in Monroe Hendry, Flagler and St. Lucie counties had the state’s highest unemployment rates at 15.3 percent, 12.4 percent and 12.2 percent respectively.

Monroe County had the state’s lowest jobless rate at 5 percent. It was followed

by Walton 5.5 percent and Okaloosa at 6.1 percent.

The Florida August jobless rate is the latest in a series of economic indicators that show the state’s recovery has been far from seamless.

Half of the homes sold in August were sold for more than $147,000, a 5.8 percent increase from a year earlier.

Nationally, single-family

home sales rose 9.3 percent in August from a year ago.

In August, the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research released an eco-

nomic analysis that attributed a large portion of Florida’s falling unemployment rate – about 70 percent – to a reduction in the labor force and not to people get-

ting back to work.

A Florida International University study released earlier this month reported that Florida in 2011 led the nation in the number

of long-term unemployed, with 53 percent of jobless workers still looking for work after six months compared to 43 percent nationwide.

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Median income drops On Aug. 20, the U.S. Census Bureau released a report that showed median income in Florida dropped 2.9 percent in 2011.The state’s median income dipped from $45,609 in 2010 to $44,299 in 2011, according to the American Community Survey. The national median income is $50,502.

The survey also found that 17.3 percent, or about one in six Floridians, live below the poverty level, which is about $23,000 for a family of four.

That’s up from 16.5 percent in 2010. National poverty rates also went up to 15.9 percent. Both state and national rates have climbed for the past four years.

Florida existing home sales in August rose 10.8 percent from a year ago, according to data released by Florida Realtors earlier this week. The number of contracts signed but not closed upon jumped 40.2 percent over the same period.

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Home prices rise The median price of homes sold also climbed but not as dramatically.

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HEALTH FOOD || HEALTH TRAVEL | |MONEY SCIENCE | BOOKS | MOVIES | TV | AUTOS LIFE | FAITH | EVENTS | CLASSIFIEDS | ENTERTAINMENT | SPORTS | FOOD September 28 - October 4, 2012

IFE/FAITH

Harry Belafonte among artists coming to Florida See page B2

SHARING BLACK LIFE, STATEWIDE

SUN COAST / TAMPA BAY

Roundup of HBCU football See page B3

www.flcourier.com

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SECTION

B

President Barack Obama Laurence Kesterson/ Philadelphia Inquirer/ MCT

As the 2012 election cycle hits full-steam, we look back at the promises President Obama made in the 2008 election

By Steven Thomma and Lesley Clark McClatchy Newspapers

romises, promises.

They are the stuff of presidential campaigns, flowing from the candidates lips at every stop.

They’re bold and simple, delivered with absolute certainty that they will be fulfilled.

Once in office, though, presidents often find it difficult to deliver. They find that Congress and the Supreme Court have a say. Circumstances change. A war erupts. The economy stumbles.

Presidents can break some of their promises and survive.

Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1932 vowed to balance the federal budget.

Instead, he launched a series of government programs to ease the pain of the Great Depression, ran up deficits and won a landslide re-election.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan said he’d

Tax cuts The verdict: Promise delayed.

The promise: End Bush tax cuts for individual incomes above $200,000 and family incomes above $250,000.

The quote: “One of the things I think we are going to have to do is reverse some of those Bush tax cuts that went to the wealthiest Americans ... and invest in infrastructure, invest in education, invest in health care for all.”

— Barack Obama, March 31, 2007 The facts: Rather than let the Bush tax cuts for higher incomes expire as scheduled on Dec. 31, 2010, Obama agreed to extend them for another two years. He had to do that to win Republican agreement in Congress to also extend the Bush tax cuts for lower incomes. He has vowed again to let the taxes on the wealthiest expire at the end of this year.

Guantanamo Bay The verdict: Promise broken.

The promise: To close the terrorist prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The quote: “I will close Guantanamo, reject the Military Commissions Act and adhere to the Geneva Conventions. Our Constitution and laws... provide a framework for dealing with the terrorists.”

— Barack Obama, Aug. 1, 2007 The facts: Two days after he took office, Obama signed an executive order to force the closure of the Guantanamo Bay facility within a year. His plan met with fierce opposition in Congress from lawmakers, including Democrats, who opposed transferring suspected terrorists to U.S. prisons. Obama changed course in 2011, signing another executive order, this time allowing military trials to continue at the camp. The administration insists it “remains committed” to closing the facility, but Abd al Rahim al Nashiri, who faces the death penalty in al-Qaida’s suicide bombing of a U.S. Navy warship in a Yemen port a decade ago, and is currently on trial there before a military tribunal.

cut taxes and spending. He delivered on taxes. He couldn’t deliver on spending, and stuck the country with soaring deficits. Still, the economy started growing, and Reagan coasted to a landslide re-election.

Not every president has had the same experience.

George H.W. Bush vowed in 1988 to resist any effort to raise taxes. “Congress will push and push ... and I’ll say, ‘Read my lips: No new taxes,’” he said to cheers on his way to victory.

He broke the pledge to reach a budget deal, lost support from conservatives and went on to lose in 1992.

George W. Bush pledged in 2000 never to commit the U.S. to nationbuilding elsewhere in the world. After the 2001 terrorist attacks, he invaded Iraq, then spent the rest of his presidency nation building in Iraq.

He survived to win re-election, but the drain of Iraq cost him political capital.

Barack Obama so far has a mixed

Universal health care The verdict: Promise kept.

The promise: Health care for every American.

The quote: “Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don’t, you’ll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves.”

— Barack Obama, Aug. 28, 2008 The facts: Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law on March 23, 2010. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said in July, after the Supreme Court upheld the law, that about 92 percent of legal, non-elderly Americans will have coverage by 2022, when the law is fully implemented, compared to 82 percent without the law. That wouldn’t cover “every single American” as promised, but it is close.

War in Iraq The verdict: Promise kept.

The promise: End U.S. involvement in Iraq.

The quote: “I will begin to remove our troops from Iraq immediately. I will remove one or two brigades a month and get all of our combat troops out of Iraq within 16 months. The only troops I will keep in Iraq will perform the limited missions of protecting our diplomats and carrying out targeted strikes on al-Qaida. … Let there be no doubt: I will end this war.”

— Barack Obama, Oct. 2, 2007 The facts: In August 2010 – 18 months after taking office – Obama declared the combat mission in Iraq over.

On Dec. 18, 2011, the last American combat troops left the country, nearly 9 years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. The U.S. is still assisting the country on a variety of fronts, including law enforcement and security.

record, delivering on some of his big promises, striking out on others and struggling with many more in the face of a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives.

The non-partisan website PolitiFact.com keeps a running score of more than 500 Obama promises, and said he’s kept 37 percent of them.

Another 14 percent are considered a compromise, 23 percent are “in the works” and 26 percent are either “stalled” or “broken.”

The following is McClatchy’s scorecard on 10 high-profile promises, half of them domestic, half dealing with foreign policy or national security.

DOMESTIC PROMISES Cost of health care The verdict: Promise broken.

The promise: To cut health care premiums by as much as $2,500 a year.

The quote: “I have made a solemn pledge that I will sign a universal health care bill into law by the end of my first term as president that will cover every American and cut the cost of a typical family’s premium by up to $2,500 a year.”

— Barack Obama, June 23, 2007 The facts: The average premium for families with employer-provided insurance went up by 9 percent this year over last year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The average premium for an individual shot up 8 percent.

The White House said only about 1 to 2 percentage points of the increase could be tied to the new law. Longer term, the prospects are mixed. The Congressional Budget Office last year said premiums will be “somewhat higher” but that “many people will end up paying less for health insurance” because they’ll get help from the government.

FOREIGN PROMISES Osama bin Laden The verdict: Promise kept.

The promise: Get terror mastermind.

The quote: “If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act and we will take them out. We will kill bin Laden; we will crush al-Qaida.

That has to be our biggest national security priority.”

— Barack Obama, Oct. 7, 2008.

The facts: Late on May 1, 2011, Obama announced from the White House that the leader of the al-Qaida terror organization had been killed in Pakistan by U.S. operatives.

He said then that shortly after he took office he had directed then-CIA director Leon Panetta to make the killing or capture of bin Laden “the top priority of our war against alQaida.”

Jobs The verdict: Promise broken in part, kept in part.

Environment The verdict: Promise broken.

The promise: Save or create millions of jobs and keep unemployment below 8 percent if able to enact stimulus package.

The quote: “A package in the range that the PresidentElect has discussed is expected to create between three and four million jobs by the end of 2010.”

— Obama advisers Christina Romer and Jared Bernstein in a report on the benefits of the proposed stimulus, Jan. 9, 2008.

Report included a chart showing unemployment peaking below 8 percent if the stimulus were enacted.

The facts: Unemployment topped 8 percent the next month — at the same time the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was being passed — and remains above 8 percent three years later.

The CBO concluded last year that the $830 billion stimulus did have a positive effect on jobs — increasing the number of jobs by 1.6 million to 4.6 million over what it would have totaled, and decreasing the unemployment rate by 0.6 to 1.8 percentage points.

The promise: A “cap and trade” plan that would limit the emissions that contribute to global warming.

The quote: “As president, I will set a hard cap on all carbon emissions at a level that scientists say is necessary to curb global warming, an 80 percent reduction by 2050.”

— Barack Obama, Oct. 8, 2007 The facts: The House of Representatives passed the plan while Democrats still controlled it. But it was blocked in the Senate. And the Republican takeover of the House and gains in the Senate in 2010 killed the idea. Said Obama after the 2010 elections: “It’s doubtful that you could get the votes to pass that through the House this year or next year or the year after.”

Mideast peace

Afghanistan

The verdict: Promise broken.

The promise: “He will make a sustained push — working with Israelis and Palestinians — to achieve the goal of two states, a Jewish state in Israel and a Palestinian state, living side by side in peace and security.”

— Obama’s “Blueprint for Change” The facts: Days after taking office, President Obama named George Mitchell, who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland, as a special envoy to the Middle East in hopes of reaching a deal to an issue that has proved vexing to U.S. presidents for decades. But Mitchell stepped down in March, followed months later by Dennis Ross, one of Obama’s key Middle East advisors. Peace talks have stalled, and Obama last year failed to convince the Palestinians not to seek recognition at the United Nations. Given domestic political considerations, analysts don’t expect any movement on the front between now and the election.

The verdict: Promise kept.

The promise: Send more troops to wage war in Afghanistan The quote: “As president, I would deploy at least two additional brigades to Afghanistan to reinforce our counterterrorism operations and support NATO’s efforts against the Taliban.”

— Barack Obama, Aug. 1, 2007 The facts: Obama on Feb.17, 2009, ordered two additional brigades to Afghanistan, saying it was necessary to stabilize a “deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.” On Dec. 1, 2009, he announced he was sending another 30,000 troops.

He’s pledged to “wind down the war” with U.S. and NATO combat troops remaining there through 2014, but with Afghanistan’s security forces taking a lead role in 2013 in defending the country.

T

CALENDAR

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SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 4, 2012

TO

Fifth Third Bank, Derrick Brooks Charities launch ‘Business Bootcamp’

Derrick Brooks signs a football money box for a student at a kickoff event for his “Brooks Bunch Business Bootcamp.’’

FLORIDA COMMUNITY CALENDAR St. Petersburg: Enjoy an evening of jazz with Victor Wooden at the State Theater on Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.

Orlando: Tyler Perry’s “Madea Gets a Job’’ makes a stop at the University of Central Florida Arena in Orlando on Nov. 8 and the American Airlines Arena in Miami Nov. 9-10.

Tampa: A Heritage bid whist-spade tournament will be held Oct. 6 from 10 a.m. - noon at the Heritage Isles Golf and Country Club, 10630 Plantation Bay Drive.

A portion of the proceeds will generate a scholarship fund to promote the arts. Cost: $36 individual, $67 team of 2 or $124 team of 4. Register

by Oct. 1. More information: tampablackheritage.org.

Jacksonville: Jennifer Holiday will perform at Edward Waters College during its 11th Annual Fine Arts Scholarship Benefit Concert at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts on Oct. 14 at 8 p.m.

Orlando: Senator Gary Siplin is hosting a health and social services fair Oct. 20, at Evans High School, 4949 Silver Star Road. Children ages 11 through 18 years old, living in Orange County and uninsured, may register for a free physical medical exam by Teen Express of Orlando Health. Information on Medicaid/Medicare, the WIC program, child support collection, breast cancer prevention and more will be available. For more on free physicals for children, call 407-297-2071.

Kissimmee: The Freestyle Legends Tour returns to the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee for its fourth flashback into the ’80s and ’90s Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. The old-school lineup features Lisa Lisa, Sugar Hill Gang, Sweet Sensation, Brenda K Starr, C&C Music Factory, Trinere, Charlie Rock, Debbie Dee, Clear Touch, Nayobe, Noel, Corina, Soave and Giggles.

Tampa: The Tampa Bay Black Heritage Festival will host the Seventh Annual Heritage Golf Classic Fundraiser on Oct. 6 at Heritage Isles Golf and Country Club, 10630 Plantation Bay Drive. Teams and individuals interested in participating can register at 813205-2466. Golf tournament fees are $100 for individual participants and $350 for a foursome, which includes lunch. Registration begins at 7 a.m. and the tournament will begin at 8 a.m. Trophies will be awarded.

Orlando: Frankie Beverly & Maze will be at the House of Blues Orlando Oct. 5 for a 7:30 p.m. show.

Orlando: Sen. Gary Siplin will

TAMPA – Fifth Third Bank (Tampa Bay) and Derrick Brooks Charities recently launched the “Brooks Bunch Business Bootcamp,” a two-year financial literacy program for 10th grade students at Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School.

The school is a public charter high school with a goal of preparing students for postsecondary success in a small, safe learning environment.

“We are delighted to work with Derrick Brooks Charities in a partnership that will be very valuable for their students and our community’s future leaders,” said Brian Lamb, president of Fifth Third Bank (Tampa Bay).

“The skills they will acquire will help them make sound financial decisions long in-

to the future – whether it’s saving for college, buying a home, or investing.”

The curriculum, designed

by Dave Ramsey – personal finance expert and New York Times best-selling author – is titled “Foundations in Personal Finance.” Students will learn about savings, investment options, debt, budgeting, mortgages, insurance and other financial empowerment topics. Tony Sasso, membership banking officer at Fifth Third Bank (Tampa Bay), will lead the biweekly classes, along with local business leaders who will often guest speak.

Classes start Oct. 2 “Brooks DeBartolo prepares its students for postsecondary success in a small

learning environment, focusing on each student and their educational accomplishments,” said Brooks, a former NFL linebacker for 14 seasons founder of the Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School. “This program will provide another way for our students to succeed while preparing for college and other important life accomplishments.”

At a kickoff event hosted at the high school, the participating students enrolled in the program had the opportunity to meet Brooks and receive an autographed money box, along with $5 from Fifth Third Bank to encourage them to start saving early. The Brooks Bunch Business Bootcamp classes will begin Oct. 2.

SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM VISITS

On Sept. 29, museums nationwide will open their doors for free. For a list of participating museums in the Florida area and to download tickets visit Smithsonian.com/ museumdaylive.

Standing: Rev. Olivett Johnson, Deacon Anthony Moultry, Arthur McDonald and Deacon James Jones.

TRINA

Trina, Melanie Fiona and Cash Out are among the performers scheduled at Bethune-Cookman University’s Homecoming concert on Oct. 6. The show starts at 8 p.m.

More on Homecoming: http:// homecoming.cookman.edu/ LegacyHomecoming/Home.html. host a free housing workshop on Sept. 29 at the Pine Hills Community Center, 6408 Jennings Road. More information: 407-207-2071.

Orlando: Comedian Sinbad will be at the Hard Rock Live

Seated: Rev. Cheryl Wilcox, E. Pearl Maloney, Dr. Dorothy Orr, Sarah Blanchard and Minister Vicki Flournoy.

HARRY BELAFONTE

“An Evening of the Arts in Celebration of Mr. Harry Belafonte’’ is scheduled Oct. 6 at The Mahaffey, 400 First St. South, St. Petersburg. The Harlem Renaissance-themed event, which begins at 8 p.m., will feature performances from a number of artists.

Orlando Oct. 12 for an 8 p.m. show.

Jacksonville: Comedian and actor Kevin Hart performs at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts Oct. 12 for a 7 p.m. show.

Broward Charmettes to honor men, women in religion

St. Petersburg: First Fridays are held in downtown St. Petersburg at 250 Central Ave. between Second and Third Avenues fromT:8” 5:30 p.m.10:30 p.m. More information: 727-393-3597.

The Charmettes, Inc., of Broward County will presents its Sixth Annual “Men and Women in Religion Luncheon’’ on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 2:30 p.m.

The organization will honor people “who graciously work and help make a difference in the church and community.’’

The event will be held at The Signature Grand, 6900 State Road 84, Davie. Cost of the luncheon is $60.

To RSVP, call 954-5816185 or 954-735-0352. Proceeds from this event will benefit The Charmettes’ Cancer Research and Scholarship.

2012

Happy 40th Anniversary

2002

1992

1982

1972 National Black McDonald’s Operators Association is founded

Cheers to your spectacular past and a promising future. May you continue to rise to the top.

© 2012 McDonald’s

STOJ

SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 4, 2012

Meet some of

FLORIDA'S

finest

South Florida native Marissa Robinson is the eldest of five children and considers family and the love of God the first priority in her life. The 25-year-old model is a graduate of the University of Tampa and says her most important goal in life is to one day open an adult facility catering to the geriatric community.

submitted for your approval

FINEST & SPORTS

B3

Think you’re one of Florida’s Finest?

E-mail your high-resolution (200 dpi) digital photo in casual wear or bathing suit taken in front of a plain background with few distractions, to news@flcourier. com with a short biography of yourself and your contact information. (No nude/ glamour/ fashion photography, please!) In order to be considered, you must be at least 18 years of age. Acceptance of the photographs submitted is in the sole and absolute discretion of Florida Courier editors. We reserve the right to retain your photograph even if it is not published. If you are selected, you will be contacted by e-mail and further instructions will be given.

marissa

Perrish Googins, 23, is a 2012 graduate of the University of South Carolina where he studied Information Management and Systems. While at USC, he participated in track and field, and was a cheerleader. He’s a personal trainer and coaches track, cheer, and song and dance. The actor/model enjoys playing the violin. His goals are to compete in the Olympics and to own a business.

Contact Perrish at www.facebook.com/ pharohgogg.

T I Photography by Phil.

perrish

Penalties continue to plague favored teams 16 on third downs but converted 4-of-5 fourth downs. It was another highly penalized game as the teams had a total of 25 penalties for 254 yards.

COMPILED BY ANDREAS BUTLER FLORIDA COURIER

Tennessee State holds off BethuneCookman In the battle of the two topranked HBCU teams, Tennessee State University (TSU) came away with a 21-14 win over BethuneCookman University.

B-CU came in ranked No. 1 last week in all the HBCU polls while TSU was No. 2 in three and tied for third in another poll.

Tennessee State (4-0) struck first on a nine-yard touchdown run from Travis Ward to take an early 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

The drive was set up by an 80-yard pass play from Michael German to A.C. Leonard.

The Tigers led 21-0 in the second quarter behind another touchdown run from Ward and a 40-yard touchdown return by Daniel Fitzpatrick after Antonio Harper blocked Sven Hurd’s 33-yard field goal attempt.

Bethune-Cookman (2-2) got within 21-14 late in the half as Quentin Williams connected with Preston Cleckley from 10 yards out and LaBrandon Richardson’s 44-yards fumble return for a score.

Ward finished with 154 yards on the ground with two scores to lead TSU. The Tigers outgained the Wildcats 357-287 in total offense while both teams had two turnovers and combined on 17 penalties for 177 yards.

Williams had 116 total yards (75 passing, 41 rushing) with a touchdown pass and Broderick Waters 66 total yards (41 rushing, 12 passing) for B-CU. German added 157 yards passing, Telvin Hooks 67 yards rushing, Leonard 101 yards receiving and Travis James 45 receiving yards for the Tigers.

Isidore Jackson ran for 65 yards and Rodney Scott 53 yards for the Wildcats.

Defensively, Jarkevis Fields had 14 total tackles, Richardson nine with two fumble recoveries, Nesley Marcellon nine tackles and D.J. Howard an interception for B-CU. Nick Thrasher had 13 total tackles to lead TSU defensively while Fitzpatrick added an interception.

Other scores

B-CU SPORTS INFORMATION

Bethune-Cookman’s Presley Cleckley (12) goes up to catch a pass for a touchdown as he gets behind Tennessee State’s Ronn Vinson (5).

HBCU FOOTBALL ROUNDUP Florida A&M edges Delaware State Damien Fleming threw for 399 yards with three touchdowns to lead Florida A&M University to a 24-22 win over Delaware State University (DSU).

FAMU racked up 519 yards of total offense, including 405 in the air. DSU had 351 yards of total offense while their defense forced two turnovers.

Delaware State (1-3, 0-1) drew first blood taking a 7-0 lead when Dae-Hon Cheung scored from 10-yards out in the first quarter.

Florida A&M (2-2, 2-0) tied the game at 7-7 on Fleming’s eight yard touchdown pass to James Owens in the first quarter.

Fleming threw a pair of touchdown passes to Travis Harvey to push the Rattlers lead out to 2110.

The Hornets fought back and got within 24-22 after Nagee Jackson’s five yard touchdown run with 6:39 to play. The two-point conversion failed when Jahmel Bashir was tackled short of the end zone by FAMU’s Brandon Denmark.

The Rattlers were able to run out the clock from there. The Hornets finished 0-for-2 on twopoint conversions. Harvey added 11 catches for 122 yards with two scores for FAMU. The Rattlers also got 79 yards receiving from Lenworth Lennon, 78 receiving from Dewayne

Harvey and 74 receiving from Felix Admasen.

Chueng finished with 135 yards rushing with two touchdowns to lead the Hornets. Nick Elko added 194 yards passing and Travis Tarpley 129 yards receiving for DSU.

North Carolina Central tops Savannah State A 28-point third quarter helped North Carolina Central University (NCCU) beat Savannah State University 45-35.

Jordan Reid threw for 241 yards with three touchdowns and Andre Clarke ran for 117 yards with two scores to lead NCCU. The Eagles outgained the Tigers 545-428 in total offense, including 278-96 on the ground.

The game also was filled with penalties as the team combined for a total of 239 yards.

Savannah State (0-3, 0-1) started the game with a bang when Antonio Bostick threw an 82-yard touchdown pass to Simon Heywood to take a 7-0 lead.

The Tigers led 14-3 in the second quarter after Bostick’s 15-yard touchdown run.

North Carolina Central (2-2, 1-0) took its second lead of the game, this time for good at 2420 on Clarke’s 10-yard score with 9:28 to go in the third quarter.

The Eagles pushed their lead out to 45-20 after Reid found Marvin Poole from 20 yards out with 14:05 to play.

Bostick threw for 332 yards with two scores and two interceptions while running for 74 more with

two scores to lead SSU. Poole finished with seven catches for 93 yards and two scores for the Eagles.

Heyward added seven catches for 220 yards with a score and Kris Drummond three catches for 85 yards with a touchdown for the Tigers.

Southern tops Jackson State Southern University got its first win of the season by beating Jackson State University 28-21.

Dray Joseph threw for 249 yards with three touchdowns for Southern.

Southern (1-2, 1-1) led 7-0 after Jaleel Richardson took the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown. Southern led 14-0 after Joseph found Michael Berry for a 25-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.

The Jaguars led 28-0 when Joseph hit Berry again this time for a 60-yard touchdown pass with 12:27 to play in the third quarter.

Jackson State (1-3, 1-1) battled back in the fourth quarter scoring 21 points.

Dedrick McDonald threw two touchdown passes to Rico Richardson and ran for another score to get the Tigers within 28-21.

Berry finished with 117 yards on five receptions with two scores for the Jaguars.

McDonald threw for 230 yards with two touchdowns while Rico Richardson had 11 receptions for 161 yards with two scores for JSU. The Tigers did outgain the Jaguars in 378- 337 in total yardage.

Jackson State was only 6-for-

Edward Waters-59, New Orleans-12; Arkansas State-56, Alcorn State-0; North West State-45, Mississippi Valley State-14; Alabama A&M -42, Texas Southern-13; North Dakota State-66, Prairie View A&M-7; Ohio-44, Norfolk State-10; Texas A&M-70, South Carolina State-14; Chowan-49, Shaw-35; Livingstone-48, Lincoln (Pa.)-44; Johnson C Smith-28, Virginia State-21; Elizabeth City State-20, Fayetteville State-13; Fort Valley State-33, Benedict-10; Winston-Salem State-35, Virginia Union-6; Concordia-22, Clark-17; St Augustine’s-38, Bowie State-22; Lane-37, Morehouse-34; Stillman-27, Kentucky State-8; Miles-41, Albany State-6.

This week’s top games Bethune-Cookman (2-2, 1-0) at Hampton (0-3, 0-1): B-CU is looking to rebound from the Tennessee State loss. They have the firepower and are favored. Hampton is desperate for a win, which makes them more dangerous.

Florida A&M (2-2) vs Southern (1-2): These two are familiar with each other having played each other in recent years. They again square off in this Atlanta Football Classic. FAMU is better and favored.

Edward Waters (3-2) at Valdosta State (2-2): The NAIA EWC Tigers face a tough Division II opponent in the Blazers. If they can mix it up on offense and make stops on defense, they have a chance.

Norfolk State (2-2, 0-1) at South Carolina State (1-3, 0-1): These two teams were picked to finish 1-2 in the MEAC, respectively, so it’s a must win game for both.

Grambling (0-3, 0-2) at Alabama A&M (4-0, 3-0): The Grambling Tigers badly need a win.

They were picked to win the SWAC but have struggled losing two close conference games. The Bulldogs on the other hand are playing very well.

Arkansas Pine Bluff (3-1) vs Tennessee State (4-0): Tennesse is now ranked No. 1 in all the HBCU polls and are favorites to win.

This is their fourth and final game against HBCU teams as they play in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Arkansas is also playing well.

TOj B4

STOJ

SEPTEMBER 28 – OCTOBER 4, 2012

HIGHLIGHTS FROM

AFRIcAn-AMeRIcAn cOnSuMeRS: still vital, still growing 2012 report Pages B4 and B5 arepages excerpts a fullfrom 26-page produced

by Nielsen, by the following four are from excerpts a fullreport 26-page reportcollaboratively produced collaboratively the globalthe information and measurement company that measures what consumers watch and nielsen, global information and measurement company that measures what consumers watch what consumers buy, and National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA),(nnpa), a 72-yeara 72-year and what consumers buy,the and the national newspaper publishers association old 200 Black community newspapers.

To download the full go togo to oldfederation federationofofmore morethan than 200 Black community newspapers. to download the report, full report, www.nielsen.com/africanamerican. www.nielsen.com/africanamerican.

eXeCUtive sUMMarY in 2012, the african-american consumer population continues to be a vibrant and dynamic market segment, providing both emerging and mature market attributes. still the largest racial minority group in america, with a projected buying power of $1.1 trillion by 20151, Black consumers remain at the forefront of social trends and media consumption. Companies that seek to better understand the unique lifestyles, habits and shopping patterns highlighted within can enhance their chances of creating better connectivity with Black consumers. similarly, african-american consumers and entrepreneurs will find information that can be helpful in making informed decisions about which products or services to buy and have a better understanding about the companies that provide them. the disparity in advertising dollars spent with african-american media is mapped out, suggesting a need for more fair methods of administering advertising spending to better reflect and align with Blacks’ preferences and the media environments most trusted by Black consumers.

Top 10 DMA’s for HigHesT ConCenTrATion of HigHer inCoMe AfriCAn-AMeriCAn HouseHolDs

12% Chicago 7 11% Philadelphia 19% San Francisco 2 15% 5

24% Washington Metro

3 16% Boston 4 16% New York

10 6 14% Baltimore 1

Los Angeles

11% Houston 9

12% Atlanta 8

The U.S. Black population is 43 million strong. Larger than 163 of the 195 countries in the world including Argentina, Poland, Canada and Australia.*

• Black households are 127% more likely to include a single parent, most often a woman.

• 48% of Black grandparents who live in the same household with their grandchildren serve as their primary caregivers.

• 10% of African-American households earn $100,000 or more.

• 35% of African-American households earn $50,000 or more.

1 the Multicultural economy 2012 by the selig Center for economic growth * the U.s. government does not recognize taiwan as a country.

Copyright © 2012 the nielsen Company.

AfricAn-AmericAn consumers: still vitAl, still growing 2012 report nATionAl generAl MArkeT MeDiA Buys Media Type

General Market (Total - AA) 2011

AA

Business to Business

Total dollars spent with African-American media ($2.10 billion) is just under 2% of total advertising dollars spent with general market media ($120 billion) during the same period.

NA

$2,439,867,500

$907,006,937

$20,124,471,063

FSI Coupon

NA

$374,696,375

BlACks’ perCepTions of BlACk MeDiA

Local Magazine

NA

$452,814,094

Local Newspaper

NA

$9,528,492,000

Local Sunday Supplement

NA

$38,774,566

Many companies assume that because there are no language barriers, there is no need to advertise to Black audiences through african-american media outlets. this is a missed opportunity for companies, who can use such outlets to reach Black consumers in trusted environments where Blacks see themselves most often reflected. Consider the following facts on Blacks’ perceptions on advertising.

National Internet

NA

$9,132,402,000

$334,809,250

$15,563,489,750

National Newspaper

NA

$1,519,057,250

National Sunday Supplement

NA

$1,211,739,875

Network Radio

NA

$1,040,818,562

$7,793,410

$21,092,720,590

Outdoor

NA

$3,543,337,000

Spanish Language Cable TV

NA

$513,354,969

Spanish Language Network TV

NA

$3,674,157,000

$757,479,438

$4,823,606,062

NA

$23,039,266,000

$89,615,570

$2,330,946,180

$2,096,704,605

$120,444,010,836

Cable TV

National Magazine

Network TV

Spot Radio Spot TV Syndicated TV Total Jan. 1, 2011 – Dec. 31, 2011

Many african-american consumers have conducted research on mobile phones before making a purchase.

68% 64%

visited a retail site or app

81%

believe that products advertised on Black media are more relevant to them

77%

believe that Black media has a better understanding of the needs and issues that affect them

73%

believe that Black media keeps them in touch with their heritage

68%

want to see more commercials directed specifically to Black audiences

67%

want to see more advertising targeting Black consumers

78%

61% 57% 50% 38%

91%

believe that Black media is more relevant to them

or app

would like to see more Black models/actors used in ads Source: Burrell 40, 2011

Copyright © 2012 the nielsen Company.

SToJ

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SEPTEMBER 28 - OCTOBER 4, 2012

AfricAn-AmericAn consumers: still vitAl, still growing 2012 report the Black population is not a homogeneous group. a deeper understanding of the unique lifestyles, viewing habits and shopping patterns can help companies create better connectivity with Black consumers. Here we show how behavior and shopping patterns differ by generations..

AfriCAn-AMeriCAn generATionAl TV usAge

AfriCAn-AMeriCAn generATionAl Age Dispersion % of AA Population

Gen-Y

Baby Boomers

Live TV

5:12

7:53

DVR Playback

0:18

0:21

DVD Playback

0:13

0:12

Video Games

0:20

0:03

Total use of TV

6:03

8:29

Viewing Source

64 5– 4 –3

Greatest G enera tion Genera 65+ tion X3 5–4 Bab 4 yB oo Gen me era tio n Y rs 4 1 Mil len 8 nia

ls

17 0–

Daily in Hours:Minutes, May 2012

HoW BlACks spenT TiMe By generATion Generation Y

AnnuAl sHopping Trips ACross AfriCAn-AMeriCAn generATions

Baby Boomers

All AfricanAmerican Shoppers

MEDIA CONSUMPTION 91%

TV

163

96% 70% GAME 64% CONSOLE

RADIO

16% 7%

47% 60%

MOBILE

TABLET

OTHER DEVICE PRINT

43% 3% 4%

EBOOK

Generation Y

128

175

Greatest Generation

185

Generation X

150

32%

47% COMPUTER

Baby Boomers

38% 14% 28% 1% 1%

source: Usa touchpoints study, 2012.1

Copyright © 2012 the nielsen Company.

AfricAn-AmericAn consumers: still vitAl, still growing 2012 report Top 10 progrAMs WATCHeD By AfriCAn-AMeriCAns priMe TiMe Program name

Viewers Ages 18-49

BET

The Game S5

1.93

VH1

Love And Hip Hop S2

1.83

VH1

Basketball Wives S4

1.39

VH1

Single Ladies S2

1.39

VH1

T.I. And Tiny

1.38

BET

Let’s Stay Together S2

1.26

CNN

Whitney Houston: Her Life

1.13

VH1

La La’s Full Court Life S2

1.09

ABC

Scandal

1.02

Braxton Family Values

0.90

Originator

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

WE: Women’s Entertainment

12/26-6/6/24/12, Prime Time, Live +7 Days, Persons 18-49 excludes specials, sporting events and award shows viewers shown are in millions.

Top 10 progrAMs WATCHeD By AfriCAn-AMeriCAns ToTAl DAy Program name

Viewers Ages 2+

FOX

American Idol Audition Special

3.00

ABC

New Year’s Rockin’ Eve Part 1

2.97

BET

The Game S5

2.86

Let It Shine

2.56

CNN

Whitney Houston: Her Life

2.43

ABC

Scandal

2.15

CBS

Judge Judy

2.07

ABC

Dancing With The Stars

2.06

FOX

American Idol-Wednesday

1.95

BET

Celebration Of Gospel

1.90

Originator

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Disney Channel

12/26 – 6/24/12, Total Day, Live+7 Days, Persons 2+ viewers shown are in millions.

MosT populAr AfriCAn-AMeriCAn MoVies

You may download a full copy of this report by going to www.nielsen.com/africanamerican. we are optimistic that it will empower you to value your role in the economic infrastructure of the United states. each purchasing decision, viewing opportunity, mobile phone activity and digital experience you have impacts a company’s bottom line. we encourage you to use that power wisely and with care. whether you are a single mother, Baby Boomer or Millenial, your consumer dollars matter. You Matter!

snap here to download full report or download at: www.nielsen.com/africanamerican

sept. 2011 – June 2012

Copyright © 2012 the nielsen Company. all rights reserved. nielsen and the nielsen logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of CZt/ aCn trademarks, l.l.C. other product and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

TOj B6

FOOD

SEPTEMBER 28 – OCTOBER 4, 2012

Rachael Ray’s FreshOver Recipe Guide offers delicious, healthier meal options FROM Family Features

To help families transform ordinary meals into fresher versions that the whole family will feel good about eating, Ziploc Brand has partnered with best-selling author and TV personality Rachael Ray to bring healthier food choices to tables with the Great American FreshOver Project, a fresh food makeover made easy.

Rachael is an expert at creating quick meals. She aims to motivate families to swap their traditional recipes for versions that contain healthier ingredients and taste just as good.

“According to a Ziploc Fresh Eating Survey, 72 percent of Americans feel like a good parent when their family eats fresh food, but only 47 percent eat fresh foods on a daily basis.

To make eating fresh easier, Ziploc and I are sharing recipes and tips on how to incorporate fresh ingredients into favorites like pizza and mac ’n cheese,” said Ray. “Anyone can get started on their FreshOver Projects in their own kitchen.”

For more recipes from the Ziploc Brand and Rachael Ray, visit the Ziploc Brand Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/ziploc.

The Only Pizza You’ll Ever Want Again Yield: 4 servings Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Crust 1 16-ounce package pizza dough, brought to room temperature 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Toppings 1/3 pound broccoli from trimmed broccoli bin in produce section, 1/3 head 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan 3 cloves cracked garlic 1/2 pound chicken breast cut for stir fry, or chicken tenders Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 cup part skim ricotta cheese 10 sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and sliced 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, available on dairy aisle 12 to 15 leaves fresh basil, torn or stacked and thinly sliced Preheat oven to 500°F. On 12-inch nonstick pizza pan, stretch out dough and form pizza crust. Drizzle olive oil on crust and spread it with a pastry brush over the dough to the edges.

Sprinkle crust with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

In a small covered saucepan, bring 2 inches water to a boil.

Separate broccoli tops into florets, discarding lower stalks or reserving for soup. Salt water and add broccoli florets. Cook, covered, 3 to 5 min­utes. Drain broccoli and set on cut­ting board. Chop broccoli florets into small pieces.

Heat a small nonstick pan over medium high to high heat.

Add oil, cracked garlic and chicken. Season with salt and pepper.

Brown chicken until lightly golden all over, 3 to 5 minutes.

Chop sautéed chicken and garlic on a cutting board into small pieces.

To assemble pizza, dot crust with broc­coli and chicken. Dot crust with spoonfuls of ricotta, spreading gently with the back of spoon. Add sliced sun-dried tomatoes, scattering around pizza to edges. Complete assembly with a thin layer of shredded mozzarella.

Place pizza in oven on middle rack and lower heat to 450°F.

Bake 12 minutes, until cheese is deep golden in color and crust is brown and crisp at the edges.

Remove from oven and let stand 5 min­utes. Top with lots of torn or shredded basil.

Cut pizza into 8 slices using pizza wheel and serve.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Gratin Mac ’n Cheese Yield: 6 servings Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 1 hour 1 small head or bundle broccoli, trimmed into florets 1 small head cauliflower or half a large head, trimmed and cut into florets 1 pound whole-wheat macaroni or penne or other short cut pasta 2 cups sour cream or reduced-fat sour cream 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard 1/3 cup finely chopped chives 2 cloves garlic, peeled and grated or crushed into paste A few drops hot sauce Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 1/2 cups grated extrasharp cheddar Bring large pot of water to a boil over medium heat.

Salt water and add broccoli and cauliflower florets. Boil vegetables for 5 minutes, then remove with a spider or a strainer and drain.

Add pasta to water and undercook by about 2 minutes, drain.

Meanwhile, combine sour cream in large bowl along with mustard, chives, garlic, hot sauce, salt and pepper, to taste.

Add pasta and cauliflower and 2/3 of the cheese. Stir to combine, then transfer to a casserole dish or Ziploc VersaGlass con­tainer and cover with remaining cheese. Cool and chill for a make-ahead meal.

To heat and eat, put casserole on baking sheet and bake in the middle of a preheated 375°F oven until deeply golden and bubbly, about 40 to 45 minutes.

Stretch a Buck Turkey and Bean Burrito Burgers Yield: 4 servings Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 16 minutes 1 cup cold leftover white or brown rice 1 pound ground turkey 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained Palmful chili powder 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin, half a palmful 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander, half a palmful 1 tablespoon grill seasoning, (recommended: Montreal Seasoning by McCormick) 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 ripe avocado 1 clove garlic, grated or finely chopped

1 lime, zested and juiced 1jalapeño or serrano pepper, seeded and finely chopped 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped 1/2 cup sour cream 4 red leaf lettuce leaves 1 ripe tomato, sliced 4 crusty rolls, split Combine rice, meat and beans with spices and grill seasoning. Form 4 big patties,

then heat 1 tablespoon oil (a turn of the pan) in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Cook patties 7 to 8 minutes on each side.

While burgers cook, combine avocado with garlic, lime zest and juice, jalapeño and red onion.

Mash to roughly combine, then stir in the sour cream.

Place burgers on buns with lettuce and tomato, and top with sour cream guacamole.

Minority Business Owners: Learn How to Do Business with Tampa General Hospital Thursday, October 18, 2012, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Tampa General Hospital MacInnes Auditorium, 2nd Floor, East Pavilion

Learn … which minority business certifications are accepted by TGH what products/services TGH sources (general goods and services, professional goods and services, construction, medical supplies) about the policies and procedures for doing business with TGH how the Request for Proposal (RFP) process works about the contracting process Special Guest Speaker Gregory K. Hart Manager, Small/Minority Business Development Office of the Chief of Staff, City of Tampa

RSVP required by Friday, October 12, 2012 Please RSVP and direct questions to jbrown@tgh.org or (813) 844-3474.

Event is free. Parking is $3 in the visitor parking garage on campus.

1 Tampa General Circle • Tampa, FL 33606 www.tgh.org

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