Gmail - How Smart Is Your City, Auburn and Oregon Universities Fail At Graduating Black Athletes, Celebrate King Day, Can Tai Chi and Yoga Help Troubled Youth?

How Smart Is Your City? America's Most Literate Cities, 2010 Drawing from a variety of available data resources, the America's Most Literate Cities study ranks the largest cities (population 250,000 and above) in the United States. This study focuses on six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources. The original study was published online in 2003 at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Dr. John W. Miller, president of Central Connecticut State University, is the author of this study. Research for this edition of AMLC was conducted in collaboration with the Center for Public Policy and Social Research at CCSU. Click here for full study. 2010 Rank City 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 1 Washington, DC 2 3 5 3.5 3 2 Seattle, WA 1 1.5 2 1 1 3 Minneapolis, MN 3 1.5 1 2 2 4 Atlanta, GA 5 6 8 3.5 4 5 Pittsburgh, PA 4 12 9 6 8 6 San Francisco, CA 12 5 7 9 5 7 St. Paul, MN 7 4 3 5 9.5 8 Denver, CO 10 7 4 8 6 9.5 Portland, OR 6 10.5 12 10 11 9.5 St. Louis, MO 11 9 6 12 15 11 Cincinnati, OH 9 10.5 11 7 9.5 12 Boston, MA 8 8 10 11 7 13 Raleigh, NC 19 14 14 13 13 14 Cleveland, OH 13 13 13 14 18 15 New Orleans, LA 17 -- -- -- 42 16 Columbus, OH 22 15 21 15 12 17 Kansas City, MO 14 18 15 17 14 18 Baltimore, MD 26 16 27 24 21 19 Tampa, FL 20.5 29 20 21 24.5 20 Lincoln, NE 23 -- -- -- -- 21 Austin, TX 16 17 23 16 16 22 Nashville-Davidson, TN 18 19.5 19 18 17 23 Lexington-Fayette, KY 15 19.5 17 30 27.5 24 Tulsa, OK 20.5 21 16 19.5 24.5 25 Colorado Springs, CO 24 26 30 33.5 19 26 New York City, NY 29 24 28 42 32.5 27 Honolulu CDP, HI 28 22 18 22 35 28 Chicago, IL 30 34 40 39 46 29.5 Miami, FL 33.5 33 22 23 27.5 29.5 Milwaukee, WI 31 36 34.5 25 29 31.5 Charlotte, NC 27 31 26 19.5 20 31.5 Philadelphia, PA 32 28 31.5 33.5 32.5 33 Tucson, AZ 45 32 33 36 34 34 Indianapolis, IN 25 37 29 29 23 35 Virginia Beach, VA 44 27 24 27 41 36 Oklahoma City, OK 38 43 38.5 43 38 37 Oakland, CA 35 23 46 35 30 38.5 Greensboro, NC 36 -- -- -- -- 38.5 San Diego, CA 33.5 25 36 26 39 40 Louisville-Jefferson Co., KY 40 38.5 31.5 37 40 41 Buffalo, NY 41.5 42 42 44 47 42 Omaha, NE 37 40 34.5 31 31 43 Albuquerque, NM 39 35 41 38 36 44 Dallas, TX 48 38.5 47.5 49 48 45 Sacramento, CA 41.5 30 25 28 22 46 Fort Wayne, IN 43 44 -- -- -- 47 Toledo, OH 47 48 37 32 26 48 Wichita, KS 46 49 44 48 49 49 Jacksonville, FL 55 50 47.5 45.5 44.5 50.5 Fort Worth, TX 52 45 45 45.5 44.5 50.5 San Jose, CA 56 46 54 50 51 52 Las Vegas, NV 50 41 43 40 44.5 53 Anchorage, AK 49 47 38.5 47 43 54 Plano, TX 53.5 55 51 53 -- 55 Memphis, TN 53.5 58 59 54 58.5 56 Detroit, MI 51 51 50 52 56 57 Newark, NJ 57 52 49 51 37 58 Phoenix, AZ 59 57 56 59 54 59 Riverside, CA 58 53 52 56 58.5 60 Houston, TX 60 54 55 55 53 61 Los Angeles, CA 62 56 53 57 60 62 San Antonio, TX 61 64 62 63 64 63 Henderson, NV 64 -- -- -- -- 64 Fresno, CA 65.5 59 58 60 63 65 Mesa, AZ 68 61 61 58 52 66 Glendale, AZ 65.5 65 -- -- -- 67 Santa Ana, CA 67 62 57 61 62 68 Long Beach, CA 63 60 60 63 61 69.5 Corpus Christi, TX 74 69 65 68 67 69.5 El Paso, TX 75 71 68 69 68 71 Arlington, TX 70.5 63 62 64.5 57 72 Anaheim, CA 69 67 67 64.5 66 73 Bakersfield, CA 73 68 64 66 65 74 Aurora, CO 70.5 66 66 67 55 75 Stockton, CA 72 70 69 70 69 © 2010 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY Auburn University: Number 1 in the Nation in Football; Number 85 Out of 120 Colleges in Graduating Black Athletes. The University of Oregon is Worse! At Auburn, White players graduate at the rate of 100 percent; Black players 49 percent. Auburn football team champs on field but not in graduation rates By Valerie Strauss January 11, 2011 Auburn University's football team won the national collegiate football championship, but the Tigers aren't exactly champs when it comes to graduation rates. According to the Academic Progress Rate, a four-year assessment by the NCAA of the movement toward graduation for a team's players, Auburn has dropped from No. 4 to No. 85 among the120 major college football programs. The drop was caused when Auburn closed academic loopholes that had allowed football players to pad their grade point averages and remain eligible to play by taking easy courses, according to a story in The New York Times. In addition, a study of 2010-11 bowl-bound college teams conducted by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida showed that Auburn has the highest disparity in graduation rates between white and black players of any major football team. White players graduate at the rate of 100 percent; black players 49 percent. The University of Oregon, according to that study, graduates 76 percent of white players and 41 percent of its African-American players. The study, released last month, showed that five of the bowl-bound schools had graduation success rates for African-American football student-athletes that exceeded their rates for white football student-athletes: Northwestern (one percentage point higher), Virginia Tech (three percentage points higher), Southern Mississippi (three percentage points higher), Notre Dame (four percentage points higher) and Troy (10 percentage points higher). Education Secretary Arne Duncan has been vocal about the importance of college sports teams maintaining high graduation rates. In an interview on Monday with Washington Post reporters and editors, he repeated that position, saying teams that do not have a graduation rate of at least 40 percent should not be allowed to participate in post-season play. He added that any sanctions for wrongdoing brought by the NCAA on a particular program should also follow the coach under whom they occurred. No more excuses! Become a Teacher, Become a Hero!!! The Chicago Teaching Fellows (CTF) is looking for outstanding, diverse individuals to become dedicated new teachers in Chicago Public Schools starting in summer 2011 through a streamlined teacher training and certification program. You may know of professionals or recent college-graduates who may be great candidates for the Teaching Fellows program. CTF is looking for individuals to teach high school math, high school science, bilingual Spanish education, and special education. Applicants do not need to have any prior education experience or coursework. All that is required is a bachelor's degree (conferred by June 2011) with an undergraduate GPA of at least 2.75 and authorization to work in the United States (citizenship or greencard). Families and Communities Must Take Charge of the Education of Children Call us at 773.285.9600 if you want to start a community-based PTA in a church, community center, neighborhood association or school Save the Date To Save Our Students! Experience a new way to contribute to the academic success of the children in your community through a new PTA® initiative that offers a variety of parent/caregiver engagement tools and strategies to ensure opportunity and equity for students in urban communities. PTA's Urban Family Engagement Initiative in partnership with Illinois PTA, Black Star Community PTA & Early Outreach Program at UIC is hosting a FREE event in the community. Join us for a Family Institute Day Mini Conference Workshop sessions: SETTING EXPECTATIONS / THE POLITICS OF EDUCATION/ UNDERSTANDING THE GROUP PROCESS Saturday January 22, 2011 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. UIC Behavioral Science Building 1007 W Harrison St. Chicago, IL 60607 Parking Info: Harrison Street Parking Structure (HSPS), 1100 West Harrison. Free parking is available if you tell the parking attendant that you are with the National PTA. To register: https://ptaspeakers.wufoo.com/forms/nptas-family-institute-day-mini-conference/ or Call 1.800.307.4782 ext 3511 Seating is limited. RSVP required by 1/15/2011. Free lunch, childcare and materials provided. Fathers and Men Should Spend Dr. King's Birthday Teaching Children about Peace and Love for Humanity The Black Star Project's Million Fathers Club Visits The DuSable Museum of African American History on King Day Today is a great day to teach American children about one of the greatest American heroes!!! Monday, January 17, 2011 all day at the DuSable Museum of African American History 740 East 56th Place Chicago, Illinois 60637 The first 80 children 12 years old and under will be admitted for only $2.50. The first 20 youth and adults 13 and older will be admitted for only $5.00. This offer is good only while tickets last. Please Call Bruce Walker at 773-285-9600 for more information about this event. Celebrate King Day with the AKA's One thousand teens will learn about service, excellence and leadership The Monarch Awards Foundation, Inc. Xi Nu Omega Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority presents 9th Annual MLK Day Teen Summit on Monday, January 17, 2011 at Bronzeville Scholastic Academy High School DuSable Campus 4934 South Wabash Avenue Chicago, Illinois Can tai chi and yoga keep youth out of prison? New juvenile delinquent rehab program may soon include yoga, tai chi by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer Saturday, January 08, 2011 (NaturalNews) Barry Holman, interim deputy director of the Washington, D.C., Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), has come up with a new approach to overcome the agency's current flailing system: yoga. According to a recent report in the Washington Examiner, Holman has petitioned his staff members for help in finding someone to teach D.C.'s troubled youth the "mind-body" techniques he believe may help them. "It was an exercise on my part to see what other qualities, besides the professional qualities, that they can bring to the job," explained Holman to the Examiner about his idea. Temporarily fulfilling the position after the departure of four previously unsuccessful DYRS directors in 2010, Holman inherited a rehabilitation program with a very poor track record. Besides the numerous murders involving facility wards, the program was actually implicated in causing a surge in violence among youth. Something needed to change, so Holman made his proposal. "We're always looking at expanding our offerings," he is quoted as saying. "The benefits of yoga or tai-chi are no different for youth in a correction facility than for anyone else." And his plan could work, as it just might provide troubled youth with the physical and mental stimulation they need to stay out of prison. Yoga has also been shown to alleviate depression and improve mental health, reduce stress, boost heart function, and reduce inflammation, among other things. These factors together have the potential not only to improve the mental stability of troubled youth, but also improve their overall physical health, in conjunction with standard rehabilitation protocols. Holman is also investigating other programs that might be of interest to the youth that will provide them with a constructive outlet for their overall rehabilitation. Click on links below for more information about the great programs of The Black Star Project For more information on our other programs and how you can get involved, click on these links below or please call 773.285.9600: Attend a Black Star Event in Chicago Become a Black Star Mentor

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