Two out of three community-based Goodwill agencies are helping Hispanics find jobs, but a majority say a large percentage of the population is not getting what they need.
A three-year Goodwill research project, funded by a grant from the Goizueta Foundation, is expanding the understanding of Hispanic populations and the career development services they need to find jobs and move up the career ladder.
Goodwill agencies across the country - including in cities far from border states where Hispanic populations are typically high - are adapting to the needs of an increasingly large group of Latinos who need help finding a job.
While Goodwill is on the forefront of helping this population, challenges such as finding qualified bi-lingual and bi-cultural staff, developing credibility in the community and identifying funding sources exist.
Nearly half of the most successful programs are locating career development sites in or near neighborhoods with high percentages of Hispanic residents.
Similarly, almost half are engaged in targeted employer outreach for Hispanics.
]]>Gay and bisexual men may be at far higher risk for eating disorders than heterosexual men, according to a study conducted at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.
In the first population-based study of its kind, the researchers found that gay and bisexual men have higher rates of eating disorders.
According to the study results, more than 15 percent of gay or bisexual men had at some time suffered anorexia, bulimia or binge-eating disorder, or at least certain symptoms of those disorders -- a problem known as a subclinical eating disorder, compared with less than five percent of heterosexual men.
Just below 10 percent of lesbian and bisexual women and eight percent of heterosexual women had ever reported having a subclinical eating disorder.
To assess this theory, the investigators studied whether gay and bisexual men with greater connection and affiliation with the gay community are more likely to have eating disorders than those who are not affiliated with the gay community.
Despite slightly elevated eating disorders among men who were active in gay recreational groups, men who said they felt closely connected to the gay community and who participated in a range of gay and bisexual organizations did not have higher rates of eating disorders than men who were not as closely affiliated with the community.
]]>"The recent investigation by the New York Attorney General has revealed yet another deep flaw with our current system of federal financial aid.
"With the revelations that financial aid offices promoted certain student loan issuers in exchange for fees, students are finding out that they might not be getting the best deal-adding insult to injury, considering the growing financial burden young college students face."
"Add to that the evidence of large stock transactions between student loan issuers and some Department of Education and university officials, and this scandal shows how the $85 billion a year student loan industry is starting to mimic the aggressive, profit-at-any-cost behavior of so many other lending institutions."
"For too long, federal financial aid has been dominated by the profit motives of the lenders rather than the needs of the students.
This is yet another sign that our debt-for-diploma, profits-dominated federal aid system needs serious reform, and it is time that we look at alternatives, such as the Direct Student Loan Program and others which would eliminate the subsidy-rich relationship between our government and student lenders."
For more information on young adult economics and the costs of higher education, visit http://www.demos.org/.
]]>The chairman of the Senate education committee urged the Bush administration yesterday to block student loan companies from accessing a national database that holds confidential information on tens of millions of students.
Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), came after The Washington Post reported on inappropriate searches of the database that could violate federal rules and raise concerns about data mining and abuses of privacy.
The problem has so alarmed officials at the U.S. Department of Education that they are considering a temporary shutdown of the system, which contains 60 million student records.
"Until the security of the database can be ensured, I urge you to block the use of the database by private lenders," Kennedy wrote in a letter to Education Secretary Margaret Spellings.
The database, known as the National Student Loan Data System, contains Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth dates and other sensitive financial information covered by federal privacy laws.
"The department takes these matters very seriously and invests significant planning and resources to enhance security and protect the data entrusted to it," she said in an e-mail.
"Reports of this privacy being abused raise extremely serious questions about the Department of Education's efforts to safeguard the privacy of millions of students."
]]>We all know that eating fruits, vegetables and soy products provides essential nutrition for a healthy lifestyle, while obesity leads to the opposite.
Now, in laboratory experiments, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have discovered a biological mechanism whereby two compounds in these foods might lower the invasive and metastatic potential of breast and ovarian cancer cells.
They found that diindolylmethane (DIM), a compound resulting from digestion of cruciferous vegetables, and genistein, a major isoflavone in soy, reduce production of two proteins whose chemotactic attraction to each other is necessary for the spread of breast and ovarian cancers.
To assess whether the compounds had any effect on the metastatic potential of the cells, the researchers placed the cells in one end of a compartment and watched how they moved toward CXCL12 at the other end.
The amount of DIM and genistein used in this study is probably comparable to use of a high dose of supplements, and is likely not achievable through consumption of food alone, the researchers say.
A study of food consumption in 183,518 residents of California and Hawaii has found that a diet high in flavonols might help reduce pancreatic cancer risk, especially in smokers.
A new study among AARP members shows that just one additional serving of fruit and vegetables per day may lower your risk of head and neck cancer, but the data suggest that you may not want to stop at just one, according to researchers from the National Cancer Institute.
]]>AARP, the lobby for older Americans, announced Monday that it would become a major participant in the nation's health insurance market, offering a health maintenance organization to Medicare recipients and several other products to people 50 to 64 years old.
The products for people under 65 include a managed care plan, known as a preferred provider organization, and a high-deductible insurance policy that could be used with a health savings account.
When the new coverage becomes available next year, AARP will be the largest provider of private insurance to Medicare recipients.
In addition to the new H.M.O., AARP will continue providing prescription drug coverage and policies to supplement Medicare, known as Medigap coverage.
The role of private insurers in Medicare is one of the most hotly debated issues in American health policy.
Dawn M. Sweeney, president of AARP Services Inc., the tax-paying business unit of AARP, said, "We will use our collective market power to negotiate" competitive prices for the new health insurance products.
]]>Through its Medicaid program, New York spends far more than other states on drug and alcohol treatment, including more than $300 million a year paid to hospitals for more than 30,000 detox patients.
One reason for the high cost is that $50 million is spent just on the 500 most expensive patients, at a cost of about $100,000 a person.
These patients check in and out of detox wards, on average, more than a dozen times a year --- a practice that experts say would not be tolerated in most states.
In the state's 2004 fiscal year, one patient was admitted to such units 26 times at 17 different hospitals around New York City, spending a total of 204 nights, Medicaid records show.
Among state officials, doctors who treat addiction, service groups dedicated to helping the homeless and mentally ill, even the addicts themselves, there is remarkable agreement on why the treatment system in New York is overpriced and inefficient.
Medicaid rules in New York also encourage hospitals to provide the most expensive kind of inpatient detoxification, though it is often not medically necessary, while many other states favor a less expensive form of inpatient treatment.
]]>Utah prevention agencies are distributing preprinted sticky notes that parents can slap on liquor bottles at home as a warning to children against underage drinking. Read more from this post.]]>
A team of researchers, including an economist from Arizona State University, have studied the growth of cities in different parts of the world and have come up with general equations that can foretell their consumption of resources and their contributions to society. The work has debunked the notion that cities act like biological organisms, that once they start they grow, and consume and contribute at predictable linear rates. Read more from this post.]]>
The tragic shooting at Virginia Tech, which today leaves families devastated and a university community in shock, is the latest example of rising gun violence in America. The Joyce Foundation has long supported research on causes and potential solutions to gun violence, and collaboration among public officials, law enforcement leaders, citizens and researchers to address the problem. As the nation searches for answers today, here are sources that can help: Read more from this post.]]>
More than one in six taxpayers in 2004 received the Earned Income Tax Credit, highlighting its growing role in bolstering the incomes of struggling low-income parents, a report found. Read more from this post.]]>
Childhood obesity is increasing among the general population in Canada, but the statistics are even more alarming among First Nations, Inuit and Metis children.
In a study published recently in the American Journal of Public Health, University of Alberta researchers found that up to 65 per cent of Cree preschoolers in northern Quebec communities were overweight or obese.
Dr. Noreen Willows, a community nutritionist at the University of Alberta, and her colleagues also studied obesity levels in Cree schoolchildren aged 9 to 12 living in two Cree Nations north of Montreal, Canada.
The researchers measured height, body mass, waist circumference and skinfold thickness, and also assessed the children's levels of physical activity and physical fitness.
The results from one community, published in the International Journal of Circumpolar Health, indicated of the 82 participating children, 33 per cent were overweight and 38 per cent were obese.
High waist circumferences were of particular concern, as this measure is often linked to the development of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.
Further study is needed to identify the causes behind the high obesity rates, but in general, the elementary school students exhibited very low levels of physical fitness and physical activity.
Diet is another obvious possibility to consider.
This University of Alberta research is ongoing---and there's no question that it is timely.
The federal government has just announced the release of a new version of the Canada Food Guide aimed at First Nations, Inuit and Metis people.
Results of this research are published in the February 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health and the September 2006 issue of the International Journal of Circumpolar Health.
]]>A new interactive learning system which helps parents keep in touch with what their children are doing at school is proving to be a great success with children, parents and teachers, according to new research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Read more from this post.]]>
The most-recent data shows that, despite steady GDP and productivity growth, those in the bottom 90% of the income scale saw a loss in market income, while those at the very pinnacle enjoyed tremendously strong growth. Don't believe the playing field is tilted toward the rich? Better check out today's Economic Snapshot. Read more from this post.]]>
Childhood obesity may be associated with a condition known as otitis media with effusion, which consists of fluid build-up in the middle ear space without symptoms of acute ear infection, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of Otolaryngology -- Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Read more from this post.]]>