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E Pluribus…Separation: Deepening Double Segregation for More Students

September 20, 2012 Comments off

E Pluribus…Separation: Deepening Double Segregation for More Students

Source: The Civil Rights Project (UCLA)

This report shows that segregation has increased seriously across the country for Latino students, who are attending more intensely segregated and impoverished schools than they have for generations. The segregation increases have been the most dramatic in the West. The typical Latino student in the region attends a school where less than a quarter of their classmates are white; nearly two-thirds are other Latinos; and two-thirds are poor. California, New York and Texas, all states that have been profoundly altered by immigration trends over the last half-century, are among the most segregated states for Latino students along multiple dimensions.

In spite of declining residential segregation for black families and large-scale movement to the suburbs in most parts of the country, school segregation remains very high for black students. It is also double segregation by both race and poverty. Nationwide, the typical black student is now in a school where almost two out of every three classmates (64%) are low-income, nearly double the level in schools of the typical white or Asian student (37% and 39%, respectively). New York, Illinois, and Michigan consistently top the list of the most segregated states for black students. Among the states with significant black enrollments, blacks are least likely to attend intensely segregated schools in Washington, Nebraska, and Kansas.

School resegregation for black students is increasing most dramatically in the South, where, after a period of intense resistance, strong action was taken to integrate black and white students. Black students across the country experienced gains in school desegregation from the l960s to the late l980s, a time in which racial achievement gaps also narrowed sharply. These trends began to reverse after a 1991 Supreme Court decision made it easier for school districts and courts to dismantle desegregation plans. Most major plans have been eliminated for years now, despite increasingly powerful evidence on the importance of desegregated schools.

The Obama Administration, like the Bush Administration, has taken no significant action to increase school integration or to help stabilize diverse schools as racial change occurs in urban and suburban housing markets and schools. Small positive steps in civil rights enforcement have been undermined by the Obama Administration’s strong pressure on states to expand charter schools – the most segregated sector of schools for black students. Though segregation is powerfully related to many dimensions of unequal education, neither candidate has discussed it in the current presidential race.

New Report Faults Immigration Program for Wrongful Arrests, Detentions; Deportations Without Hearings and Counsel, Hints of Racial Profiling, US Citizen Arrests Top Concerns

October 21, 2011 Comments off

New Report Faults Immigration Program for Wrongful Arrests, Detentions; Deportations Without Hearings and Counsel, Hints of Racial Profiling, US Citizen Arrests Top Concerns
Source: UC Berkeley School of Law

The majority of people arrested in a fast-growing federal immigration enforcement program are jailed without bond, without access to a lawyer, and without a court hearing, according to a new report. Secure Communities by the Numbers: An Analysis of Demographics and Due Process finds that the Secure Communities program has led to thousands of wrongful arrests of U.S. citizens, while tens of thousands of families are split apart. The report, released by the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and Social Policy at UC Berkeley School of Law, is a first-ever in-depth analysis of Secure Communities data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Secure Communities relies on local law enforcement to target noncitizens for deportation. Fingerprints from individuals booked into local jails—many on minor infractions—are sent to the Department of Homeland Security for an immigration check, triggering arrests. This has transformed the enforcement landscape by allowing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to effectively run federal immigration checks on everyone booked into a local jail.

Key findings include:

  • Approximately 3,600 United States citizens have been arrested by ICE through the Secure Communities program even though citizens, by definition, should not be subject to immigration detention;
  • Approximately 88,000 families containing U.S. citizens have been affected by Secure Communities through the immigration arrest of a family member;
  • Latinos comprise 93% of individuals arrested through Secure Communities though they only comprise 77% of the undocumented population in the United States;
  • Only 52% of individuals arrested through Secure Communities were slated to appear before an immigration judge;
  • Only 24% of the individuals arrested through Secure Communities who did have an immigration hearing were represented by an attorney. By contrast, 40% of all immigration court respondents have counsel;
  • Only 2% of non-citizens arrested through Secure Communities are granted relief from deportation by an immigration judge. By contrast, 14% of all immigration court respondents are granted relief;
  • A large majority (83%) of people arrested through Secure Communities is held in ICE detention as compared with an overall DHS immigration detention rate of 62%. ICE does not appear to be exercising discretion when deciding whether or not to detain Secure Communities arrestees.

+ Full Report (PDF)

Tahoe: State of the Lake Report 2011

August 20, 2011 Comments off

Tahoe: State of the Lake Report 2011 (PDF)
Source: University of California-Davis (Tahoe Environmental Research Center)
From press release:

The University of California, Davis, has conducted continuous monitoring of Lake Tahoe since 1968, amassing a unique record of change for one of the world’s most beautiful and vulnerable lakes.

In the UC Davis Tahoe: State of the Lake Report, we summarize how natural variability, long term change and human activity have affected the lake’s clarity, physics, chemistry and biology over that period. We also present the data collected in 2010. The data shown reveal a unique record of trends and patterns – the result of natural forces and human actions that operate at time scales ranging from days to decades. These patterns tell us that Lake Tahoe is a complex ecosystem, behaving in ways we don’t always expect. This was never truer than in this last year. While Lake Tahoe is unique, the forces and processes that shape it are the same as those acting in all natural ecosystems. As such, Lake Tahoe is an analog for other systems both in the western US and worldwide.

Our role is to explore this complexity and to use our advancing knowledge to suggest options for ecosystem restoration and management. Choosing among those options and implementing them is the role of those outside the scientific community and needs to take account of a host of other considerations. This annual report is intended to inform non-scientists about the most important variables that affect lake health. Until recently, only one indicator of Lake Tahoe’s health status was widely used: the annual clarity (often called the Secchi depth, after the instrument used to collect the clarity data). In this report we publish many other environmental and water quality factors that all provide indicators of the lake’s condition.

This report sets the context for understanding the changes that are seen from year to year and those that are observed over a time scale of decades: Was Lake Tahoe warmer or cooler than the historical record last year? Are the inputs of algal nutrients to the lake declining? How much are invasive species affecting Lake Tahoe? And, of course, how do all these changes affect the lake’s famous clarity?

Who Are the Entrepreneurs: The Elite or Everyman?

April 27, 2011 Comments off

Who Are the Entrepreneurs: The Elite or Everyman?
Source: University of California eScholarship

We trace the social positions of the men and women who found new enterprises from the earliest years of one industry’s history to a time when the industry was well established. Sociological theory suggests two opposing hypotheses. First, pioneering entrepreneurs are socially prominent individuals from fields adjacent to the new industry and later entrepreneurs are from an increasingly broad swath of society. Second, the earliest entrepreneurs come from the social periphery while later entrepreneurs include more industry insiders and members of the social elite. To test these hypotheses, we study the magazine industry in America over the first 120 years of its history, from 1741 to 1860. We find that magazine publishing was originally restricted to industry insiders, elite professionals, and the highly educated, but by the time the industry became well established, most founders came from outside publishing and more were of middling stature – mostly small-town doctors and clergy without college degrees. We also find that magazines founded by industry insiders remained concentrated in the three biggest cities, while magazines founded by outsiders became geographically dispersed. Finally, we find that entrepreneurship evolved from the pursuit of a lone individual to a more organizationally-sponsored activity; this reflects the modernization of America during this time period. Our analysis demonstrates the importance of grounding studies of entrepreneurship in historical context. Our analysis of this “old” new media industry also offers hints about how the “new” new media industries are likely to evolve.

Livestock Escape Prevention and Capture Planning Guidelines: An Essential Guide for Livestock Exhibits at Public Events

February 9, 2011 Comments off

Livestock Escape Prevention and Capture Planning Guidelines: An Essential Guide for Livestock Exhibits at Public Events (PDF)

Source:  University of California – Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine

Animals play an important role in American society, and the public continues to have an interest in and fascination with animals of all types. Livestock such as cattle, sheep and horses have, for decades, been a major attraction in fairs, exhibitions, parades and competitions attended by large numbers of people.

This close association between livestock and the general public brings with it a responsibility for public safety. Unpredictable situations can arise when animals are moved from the confines of their home environment to a new location for public display or competition.

Therefore, it is essential when hosting a public animal exhibit or event that proper facilities, trained personnel and emergency protocols are in place to provide a safe environment for all. There are rare circumstances in which public officials may be confronted with an animal that presents an immediate and obvious threat to human life. These uncommon high-risk events require additional education and training of personnel charged with public safety, which is beyond the scope of this document. Additional training programs are under development through the International Animal Welfare Training Institute: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/iawti/default.cfm

This document was prepared following broad input from animal scientists, veterinarians, private practitioners, animal production unit managers, and those managing animal events for the public. It is intended to provide introductory guidelines for individuals responsible for managing exhibits in which animals interface with the public. It addresses basic safety considerations regarding facility preparation, personnel training and animal handling methods, including techniques for responding to situations in which animals become loose from containment. In short, this document provides a framework for improving the safety of livestock exhibits and ensuring the continued enjoyment of these types of events.

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