JULY 2010
By Kimberly Lou
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Government - Project aims to document Social Security importance
The Social Security Stories Project
is asking the public to submit stories
of their experiences with Social Security and its impact on their lives, as
well as its impact on friends and family. The Project plans to include selected
submissions in a book commemorating the 75th anniversary of Social Security
and its positive effects for U.S. citizens. The Project is asking people to
share stories specifically about how Social Security has benefitted working,
retiring and struggling families, as well as veterans and students.
Submissions can be made via the Social
Security Stories Project's website form, through
the mail, or with a Youtube video. The Project hopes
to receive 1,000 entries by the end of July 2010.
SOURCES: Press Release. "New Project Gathers Stories
about Social Security for Book, Awareness Effort." June 1, 2010. www.socialsecuritystories.org
Social Security: http://www.ssa.gov/
Stories Project website form: http://www.francesperkinscenter.org/stories_form.php
Youtube.com
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Education - Texas student earns Public Interest Award with "positive
deviance"
A University of Texas at El Paso doctoral candidate has been awarded the 2010
Public Interest Award from the University of Texas at Arlington Academy of
Distinguished Scholars. Lucia Dura has traveled across the world documenting
the cases of "positive deviants," or individuals or communities that
are approaching societal problems with non-traditional, but effective, solutions.
Dura has contributed to several case studies of "positive
deviance," including
ones examining impoverished families in Vietnam and parents protecting children
from human trafficking in Indonesia.
Dura proposed that positive deviance be used to help bolster student graduation
and retention rates in Texas, and this proposal won the award. Dura will have
a chance to present her findings and ideas to the state legislature and will
be given a $5,000 cash prize, a portion of which will go to UTEP's own societal
justice award program.
SOURCES:
Press Release. "UTEP Student Wins Public Interest Award." June
2, 2010. www.universitycommunications.utep.edu/newsatutep
University of Texas at El Paso: http://www.utep.edu/
2010 Public Interest Award from the University of Texas at Arlington Academy
of Distinguished Scholars: http://www.uta.edu/ads/
Texas (state) legislature: http://www.uta.edu/ads/
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Unemployment - Congressional committee calls for unemployment benefit extension
A report released by the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee reveals that
more than $23 billion could be retained by the federal government by extending
unemployment benefits. The report indicates that without a benefits program
extension, disabled workers might leave the labor force and instead opt for
Social Security Disability Insurance, costing the federal government more than
$24 billion.
Extending benefits and retaining these same workers would cost less than $725
million. The Committee believes that a lack of extension will result in close
to 290,000 disabled workers becoming unemployed and exhausting their benefits
within the remainder of the year.
SOURCE: Press Release. "Extending Benefits to Disabled
Workers Could Save Billions." June 9, 2010. www.hr.blr.com
Congress Joint Economic Committee: http://jec.senate.gov/public/
Social Security Disability Benefits: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/disability/
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Gender Equality - DOL hands $1.8 million to women's organizations
The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded $1.8 million to six organizations
centered on giving women training and career support for non-traditional jobs.
The grant, which is funded by the Women in Apprenticeship and Non-Traditional
Occupations (WANTO) Grants program, was given to community-based organizations with
at least one registered program sponsor.
A non-traditional occupation for women is defined as having women make up
25 percent or less of its total employment numbers. Occupations may include
carpenter, construction worker, plumber, mechanic or other skilled trades.
Training, mentoring, networking programs, and job-finding advice are some examples
of the career support given.
SOURCES:
Press Release. "$1.8 million for Women in Non-Traditional Occupations."
June 15, 2010. U.S. Women's Bureau via www.dol.gov
Department of Labor: http://www.dol.gov/index.htm
Women's Bureau: http://www.dol.gov/wb/
WANTO Grants Program: http://www.grants.gov/search/search.do?mode=VIEW&oppId=53319
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Immigration - Mexico calls AZ immigration law unconstitutional
Mexico has asked the federal court in Arizona to reject the recently passed
Arizona immigration law, proposing that it is unconstitutional. The law states
that a police officer will be able to question someone about their immigration
status, but only after having been stopped for a different crime and if there
is "reasonable suspicion" that the person in question is an illegal
immigrant. The law not only prohibits immigrants from seeking day-work in the
state, but also threatens to charge someone with a misdemeanor if they are
found to be illegally residing in the United States.
Mexico officials believe this law to be not only unconstitutional, but detrimental
to the interests of the United States. They allege the law does not only
imply racial profiling towards its citizens, but also impedes on trade and
tourism with Mexico. After the law is in effect, Mexican officials believe
that their citizens will no longer have any incentive for visiting Arizona,
in fear of being profiled and removed from the state.
In efforts to limit illegal immigration, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed
the law in April. She denies the allegations being made, arguing that the
law is "both reasonable and constitutional." She hopes that the
new law will pressure illegal immigrants in leaving the United States. The
law will go into effect on July 29, unless implementation is blocked in court.
Officials state that the Obama Administration does not support the immigration
law and are trying to challenge it in court.
SOURCES: Davenport, Paul. Mexico asks court to reject
Ariz. Immigration law. June 22, 2010. http://www.seattletimes.com
Bill text: http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf
Arizona Federal Court: http://www.azd.uscourts.gov/
Governor Jan Brewer: http://www.azgovernor.gov/
Obama Admin.: http://www.whitehouse.gov/
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Workforce - Aging workforce threatens US manufacturing, study finds
A new report from the Sloan Center on Aging & Work reveals that mass retirement
in the manufacturing sector could result in a shortage of skills and increase
in costs for American companies hiring replacement employees. The report indicated
that the top concerns of manufacturing employers were finding and hiring competent
applicants, the shortage of skills of new employees, and the transfer of skills
and knowledge from seasoned to newer workers.
The Bureau of Labor has indicated that
the U.S. has lost millions of manufacturing jobs in the last decade while the
percentage of retiring workers has greatly increased. Combined with the high
cost of replacing workers (about $5,000 per employee), the loss of talent in
the manufacturing sector could be economically dangerous. Despite these findings,
the report revealed that most manufacturers remain unprepared to handle the
upcoming retirement wave.
SOURCES:
Press Release. "Talent Pressures and the Aging Workforce: Responsive Action
Steps for the Manufacturing Sector." June 23, 2010. www.bc.edu/research/agingandwork/
The report: http://www.bc.edu/research/agingandwork/all_feeds/TM_pressureWorkforce.html
Bureau of Labor: http://www.bls.gov/
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