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Vol. 37 No. 39
Website: theaustinvillager.com
Email: [email protected]
Former Austinite continues legacy
of firsts and volunteer service
RAPPIN’
Tommy Wyatt
Will we be
getting a new
Police Chief?
When the news broke
a couple of days ago that
Austin Police Chief Art
Acevedo is in the finals for
the chief’s job in Dallas, it
caught many of us by surprise. It seems that it was
only yesterday that he arrived in town to take over
this city’s police department. He came in at a time
when there was growing
mistrust between the police and the minority communities.
During the last few
years, there has been several Austin minority citizens killed by APD officers
and the community felt
that most of them went
unpunished for their actions. Acevedo had to clean
up some of those open
cases.
Since his arrival,
there has been one case
that has caused a lot of concern. And that is the Sanders case, where a young
man was killed at an
apartment complex in East
Austin and it appears that
the only crime that he committed, was sleeping in a
car.
The officer who did
the shooting received only
a reprimand for not turning on his camera during
the incident. That outraged
the community and this
case is still under scrutiny.
There was an independent
investigation done on the
case, but the results have
not been revealed to the
community. Only an abbreviated version of the
report has been released.
In a statement released for Acevedo, he says
that he is happy with the
community, but that the
opportunities in Dallas provided more security for his
family. The Austin Chief
does not have a contract
with the city and would be
fee to leave whenever he
wanted. That raised the
question of whether this
news is an attempt to get
a raise in pay.
Whatever the reason,
it does not appear that two
years on the job is enough
time to really give the job
a chance. The average
length of time for a Police
Chief of a major city is 3 to
5 years. However, Austin
has a reputation of keeping our police chiefs for
longer than that. Because,
constant changes in the
leadership of an organization tends to keep the organization in an uproar.
One thing that Austin does
not need now is an unstable police department.
Norwich University has
selected Barbara Foreman as
the first African American to
serve on its Board of Fellows.
Working with the dean of the
School of Humanities, Foreman will help determine how
best to assist the school and
enrich educational experiences for students enrolled in
the School of Humanities.
The first and only black
enrolled in the inaugural class
of the Master of Justice Administration degree program,
Foreman earned her degree
from Norwich University in
2004. The university is located among the “green”
mountains in Northfield, Vermont. Foreman will serve a
three-year term as a fellow.
Prior to attending Norwich University, Foreman
earned her bachelor’s degree
in public administration from
Saint Edward’s University in
Austin, and her associate’s
degree in police science from
Houston Community College.
This latest appointment
follows a string of firsts for
Foreman in professional and
volunteer service. Foreman
began her career in justice and
public safety as the first black
female deputy sheriff in Travis
County, TX. She was later
appointed as the first Black
investigator for the Texas
State Board of Medical Examiners, where she was detailed
to serve as a narcotic agent
with the US Drug Enforcement
Administration. In 1982,
former attorney general Mark
White appointed Foreman as
the first black investigator in
the Medicaid Fraud Control
Unit in the Texas Attorney
General’s Office. 1n 1989,
state treasurer Ann Richards
appointed Foreman as the first
black senior enforcement officer in the Tobacco Tax Division at the Texas State Treasury. Foreman served in this
role under Kay Bailey
Hutchison and Martha
Whitehead. When the Treasury merged with the State
Comptroller’s Office, Foreman
moved on to serve as the first
black special investigator at
the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (formerly
the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission).
In 1999, Foreman was
appointed the first black manager of the Special Investigations Unit at the Commission.
In this role, Foreman served
concurrently as the chairman
of the Texas Environmental
Enforcement Task Force, an
entity created by executive order of the governor.
In 2002, Foreman retired
from public service in Texas,
and was appointed as special
assistant for state and local
program development at the
US Environmental Protection
Agency in Washington, DC.
Foreman served EPA in the
(AUSTIN, Texas) — Children of all ages are invited to
hunt for the thousands of eggs
hidden around the HustonTillotson University campus
during the Fifth Annual Community Easter Egg Hunt, scheduled
on Thursday, April 1 at 4 p.m.,
900 Chicon Street. The Easter
egg hunt features a $500 schol-
Fax: 512-476-0179
March 12, 2010
Census Ad Buys Still Under Fire:
Black Lawmakers Still Have Questions
Barbara Foreman
Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training, where she provided leadership and policy guidance
for local and state agencies
with environmental crimes
programs. Foreman has
demonstrated commitment
to excellence in each role
throughout her career in public service. She is known for
her creative ability, her spirit
of cooperation and collaboration, and her ability to
bring innovation to each task.
While living in Austin,
Foreman held numerous
leadership positions in civic
and professional organizations including: Austin
Commission for Women;
Austin Telecommunications
Commission;
National
Women of Achievement, Inc.,
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.; National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; and The
Group. Foreman also hosted
a weekly television show,
“ETC,” which aired on Austin Community Television.
Foreman retired from
federal service in 2008, but
has remained true to her commitment to volunteerism. Today she is serving as a member of the US Census 2010
Prince Georges County Complete Count Committee. As
chair of the sub-committee for
non-profit and communitybased organizations, Foreman is busy galvanizing numerous organizations to advocate for a higher census
count in communities where
residents are historically under-counted.
Foreman also serves on
the board of directors of the
Park Police Volunteer Association. The organization assists the park police in providing safety in the parks,
and developing programs to
enrich the lives of young
people.
“Although my appointment is historical, this
is just one of many firsts for
Norwich
University,”
boasted Foreman. Norwich
was the first private military
college in the nation; the
birthplace of the ROTC; and
the first military college to
accept women. Foreman resides in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Fifth Annual Community Easter-Egg Hunt
Scheduled at Huston-Tillotson University
$500 Scholarship Prize
Egg to be Awarded
Phone: 512-476-0082
arship prize egg, prize eggs for
school supplies and gift certificates, and eggs with candy and
coins. Children will gather in the
Mary E. Branch Gymnasium for
a brief meaning of Easter story
time before joining their age
groups and beginning the hunt.
The event is free and open to
the public. In case of rain, the
hunt will be held on Monday,
April 5 at 4 p.m. For more information, call 512.505.3073.
U. S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), talking with NNPA Chairman Danny Bakewell, asked a
key question during the hearing pertaining to how a Census ad agency tried to get free advertising
from the Black Press of America. CREDIT: Roy Lewis/NNPA
By Pharoh Martin
NNPA National Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA)
During the recent Congressional hearing to discuss
what many contend is an insufficiently funded Black advertising campaign of Census
2010, the U. S. Census
Bureau’s media-buying agencies were blistered by a charge
that they allegedly played
unfair politics with Black
newspaper publishers. These
charges have resulted in an
ongoing probe into why the
Census allocated so little to
count African-Americans.
In a reflective interview
following the hearing, during
which NNPA Chairman
Danny Bakewell testified,
Congressional Black Caucus
Chairwoman Rep. Barbara
Lee (D- Calif.) said the hearing was a positive step toward ensuring equality in the
distribution of media ad dollars, but there is still a long
way to go.
“I don’t think it’s
where we need to be,” Lee
told NNPA in a phone interview. “One of things that we
need to do is make sure that
the Department of Commerce
and all of the agencies responsible for insuring media
buys for the 2010 Census are
distributing fairly and go into
the area that are hard-to-
count. This is a very important issue for everyone. I think
it’s extremely important to
have the fairness in the media buys and I think that’s
what we are trying to achieve
and I don’t think that we are
there yet.”
The bottom line is that
Black legislators and publishers say that advertising budgets proposed for AfricanAmerican media are insufficient to effectively reach a
“hard-to-count” Black population. Chaired by Rep. Lacy
Clay (D-Mo.), the Information
Policy, Census and National
Archives Subcommittee,
which held the congressional
hearing, was moving offices
on the week following the
hearing and was unable to
send updates on resolutions.
But, the intense dialogue during the hearing indicated that
change might be coming.
Rep. Maxine Waters (DCalif.) grilled executives of
Census 2010’s media buying
agencies about a charge from
Black publishers that the
agencies were unfairly demanding that Black newspapers provide free content,
which they called “added
value” in exchange for ad
dollars.
Jeff Tarakajian, vice
president of advertising
agency DRAFTFCB, never di-
rectly answered the question;
only replying that the “request for added value was
standard”. He couldn’t testify under oath as to how the
“added value” was requested
but could confirm that it was,
in fact, requested. “We seek
them, we encourage them but
we do not make the requirement that somebody provide
added value to literally
qualify for a media buy,”
Tarakajian said.
A key moment during
the hearing was when Rep.
Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas)
asked Bakewell about a matter involving New York-based
GlobalHue – which bills itself
as a leader in cultural-based
marketing - and NNPA, in
which the ad agency allegedly
demanded that Black newspapers provided free editorials favorable to the 2010 Census in
return for an advertising buy.
According to a letter submitted to the hearing from
GlobalHue to Bakewell, the
advertising agency wrote:
“In lieu of free ad space, all
papers must agree to running six articles (preferably
during hiatus weeks) about
the Census 2010 as well as
two editorials. If paper does
not agree to the added value
stipulations, buy will be
canceled immediately.”
See Census page 7
Capital Metro Rail to begin services March 22
On March 22, 2010,
Central Texans will have a new
way to commute as Capital
Metro opens its passenger rail
line, Capital MetroRail. Capital
Metro announced that it will
begin passenger service on the
32-mile Red Line from Leander
to Downtown Austin and will
offer free fares the first week of
service.
There will be nine trips in
the morning (six southbound
and three northboundtrips) and
10 trips in the afternoon (six
northbound and four southbound trips). The first train will
leave Leander Station at 5:25 a.m.
See
the
schedule
at
capmetro.org/metrorail for more
details.
Staff and community volunteers will be at each of the nine
stations mornings and afternoons the first two weeks to provide assistance to passengers.
During the first week of
service, March 22-26, MetroRail
service will be free—no tickets
Inside of a Capital Rail car
or passes will be required to ride
MetroRail or rail connector bus
routes, #460, 461, 462, 464, and
465. Capital Metro expects large
crowds and encourages riders
to arrive early at the station.
Valid fares will be required beginning March 29. Due
to anticipated large crowds the
first few weeks of service, Capital Metro encourages riders to
plan ahead by purchasing their
passes in advance from local retail outlets, the Transit Store, or
online. Riders can also purchase
tickets and passes from the ticket
vending machines located at
each station on the day of their
travel. Arrive early at the station.
MetroPlus Passes, good
for unlimited rides on all
MetroRail and bus services, will
be available for purchase online,
at the Capital Metro Transit Store
and at retail outlets by March 15.
A new five-day MetroPlus Pass
will also be available for purchase at local H-E-B stores for
Page 2/THE VILLAGER/March 12, 2010
EDITORIALS/COMMENTARY
Mo’nique’s Oscar - Victory and Setback
By. Julianne Malveaux
NNPA Columnist
(NNPA) - The comedienne, talk show host and actress Mo’nique has become
just the fifth African- American woman to win an Oscar.
Her portrayal of Mary Jones,
the revolting and depraved
mother of Precious, was arguably masterful, and she now
joins Hattie McDaniel (who
played a maid), Halle Berry
(who played a sex-starved
fool), Whoppi Goldberg (who
played a medium in Ghost),
and Jennifer Hudson (who
played a singer). I mention the
roles that African-American
women played to win their
Oscars because the roles African- American women get
in Hollywood are too frequently stereotypical, and it
is these stereotypical performances that are often lifted
up. While I am glad for
Mo’nique’s victory, I did not
relish the Precious story of
welfare pathology making it
to the screen. Why not more
positive roles for AfricanAmerican women?Sandra
Bullock, for example, won
Best Actress for her role in The
Blind Side. She played a
White mother who took a
Black child into her home and
helped him reach football
stardom. Why no roles like
that for Black women? While
The Blind Side is based on a
true story, there are countless
true stories of African-American women who take in relatives or other people’s chil-
dren and move mountains for
them. This might send the
wrong message about Black
women, though. It might suggest that we believe that it
takes a village to raise a child,
instead of highlighting the
bestial way that Mary Jones
treated Precious.I know, I
know, it’s all about the
Benjamins, and those who
have the power to “green
light” films don’t think that
people will go see a movie
with positive depictions of
African-American people.
Precious, for all its pathology,
didn’t have an easy time getting produced and, indeed,
has twelve producers, including Oprah Winfrey and Tyler
Perry, who helped promote
the film. The movie had a
small, $10 million, production
budget, and has earned only
about $50 million, recouping
production costs, but underscoring the modest level of
resources available for this
movie.It rankles that an image
of the fat, black, slovenly welfare cheat is lifted up even at
a time when public assistance
rolls have been drastically cut,
despite our economy. The
myth of the welfare queen,
strongly promoted by President Ronald Reagan when he
was governor of California,
reinforced in 1996 when
President Bill Clinton supported “welfare reform (I
called it deform) legislation,
is one of the ugly urban legends that seems to shape perceptions of African-American
women. And ain’t I a woman,
Sojourner Truth might say.
Aren’t there positive dramatic
roles for African-American
women in Hollywood?To be
sure, every character in Precious is not a negative stereotype. Mariah Carey’s role as
a social worker was a pitch
perfect depiction of an overworked and somewhat harried helping professional
with too large a caseload.
Paula Patton plays teacher
Miss Blu Rain in a way that
reminded me of my best teachers, those who went the extra
mile. There are other characters with redeeming social
value in the movie, but there
would have to be given the
pervasive degeneracy of
Mary Jones. I would love to
see someone green light the
story of Madame C.J. Walker,
our nation’s first black
woman millionaire. There’s
some glamour there, and
some drama! What about the
story of Ida B. Wells, who had
to flee the state of Tennessee
because of her anti-lynching
writing. In a contemporary
context, why not tell the story
of Cathy Liggins Hughes, the
millionaire owner of Radio
One who slept in her studio
because she couldn’t afford
rent and the cost of station
operations. These are dramatic stories, but they fly in
the face of the stereotypes that
were replete in Precious.I
don’t begrudge Mo’nique her
Oscar. She took the material
she was given and she
worked it. She made Mary
Jones a repulsive character
with absolutely no redeeming
social value. I am simply frustrated that these are the only
kinds of roles that Hollywood
offers African-American
women, the only kinds of roles
that Oscar chooses to lift up. I
am frustrated that some may
consider Mary Jones’ bestiality as typical, not atypical of
African-American
women.When African-American women’s characters in
film are more reflective of our
reality, and when these characters’ performances are lifted
up by Oscar, then we will
have come a long way, baby.
Until then, Mo’nique’s victory is her laudable personal
success. It is a Black community setback.
Jim Crow in Silicon Valley is Exposed
Harry C. Alford
NNPA Columnist
(NNPA) - This is the age
of high technology. IT companies are leading the way in job
growth and high paying jobs
as the word does business at
the speed of thought. No
place else in the world concentrates in this industry better than the Silicon Valley of
California (Palo Alto – San
Jose area). So with California
having a minority population
of 52 percent logic would dictate that this is a place of much
diversity and opportunity for
Blacks and Hispanics.
Sadly, that, according to
investigative reporting from
the San Jose Mercury News is
not the case. This industry in
this location is probably the
most segregated and discriminatory place in the United
States. The hiring and training by companies like
Google, Apple, Yahoo,
Oracle, Applied Materials,
Hewlett Packard, Cisco and
others are acting more like the
Ku Klux Klan than a good
corporate citizen.
It is easy to do when traditional civil rights groups
give you a pass as long as you
provide sponsorship money
for their fundraising events.
Some groups even join with
these culprits on advocacy
and legislative issues as if
these bastions of racism are
examples of good inclusive
governance. This is damaging and has caused these rascals to go free of public criticism until now.
The Mercury News
used the Freedom of Information Act to get hiring data as
late as 2005 from the US Department of Labor, Office of
Federal Contract Compliance
(OFCCP), which tracks this
under Executive Order 11246.
Every two years major corporations are audited for their
racial and gender demographics at all levels of hiring. The News tried to get
2008 data but companies like
Google, Apple, Yahoo, Oracle
and Applied Materials have
successfully blocked access to
that data in the courts. It is a
good reason that they did as
the numbers are just unAmerican.
Of the ten companies investigated here are the results.
Collectively, only 2.1 percent
of the workforce is Black
while only 5.2 percent of the
workforce is Hispanic.
The News states “Of the
5,907 top managers and officials in the Silicon Valley offices of the 10 large companies in 2005, 296 were Black
or Hispanic, a 20 percent decline from 2000, according to
U.S. Department of Labor
work-force data obtained by
the Mercury News through
the Freedom of Information
request. In 2008, the share of
computer workers living in
Silicon Valley who are Black
or Latino was 1.5 percent and
4.7 percent, respectively –
shares that had declined since
2000.
Nationally, Blacks and
Latinos were 7.1 percent and
5.3 percent of computer workers, respectively, shares that
were up since 2000, according
to the U.S. Census Bureau. The
share of managers and top officials who are female at those
10 big Silicon Valley firms
slipped to 26 percent in 2005,
from 28 percent in 2000.” This
isn’t progress but a reversal of
our gains during the Civil
Rights Struggle.
What these racial culprits are doing should be punished by the U.S. Justice Department. It is blatant discrimination and must be
stopped. Now that it is exposed we must put serious
pressure on this activity.
What they think they can do
is import a massive amount
of Asians via H-1B visas and
count them in their collective
minority numbers.
First of all, only US citizens can be counted in these
numbers and all groups, especially Black and Hispanic,
must not be under represented. It violates law and
should prohibit these corporations from doing business
with the federal government
or any other entity that receives federal funding or benefits from a federal program
or regulation.
The NAACP, Urban
League, La Raza, etc. should
cease receiving money from
these bigot corporations. Certainly they should stop doing
their bidding and representing them as good outstanding
corporate citizens. They
should be protesting and suing them in the courts. They
should put serious pressure
on the U.S. government to enforce standing Civil Rights
and Equal Opportunity laws.
If they don’t than I guess the
National Black Chamber of
Commerce will have to go after them in their absence like
we did in the telecommunications and auto industries
with success back in the
1990’s. It is not exactly our
mission but someone has to
do it.
Remember, there are
reasons why we have triple
the unemployment of the national average. This is one of
them and no one is going to
change the situation but us.
We sometimes “sleep” with
the enemy instead of beating
them upside their heads. As
Frederick Douglas taught us
long ago, “Power concedes
nothing without a demand. It
never has and never will.”
Wake up people they are trying to ruin us and destroy our
children. This is not the time
to be nice.
St. Louis Provides Model for Developing Black Males
George E. Curry
NNPA Columnist
The three major Black
Methodist denominations –
American Methodist Episcopal (AME), African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME
Zion) and Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) –
emerged from their joint Great
Gathering conference here
last week with a plan to establish Saturday Academies
in cities across the nation as
a way of improving the plight
of young African-American
males.
A pilot project is scheduled to begin in the Washington, D.C.-area in May, with a
Saturday Academy rotating
between three churches in the
major Methodist denominations. Organizers say the concept will be expanded later to
13 regions across the United
States.
If Methodists are looking for a successful academy
model, they should study the
one developed 26 years ago
in St. Louis, Mo. by St. Paul
A.M. E. Church under Rev. C.
Garnett Henning, now an
AME bishop.
It was the brainchild of
Bishop Henning and my
friend William J. Harrison, a
local educator and member of
the church.
The program, which is
now a separate non-profit organization, describes itself as
“a manhood, leadership and
development group.” The 9
a.m. to noon sessions are held
each Saturday and targets
Black males ages 6-17. It has
grown from an initial class of
12 to 100. According to its
Web site, all seniors participating in the program have
graduated from high school
and college.
Keith Turner, a member
of the original class, graduated from high school in St.
Louis and enrolled in
Morehouse College in Atlanta, William Harrison’s
alma mater. Turner, the owner
of TurnGroup Technologies
in St. Louis, and two other
program participants graduated cum laude from
Morehouse.
“The program provided
me with an opportunity to
have experiences and meet
people who were outside my
family’s normal or professional circle,” Turner explained. “That type of exposure allowed me to be shaped
by the successful people that
we met that looked like us.”
There is no charge for
enrolling in the program, but
the parents or guardians
must attend an orientation
session before a young man
can join the group. And when
he does join, there is no confusion about what is expected
· Each young man is expected to attend the program
all year;
· Proper decorum and
discipline will be observed;
· Each young man is expected to graduate from high
school;
· Each young man is expected to graduate from college;
· Young men are expected to volunteer for service
in the home, church and community;
· Each young man is expected to accept responsibility in every aspect of his life;
· Each young man is expected to strive for leadership
in organizations and groups
in which he is a participant;
· Each young man is to
earn whatever he expects to
receive and beg for nothing;
· Each young man is to
become a man with all of its
positive connotations;
· Each young man is expected to average at least a 3.0
(a B) on a 4.0 scale;
· Each young man taking the SAT is expected to
score at least 1,000 on a 1,600point scale and at least 26
points on the ACT 36-point
scale.
Harrison, the program
founder, was a no-nonsense
taskmaster. He reminded parents, “We are not saviors. If
you want your child saved,
take him to church.”
But if you want assistance in helping a boy move
successfully into manhood,
St. Paul Saturdays is the place
to be.
“I was blessed to have
two good, hard-working parents in my life,” recalls Turner.
“I was privileged to have a
mentor like Dr. Harrison who
believed that if young people
were taught better, they would
do better.
He dedicated his life to
the cultivation and development of young minds, all with
the hope and expectation that
by changing our lives, participants of St. Paul Saturdays
would have a positive impact
on our communities.”
It is a lesson that another former participant, Jay
Rhodes, learned well. He returned as a volunteer 15 years
ago and is now co-director
with Vince Pierce, who began
volunteering when Rhodes
returned. Other long-time volunteers include Turner (14
years), Byron Price (15 years),
Henry Graham (15 years),
Alan Green (10 years) and
Don Henning (8 years).
No instructor receives a
salary and all donations go
directly to the program and
helps finance college tours,
trips to hotspots of the civil
rights movement and other
activities.
St. Paul Saturdays has
made cleaning up Father
Dickson Cemetery, a Black
cemetery, a special project.
An examination of recent schedules reflect the
range of group activities:
Black History Saturday,
Rites of Passage services,
Academic Goal-Setting Saturday, Community Health Saturday, a tennis clinic, Entrepreneurial Saturday, Aviation Day (flying a plane with
professional pilots) and computer literacy.
All participants are expected to excel.
Turner said, “This program helped instill within me
that the only limitations that
I have are the limitations that
I place on myself.”
Obama Sets Deadline on Health Care Reform
WASHINGTON
(NNPA) - President Obama
hopes to see his controversial
health care reform bill approved by March 18, White
House Press Secretary Robert
Gibbs has said.
According
to
thehill.com, Gibbs said
sweeping health care reform
should move through ConPresident Barack Obama
gress before the president
leaves for a trip to Australia
and
Indonesia.
”We’re leaving on March 18
and we believe that we’re on
schedule, based on our conversations that have been had
with the Speaker of the House
and the majority leader, that
we’re on schedule to get something done before we leave,”
Gibbs said.
The press secretary said
Obama hopes the House will
pass the Senate’s primary
health care bill by that date,
with a final bill to be signed
by Easter.
Because Obama’s recent bipartisan health care
reform summit failed to provoke any Republican con-
verts, Democrats are turning
to a political process called
reconciliation, which would
sidestep the need for Republican support.
The process would allow the Democratic-majority
Congress to approve
Obama’s proposed health
care reform with a simple
majority vote.
White House
Secretary Robert Gibbs
Page 4/THE VILLAGER/March 12 , 2010
Managing campaigns for corporations
around the clock, around the world.
Youth of Today. Hope of Tomorrow.
Fun Opportunities
Jaquarry Wilson
Kealing Middle School
Through out the
passed week Kealing Middle
School has been given many
opportunities that allowed us
to explore many different
things. On Wednesday March
3, we visited three different
museums in the city of San
Antonio. The Names Were
The SAMA, The San Antonio
Museum of Art, and The
MCNAY. All of these museums held many pieces of art
that were inspiring to all of
the students in different
ways. At the end of this trip
we were very grateful for the
chance to experience true Art
and learn about how artists
expressed their feelings all
over the world.
That same week, on
March 5, UT invited about fifteen students from our school
to attend a tour around the
campus. The staff had chosen
the students that were to attend this trip. Luckily I was
one of them. This was really
interesting to me because as
we were touring UT, we even
got to ask different questions
about the classes we would
have to take depending on
what we planned to major in.
Going on this made me realized how good of a School UT
is.
On Saturday, March
6, Explore UT had taken Place.
Unfortunately I Didn’t get the
chance to Attend. But in the
previous years that I have attended this event, students
and parents all over Austin
were invited to Explore UT.
While doing this, they participated in various fun-filled activities. I’m sure that this
event was to show parents
and their children that UT is
the school for them.
Explore UT was a lot of fun
Jaylon Knighten
Campbell Elementary
Explore UT was a lot of
fun on Saturday (March 6).
First we met up at the school
at 10:15 to get our name tags,
sack lunch and assigned
groups. We had two school
buses that took us over to the
UT campus which seems like
took forever because there
were so many buses from
other cities in Texas attending this event. I saw buses
from Leander, San Antonio,
Del Valle, Katy, La Grange
and many more. When we
arrive we were able to walk
around and check out the different stations that was setup.
We played with this huge ball
up on hill, we went inside the
Football stadium but wasn’t
able to go on the field because
the football team was out
there practicing so we look on
thru the gates, but it was a
good experience for me.
ACC Mascot Madness is On!
voting gets under way this month
AUSTIN, Texas (March student Avy Gonzalez, co9, 2010) – The Austin Com- chair of the search commitmunity College District needs tee. “It’s cool to be part of
your help to choose a mascot! something that will have a big
After receiving hundreds of impact at ACC long after we
suggestions and vetting the finish school.”
Some of the remaining
ideas through a rigorous research/focus group process, mascot choices include River
the mascot search committee Bats, Starblazers, Armadillos,
has narrowed down the and Pioneers. Each day, the
choices to the final four. ACC field of contenders narrows.
“We’re excited to have
is revealing those finalists in
a March Madness-style a mascot to raise awareness
bracket on the mascot search about the importance of a colwebpage (austincc.edu/mas- lege education,” said Brette
Lea, co-chair of the search
cot).
When it’s down to the committee and ACC executive
last four choices, students, director of Public Information
employees, alumni, and the and College Marketing. “A
entire Central Texas area will very important part of ACC’s
have a chance to cast a ballot mission is to increase higher
for their favorite. The final education participation rates
four will be announced and enhance student success.
online at noon on Monday, A mascot can help engage
March 22. Voting runs March current students and create a
22 through April 2 on the college-going culture among
mascot search website. The prospective students, starting
top vote-getter will be submit- at a young age.”
Background informated to the legal department
and administration for final tion:
In fall 2009, ACC formed
approval.
To raise awareness of a mascot search committee to
Mascot Madness, the search find the perfect symbol to repcommittee – and the pink resent the college. The commitbunny serving as the “in- tee is comprised of students,
terim mascot” – will make a faculty, staff, alumni, and comstop at every ACC campus munity members. The commitduring the voting period. tee developed a four-step proMedia are welcome at those cess and criteria for choosing
the college’s new mascot in a
events.
“We think the mascot way that engages the commuis going to build school nity and is considerate of colspirit and give ACC a last- lege history as well as current
ing tradition,” says ACC practices, policies, and proce-
Black Then and Now Show
Jeremy Henderson
McCallum High School
On Tuesday, March 9,
2010, COBRA and VOICES
will have the Black Then and
Now show. The show will be
during 7th period and it will
lots of fun. This show is for
recognizing the unknown
African-American heroes
who made an impact on the
world we live in today and
how now we have the opportunities and a better life, be-
cause of them. We talk about
MLK, Malcolm X and all the
other main African-American
pioneers that made a difference and a had huge impact
on the world we live in today,
but now its time to recognize
the unknown heroes that
made a difference, because
they had a impact on our lives,
we just talk about them much.
By the end of the show you
will be able to remember and
recognize each unknown African-American hero that
made a difference. You will
also be able to tell your friends
and even your parents and
grandparents about the unknown heroes that made a
difference. Once again, the
show will be during 7th period in the McCallum theater
and it will be a lot of fun, so
come and take part in this
wonderful event!
Austin School Trustees Confirm
Chief Academic Officer
Austin School Trustees
have confirmed Dr. Ramona
Trevino as Chief Academic
Officer for the Austin School
District. Superintendent Dr.
Meria Carstarphen recommended the appointment.
The Chief Academic Officer serves as the instructional
leader for the District, providing leadership, assistance, and
supervision for curriculum,
bilingual education, and special education. The CAO will
direct the operation, planning,
development, and administration of all programs supporting students’ academic
achievement; and also serves
as a member of the
Superintendent’s Senior
Cabinet.
Dr. Trevino was principal of Austin’s Zilker Elementary School from 19962003, and was the founding
principal of the University of
Texas Elementary Charter
School in 2003. She is also an
assistant professor with the
University of Texas College of
Education, and coordinator of
UT’s Urban Education
Project.
She earned a doctorate
and a master’s degree from
the University of Texas at
Austin, and a bachelor’s degree from Wheelock College
in Boston, Massachusetts.
Dr. Seuss Day Gives Children an Opportunity to Meet Community Leaders
AUSTIN, Texas — A
former chancellor of the University of Texas System and
more than a dozen community and business leaders will
celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday
by reading his books to children at the University of Texas
Elementary School in east
Austin on Thursday, March
11, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Wearing a tall Dr. Seuss
hat, guest readers will read
from books that were donated
by the University Co-op for
each classroom. School Principal Melissa Chavez said the
Seventh Annual Book Fair
and Dr. Seuss Birthday Celebration is important because
it gives students an opportunity to feel connected to The
University of Texas at Austin.
“Our students love being part of UT,” Chavez said.
“When our UT and community leaders come to the school
they become real role models
for our students. When people
take the time to be with our children it shows the students that
education matters, leading matters, and most important, they
matter.”
UT Elementary supporters who will read to the students
include Dr. Gregory J. Vincent,
vice president for diversity and
community engagement at
UT Austin; Dan Burck, former
UT System chancellor; UT
alumni and donors Mickey
and Jeanne Klein; and University Federal Credit Union representatives, Erica Coker and
Rhonda Summerbell. Also
representatives from the West
Austin Youth Association
and the University Co-op will
participate.
“The Dr. Seuss celebration is just one example of
what makes UT Elementary
exemplary,” Dr. Vincent said.
“Students benefit from the
support and involvement of
the UT community and the
greater Austin community.”
The UT Elementary
School, which opened in
2003, became part of the Division of Diversity and Community Engagement’s jurisdiction in September 2009.
Dr. Ramona Treviño,
founding principal and CEO,
said the elementary school is
an integral part of the University of Texas System’s initiative to improve public education in Texas. The school
serves 256 pre-kindergarten to
fifth graders, and is at 2200 E.
6th Street.
“We may have all come
on different ships, but
we’re in the same boat
now.”
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lady Jags Track ona roll
By Bria Good
LBJ High School
The LBJ Lady Jags
Track team has been very successful in our last two track
meets. Our first meet was held
at Hendrickson High School
against the Pflugerville District and others such as
Killeen, Liberty Hill, and
Hutto. All of the freshmen
were mainly nervous because
it was our first high school
track meet and we didn’t
know how different it was
going to be from the middle
school track meets.
The second track
meet was held at St. Andrews
Episcopal School. We were
one of the two high schools
from Austin while others were
from Georgetown and other
Christian, Baptist, and
Lutheran schools. In both
meets, we placed first in the
4x1 relays and the 100. We
also placed in the other races.
Overall we did a great job.
I’m glad to be apart
of the Lady jags track team
and appreciate all of my team
members and the coaches,
Coach Kyle, Coach Russo,
and Coach Taylor for helping
us along the way. Will update
soon, GO JAGS!
Litter-Themed Essays Equal
College Cash
Don’t Mess with Texas Scholarship Program begins March 8
AUSTIN, Texas—Texas for the Texas Department of
high school seniors can earn Transportation, which mancash for college by composing ages the Don’t Mess with
a 350-word essay suggesting Texas Scholarship Program.
Eligible high school seadditional measures to be
used in the state’s fight niors must plan to pursue a
two- or four-year degree at a
against litter.
Dow Chemical Com- Texas university or college.
pany is partnering with Keep Essays must be 350 words or
Texas Beautiful to sponsor the less and will be accepted
2010 Don’t Mess with Texas starting March 8. Apply
Scholarship Program. High online, download an applicaschool seniors are encour- tion, and view complete rules
aged to submit essays ex- at DontMessWithTexas.org.
Completed applicaplaining how they tackled a
litter-related problem in their tions and essays must be subown school or community. mitted online or postmarked
The grand-prize winner will by April 16, 2010. Mailed enreceive $3,000 for college tu- tries should be sent to the
ition, while two second-place Don’t Mess with Texas ScholProgram
c/o
winners will receive $1,000 arship
EnviroMedia Social Marketeach.
“Here at Dow, we know ing at
1717 West 6th Street,
that ensuring the health and
sustainability of our environ- Suite 400; Austin, TX 78703.
About Don’t Mess with
ment takes a commitment
from everyone, but particu- Texas
Don’t Mess with Texas
larly our youth,” said Community Relations Manager has been educating Texans
Trish Ritthaler. “We’re proud about litter prevention since
to sponsor a program that 1986. TxDOT’s litter prevenencourages high school se- tion program includes Adoptniors to come up with great a-Highway and a grassroots
ideas for litter prevention partnership with Keep Texas
while enabling the winners to Beautiful. Don’t Mess with
get support in furthering their Texas activities also include
a spring “Trash-Off,” comeducations.”
The Texas Department munity outreach, a scholarof Transportation spends mil- ship and a corporate partner
lions of dollars each year to program. For more informavisit
pick up litter along Texas tion,
highways, and research www.DontMessWithTexas.org.
shows those most likely to lit- TxDOT’s goals are to reduce
congestion, enhance safety,
ter are young Texans.
“If you don’t tolerate lit- expand economic opportuter, and if you’ve ever done nity, improve air quality, and
something about it, you have increase the value of transa great shot at winning,” said portation assets. For more invisit
Doris Howdeshell, Travel In- formation,
formation Division director www.txdot.gov.
The Youth
Brigade are
theYouth of
Today. and
Hope of
Tomorrow.
Sponsors need
for next year.
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
March 12, 2010/THE VILLAGER/Page 5
City of Austin Offers Free Business Resosurces Fair
for Small Business Owners
Austin Recognized as Top City for Business Startups as Small
Business Development Program Celebrates 10th Anniversary
(March 1, 2010) Austin,
TX — The City of Austin, recently ranked as the best city
in the U.S. to start a business,
will host one of the year’s best
business opportunities to arm
entrepreneurs with resources
needed for successful business startup or expansion.
Getting Connected, a business resource fair hosted by
the City’s Small Business Development Program, is designed to give small business
owners and entrepreneurs
access to beneficial information, materials and people
who can help them start or
expand their businesses. The
Getting Connected Business
Resource Fair, an essential
event for any small business
owner, takes place Tuesday,
March 23, from 3 – 7 p.m. at
the Palmer Events Center.
Austin was recently
ranked as the best city in the
nation in which to start a
small
business
by
Portfolio.com, a business
news website, noting that no
city has weathered the recession
more successfully. In 2007, there
were nearly 39,000 small businesses in the city. The number of
small businesses started in Austin between 2006 and 2007 went
up 5.6 percent. No other U.S. metropolitan city came close to
matching that pace with typical
metro small-business growth of
1.4 percent.
The SBDP marks its 10th
anniversary this year and hopes
to attract at least 500 small business owners and entrepreneurs
to the 2010 business resource
fair, giving them the chance to
meet with representatives
from non-profit organizations, government programs
and agencies, area chambers
of commerce, and community
development corporations
whose mission is to help business owners succeed. This
free conference will feature
more than 40 exhibitors, and
provides a unique opportunity to meet, network and
learn from organizations that
assist business owners with
everything from locating financing for a first business
to maintaining a healthy
small business’ bottom line.
“Business owners
aren’t always aware of the
incredible resources there are
in Austin to help them be successful,” said Vicky Valdez,
SBDP Administrator. “We
want to connect entrepreneurs to those resources, be it
from non-profit groups
whose mission is to help businesses, from business networking organizations, or
from government programs
which have ways to assist
our small business owners.
When Austin small businesses are successful, Austin
itself is successful in so many
ways.”
SBDP’s BizAid Business Start-Up Orientation
sessions will also be available during the fair. These
classes provide basic information and guidance to small
business owners, ensuring
they have the proper tools to
make their businesses thrive.
Topics discussed during the
BizAid program will include
personal preparation, research and focus, determin-
ing structure, building a business plan, and execution. The
hour-long classes will take
place on the second floor at
3:30 pm and 5:15 pm. There is
no cost for entrance to the
classes, but pre-registration is
required.
New this year, SBDP
will host a class for new or
prospective business owners
to learn how to maximize their
presence and customer interaction with social media opportunities. Using Social Media To Promote Your Business will be held 2 – 5 pm for
$35. Pre-registration is required.
The annual Business
Resource Fair developed from
the City of Austin’s recognition that small businesses
make a big contribution to
Austin’s economy. As such,
the City seeks to provide programs like the Getting Connected event that address the
development needs of small
business owners.
To recognize and
honor the success of
Austin’s SBDP and its 10year-anniversary, the Mayor
and City Council will award
a proclamation during the
City Council meeting on
Thursday, March 11, 5:30
pm at City Hall.
Registration for the
Getting Connected Business
Resource Fair is not required, but encouraged. For
more information about the
Getting Connected event or
the City’s Small Business
Development Program, call
(512) 974-7800, or visit
www.austinsmall biz.org.
Now Compiling 2010
40th Anniversary Edition
Black D.C. Native 8th on Forbes
‘Wealthiest’ List
By Brandi Forte
Special to the NNPA
from the District Chronicles
WASHINGTON
(NNPA) - It’s hard to know
what to expect when you
meet a Forbes ‘lister’. Someone literally so wealthy, so
successful that we’re forced to
pluck them once a year from
office suites, stages, and basketball courts and rank them
by the zeroes in their bank accounts. Names like Oprah
and Magic and Bob and
Sheila Johnson float to the
top. Now we can add Washington native R. Donahue
Peebles to that list.
Don’t expect to find
Peebles, a real estate titan with
a portfolio worth $4 billion,
hiding behind designer
shades or spinning in a tornado of security and Blackberry-wielding Ivy-league assistants. If you don’t mind,
he’ll introduce himself. It’s
barely above freezing in the
Nation’s Capital and he’s
dressed comfortably in a deep
navy, pinstriped, suit tailored
to his slim 6’3” frame. He
smiles and says he’s use to the
weather. By the way, you can
call him ‘Don’.
Last year, Forbes Magazine named Peebles the
“Eighth Wealthiest African
American”. From his swank
downtown D.C. office just
two blocks from Macy’s,
Peebles shared his story of
grit and determination that
propelled him from a humble,
working-class upbringing
into the world of self-made
millionaires.
“I am a big believer that
anything is possible,” he
said. Warm hues and photos
taken with President Obama
and former President Bill
Clinton and portraits of his
wife and children splash the
walls. “The only limitations
for us are those we allow society to impose on us.”
That is the story that
Peebles wants every Black
boy and girl, man and woman
in the District to know – a
story of how to succeed
against the odds. He has captured his success principles
in a book that bears his name:
“The Peebles Principles: Tales
and Tactics from an
Entrepreneur’s Life of Winning Deals, Succeeding in
Business, and creating a Fortune from Scratch.”
“It’s at the top of my
reading list,” said City of Alexandria Mayor William D.
Euille, one of Peebles’ admirers.
This book should be on
every aspiring business
person’s bookshelf to be read
again and again, said Robert
L. Johnson, BET founder and
Charlotte Bobcats owner.
Born in 1960 at
Freedman’s Hospital, now
Howard University Hospital,
Peebles grew up on 9th Street
in Northwest. Peebles’ parents divorced when he was
five. Though his mother
raised him, and his grandfather and uncles played key
roles in molding him, he
adopted his father’s work
ethic.
“My father and I had a
close relationship in the early
part of my childhood. After
my parents divorced there
R. Donahue Peebles
was some distance. I learned
the willingness to work hard
from my uncles and my
grandfather taught me that
there were no limits,” Peebles
said. “At the same time my
father always had two jobs.
He worked for the government and as an auto mechanic. I got my work ethic
from him.”
In 1965, he and his
mother moved to Naylor
Road and Southern Avenue
in Southeast. Then in 1974,
they moved again. This time
to Connecticut Avenue and
Van Ness in upper Northwest.
He attended Alice Deal
Junior High School, Wilson
High in 10th grade and
graduated from U.C. Capitol
Page School.
“I was just better than
average,” Peebles told the
District Chronicles, referring
to his academic acumen.
Peebles liked playing basketball and was a member of the
chess team. Someone else was
the valedictorian. After high
school, Peebles attended
Rutgers University for a year
before dropping out to focus
on making real estate deals
and building The Peebles
Corporation.
“One thing that playing
chess taught me about life is
how to plan ahead, thinking
forward, being strategic about
my opponent and how to be
eight steps ahead of the
game,” he said.
Peebles’s grandfather
worked as a doorman for
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel for 41 years. It was no small
bit of irony when, in 1994,
Peebles bought and converted
900 F Street, N.W, into what it
is today: a Marriott Hotel.
Now the Peebles Corporation is the nation’s largest
African-American real estate
development company. The
company boasts luxury hotels and high-rise residential
and commercial properties
here in D.C., San Francisco,
Las Vegas and Miami Beach.
In the near future, he plans to
invest and build more minority banks that provide loans
and capitol to minority businesses.
One factor that thrust
Peebles to the pinnacle of
wealth and success is his political savvy. And he is not shy
about discussing politics or
getting politically involved.
The real estate titan said that
the city has only experienced
moderate improvements
since 1989. There’s still a lot
of work to do.
“There is generational
poverty in Wards 7 and 8,”
he said. “What I see is two cities, a city that is Black and a
city that is White. It is poor
and prospering. As a native
and resident I would like to
have one city to create more
opportunities and success for
all residents. How can you
tell residents that you don’t
have money for services, but
you have millions to give to
businesses in Maryland to
move to the District? ... We
need a public servant whose
heart is in D.C.,” he said.
D.C. CouncilmemberAt-Large Michael Brown, a
friend of Peebles, agrees with
him on the state of the District.
“Don is right: we need
public servants that have
compassion and solutions,”
Brown said. “Don is a great
leader and public servant. He
exudes experience and foresight for the voices that are
not being represented.”
Peebles’ political education started in high school,
working on Capitol Hill as a
page and as an intern for Rep.
John Conyers of Michigan
and Rep. Ron Dellums of
California.
“I had a pretty grueling
schedule, but I got to see how
politics and business interacted,” he said.
Councilman Marion
Barry also mentored him during his 20s, and Peebles was
later appointed chairman of
D.C.’s Board of Equalization
and Review, D.C.’s real estate
tax appeals board, at 23.
These experiences gave
him a strong sense for public
service and politics, which he
still cherishes.
“My dedication to realizing the potential of Washington
remains steadfast and my desire
to work aggressively to bring
about change will always be
unwavering,” he said.
For now, Peebles said that
he’ll work for change as a private citizen focusing on family
first. The land developer said that
his 15-year-old son, Roy; 7-yearold daughter, Chloe, and his
wife, Katrina, keep him
grounded.
“My vow as a husband
and my responsibilities as a father to support my wife and children, supersede my desires to
serve in a public office. I don’t
plan to be a candidate.
On a Southern U.S. Tour, Archibishop Tutu Draws Thousands
For information on how to be included
Call (512) 476-0082
Deadline has been extended to
March 15,2010
Special to the NNPA
from GIN
(GIN) – Addressing thousands of college students in
South Florida and Kentucky in
his recent southern U.S. tour,
South African Archbishop
Desmond Tutu reflected somberly on some of the current
world crises, and the devastation
in Haiti, Chile and Japan.
“Each one of us can do
something to ameliorate the
suffering,” said the 1984 Nobel
Laureate. “But it is much more
the fact that God is asking human beings, ‘Help me to make
this a better world.’”
“God cries, God cries
many times,” Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu told a
crowd of close to 4,000 at Nova
Southeastern University in
Davie, Florida. He called for
more people to use their moral
compasses to stop injustice and
cruelty around the world.
The human rights activist
was invited to deliver his message — “Good vs. Evil: Human
Rights or Humans Wronged” —
as part of the college’s Distinguished Speakers Series
Tutu went on to praise the
students of Murray State University, in Murray, Kentucky, encouraging them to continue in a
spirit of tolerance. He said he
was annoyed with the media’s
constant portrayal of negativity,
indicating there are many incredible stories of students’
great humanitarian efforts.
“Go on dreaming. Go on
being idealistic,” Tutu said.
“Refuse to be affected by the cynicisms of oldies like me.”
An appearance over the
weekend at the Cavalia equestrian show at Bicentennial Park
was to benefit his peace foundation and the Red Cross. He is
currently the chairman of The
Elders where he gives vocal defense of human rights and campaigns for the oppressed.
With his daughter, Mpho
Tutu, executive director of the
Tutu Institute for Prayer and Pilgrimage in Washington D.C, and
an Episcopal priest, Tutu has
written a new book “Made for
Goodness, And Why This Makes
All the Difference” which will be
released Mar. 9.
March 12, 2010/The Villager/Page 7
Census Ad Buys Still Under
Fire: Black Lawmakers Still
Have Questions from page 1
Waters tried probing
the representatives in charge
of the Census’ media buys
but the congresswoman said
that she believes that she was
misled under oath. She called
for an investigation to see if
GlobalHue acted discriminatory and into the utilization
of the accounting o f the $300
million dollar budget set under the previous administration.
“It appears that the African-American newspapers
are being told that they must
give free space and editorials
or they will not get money,”
Waters said. Bakewell stated
that the GlobalHue’s demands were later retracted.
Hundreds of Black newspapers are supposed to divide a
$2.5 million advertising budget that is supposed to reach
an estimated 40 million Black
people that were undercounted by two percent in
2000, according to statistics
cited during the hearing. “We
need more money,” Bakewell
said. “The Black Press of
America needs at least $10
million dollars to have a consistent message in 200 Black
newspapers throughout
America. There is no reason
to cherry pick.” The hearing’s
final panel included heads of
ethnic media organizations
such as James Winston, executive director of the National Association of Black
Owned Broadcasters, Sandy
Close, executive director of
New America Media and
Danny Bakewell, chairman of
the National Newspaper
P u b l i s h e r s
Association.Census Director
Robert Groves defended the
amounts used to purchase
media ads saying they were
were based on statistical and
historic data.“I can honestly
say that the program was set
up in an objective manner
guided by data on what audiences needed given their historical behavior,” Groves said
in response to the perceived
unfairness in media buys with
ethnic media outlets. The Census director said that the
Black media buy plan was
developed by Global Hue. The
total media buy for 2010 is $23
million, an increase of 35 percent over the 2000 Census
budget amount. According to
their research, their media
plan for Census 2010 is estimated to effectively reach
more than 95 percent of
Blacks in every market in the
country. “The budget allocations that we’re made have
consistently placed greater
emphasis on reaching and
motivating hard-to-count audiences,” Tarakajian said.
“The budget allocations are
disproportionately greater to
hard-to-count audiences relative to their population size.
And more emphasis is being
put on hard-to-count audiences than in the 2000
Census…We don’t know of
any campaign that has made
this kind of outreach in the
history of our business,”
Tarakajian said. When asked
if other Black media outlets
expressed concerns similar to
what Black newspaper publishers voiced, Lee said that
she’s heard quite a few complaints and issues. “We’ve
heard points raised like the
one’s Danny [Bakewell] has
raised, which caused us to
look at all of this,” Lee said.
“I’ve heard the complaints but
I cannot verify all of the information on that. But I think
that this is media wide.”
Need help with graphics, logos
or
advertisement?
Call Thomas
@ (512) 476-0082.
EMPLOYMENT/BIDS/
PROPOSALS
PUBLIC INFORMATION/
FOR SALE/FOR RENT/MISC
MBE/WBE/HUB
Employment
Austin-Travis County Mental Health and Mental Retardation
Center dba Austin Travis County
Integral Care is currently soliciting
bids through an Invitation for Bids
process for Public Relations Services for a Community Awareness
Program. Bid specifications will be
posted on the State of Texas Electronic State Business Daily website
at http://esbd.cpa.state.tx.us/. Bid
specifications may also be picked
up between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at
1430 Collier St., Austin, TX 78704,
beginning Monday, March 8, 2010.
Bid specifications may also be
mailed or sent electronically to interested parties, by contacting
Arianna Ramos at (512) 440-4062
or [email protected]. The
deadline for bid submission is 4:00
p.m. April 9, 2010. Historically
Underutilized Businesses (HUBs),
including Minority-Owned Businesses and Women-Owned Businesses, are encouraged to apply.
JANITORIAL WORKERS
NEEDED
ISS Facility Services, Inc. has openings
for supervisory, floor men, and general
cleaners for part-time evening employment. Apply at ISS Facility Services,
Inc. Austin, M-F, between 4-6 pm, 8101
Cameron Road # 304. ISS Facility Services, Inc. is an Equal opportunity Employer (EOE) and promotes a Diverse
Workforce.
Austin-Travis County Mental Health and Mental Retardation
Center dba Austin Travis County
Integral Care (ATCIC) is currently
soliciting proposals through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process
for Health, Dental, Life/AD&D,
Voluntary Life/AD&D, Long Term
Disability, EAP and Voluntary Benefits. RFPs may be picked up between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at 9500
Arboretum Blvd., Suite 100, Austin, TX 78759, beginning Monday,
March 15, 2010. RFPs may also be
mailed or sent electronically, by contacting Rebecca Hawes at
[email protected] or
by fax at (866) 321-0902. The deadline to submit a proposal under the
RFP is 3 p.m. on April 2, 2010.
Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUBs), including MinorityOwned Businesses and WomenOwned Businesses, are encouraged
to apply.
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PVAMU College of
Nursing Awarded
$3 Million Grant To
Produce Faculty,
Train Nurses
HOUSTON, Texas – The
Prairie View A&M University
College of Nursing has been
awarded a $3 million grant by
the Houston Endowment to address the state’s nursing shortage. The funds will be used to
establish a Nursing Ph.D. program and a research center.
“This endowment will no
doubt prove beneficial in the
education and training of outstanding nurses within Texas,”
said Dr. George C. Wright, president of Prairie View A&M University. “We are honored to receive this endowment and look
forward to continuing with the
university’s commitment to excellence in nursing.”
As the population growth
and demographic shift in Texas
continues to escalate, there is
an evident need for diverse
nurses of various socio-economic backgrounds. The College plans to educate nurses
on a Ph.D. level who desire to
become nursing educators.
With over 100 students enrolled in the College’s Masters of Science Degree in Nursing, projections outline that a
third of those students are
interested in pursuing studies at the Ph.D. level.
“The benefits of doctoral education are clear and
necessary for the progression
and dynamic response to societies, and to strive for improvement in the human
condition,” said Dr. Betty N.
Adams, dean of the College
of Nursing said.
The Research Center for
Virtual Interface for Teaching
and Learning will study the effects of the virtual simulation
technology pedagogy on nursing education. Similar to the use
of simulation software used in
aviation, the interface will enable students to practice critical
thinking skills vital to nursing.
Students are allowed to study
their craft in a controlled environment that will eliminate
harm to real patients. The simulation teaching pedagogy has
been used as a strategy in the
College since 2003. Over 2,000
nursing students have utilized
the simulation in their studies.
The establishment of the research center will contribute in
the development in testing
theory and creating new science in using technology in
the direction and training if
professional nurses.
The endowment is the
largest grant ever awarded to
the university.
About PVAMU College
of Nursing:
Established in 1918, the
College of Nursing first acted
as a two year nursing program
for students of color in Texas.
The first four-year degrees
granted by the university were
in nursing and in 1928 the program was expanded to three
years. In 1930, the nursing
program was the first off campus affiliation from the university and became a professional
baccalaureate program in
1952. The first baccalaureate
degrees were awarded in 1956
and in 1968 the college developed an upper (professional)
and lower division (liberal
arts) curriculum. Currently, the
college awards both baccalaureate and masters degree programs and is accredited by the
Texas Board of Nursing, and
holds two national accreditations from the National League
for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) and the
Commission on Collegiate
Nursing Education (CCNE).
Parade. A member of
The Texas A & M University
System, the university is dedicated to fulfilling its landgrant mission of achieving excellence in teaching, research
and service. During the
university’s 132-year history,
more than 53,500 academic
degrees have been awarded.
For more information regarding PVAMU, visit www.
pvamu.edu.
Plagued by credit card debt? New laws
could help lighten long-term road
by Royce West
Texas Senate
Many of us can remember the theory of ‘trickledown economics.’ It proposed that if the haves acquired enough, their largess
would eventually reach the
have-nots. But 20 years later,
the have-nots still have not.
The trickle spigot was somehow capped.
But now it seems
that the current economic crisis - triggered by the collapse
of the housing industry three
years ago that crashed Wall
Street, that paralyzed the
auto industry, that caused
Americans to lose jobs at a
rate of 700,000 per month found a way to tap the trickle
spigot so that banks (the proponents of this catastrophe)
could in part recoup their
losses from the plastic-toting
public.
Americans were furious when notice came from
card issuers that the terms of
revolving credit as we knew
it, were about to change.
Many consumers were hit
with a triple shot from credit
card companies. Attractive
fixed rates were supplanted
by variable rates. Lower interest rates would be raised
in some cases from single
digits, to something closer to
20 percent or more. This
whammy of a trifecta was
completed when card issuers
converted existing balances
to new higher interest rates.
Consumers were left with the
option of accepting the new
terms or closing the account
under old rates (opting-out):
like it or not.
Outraged citizens
complained and Congress
and a new and popular
President last May signed
into law sweeping changes
to laws governing banks
and other credit card issuers. The new law goes into
effect February 22, giving
Senator Royce West
banks the time they begged for
implementation. Their interim
response included imposing
the same rate hikes on their
‘good customers’ that had
been used, along with exorbitant penalties and fees on the
risky, to rake in profits.
Effective soon, 45
days notice must be given in
advance of any increases in
credit card rates or fees. The
law requires that promotional
rates offered to both new and
existing accounts last a minimum six months and interest
rates or fees on a new account
cannot be raised more than
once within a single year, unless the cardholder’s payment
is 60 days late.
Issuers must now set
due dates on the same day
each month and bills are due
the next business day if due
dates fall on a weekend or holiday.
Monthly statements
must now be issued to customers at least 21 days prior to
payment due dates. Current
law requires just 14 days.
The new laws also
protect cardholders from
over-the-limit charges. For a
transaction to be completed
that would cause the
cardholder to exceed their
limit, the customer must be
alerted and choose (‘opt-in’)
to continue the transaction.
Banks and other issuers will no longer be able
to charge for telephone or
electronic transfer payments
unless expedited service is requested. And payments made
in the branch office of an issuer must be credited the
same day.
Maybe you’ve taken
advantage of those low- or
zero-interest balance transfer
offers. You may not have
known that issuers were allowed to apply your payments to the low-or no-interest debt, while the interest accumulated on higher rate balances. This practice will end.
The new law says all payments above the minimum
will now apply to the balance
bearing the highest interest.
How many parents
were not aware that the student you sent away to college
was in possession of a credit
card until the bill arrived at
your door? This too will end.
Co-signors will be required
unless those under 21 can
provide sufficient proof of income.
Those who now think
their account agreements look
more like a loan shark deal
will find solace in the new
provision that requires all
changes in credit card terms
imposed after Jan. 1. 2009 to
be reviewed by issuers every
six months with rate reductions to be considered.
Purchasers and recipients of gift cards railed
against industry practices
that penalized holders for
not immediately using the
cards. New rules say no fees
can be charged for 12
months and cards cannot
expire until five years after
purchase.
And lastly, all
changes under this Act will
be reviewed for their effectiveness and impact every
two years by the FTC and
Federal Reserve.
For more information,
please contact Kelvin Bass
at 214-467-0123.
First Lady supports READ ACROSS AMERICA
By Audrey Fischer, Editor, Library of Congress Information Bulletin
First Lady Michelle
Obama and U.S. Secretary of
Education Arne Duncan
were special guests at the
National
Education
Association’s 13th Annual
“Read Across America” Day,
held at the Library of Congress on March 2. The event
celebrated Dr. Seuss’s 106th
birthday and kicked off the
NEA’s national reading-promotion campaign, in which
an estimated 45 million educators, parents and students
are expected to participate in
literacy promotion events
nationwide.
“We’re honored that
the NEA president chose this
library to host this important
event,” said Librarian of
Congress
James
H.
Billington. “This building—
the Thomas Jefferson Building—is named for a president who loved reading!”
Working with the
Library’s Center for the Book,
the NEA is one of the
Library’s 80 reading-promotion partners. “President
Obama issued a proclama-
First Lady Michelle Obama
tion making this ‘Read Across
America Day’ and you get to
be here, in America’s library,”
said NEA President Dennis
Van Roekel, addressing
nearly 300 Arlington, Va., and
District of Columbia elementary school students who came
to the Library of Congress for
the event.
The gleeful students
were entertained by musicians
who got them on their feet. But
the kids later sat attentively as
U.S. Education Secretary Arne
Duncan read the Seuss classic “Horton Hears a Who!”
Published more than 50 years
ago, the book’s message remains timeless: every voice
counts, no matter how small.
“The President of the
United States reads all the
time,” declared Mrs. Obama.
“We make sure our girls read
every day. They can stay up
an extra 30 minutes if they are
reading, so you know everyone in our house reads every
night.”
Mrs. Obama read “The
Cat in the Hat” to the children, making sure to point out
the book’s valuable lesson—
do not let strangers in the
house when parents are not
at home, lest mayhem ensue.
At the part in the story when
the children are asked
whether they should confess
the outrageous events of the
day, Mrs. Obama paused to
advise, “Always tell your
mother the truth.”
Wearing replicas of
the Cat in the Hat’s iconic
red-and-white stovepipe
hat, the children greeted
the beloved character himself and two other surprise
guests, Thing 1 and Thing
2.
NEA President Van
Roekel administered “The
Reader’s Oath” to the children.
“I promise to read
each day and each night. I
know that it’s key to growing up right …”
Austin Urban Market Hosts Poetry,
Fashion and Marketplace
The Austin Urban
Market, Theme: “Doing It
The Ujamaa Way,”will be
held Saturday, March 20,
2010 at 1223 Rosewood
Avenue (Villager Newspaper) from 10 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The event is Free to the
public.
Feature: “$5 Ujamaa
Bucks” to be won by the
visiting public throughout
the event that can be used
like cash with vendors at
the event.
Join Austin Urban
Market and Do You Austin
during SXSW weekend for
a powerful showcase of
Austin’s finest spoken word
poets with special guest Riders Against the Storm (RAS)
and fashion exhibition of
Toombas Jeans and Denim
Wear by local fashion designer Haja Scott. Check out
and shop with a variety of
vendors and have an opportunity to win free $5 Ujamaa
Bucks.
The Austin Urban
Market’s (AUM) mission is
to encourage cooperative
economic by showcasing local entrepreneurs to the Austin public.
Vendor booths are $30
and space is limited. For
more info contact Don
Ellerby at (512) 785-7045 or
e
m
a
i
l
:
[email protected].
If interested in the spoken
word lineup contact Veola
at [email protected].
Come enjoy the vendors, poetry, food and music! “Doing It The Ujamaa
Way” Cooperative Economics. This event is sponsored
by The Villager Newspaper,
Do You Austin and African
Visions.
Page 8/THE VILLAGER/March 12, 2010
Villager Sportsville
Longhorn women win as Baylor’s Griner is idle
By George Hardin
SportsBeat
The University of Texas
Longhorn women claimed a
70-54 victory over the Baylor
University Lady Bears Sunday, March 7, in Waco, a win
no doubt made easier by the
absence of Brittney Griner.
Griner, the 6-foot-8 freshman
who was averaging 19
points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.1
blocks for Baylor, was ejected
from a game against Texas
Tech on March 3 after she
threw a punch that broke the
nose of Jordan Barncastle.
Griner was suspended one
game by her coach, Kim
Mulkey, and an additional
one game suspension was
required under rules of the
NCAA.
The Longhorns were
able to hold Baylor to only
two field goals in the second
half of the game. Brittainey
Raven and Cokie Reed
scored 18 points each for the
Longhorns to help the team
as it heads for the Big 12 tournament.
The dispute was not the
dispute between Griner and
Barncastle. Earlier in the season they had a confrontation
under the basket, which resulted in Griner being pulled
from the game.
Griner wears a men’s
size 17 shoe and has a reach
of 88 inches. She is one of seven
women who have dunked
during a college basketball
game.
Some observers are
claiming there is an increase
in violence in women’s sports
and others are saying that violence by women gets more
publicity because it is rare.
Some who say Griner’s punishment was too lenient point
out that New Mexico soccer
star Elizabeth Lambert was
suspended indefinitely for
yanking the hair of a Brigham
Young University player.
Griner, who attended
Houston’s Nimitz high, was
chosen the No. 1 high school
player in the nation by
Rivals.com in 2009 and was
also selected for the
McDonald’s 2009 All-American Girls Basketball team.
Last December Griner
was credited with the first
triple double in the history of
women’s basketball at Baylor.
She had 34 points, 13 rebounds and 11 blocked shots.
Brittney Griner
Female boxers tangle; Ann Wolfe is winner
Ann “Brown Sugar”
Wolfe, Austin’s premier female boxer, defeated yet another opponent, Tammy “The
Chosen One” Franks, in a
unanimous decision Saturday, March 6. Billed as “The
Brawl in the Hall,” the bout
between the two opponents
fell short of being a brawl as
Franks was running, but she
couldn’t hide, from the beginning bell to the last. Their
three-round fight was the
main event of a multiple-card
pro-am series that took place
at the Austin Music Hall.
Wolfe is an eight-time boxing
champion and is the only
boxer, male or female, to hold
titles in four weight classes simultaneously. At age 39 she
is retired from competitive
boxing. Saturday’s bout was
an exhibition.The other pro
boxers taking to the ring were
Kurtiss “The Beast” Colvin
and Jawnta “K-9” Mason,
with the four-round match
ending in a draw. Amateur
boxers pitted against each
other included Jennifer
Wolfe-Fenn, Ann’s daughter,
who defeated Selina Rivera.
Wolfe-Fenn said, “I’m glad
that I won but I didn’t win
the way I wanted to but I’m
not completely satisfied.” She
said her technique was not as
good as it should have been
and she was over-anxious.
She said she has fought 17
times and won 15.
The boxing matches
were held as a fund-raiser for
the nonprofit Ann Wolfe Boxing and Fitness Gym where
Wolfe not only trains aspiring boxers but provides free
after-school recreation and
fitness training for at-risk
kids. Some of the kids who
trained at Wolfe’s gym and
fought Saturday were declared winners by the panel
of three judges.
Wolfe is a former homeless person who became interested in boxing while
watching a women’s boxing
match in the waiting room of
Brackenridge Hospital when
she had taken her two children to get out of the cold. She
asked a nearby person if the
boxers were paid for what
they and the person told her
yes. Having endured hardship after her mother died and
her father was murdered, she
believed she was as tough as
any other woman and set out
to learn the art of boxing. She
asked around and finally
found Donald L. “Pops”
Billingsley who was reluctant
to take her on because he had
never trained a female boxer
before. When Wolfe persisted
he agreed to work with her but
said she would be trained the
same way as the boys.
Billingsley, who was in
Wolfe’s corner during her
fight, said afterward, “I had
some real good boxers but
some of them they went the
wrong way. She’s the only one
that stuck with me—Ann
Wolfe.”
Wolfe began her career
as an amateur boxer in 1997.
And had her first professional
fight in 1998. In February 2001
she won the World Boxing
Federation junior middleweight title. Within three years
she had won titles in four boxing categories.
A huge victory in
Wolfe’s career took place in
2004 when Wolfe, standing
five feet, nine inches, knocked
out Vonda Ward, standing six
feet, six inches, in Biloxi, Miss.
Ward who was hospitalized
with head and neck injuries,
recovered and resumed her
boxing career.
Also in 2004 Wolfe was
in negotiations to fight Laila
Ali but their representatives
were unable to reach an agreement. Wolfe says Ali was
afraid to fight her.
After the fights Wolfe
said, “We raised money.
That’s all we were trying to
do, raise money to help the
kids.”
A silent auction during
the event offered memorabilia
such as boxing gloves
autographed by Sugar Ray
Leonard and Lennox Lewis.
DRESSED TO FIGHT—Ann Wolfe heads for the ring to
meet her opponent, followed by Donald “Pops” Billingsley, her
trainer. Photo by George E. Hardin
Now Compiling 2010
40th Anniversary Edition
ON TARGET—Tammy Franks is on her tiptoes as she receives a right to the jaw from Ann
Wolfe as the women box during “The Brawl in the Hall.” Photo by George E. Hardin
Anderson apologizes
for remarks
Derek Anderson
CLEVELAND (AP)—
Former Browns quarterback
Derek Anderson(notes) has
apologized after saying
Cleveland fans “don’t deserve a winner” following his
release.
Anderson was let go by
the club Tuesday, ending an
uneven five-year stint with
the Browns. In an e-mail to
The (Willoughby) NewsHerald after his release,
Anderson wrote he will never
forget that Browns fans
cheered when he was injured
on the field. He called them
“ruthless” and said he hopes
when he comes back to Cleveland with another team that
“we roll them.”
On Wednesday, Anderson says he regrets some of the
things he said. He adds his
remarks are out of character
and that he had some great
times playing in Cleveland,
“especially during the 2007
season.”
Anderson made the Pro
Bowl in ’07, but had two subpar seasons after that.
For information on how to be included
Call (512) 476-0082
Deadline has been extended to
March 15,2010