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eDIGEST July 2007

UPCOMING EVENTS

Washington DC Alumni Reception with GSPP Interns

GSPP Alumni are cordially invited to join Dean Michael Nacht, Martha Chavez (GSPP’s new Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs), and fellow GSPP alumni for a reception to welcome GSPP students who are interning in Washington DC this summer.

July 12, 2007, 6:00 - 8:00 PM, Bistro Bis, 15 E Street, NW

RSVP DEADLINE: July 2, 2007 More info

QUICK REFERENCE LIST

In addition to the print media referenced below, broadcast media coverage includes numerous interviews with DEAN NACHT by KRON TV, KGO TV and KTVU, among others.

ALUMNI AND STUDENT NEWSMAKERS

1. “Report offers prison fixes. Panel urges rehabilitation credit and parole rule change to reduce inmates” (Sacramento Bee, June 30, 2007); story citing TODD SPITZER (MPP/JD 1989); http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/249787.html

2. “Papers’ reader tally to change. McClatchy will join system adding Web visits, shared users” (Sacramento Bee, June 27, 2007); story citing GARY PRUITT (MPP 1981/JD 1982); http://www.sacbee.com/103/story/243534.html

3. “Grocery dispute is about health care” (San Diego Union Tribune, June 26, 2007); op-ed citing study coauthored by FELIX SU (MPP 2007); http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070626/news_lz1e26jacobs.html

4. “Dueling health proposals - How Democrats’ new plan differs from governor’s” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 23, 2007); story citing MARIAN MULKEY (MPP/MPH 1989); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/23/MNGLEQKBRE1.DTL&hw=marian+mulkey&sn=001&sc=1000

5. “Legislature approves tow truck restrictions” (Record, The (Hackensack, NJ), June 23, 2007); story citing ROBERT GORDON (MPP 1975); http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MTU2MDUz

6. “Purdue professor co-authors tree study” (Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN), June 22, 2007); story citing KEVIN GURNEY (MPP 1996).

7. “Nation; Inside Politics: Conservative estimate” (Washington Times, June 20, 2007); column citing DEREK TURNER (MPP 2006).

8. “Rural kids face gaps in health care, schooling, survey finds” (Sacramento Bee, June 20, 2007); story citing COREY NEWHOUSE (MPP 2003); http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/231677.html

9. “Walsh Q&A” (Post-Crescent, The (Appleton, WI), June 20, 2007); story citing NIKKI KINGHORN HATCH (MPP 2000).

10. “Pa. to leverage ... A MIGHTY WIND - Towers of power, made in Pa. A Spanish firm’s big investments in Pa. are a sign of the economic potential of renewable energy in the Rust Belt” (Philadelphia Inquirer, June 20, 2007); story citing ROB GRAMLICH (MPP 1995).

11. “Berkeley wants in on housing bonds” (Oakland Tribune, June 19, 2007); story citing CISCO DEVRIES (MPP 2000); http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_6176246

12. “Questioning the Admissions Assumptions” (Inside Higher Ed, June 19, 2007); story citing VERONICA SANTELICES (MPP 2001); http://www.insidehighered.com/layout/set/print/news/2007/06/19/admit

13. “South Africa; UNICEF Calls for an End to Child Trafficking” (Africa News, June 18, 2007); story citing ANN VENEMAN (MPP 1971).

14. “UNICEF chief condemns recent rash of attacks on aid workers in conflict zones” (Associated Press Worldstream, June 18, 2007); story citing ANN VENEMAN (MPP 1971).

15. “New state standards mandate ethanol” (San Mateo County Times, June 16, 2007); story by GARANCE BURKE (MPP 2005) citing LUKE TONACHEL (MPP 2004); http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_6157992

16. “Rising Rates Start to Squeeze Consumers and Companies” (New York Times, June 15, 2007); story citing MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974).

17. “Op-Ed: State needs fed help on kids’ health care” (Sacramento Bee, June 14, 2007); public commentary by DAVID CARROLL (MPP 2000); http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/221290.html

18. “Informe muestra riesgos y retos de los ‘Niños de la Frontera’ en California” (EFE News Services (EEUU), June 14, 2007); story citing study coauthored by COREY NEWHOUSE (MPP 2003) and HEATHER BARONDESS (MPP 2007).

19. “Study Reports Many Kids Along Border Lack Health Insurance” (KPBS News, June 14, 2007); story citing study coauthored by HEATHER BARONDESS (MPP 2007) and COREY NEWHOUSE (MPP 2003) ; listen to the story

20. “High-Deductible Plans Cost More For Maternity Care. Study Compares Out-of-Pocket Expense” (Washington Post, June 13, 2007); story citing KAREN POLLITZ (MPP 1982).

21. “CALIFORNIA. Charter schools outperform regular schools in middle grades. But further study needed to find out why, researcher says” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 13, 2007); story citing BRIAN EDWARDS (MPP 1999); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/13/BAGQGQECQE1.DTL

22. “Oakland forum sets California priorities. City’s leaders invited to develop wish list of expenditures for state budget” (Oakland Tribune, June 12, 2007); story citing TIM GAGE (MPP 1978); http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_6120810

23. “California may face triple blow” (Sacramento Bee, June 11, 2007); column citing ELIZABETH HILL (MPP 1975); http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/215397.html

24. “Time to rein in the alternative minimum tax” (Christian Science Monitor, June 11, 2007); column citing STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976).

25. “California’s Power Play - State Law Requires a Huge Cut in Carbon Emissions. Is Renewable Energy Enough?” (San Jose Mercury News, June 10, 2007); story citing CHUCK SHULOCK (MPP 1978); http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_6085767?nclick_check=1

26. “AIDS/LifeCycle Rolls Victoriously into Los Angeles, Raising AIDS Awareness, $11 Million for HIV/AIDS Services” (US Newswire, June 9, 2007); story citing MARK CLOUTIER (MPP/MPH 1993).

27. “Governor turns up budget heat. Lawmakers are told tax shortfall means more spending cuts” (Sacramento Bee, June 8, 2007); story citing MIKE GENEST (MPP 1980); http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/211260.html

28. “Trade deficit slows for first time in a long time” (Marketplace, American Public Media [NPR], June 8, 2007); program features commentary by MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974); http://marketplace.publicradio.org/shows/2007/06/08/PM200706081.html

29. “Copps Says FCC Has Many Tools for Diversifying Radio” (Public Broadcasting Report, June 8, 2007); story citing DEREK TURNER (MPP 2006).

30. “Sin dinero para seguir con Familias Saludables” (La Opinión, June 7, 2007); story citing DAVID CARROLL (MPP 2000); http://www.laopinion.com/archivo/index.html?START=2&RESULTSTART=1&DISPLAYTYPE=single&FREETEXT=%22david+carroll%22&FDATEd12=&FDATEd13=&SORT_MODE=SORT_MODE

31. “31 Peace Fellows Deploy to 18 Countries” (AdvocacyNet, News Bulletin 99, June 7, 2007); press release citing summer fellowship of NICOLE FARKOUH (MPP cand. 2008); http://advocacynet.org/blogs/

32. “Residents say city’s focus is on target - Survey shows people are concerned about areas the city has been addressing: crime, roads, youths” (Contra Costa Times, June 7, 2007); story citing JANET SCHNEIDER (MPP 1990); http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_6082370

33. “New Politician Finds His Way - Six months into the job, McNerney has plans to stay on the scene” (Contra Costa Times, June 6, 2007); story citing BRIAN LEUBITZ (MPP 2007); http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_6073206?nclick_check=1

34. “Yolo supervisors see the light” (Daily Democrat, The (Woodland, CA), June 6, 2007); story citing JESSE SALINAS (MPP 1990); http://www.dailydemocrat.com/search/ci_6074656

35. “Californians have trouble facing budget realities” (Sacramento Bee, June 5, 2007); public commentary by TRACY GORDON (MPP 1996/PhD 2001).

36. “Israel won a victory studded with thorns” (Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH), June 3, 2007); column citing MITCHELL BARD (MPP 1983/PhD 1987); http://www.cleveland.com/news/esullivan/index.ssf?/base/opinion/118087389797070.xml&coll=2&thispage=2

37. “Union: No deal with grocers on health benefits. Funding still issue, local leader says” (San Diego Union-Tribune, June 3, 2007); story citing study coauthored by FELIX SU (MPP 2007); http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070603-9999-1n3grocery.html

38. “BIRTHS” (Courier News (Bridgewater, NJ), June 3, 2007); story citing JOAN RELLER ROTHSTEIN (MPP/MPH 2001) and JESSE ROTHSTEIN (MPP/PhD 2003); http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706030371

39. “Facing suits, health insurers take different tacks. After Blue Cross agrees to settlement, Blue Shield is digging in against claims” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 2, 2007); story citing ANN JONES (MPP/JD 1984); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/02/BUGBHQ69801.DTL&hw=blue+shield&sn=001&sc=1000

40. “Peet’s brewing new facility in Alameda” (San Mateo County Times, May 26, 2007); story citing LISA GOLDMAN (MPP 1997); http://www.insidebayarea.com/search//ci_5995142

41. “Statewide public services get boost. Forecast has Oregon up millions in lottery and general fund revenue” (Capital Press (Salem, OR), May 23, 2007); story citing JOCK MILLS (MPP 1981).

42. “Bills would turn up heat on bottled water. Lawmaker wants its source labeled” (San Diego Union-Tribune, May 21, 2007); story citing RANDY KANOUSE (MPP/JD 1978).

43. “Consumer Groups Blame FCC For U.S. Broadband Drop” (TECHWEB, May 17, 2007); story citing congressional testimony by DEREK TURNER (MPP 2006).

44. “S.J. Council Will Hold Session On Ethics Today” (San Jose Mercury New,s April 10, 2007); story citing JOANNE SPEERS (MPP/JD 1984).

45. “23 Copy California” (Time Magazine, April 9, 2007, Pg. 82 Vol. 169 No. 15); story citing KARL HAUSKER (MPP 1981/PhD 1986).

46. “Think small for better buying: Public procurement should stimulate not stifle innovation - size is the key, says Richard Halkett” (The Guardian (London), April 5, 2007); public commentary by RICHARD HALKETT (MPP 2005).

47. “Report adds new fuel to property tax debate” (Daily Journal, The (International Falls, MN), March 15, 2007); story citing STEVE HINZE (MPP 1976).

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

1. “Former Labor Secretary Tells Career Colleges to Teach ‘the Right Skills’” (Chronicle of Higher Education [*requires registration], June 29, 2007); story citing ROBERT REICH; http://chronicle.com/cgi-bin/printable.cgi?article=http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i43/43a02002.htm

2. “SAN FRANCISCO: PG&E lets customers buy carbon offsets” (San Francisco Chronicle, June 28, 2007); story citing DAN KAMMEN; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/06/28/BAGQKQN9PB1.DTL

3. “What Campaigns Need is a Blind Trust” – commentary by ROBERT REICH (Marketplace, American Public Media [NPR], June 27, 2007; Listen to commentary

4. “Inside the Economics of Illegal Immigration” (ABC7 News, June 25, 2007); program featuring commentary by ROBERT REICH; http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=politics&id=5433549

5. “SERIES; BLACK LUNG; Miners keep dying despite federal laws” (Courier-Journal, The (Louisville, KY), June 24, 2007); story citing ROBERT REICH; http://www.courier-journal.com/cjextra/blacklung/index.html

6. “Carbon auction’s your winner” – Commentary by ROBERT REICH (Marketplace, American Public Media [NPR], June 20, 2007); Listen to commentary

7. “Preschools run for profit? US expert says it’s possible but not preferable” (The Age [Australia], June 18, 2007); column citing DAVID KIRP; http://www.theage.com.au/news/education-news/preschools-run-for-profit/2007/06/15/1181414547530.html

8. “A tale of political economics” (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 16, 2007); interview citing ROBERT REICH.

9. “Even he’s still waiting for his passport” – Commentary by ROBERT REICH (Marketplace, American Public Media [NPR], June 13, 2007); Listen to this commentary

10. “Investing in pre-schools ‘a better bet than stock market’” (The Australian, June 12, 2007); story citing DAVID KIRP.

11. “Larry Summers’s Evolution” (The New York Times, June 10, 2007); story citing ROBERT REICH.

12. “The Poverty Platform” (New York Times Magazine, June 10, 2007); story citing ROBERT REICH.

13. “Low birth weight has lifetime impact” (United Press International, June 8, 2007); story citing RUCKER JOHNSON; http://www.upi.com/Consumer_Health_Daily/Briefing/2007/06/08/low_birth_weight_has_lifetime_impact/8025/

14. “Low birth weight hinders health and success in adults” (Report from the Asian News International published in the Hindustan Times, June 6, 2007); story citing RUCKER JOHNSON.

15. “Impact of Low Birth Weight Extends Into Adulthood” (Voice of America, June 15, 2007); program featuring commentary by RUCKER JOHNSON; listen to the report: http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2007-06-15-voa35.cfm

16. “News media warm to climate change reporting” (Daily Astorian, June 11, 2007); story citing MICHAEL HANEMANN.

17. “Corn-Powered in Yuma” (Time Magazine, June 7, 2007); story citing DAN KAMMEN; http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1630560,00.html

18. “Before we let in the world’s best and brightest...” – Commentary by ROBERT REICH (Marketplace, American Public Media [NPR], June 6, 2007); Listen to this commentary

19. “Gas prices are budget busters for many” (USA Today, June 4, 2007); story citing STEVEN RAPHAEL; http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-06-04-gasoline-low-income-usat_N.htm?csp=34

20. “Nuclear Power Revisited” (The California Report Magazine, KQED-88.5 FM, June 1, 2007); features commentary by DAN KAMMEN; Listen (RealMedia stream)

21. “The drive for low emissions. Car and fuel companies are investing in clean transport” (The Economist, May 31st 2007); story citing study coauthored by DAN KAMMEN, MICHAEL O’HARE, BRIAN TURNER (MPP 2006); http://www.economist.com/surveys/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9217898

ALUMNI AND STUDENT NEWSMAKERS

By Andy Furillo - Bee Capitol Bureau

A panel of corrections experts reported Friday that California can cut its inmate population by 27 percent and save nearly $1 billion a year with a few recommended parole and prison rehabilitation fixes that state officials appear ready to embrace.

The 198-page report, commissioned last year in the state budget and conducted under the auspices of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, laid out a road map leading to a promised land of prison population reduction if the state:

• Expands time credits for offenders who complete vocational, educational, drug treatment and other programs.

• Better assesses convicts’ risks and needs and puts them in the right prison programs.

• Stops returning low-risk offenders to prison on technical violations of their parole….

Republican Assemblyman Todd Spitzer of Orange, chairman of the lower house’s select committee on prisons, did not specifically address the time credit issue. He said the report “does make significant and important recommendations” concerning “the current state of programs in our prisons.”

“We do need to move corrections in a direction that focuses on and allows for significant rehabilitation, but let’s not take the focus out of corrections,” Spitzer said, adding that the state’s emphasis on punishment in its prisons has reduced crime over the past decade.

Spitzer said he has no problem with the state reducing the number of parolees it re-incarcerates on technical violations of the terms of their release, such as missing meetings with their parole agents or leaving their assigned counties of residence without authorization. But he said the administrative move needs to be coupled with an improved “tool” to assess which inmates benefit, “and there’s going to be a lot of discussion (in the Legislature) about what that tool is.”

By Dale Kasler - Bee Staff Writer

Sacramentan Kathy Cotulla is a loyal reader of The Bee. But when the newspaper tallies up its paying customers, Cotulla is among the missing.

The Curtis Park resident dropped his subscription about two years ago and only reads the paper online, for free. “I feel like I get the highlights,” said Cotulla, 42, a small-business owner.

For decades, newspaper audience -- the basis for setting advertising rates—has been measured by paid circulation. Now, caught up in a multimedia world that is siphoning off circulation and advertising dollars, newspaper publishers are trying to make people like Cotulla count.

The industry-supported Audit Bureau of Circulations, a nonprofit organization that verifies newspaper circulation, is about to roll out a system for counting papers’ total audience. The system will go beyond paid circulation and include measurements of “pass-along” print readership—reflecting the copies that are shared among friends or members or a household—and the paper’s local Web site traffic.

Newspaper executives admit the new system won’t solve everything but say it will blunt the notion that newspapers are doomed—and help them reverse their slide in ad revenue. They note that it has the endorsement of the ad community, which is a partner in ABC.

“It’s important for people to realize that more people want what we produce today than wanted it yesterday,” said Gary Pruitt, chairman and chief executive of The McClatchy Co. of Sacramento, parent of The Bee. “Our total audience is growing. That’s not an easy thing to do in today’s modern media mix. ... We regard that as an important sign that our future is secure.”

The new system arrives at a crucial time for newspaper chains, including McClatchy, which one year ago today completed its $4 billion takeover of Knight Ridder Inc….

Although newspapers still earn fatter profit margins than most U.S. corporations, [the] industrywide downturn has intensified the debate over the sector’s future. Tribune Co. was forced by rebellious shareholders to sell itself. Dow Jones & Co., publisher of the Wall Street Journal, is being pursued by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

Layoffs and buyouts have become routine. McClatchy has avoided across-the-board layoffs but has conducted selective employee buyouts and made other cost-cutting moves….

“We’re trying to make the best decisions in the long-term interest of the company,” [Pruitt] said. “Occasionally, these decisions will not be popular, but it doesn’t mean they’re wrong.”

Pruitt said McClatchy is stronger than it was a year ago. During the eight months between the acquisition of Knight Ridder and the sale of the Star Tribune, McClatchy’s cash flow—a measure of profitability—declined just 0.3 percent on a pro forma basis. If McClatchy hadn’t done the Knight Ridder and Minneapolis deals, cash flow would have dropped 16.3 percent….

By Ken Jacobs

This past weekend, thousands of workers from San Luis Obispo to San Diego voted to give their union, the United Food and Commercial Workers, the authority to call for a strike against several large grocery chains in Southern California. As the threat of a strike and lockout similar to the one in 2003 edges closer to reality, it’s worth taking a look at the issue at the heart of the dispute—an issue that affects all Americans one way or another: the decline in job-based health care coverage.

During the 2003 strike, which lasted more than four months, grocery industry owners pointed to skyrocketing health care costs, and argued it was reasonable to ask their employees to share the cost. But the grocers’ demands had severe and disconcerting results for employee health coverage and health care.

Consider the results of a study [coauthored by Felix Su] of grocery worker health care benefits conducted by the UC Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education.

Before the 2003 strike, 94 percent of Southern California’s UFCW workers had health coverage on the job. That number has since plummeted to 54 percent, according to the study….

Of the grocery workers hired since April 2004, only 7 percent are covered through their employer. Half are uninsured, and the rest are covered through a parent or spouse’s employer or receive government aid. There are now 20,000 fewer children covered by grocery store health insurance plans.

The UC Berkeley study also found that 20 percent of the workers hired under the new contract reported that they skipped needed doctor visits because of the cost….

By Victoria Colliver; Chronicle Staff Writer

An agreement by top Democrats in Sacramento this week to put forward a single health care overhaul plan sets the stage for a debate with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who is championing a proposal of his own….

Under the new Democratic compromise, [State Senate Pro Tem Don] Perata lost his bid to require coverage for workers earning more than 400 percent of the federal poverty level in favor of [Assembly Speaker Fabian] Núñez’s no-individual-mandate clause.

Doctors and hospitals are off the hook for contributions under the plan. And the employer fee would be considerably more onerous—7.5 percent of payroll costs, with no exemptions for size.

The governor’s plan would require insurers to cover all individuals regardless of their health status. The Democratic plan would allow health insurers to exclude those with as-yet-undefined “serious” medical conditions, but it would create a high-risk pool funded by the insurers that would provide coverage to those individuals.

But the Democratic plan aims to cover fewer people. California has an estimated 6.5 million uninsured residents. The Democrats would extend coverage to roughly 3.4 million people. Schwarzenegger would cover more than 4 million uninsured, according to the California HealthCare Foundation, a health care philanthropy based in Oakland.

Health advocates say a major oversight in the two proposals is a lack of serious methods to control medical costs and the price of coverage for consumers.

“All these proposals are really focused right now on is the expansion of coverage for the types of health care services and benefits we have now,” said Marian Mulkey, senior program officer for the California HealthCare Foundation.

“It will be important both in the short term and then longer term to think not just about expanding coverage, but how health care is delivered and what makes that so expensive.”…

By Eric Hsu, Staff Writer

TRENTON — Legislators have approved a law that imposes stiffer oversight on towing companies and attempts to curb excessive fees.

The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Robert Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, was passed Thursday night by the state Assembly and Senate.

Designed to regulate towing companies that impound cars from private lots, the law would cap towing fees at a maximum of 150 percent of the average rates surveyed in a county, and businesses would be banned from demanding cash-only payments….

Another provision of the bill, Gordon said, would require property owners or representatives to sign off individually on tows during business hours to try to curb a practice known as patrol towing, in which towers lie in wait for motorists without being summoned by a specific complaint….

6. “Purdue professor co-authors tree study” (Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN), June 22, 2007); story citing KEVIN GURNEY (MPP 1996).

By Brian Wallheimer

Purdue assistant professor Kevin Gurney is co-author of a paper printed in the journal Science that shows trees in the United States aren’t absorbing as much carbon dioxide as once thought. The paper was written by a team of researchers from all over the United States and the world….

The study found that trees in the tropics are absorbing about 40 percent of the carbon dioxide scientists thought was being absorbed by trees in the United States and other countries with similar latitudes.

About 8 billion tons of carbon is emitted each year, the report said. Carbon dioxide can cause global warming, one of the biggest environmental issues today….

Britton Stephens of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said the study will help scientists better predict climate change and possibly find strategies to mitigate those changes….

7. “Nation; Inside Politics: Conservative estimate” (Washington Times, June 20, 2007); column citing DEREK TURNER (MPP 2006).

By Jennifer Harper, The Washington Times

It is prime political paradox: While liberal devotees at this week’s Take Back America conference gleefully proclaimed that conservatism is “in crisis,” “on the way out” and “declining,” a group of progressive scholars will release a new report tomorrow revealing that conservatives completely control talk radio.

Well, which is it, folks? Are conservatives fading into the sunset—or are they all-powerful media moguls?

The study from the Center for American Progress (CAP) and Free Press “documents conservative domination of political talk radio,” according to advance material. It also “raises serious questions about whether the companies licensed to broadcast over the public airwaves are serving the listening needs of all Americans and providing a range of information on important public issues.”

The report contains statistical analysis of 10,506 licensed stations, blaming ownership and consolidation issues for “the one-sided nature of political talk radio.” It outlines specific policy solutions to “address the imbalance.”

What [sic] a minute. How could all those declining conservatives warrant a full policy change? Stay tuned. CAP researchers John Halpin and Mark Lloyd, Media Syndication Services president Mark Woodhull plus Ben Scott and S. Derek Turner of Free Press reveal all tomorrow….

8. “Rural kids face gaps in health care, schooling, survey finds” (Sacramento Bee, June 20, 2007); story citing COREY NEWHOUSE (MPP 2003); http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/231677.html

By Danielle McNamara - Bee Staff Writer

Children in rural reaches of the Sacramento region have less access to quality health care and education than urban counterparts, according to a statewide survey of child health.

The disparity is worst in California’s rural counties where median incomes are well below the state average, poverty is greater and quality medical and educational facilities are farther from the reach of many families, according to Children Now, an Oakland-based health care research and advocacy group….

The survey is designed to highlight gaps in health care and educational services, and to put an array of state statistics in one place. The goal, Children Now said, is to elevate childhood health issues as a priority among state and federal legislators.

The data come as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pushes a form of universal health care to increase access to basic medical services in California.

“We saw those kinds of urban-rural disparities all over the state” said Corey Newhouse, an analyst with Children Now. “La Jolla and Tulare are two completely different places for a child to grow up.”…

Ninety-three percent of children in Sacramento County have health insurance, which is also the statewide average. But most cities have health initiatives that provide access to a variety of low-cost services, Newhouse said. Rural residents are often forced to pay out of pocket or to travel for care.

“In rural areas, things are spread out, so it is harder to have access to quality care,” Newhouse said. “If there are only a few doctors in your town and none of them are accepting new patients, it sometimes takes making long trips to get preventative care.”…

The report indicated that educational disparities [from preschool enrollment] continue into grade school, with Yolo, Yuba and Colusa county students less likely to score well on the California Standards test in English and math.

“People who live in rural areas are under served in many ways,” Newhouse said. “This data sheds some light on that.”

[Corey Newhouse was also cited in other major news outlets across the state, including the San Francisco Chronicle, Press Democrat, Ventura County Star, Marin Independent Journal, La Opinión; and was interviewed on KQED, KCBS, and KTVU, among others.]

[For more info on the California County Data Book visit www.childrennow.org/databook ]

View larger version of graphic

9. “Walsh Q&A” (Post-Crescent, The (Appleton, WI), June 20, 2007); story citing NIKKI KINGHORN HATCH (MPP 2000).

By John Lee - Post-Crescent staff writer

David Walsh, the police chief in Burlington, has been hired as the new Appleton police chief and plans to start here next month….

The Post-Crescent took the opportunity to ask him some questions about himself in this e-mail exchange:

Q: Can you list three people who were especially influential as your career progressed?

A: No, but I can list five….

Ms. Nikki Hatch was the director of crime analysis for the Oakland Police Department when I was there. She’s thoughtful about crime issues. Her progressive nature helped keep me open-minded and flexible about why community problems start and who can best address them….

Author: Jeff Gelles - Inquirer Staff Writer

If wind energy ever plays a big role in Pennsylvania’s economy, a little-noticed 2003 recycling conference in Bilbao, Spain, may merit some of the credit.

Bilbao is in Spain’s Basque region, home to Gamesa Corporacion Tecnologica S.A.,Spain’s largest wind-turbine manufacturer and a worldwide leader in the burgeoning wind-energy business. One of the speakers at the recycling conference was Kathleen McGinty, Pennsylvania’s newly minted secretary of environmental protection.

McGinty had heard that Gamesa was scouting locations for a U.S. expansion, possibly in wind-rich Texas. So the Philadelphia native took an extra day and made a pitch for her home state, beginning a series of meetings between Gamesa and state and local officials.

Today, fruits of those visits are evident across Pennsylvania, where Gamesa expects to have 1,000 people on its payroll by year’s end….

McGinty and other wind-energy proponents say Gamesa’s Pennsylvania investments—so far totaling $110 million, nearly six times the $19 million in incentives from state and local governments—are a sign of the economic potential of renewable energy in the U.S. Rust Belt….

Wind’s success is a result of its enviable status as a green power that has matured enough to bring green to investors….

To be sure, wind owes some of its rising commercial viability to government support, including the current federal-production tax credit of 2 cents per kilowatt-hour, which runs through the end of 2008.

Advocates such as Rob Gramlich, policy director of the American Wind Energy Association, an industry group, argue that all energy industries get subsidies, either directly or through the tax code. His group wants Congress to extend the tax credit for five years, arguing that investors have been scared away by the credit’s on-again, off-again history.

Also important to wind’s success are state targets such as those in Pennsylvania, which by 2020 will require utilities to obtain at least 8 percent of the electricity they sell from clean, renewable resources such as wind and solar power.

Gamesa’s [spokesman Michael] Peck said consistent government standards had been crucial to the success of Europe’s wind-power companies, such as Gamesa and Iberdrola, which leads the world in wind-power production.

“In the Spanish state of Nevada, wind is 45 percent of power generation,” Peck said. Overall, he said, Spain gets 8 percent of its electricity from the wind.

U.S. production is minuscule by comparison, less than 1 percent of the country’s electricity use, despite growth that Gramlich said had averaged 22 percent a year since January 2002. By the end of 2006, the nation’s wind-energy capacity was rated about 11,600 megawatts, or about enough to power 3 million homes, Gramlich’s group says….

11. “Berkeley wants in on housing bonds” (Oakland Tribune, June 19, 2007); story citing CISCO DEVRIES (MPP 2000); http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_6176246

By Doug Oakley, MediaNews Staff

The Berkeley City Council will consider designating Telegraph Avenue and several other streets as a Priority Development Area in order to get some of $2.8 million in state bond funds for affordable housing.

Their eyes on a slice of $2.8 billion in bonds that soon will be available statewide for affordable housing, parks and roads, Berkeley officials are urging the city council to designate parts of the city as priority development areas.

The Proposition 1C bonds approved by voters in November are being held while legislators decide which regional agencies should have a say in distributing the money.

Meanwhile, if they get council approval tonight, Berkeley officials will scramble to submit an application designating such areas as University Avenue, Telegraph Avenue, San Pablo Avenue, Adeline Street, downtown and South Shattuck Avenue for future building.

“The issue is you have to get in line to get that money,” said Cisco DeVries, Mayor Tom Bates’ chief of staff. “All we have to do (in the application) is explain that these areas are eligible for hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure, parks and open space. We don’t have to change anything in the city; it’s already in our general plan.”

Those areas are eligible because they are near existing or planned transit centers and already planned for more housing, as required by the state bond measure….

If the city council agrees to filing the application, it will go to a consortium of Bay Area agencies led by the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which could play a role in how the money is distributed, depending on the outcome of several proposals in the Legislature on how to award the money.

“There is a significant chance that ABAG and some of the regional bodies will control a portion of the funding,” DeVries said. “The worst that can happen in this process is we waste time filling out some forms and write a couple of memos.”…

— Scott Jaschik

A major study released Monday by the University of California suggests that high school grades may be good at predicting not only first-year college performance, as commonly believed, but performance throughout four undergraduate years. The same study suggests that the SAT adds little predictive value to admissions decisions and is hindered by a high link between SAT scores and socioeconomic status—a link not present for high school grades.

And further, the study finds that all of the information admissions officers currently have is of limited value, and accounts for only 30 percent of the grade variance in colleges—leaving 70 percent of the variance unexplained.

Taken together, the study questions many assumptions widely held in admissions. And while the last year has seen numerous studies on the impact of standardized testing in admissions (with a range of conclusions), the new study is from Saul Geiser and Maria Veronica Santelices through the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education, and is based on data from all University of California campuses. Past studies by the center have been influential in the evolving debate over admissions standards—and anything involving the University of California tends to get attention, given the system’s influence and top campuses….

Significantly, the predictive value of high school grades was equally strong across different cohorts of students by socioeconomic status, but fields of study, and by university campus….So the researchers found that grades not only are the best tool to predict success, but [in contrast to the SAT] don’t carry the problem of seeming to favor the wealthy and some racial groups over others….

13. “South Africa; UNICEF Calls for an End to Child Trafficking” (Africa News, June 18, 2007); story citing ANN VENEMAN (MPP 1971).

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called on governments, communities and families to strengthen their efforts against child trafficking.

“Globally, an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year, within countries as well as across borders,” said UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman addressing the Day of the African Child Saturday.

Ms Veneman said children were trafficked into prostitution, armed groups to serve as child soldiers, to provide cheap or unpaid labour, and to work as house servants or beggars.

She further pointed out that trafficking exposes children to violence, sexual abuse, severe neglect, and HIV infection, while violating children’s right to be protected, to grow up in a family environment and to have access to education.

UNICEF called for punishing the perpetrators of human trafficking, which generates an estimated $9.5 billion (approx R67 billion) a year and fuels other criminal activities.

“Concerted action is also needed to tackle the social and economic factors behind this crime, which has its roots in poverty,” she said.

Children were frequently lured with promises of good jobs in other countries or in cities in their own countries.

“In reality they are ‘traded like commodities’ to work in brutal conditions and many children face beatings and other forms of physical and sexual abuse from their employers,” added Ms Veneman….

14. “UNICEF chief condemns recent rash of attacks on aid workers in conflict zones” (Associated Press Worldstream, June 18, 2007); story citing ANN VENEMAN (MPP 1971).

The head of the U.N. children’s agency condemned a recent spate of attacks on aid workers in several conflict zones as “unacceptable.”

Ann Veneman, executive director of the U.N. Children’s Fund, expressed concern over the deadly attacks, carried out against humanitarian workers in Congo, Central African Republic, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

“Any threat to the safety of humanitarian workers around the world is unacceptable,” she said in a statement released over the weekend.

Veneman said the attacks have a “double impact.”

First, they target “people whose only motive is to help,” she said. In addition, violence and threats of violence often force aid organizations to scale back operations that provide “aid that is essential to the survival of millions of civilians.”…

Elsa Serfass, a French logistics specialist for Doctors Without Borders, was fatally shot last Monday while traveling in the northwest of Central African Republic to evaluate health conditions in the region….

Also last Monday a mortar shell fired from inside a besieged Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon killed two Lebanese Red Cross workers….

Two aid workers with the U.N. Relief and Works Agency were also killed last week when they were caught in the crossfire of separate incidents in Gaza. After the incidents, the agency decided to temporarily suspend all operations in the territory, except for essential medical services and emergency food distribution.

By Garance Burke, Associated Press

FRESNO — Gasoline sold in the Golden State will include up to 10 percent ethanol, California air managers decided Thursday, a move the renewable fuels industry says will shift the burgeoning ethanol market into high gear.

All California refineries making gas sold in the state will have to blend 10 percent ethanol into their gas to meet new fuel standards set by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger starting Dec. 31, 2009, under the resolution adopted by the California Air Resources Board….

Blending more of the low-carbon fuel into gas will improve air quality in California and reduce dependency on foreign oil, Schwarzenegger said….

Many environmental groups support the increased use of ethanol in gas because it lowers greenhouse gas emissions, but prefer a more advanced version of the alternative fuel made by processing cellulose-rich plant materials like leaves and stalks, rather than corn….

“The reason why California has the cleanest gasoline is because it has some of the areas in the state also have the worst air quality,” said Luke Tonachel, a vehicles and fuels analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “This is good news, but we need to continue to invest in the next generation of advanced biofuels.”

16. “Rising Rates Start to Squeeze Consumers and Companies” (New York Times, June 15, 2007); story citing MICKEY LEVY (MPP 1974).

By Gretchen Morgenson and Vikas Bajaj

The unusually low interest rates of the last three years have been an enormous boon to almost every corner of the American economy.

They have provided consumers with dirt-cheap mortgages that fed the real estate boom. They have supplied easy credit to companies and investment firms, propelling stocks and corporate profits to record highs and fueling a buyout binge.

Now that party may be coming to an end.

Yields on the 10-year Treasury note—a benchmark that influences many long-term interest rates, including home mortgages—jumped sharply on Tuesday and are up significantly in the last month. The fallout is likely to be widespread, and felt most immediately by homeowners and people looking to buy a house….

“There has been a half a percentage point rise in rates while inflation has been flat, so the real cost of capital has gone up for consumers and for corporate America,” said Mickey Levy, chief economist at Bank of America. He said he expects that the increase will put pressure on stocks and damp already weak demand for housing….

“The trajectory of corporate profits has flattened out after growing in double digits for several years,” Mr. Levy said. “The stock market could handle that when rates were low, but a 50-basis-point rise in real bond yields should have dampening impact on stock valuations.”…

17. “Op-Ed: State needs fed help on kids’ health care” (Sacramento Bee, June 14, 2007); public commentary by DAVID CARROLL (MPP 2000); http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/221290.html

By David Carroll - Special to the Bee

If California is to achieve the goal of ensuring that all children have health insurance, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democratic leaders of the Legislature propose, Congress must do its part, too. Congress will soon consider reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). To make universal health coverage for children a reality in California, Congress must expand funding for the program and give states flexibility to tailor their programs to local needs and conditions.

Created with bipartisan support in 1997, the health insurance program is a federal-state partnership aimed at expanding health care for children in working families that make too much to qualify for Medi-Cal, but not enough to afford health insurance.

California’s program, known as Healthy Families, has been a major success. Healthy Families has helped reduce the number of uninsured children in the state by providing low-cost health coverage to about 800,000 children.

Children covered by Healthy Families are more likely to receive preventive care, such as immunizations, less likely to pass up going to the doctor when they are sick, and are healthier overall. But the state cannot sustain this success, and build upon it, without help from Washington….

The good news is that Congress has included an additional $50 billion for SCHIP over the next five years in its annual budget plan. The new resources would support those currently covered and allow states to make progress toward covering additional children….

By simply reducing payments to insurance companies to the same level as the rest of Medicare, Congress can save $54 billion over the next five years, enough to pay for the SCHIP expansion approved in the budget resolution. Congress can also consider raising cigarette taxes or canceling plans to give additional tax cuts to households earning more than $200,000 in 2008 and 2010. It is simply a matter of setting priorities….

With the proper funding and the right policy changes in SCHIP, Congress has a chance to move California toward the goal shared by Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders: universal coverage for California’s children.

David Carroll is the research director of the California Budget Project, a Sacramento-based nonpartisan, public policy research group. For more information, go to http://www.cbp.org/.

Los Angeles, 4 jun (EFE).- Un reporte dado a conocer hoy expone los retos que enfrentan los niños que viven en la frontera con México, en los condados Imperial y San Diego, en el sur de California.

Refiriéndose a los “Niños de las Frontera” como se conoce a los cerca de 800.000 niños que viven a lo largo de los límites con México en los dos condados, el informe muestras los riesgos y los retos que enfrentan los infantes en los temas de salud y educación.

“Este reporte presenta un retrato fiel de los niños que viven a los largo de la frontera y a través del estado, corrigiendo algunas equivocaciones sobre la región”, afirmó Corey Newhouse, miembro de Childrens Now y coautora [con Heather Barondess] del estudio.

“Es absolutamente crítico que todos los californianos, particularmente quienes establecen las políticas del estado, conozcan los hechos acerca de este amplio segmento de la población infantil del estado”….

-- Kenny Goldberg, KPBS News

A new report says many children who live along California’s international border with Mexico are poor, hungry, and lack health insurance. The report comes from the non-profit advocacy group Children Now….

The report focuses on the 800,000 children who live near the international border in San Diego and Imperial counties.

Of the children from immigrant families, 22 percent in Imperial and 15 percent in San Diego County have no health insurance.

Corey Newhouse co-wrote the study [with Heather Barondess]. She says most uninsured kids are eligible for public programs.

Newhouse: There’s just real fear, and reluctance, in a lot of people’s care, of getting on any kind of public insurance, regardless of what their immigration status might be.

Newhouse says nearly every child in the border region lives with a working parent. Even so, more than one third of border children live in poverty.

[Read more on “The Unique Challenges to the Well-Being of California’s Border Kids” at http://publications.childrennow.org/publications/invest/borderkidscount_2007.cfm ]

20. “High-Deductible Plans Cost More For Maternity Care. Study Compares Out-of-Pocket Expense” (Washington Post, June 13, 2007); story citing KAREN POLLITZ (MPP 1982).

By Christopher Lee; Washington Post Staff Writer

The first study of its kind has found that families typically pay much more out of pocket for maternity care under the new high-deductible health insurance plans paired with health savings accounts that have been heavily touted by President Bush and others.

The cost difference compared to traditional employer-based health insurance is especially stark, in most cases, for women who have complicated pregnancies, according to the study released yesterday by Georgetown University and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

The study found that those enrolled in a traditional health plan for federal employees (with a $500 annual deductible and $20 co-payments for office visits) would likely pay $1,455 out of pocket for care during an uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery. That compared to $3,000 for families in a high-deductible plan for federal employees and $7,000 for a high-deductible plan offered through small businesses.

The gap generally widens with pregnancies that require more expensive care or longer hospital stays. For example, a woman who delivered by Caesarean section in an otherwise uncomplicated pregnancy would likely pay $2,244 in out-of-pocket costs under the traditional plan, $3,545 under the federal high-deductible plan and $7,688 under the small-business plan. In addition, routine prenatal care often is not covered as preventive care in high-deductible plans, the study found.

“If you are contemplating having a baby or having any kind of big health event, this is not the policy for you,” said study co-author Karen Pollitz, project director of Georgetown’s Health Policy Institute. “It leaves people thinking they have protection when they don’t.”…

By Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer

Praised by some and scorned by others, charter schools have long been hailed as the savior or spoiler of public education in America.

Now, a study by California researchers trying to learn at last which kind of public school works better—charter or traditional—has reached this Zenlike conclusion: It all depends.

For elementary schools, forget the charter. Go with traditional.

For middle schools, head to the charter.

For high schools, well, it’s a toss-up….

“Certain types of charters fare very well,” said Brian Edwards, a co-author of the study by EdSource, an independent, nonpartisan education research group in Mountain View.

But Edwards said the researchers don’t know why one group of schools outperforms another group at any given time.

“Further research is needed,” he said.

EdSource has been studying charter performance for three years with a grant from Reed Hastings, founder of Netflix and former president of the state Board of Education in California.

The latest study reached a different conclusion from two done earlier, but the researchers say the new one is best.

That’s because they’ve taken into account 14 different demographic characteristics that can skew school-to-school comparisons—such as family income, ethnicity, parent education, English learners—and more accurately compared the performance results, they said….

The study also compared 287 independently run charter schools against 59 charters operated by 15 different management organizations. As a group, the charters that were run by management organizations outperformed the independents, the study found.

“I don’t know for sure,” Edwards said, “but I would theorize that some of these organizations provide the kind of support that strong school districts provide for traditional schools.”…

[Read more about the study, “California’s Charter Schools: Measuring Their Performance,” at http://www.edsource.org/pub_abs_charterperf07.cfm ]

By Josh Richman, Staff Writer

If Oakland community leaders wrote the state budget, California would have more money for education, universal health care, fewer people in prison and higher taxes for the rich, corporations and commercial property owners.

So say the results of a May 29 town hall meeting, in which 125 students, civic leaders, elected officials, teachers and community members gathered at the Oakland Museum and used an online tool to set their own spending priorities.

Next Ten, the nonpartisan nonprofit which developed the “California Budget Challenge” tool and hosted the Oakland meeting, plans more such forums across the state.

“Our goal with the California Budget Challenge is to get as many Californians as possible to do it because we believe it’s a real learning tool to help understand a very complicated thing and ... to show the trade-offs that are involved in budget-making,” said Next Ten founder F. Noel Perry of Palo Alto, managing director of Baccharis Capital, Inc. and also founder of the 100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change project….

When the series of forums is done, its results will be compiled and sent to the governor and the Legislature.

Participants in the Oakland forum were briefed by former state finance director Tim Gage on nine spending areas and seven revenue areas mirroring budget issues now under debate in Sacramento…. Among other things, they decided:

-They would increase per-pupil K-12 spending to equal the national average in 2011-12, at a cost of $5.7 billion…..

-They would cover all uninsured Californians with an approach similar to the governor’s but funded partly from the General Fund, with mandated coverage, expanded programs and a purchasing pool, at a cost of $3 billion.

-And they would reduce the state’s prison population by 15 percent and reduce the parole population, and using the resulting $650 million in savings to prevent recidivism.

To pay for these and other priorities, the participants proposed raising income taxes by $2.5 billion on upper-income families; extending sales taxes to certain services, raising $4 billion; reinstating the 1997 Vehicle License Fee to raise $5.4 billion; increasing the corporate tax rate to its prior peak of 9.6 percent, raising $1.2 billion; and rejiggering Proposition 13 to allow more frequent re-assessment of commercial properties, sending $1.6 billion to the General Fund and the rest to local governments.

They also suggested raising the gas tax from 18 cents to 26 cents per gallon, and using the resultant $1.4 billion for alternative energy programs, as well as instituting a carbon tax of $13 per ton and using the resulting $6.2 billion as income-tax rebates for low-income Californians….

To use the California Budget Challenge tool yourself, go to http://www.nextten.org/.

23. “California may face triple blow” (Sacramento Bee, June 11, 2007); column citing ELIZABETH HILL (MPP 1975); http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/215397.html

By Dan Walters

The oldest of the post-World War II baby boomers … will turn 62 next year and become eligible for Social Security, touching off a demographic wave that will wash over the nation and have a particularly traumatic impact on California because of its unique socioeconomic makeup.

Not the least of the impacts, it’s becoming evident, will be on the California economy, as public and private employers watch workers retire and scramble for replacements.

As a series of new academic and economic studies indicate, the state could face a triple whammy, to wit:

• Because the state’s population continues to grow by at least 500,000 a year and its job base by perhaps 250,000, California always needs more workers; and,

• Baby boomers now make up about half of the state’s 15-plus million workers, and their retirement over the next couple of decades will sharply increase the demand side of the equation; but,

• Huge percentages of California’s teenage and 20-something population—especially nonwhites and those from immigrant families—are not receiving the educations they would need to fill the demand….

The Legislature’s budget analyst, Elizabeth Hill, coincidentally issued a report on a looming shortage of nurses, which is one of the state’s fastest-growing occupations (in part due to the aging of the population). She describes a mismatch between the rising demand for nurses and the ability of the state’s nursing schools to turn out graduates, and she suggests ways to boost enrollment….

24. “Time to rein in the alternative minimum tax” (Christian Science Monitor, June 11, 2007); column citing STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976).

By David R. Francis - Columnist

Congress has a must-do tax task ahead of them this summer: It needs to fix, permanently or temporarily, the alternative minimum tax (AMT). Otherwise, millions more upper middle-class American households will get a financial shock when they calculate their taxes this winter. They will be subject for the first time to this oddball tax and could owe Uncle Sam thousands of dollars more than they expect.

In an election year, such a tax hit on important voters is a definite political “no-no.”

So far, though, the House and Senate are divided on how to fix the AMT.

The Senate appears to be drifting toward a two-year “patch”—a bill similar to those in the past few years aimed at preventing the number of taxpayers subject to the AMT from growing…. Absent a change in law regarding 2007 taxes, the AMT would strike an additional 19 million households, some earning as little as $50,000 a year. By 2010, more than 30 million taxpayers would pay the AMT, and 39 million or more in 2017.

In the House, Democratic leaders are considering altering the AMT permanently in a way that leaves 97 percent of taxpayers alone and adds a 3 to 5 percent surcharge on adjusted gross income on the prosperous remaining half million….

If the Senate and House don’t agree on a joint AMT measure, their representatives could do battle in a congressional conference committee to resolve differences, perhaps in September.

“They get in a room, lock the door, scream and fight,” predicts Stan Collender, a budget expert with the National Journal Group, in a half-joking way. “Or maybe gentle negotiations.”

The legislation that emerges would land on the desk of President Bush. If it involves a tax hike for the relatively few rich and trims taxes for millions of middle-class voters, a presidential veto could be politically embarrassing.

“It’s more of a political decision than anything else,” says Mr. Collender….

By Sarah Jane Tribble, Mercury News

Deep in the Central Valley, Joseph Gallo farms have for years processed milk and cheese and other dairy products from large herds of cattle, but the recovery of combustible gas is the newest gift of nature to be harvested. (Len Vaughn-Lahman / Mercury News)

…Nearly one year after California passed landmark legislation to cut carbon-dioxide emissions 25 percent in 13 years, the state already risks failure. Among the challenges:

Ø California’s utilities, required by law to ensure that 20 percent of their power is renewable by 2010, are struggling to reach that target because there is not enough available energy from solar, wind and other low-carbon sources—and no certainty that will change in three years.

Ø The federal government is blocking a key part of the state’s plan to dramatically cut vehicle emissions.

Ø Despite the focus on new, carbon-free sources of energy, the state is still approving carbon-dioxide-spewing natural gas plants. And the most promising new energy sources are more expensive than natural gas and coal….

If California moves too slowly, a report by the Climate Action Team predicts the state would face diminished drinking water supplies, rising sea levels, and more droughts, forest fires and withering hot days.

‘‘The longer that business as usual goes on, the more difficult challenge it becomes,’’ said Chuck Shulock, manager of the greenhouse-gas reduction program for the Air Resources Board, which is charged with making sure the state reaches its carbon-cutting goals. ‘‘It’s a question of sort of turning a very large ship.’’…

Reaching California’s greenhouse-gas emission goals won’t be a simple matter of finding the next hot technology, said Chuck Shulock, program manager for the Air Resources Board. Here are some top priorities, according to state officials:

1. Act quickly: A state report calls for a host of new regulations, possibly as many as 40 new rules.

2. Think like Europeans: California would need to follow the lead of European countries and convince automakers to build more fuel-efficient vehicles.

3. Start a national trend: The state is considering market-based measures, such as capping the amount of carbon produced by industries like electric utilities and letting them trade emissions with a lower-producing industry. But if other states fail to adopt similar measures, businesses might just move.

4. Invent the answer: Low-carbon fuels like biodiesel and new plug-in electric vehicles would be key to cutting carbon emissions.

5. Change the way we live: Individually, we all would need to use new light bulbs, take shorter showers and unplug the television when it’s not being watched. Plus, lawmakers would need to ensure we drive less by requiring homes to be built near offices and shopping centers….

26. “AIDS/LifeCycle Rolls Victoriously into Los Angeles, Raising AIDS Awareness, $11 Million for HIV/AIDS Services” (US Newswire, June 9, 2007); story citing MARK CLOUTIER (MPP/MPH 1993).

Closing ceremonies
Closing ceremonies in L.A. (AIDS LifeCycle photo)

LOS ANGELES -- More than 2,300 riders and nearly 500 volunteer participants in AIDS/LifeCycle rolled into West Los Angeles Saturday and boisterously celebrated having raised more than $11 million for HIV services and prevention on their 545-mile ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles.

The cyclists rode through eight counties, talking with local residents and media along the way to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and promote HIV prevention….

AIDS/LifeCycle set a new record for participation and money raised, attracting cyclists from 10 countries and 43 states … and raising $3 million more than last year. The ride is the most successful event of its kind, raising more money for HIV/AIDS services than any other single fundraiser.

The leaders of both the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center rode the route again this year, making a personal commitment to the vital health services and educational programs their organizations provide to thousands of people.

“This is an awe-inspiring group of people,” said the Center’s CEO, Lorri L. Jean. “Every single person is an athlete, an activist and a philanthropist. And as we traversed the back roads and city streets of California, we proved our commitment to improving the lives of people with HIV and AIDS and preventing new infections. I am so proud to call myself a member of this most talented, committed and beautiful band of traveling visionaries.”

“In the seven days since we took to the road, I’ve seen a community of deep compassion and joy develop,” said Mark Cloutier, executive director of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. “Together we overcame physical challenges, exhaustion and the stigma some still attach to AIDS, and together we’ll share that accomplishment with others back home.”…

By Peter Hecht - Bee Capitol Bureau

Mike Genest

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday turned up pressure on state lawmakers for spending cuts in next year’s state budget after May tax revenue reports revealed a $764 million shortfall for the current fiscal year.

The governor recently announced that his 2007-08 budget proposal would leave the state with a $1.4 billion structural deficit—even if lawmakers approve his requested cuts in transportation funding, welfare and other programs….

Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders are squabbling over the Republican governor’s $1.3 billion in proposed transportation funding cuts. State finance officials say the money actually represents increased revenues to the state from rising gas prices and should be moved out of California’s transportation account into the state’s general fund to help balance the budget.

Lawmakers and Schwarzenegger also are at odds over planned cuts and restructuring of the state’s CalWORKs welfare program, which the Governor’s Office says will save $324 million next fiscal year.

In a letter to legislative leaders Thursday, state Finance Director Mike Genest said “it is too early to know the impact, if any,” that will be created by the current year shortfall in tax revenues….

The U.S. trade deficit has been at historic levels for years. It goes up every month. But today there was a big reversal. Jill Barshay reports.

JILL BARSHAY: The Commerce Department reported that the monthly trade deficit fell 6.2 percent in April. Mickey Levy is chief economist at Bank of America. He says most of the decline is because America bought $3.5 billion less stuff from the rest of the world.

MICKEY LEVY: We’re buying less consumer-oriented goods and we’re buying less industrial supplies and capital goods….

29. “Copps Says FCC Has Many Tools for Diversifying Radio” (Public Broadcasting Report, June 8, 2007); story citing DEREK TURNER (MPP 2006).

The FCC has many options for helping minorities and women buy and run radio stations, Comr. Copps said. He spoke in connection with the release of Free Press data showing that minorities and women own 1,441 full-power radio stations, 14% of the U.S. total. The FCC can increase that by licensing more low-power FM stations and extending agency construction deadlines for minority and female buyers, Copps told us: “I would like to see this Commission come up with something that will get us moving on low power.” Free Press Research Dir. Derek Turner called technologies such as low- power radio crucial to diversity.

Copps and Comr. Adelstein urged FCC action on minority ownership. The agency should do its own “thorough study,” Adelstein told reporters. He called the ownership figures “extremely alarming” and a result of FCC policies that are “far off the mark” and “misguided.” Free Press officials said FCC rules favor large radio companies at the expense of smaller ones….

Congress can do its part by restoring federal tax breaks for companies selling stations to minorities, Copps said: “It would be nice to have the tax certificate back.” … The Telecom Act needs reworking, too, Turner said: “Congress can roll back some of the consolidation that they enacted in the 1996 Act.”…

By Araceli Martinez Ortega; Corresponsal de La Opinión

SACRAMENTO, California— Si el Congreso no aumenta el financiamiento para el programa Seguro de Salud para Niños, California no tendrá fondos suficientes para dar cobertura médica a 800 mil menores que están dentro del programa Familias Saludables….

Tal situación se conoció por el reporte “El Congreso puede ayudar a California a proveer cobertura de salud para más niños”, realizado por la organización sin partido de política pública, Proyecto de Presupuesto de California (CBP)….

David Carroll, director de investigación de Proyecto de Presupuesto de California, comentó que Familias Saludables ha ayudado a reducir el número de pequeños sin seguro médico, cuando el número de californianos con cobertura de salud ha bajado.

Sin embargo, hizo ver que el programa está en riesgo si no recibe los fondos federales necesarios.

Nicole Farkouh is a fellow with AP’s partner organization, Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP). She is excited to spend her summer in Nepal supporting COCAP and preparing to enter the second year of her MPP course work at the Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley.

Washington, DC: Thirty-one university students will shortly be deploying to volunteer with community-based advocacy groups in 18 countries, including Afghanistan, Nepal, Bosnia, Bangladesh, Guatemala and the United Kingdom.

The students have been recruited under Fellows for Peace, the fellowship program of The Advocacy Project (AP), which supports advocates for social justice and human rights around the world. The fellows completed three days of training in Washington last week.

This year’s fellows were recruited from over 170 applicants and are almost double the number that were recruited last year.

“They really are ambassadors for peace,” said Scott Allen, a former investment banker who serves on AP’s board. “They bring a fine combination of enthusiasm, credibility and professionalism to our overseas partners.”…

Also for the first time this year, four fellows [including Nicole Farkouh] are being deployed throughout Nepal with the Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP), a network that will be organizing its local members for constituent elections later this year….

[Read Nicole Farkouh’s blog at: http://advocacynet.org/blogs/index.php?blog=78 ]

By John Geluardi - Times Staff Writer

Despite Richmond’s well-known challenges, city officials took a deep breath in January and commissioned a survey asking residents just what they think of their hometown.

The results were not a big surprise: Crime, roads, after-school programs and unsupervised youth ranked as the city’s most pressing problems. But residents, although showing signs of low esteem about their city overall, like their neighborhoods and are upbeat about the quality of city government, which they rated higher than both federal and state governments.

“We are really excited about the results, and I’m not trying to be Pollyannish,” administrative chief Janet Schneider said. “We feel there is a lot of reinforcement of things the city staff has been prioritizing — code enforcement, establishing an office of violence prevention, re-forming a partnership with the West Contra Costa Unified School District and putting more money toward street paving.”…

A majority of respondents said police services are fair, and 57 percent said it is essential the city hire more police officers….

But residents also put a high priority on creating opportunities for youth to learn and get involved in positive activities….

Many of those programs already exist, and it is the city’s challenge to promote them, Schneider said….

The problem is many residents are not aware that they are available again [after drastic cut backs for a short time in 2004]. For example, 56 percent of respondents said they did not know enough about city-sponsored job-training programs to rate them.

“Letting people know about these programs is something that we will have to do better,” Schneider said….

By Lisa Vorderbrueggen - Times Staff Writer

Rep. Jerry McNerney, left, has been in office six months. (Susan Pollard/Times)

…Six months into his first term, Rep. Jerry McNerney is still the same soft-spoken, almost shy mathematician who toppled a seven-term Republican in November and helped Democrats take control of Congress….

McNerney has helped Democrats pass the party’s first 100 hours of priority legislation, including ethics reform, a reduction in student loan costs, a minimum wage increase and support for stem cell research….

The congressman has sponsored four bills of his own, starting with a small water conservation grant program. His other bills include the creation of a program to monitor veterans with traumatic brain injury and one to expand geothermal energy research….

After he voted against a May 10 bill that would have withdrawn troops from Iraq in nine months, the liberal blogosphere erupted with harsh commentary. McNerney called the bill counterproductive because it lacked key provisions and was headed for certain veto by the president….

Despite the Iraq angst, Democrats as a whole seem pleased with McNerney.

Calitics blog founder Brian Leubitz gives McNerney an A-minus, representing a tiny ding for his war vote.

“He’s done the right thing nine times out of 10, which is nine times more than Pombo would have done,” Leubitz said….

34. “Yolo supervisors see the light” (Daily Democrat, The (Woodland, CA), June 6, 2007); story citing JESSE SALINAS (MPP 1990); http://www.dailydemocrat.com/search/ci_6074656

By Jim Smith/Democrat staff Writer

Yolo County supervisors decided that in the interests of the planet it would be good to give a break to those who want their homes and business to run on solar power.

Acting Tuesday, supervisors approved 5-0 a new Master Fee Schedule which eliminates fees for those seeking to use photovoltaic energy. Additionally, county officials said they will implement an analysis on other fees to measure whether the benefits outweigh the costs….

As proposed, according to Jesse Salinas, principal management analyst for the county, the recommended changes would generate about $179,9320 in additional revenue for the general fund during the coming fiscal year, 2007-08. An additional $253,133 would be created for all other departments, assuming people didn’t cut back their use of county services….

35. “Californians have trouble facing budget realities” (Sacramento Bee, June 5, 2007); public commentary by TRACY GORDON (MPP 1996/PhD 2001).

By Tracy Gordon - Special To The Bee

Debate over the state’s budget for fiscal year 2007-2008 is in full swing. Once again, the state will be spending more than it takes in—and once again, the gap most likely will be papered over with temporary solutions, leaving untouched California’s habitual annual budget shortfall of $3 billion to $5 billion.

What makes California’s budget gap so intractable? A recent report I produced with a team of academic researchers at the Public Policy Institute of California points to several factors—many of which are simply facts of life in this state, such as large and diverse population and high labor costs.

But one leading culprit may not be as easy to face: us. We Californians are guilty of a serious mismatch between what we want from government and reality.

K-12 education provides a good example. Years of PPIC statewide surveys consistently show that this is the one area where Californians would most like the state to devote more resources. However, California hovers below the national average in per-pupil spending.

Why? First, California has far more of its kids in public school than are in other states….

And second, California pays its public school employees some of the highest salaries in the nation, about one-third more than the average for the rest of the nation. Partly that’s because California is an expensive place to live….

We clearly value our teachers and other school employees and want to reward them for their labor. But with a fixed pot of money, paying high salaries has meant that we can hire only a few of them. In K-12 education, California has fewer teachers and fewer support staff and other personnel per pupil compared with the rest of the nation….

Raising the number of teachers in California classrooms to the national average, for example, would cost an additional $15 billion—almost $500 per state resident…..

As voters, we will likely need to signal that we’re willing to make difficult choices before many politicians will consider taking a first step.

Tracy Gordon is a research fellow at the nonprofit research organization, the Public Policy Institute of California. Her recent report, “Fiscal Realities: Budget Tradeoffs in California Government,” is available online at www.ppic.org.

By Elizabeth Sullivan; Plain Dealer Foreign-Affairs Columnist

THE SIX DAY WAR

The survival of their nation was on the line as Israeli war jets took off to bomb Egypt’s air force on the ground.

The pre-emptive strikes worked.

Arab states–Egypt, Syria, Jordan–were threatening a war of annihilation 40 years ago this week.

What they got instead was a war of humiliation.

The lightning-fast Six Day War, fought from June 5 to June 10 in 1967, proved both Israel’s military pre-eminence and its durability as a nation. Arab dreams of being able to lead displaced Palestinians back to homes lost during the 1948 Israeli war of independence were at an end….

“The Arabs were so ashamed by their defeat at the hands of this little state that was supposed to be inferior to the forces of Allah” that they decided they couldn’t negotiate until their honor was restored, says Mitchell Bard, author of the forthcoming “Will Israel Survive?” and director of the online Jewish Virtual Library….

The result has transformed the threat into a conflict between Israel and radical Islam, “and that’s very different, and very difficult to fight, because you can’t fight with conventional armies,” says Bard….

By Jennifer Davies, Union-Tribune Staff Writer

Leaders of the region’s grocery workers union said yesterday that reports they had reached a tentative agreement with the three major supermarket chains on the tough issue of health benefits were false.

A spokeswoman for the chains—Albertsons, Ralphs and Vons—said they had agreed with the United Food and Commercial Workers union on one of the key issues in their negotiations for a new contract: eligibility for health benefits....

To help end the prolonged dispute of 3½ years ago, the UFCW agreed to a two-tier system whereby new hires would be paid less and have to work longer to qualify for benefits. That system had resulted in the majority of new hires going without health insurance. A study by [Felix Su et al. at] the University of California Berkeley Center for Labor Research and Education found that just 7 percent of the new hires had health care coverage through the supermarkets....

[The study by Felix Su et al. is “Declining Health Coverage in the Southern California Grocery Industry (January 2007).]

University Medical Center at Princeton — A son was born May 14 to Joan and Jesse Rothstein of Princeton….

By Victoria Colliver; Chronicle Staff Writer

Blue Cross of California and Blue Shield are targets of lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny for the practice of canceling individual health insurance on the grounds that enrollees misrepresented their medical histories on applications.

But the two companies have taken different legal strategies. While Blue Cross agreed last month to a class-action settlement that includes changing its policies, Blue Shield has taken a far more aggressive stance….

Blue Shield, based in San Francisco, made that point in two state court legal victories and a settlement this week….

On Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Ann Jones upheld Blue Shield’s rescission of coverage of Christiane Callil, the woman with fibroids, ruling she failed to disclose her history of uterine tumors in the year prior to her January 2005 application….

40. “Peet’s brewing new facility in Alameda” (San Mateo County Times, May 26, 2007); story citing LISA GOLDMAN (MPP 1997); http://www.insidebayarea.com/search//ci_5995142

By Janis Mara, Business Writer

Roaster Rick Jacobus discusses the different tastes that he looks for as he samples beans at the new Alameda roasting facility for Peet’s Coffee & Tea.

ALAMEDA - the daily grind just took on a whole new meaning in Alameda, where pioneering coffee manufacturer Peet’s is opening a 138,000-square-foot roastery.

The 41-year-old company, which transformed the coffee trade with its hand-roasted premium coffee, has been expanding at a rapid clip and built the roastery “so we would have more room and could operate around the clock if necessary,” Patrick O’Dea, Peet’s chief executive, said Friday during a tour and interview in the new facility.

The new roastery has 90 full-time employees and can roast up to 90,000 pounds of beans a day. …[T]he rich aroma of roasting coffee beans is already wafting up to the 32-foot skylighted ceiling, whose natural lighting is only one element of the carefully planned green building….

Lisa Goldman, Alameda’s deputy city manager, said she is “thrilled” the city was chosen for the roastery.

“The reasons Peet’s, (energy bar company) Clif Bar and (high-end cookie maker) Donsuemor are relocating here—for one thing, we have space,” Goldman said. “Also, they are all progressive businesses committed to the environment. Alameda Power and Telecom uses about 85 percent renewable sources, so we have a green utility and are a green city.”

Indeed, O’Dea and Jim Grimes, the company’s vice president of operations, were as bubbly as froth on espresso about the new building’s green attributes.

“We worked with a LEED [Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design] engineer and are in the process of being certified Alameda’s second LEED-compliant building,” Grimes said….

41. “Statewide public services get boost. Forecast has Oregon up millions in lottery and general fund revenue” (Capital Press (Salem, OR), May 23, 2007); story citing JOCK MILLS (MPP 1981).

By Mitch Lies

SALEM - Oregon State University’s statewide public services were handed an extra $3 million in an adjusted budget the Oregon Legislature’s Joint Ways and Means Committee co-chairs released May 15 after the state’s economist painted a rosy picture for the Oregon’s economy….

[Ways and Means co-chairs Sen. Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, and Rep. Mary Nolan, D-Portland] said they were swayed to put more money into higher education after listening to testimony from residents….

The extra support is expected to facilitate more frequent course offerings, new classroom buildings and laboratory facilities and improvements in compensation to help attract and retain top-quality faculty.

The $3 million awarded the statewides—OSU Extension Service, the Experiment Station and Oregon Forest Research Laboratory—still is below the proposal Gov. Ted Kulongoski advanced for the statewides in his budget earlier in the session and well below the university system’s recommended funding….

Still, Jock Mills, a lobbyist for the university, said he was pleased the statewides got some money back.

“We’re appreciative that they’ve taken the car out of reverse,” Mills said. “They’re not going backward anymore. But now we need to put it into gear and start moving on these programs.”…

42. “Bills would turn up heat on bottled water. Lawmaker wants its source labeled” (San Diego Union-Tribune, May 21, 2007); story citing RANDY KANOUSE (MPP/JD 1978).

By Ed Mendel; Staff Writer

…Polls show that many Latino immigrants, following old habits, don’t trust tap water and are willing to spend more to get bottled water or water dispensed by vending machines.

A freshman legislator, Assemblywoman Mary Salas, D-Chula Vista, has introduced a bill requiring bottled water labels and water vending machines to identify the source of the water….

…The National Resources Defense Council found low levels of hazardous impurities, not at the level deemed a health risk, in one-third of 100 brands of bottled water tested a decade ago….

Environmentalists also are concerned about the amount of fuel burned to prepare and transport bottled water, and the disposal of the bottles and boxes used to package the beverage, particularly brands from overseas….

Although previous regulatory bills have failed, Salas’ proposal is joined by more sweeping legislation, Senate Bill 220 by Sen. Ellen Corbet, D-San Leandro, backed by the East Bay Municipal Utility District.

Corbet’s bill would impose new regulations on water vending machines, including monthly cleaning and annual state inspection of at least 4 percent of the machines.

Randy Kanouse, a lobbyist for the East Bay Municipal Utility District, said water-quality reports posted online by many utilities provide important information, particularly for people concerned about trace elements.

Kanouse said backers of the Corbet bill think a state source identification requirement is not prevented by federal rules, provided that states properly consult with federal regulators before imposing it….

An Environmental Working Group study in 2002 found that the largest water vending machine operator, Glacier Water in Vista, did not meet standards for a hazardous chlorine byproduct in one-third of the machines tested….

43. “Consumer Groups Blame FCC For U.S. Broadband Drop” (TECHWEB, May 17, 2007); story citing congressional testimony by DEREK TURNER (MPP 2006).

As U.S. broadband penetration continues its relentless drop among the world’s industrialized nations, one reason the problem is becoming ever more critical is that the Federal Communications Commission doesn’t even have accurate figures on the growing crisis, a consumer advocate told a congressional committee Thursday.

Addressing what he calls the FCC’s failure to effectively collect data on U.S. broadband deployment, S. Derek Turner, research director at the Free Press consumer advocacy organization, urged the FCC Thursday to collect more accurate data on broadband deployment.

“The Federal Communications Commission has abandoned its Congressional mandate to bring true high-speed broadband service to every American household,” said Turner. “Until the Commission recognizes the reality of the broadband problem, consumers will only be able to purchase high-priced, slow-speed Internet connections that aren’t worthy of being called broadband.”

The hearings are being conducted in the wake of recent findings that U.S. broadband penetration recently dropped from 12th to 15th place….

Free Press, which was joined by Consumers Union and the Consumer Federation of America in presenting research at the hearing, said that many countries charge less for broadband than U.S. providers. The consumer groups said an analysis of commercially advertised broadband revealed that Verizon Communications offered the fastest connection—30 mbps download/5 mbps upload for $179.95 a month plus fees and taxes. That contrasted with broadband 100 mbps symmetrical offerings in Japan offered at less than $50 a month.

44. “S.J. Council Will Hold Session On Ethics Today” (San Jose Mercury News, April 10, 2007); story citing JOANNE SPEERS (MPP/JD 1984).

By Joshua Molina, Mercury News

Coming off a tumultuous 12 months that saw San Jose’s former mayor indicted on bribery charges, the city council today is poised to hold a wide-ranging talk about avoiding ethical breaches….

San Jose has been rocked by high-profile ethics scandals in recent years. Among the major black eyes was last year’s indictment of then-Mayor Ron Gonzales, his top aide and garbage-hauling company Norcal Waste Systems on charges of bribery and misappropriation of public funds….

State law requires government agencies to conduct annual ethics training. Beginning in 2006, AB 1234 imposed new state ethics training, including sessions on expense reimbursements and other rules for local officials….

‘‘I think it will be helpful for both the public and the elected officials in San Jose to hear this information,’’ said JoAnne Speers, executive director of the Institute for Local Government, a Sacramento research group that works with the League of California Cities. ‘‘I don’t think people realize how many requirements there are on the books, and how complicated they are.’’…

45. “23 Copy California” (Time Magazine, April 9, 2007, Pg. 82 Vol. 169 No. 15); story citing KARL HAUSKER (MPP 1981/PhD 1986).

By Laura Locke

Arnold Schwarzenegger may have signed the world’s toughest anti-global-warming law, but it is Democrat Terry Tamminen, his environmental adviser, who is emerging as the state’s real Terminator, winning industry support and the endorsement of a Republican Governor for a mandate to reduce the state’s emissions 80% by 2050.

But thwarting climate change isn’t a solo effort. Tamminen left his official post to build a national response to global warming one state at a time. “I am trying to Johnny Appleseed what California has done,” Tamminen says. His goal is to create a de facto national climate plan out of individual efforts in the 50 states. “He is crisscrossing the country and spreading the word,” says Karl Hausker, deputy director of the Center for Climate Strategies. “Terry gets state leaders interested in doing this.” Hausker’s nonpartisan, nonprofit group handles the technical details after Tamminen plants his seeds. Nineteen states have developed or are developing aggressive climate plans based on the work of Hausker’s group and Tamminen. So much progress is being made at the state and regional level, Tamminen says, that “by the time that there is a new Administration in the White House, a majority of Americans will live in states with a meaningful plan that deals with the climate-change issue.”

By Richard Halkett

The public sector is the biggest purchaser in the UK of a new product or service. Because of the scale of their purchasing, public bodies could be “early users”, demonstrating the value of a product or service to a wider market while meeting public needs.

Public bodies spending public money may seek to minimise risk by opting for low-risk systems, low-margin players and mature technology, rarely rewarding innovation. But if procurement officers collaborate with innovative suppliers, both sides can manage risk and shape products and services….

The drive for greater efficiency in public procurement has seen moves to replace many small contracts with fewer larger ones. Such large contracts are often out of the reach of smaller companies, where many of the most innovative solutions originate. Procurement managers must investigate measures to encourage small firms to participate in larger contracts. That could include unbundling contracts, simplifying bidding and using websites such as supply2gov.uk to advertise opportunities, all of which can help closer relationships with smaller firms and, ultimately, the purchasing of more innovative and relevant solutions.

Richard Halkett is executive director, policy and research unit, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts

47. “Report adds new fuel to property tax debate” (Daily Journal, The (International Falls, MN), March 15, 2007); story citing STEVE HINZE (MPP 1976).

By Brian Bakst Legislature 2007 ; Associated Press Writer

ST. PAUL (AP) - A report released Tuesday estimates property taxes collected throughout Minnesota would rise 8.8 percent between this year and next, leading House Democrats to call for a shift in course….

The report by nonpartisan House researchers predicts that state and local governments will take in $598 million more from property taxes in 2008 than in 2007. About a third of that would come from higher taxes on existing homes and about a fifth would come from business parcels.

The estimated 6.4 percent increase in homeowner taxes is a slower growth rate than the last few years. But Democrats said it speaks to an urgent need for the Legislature to adopt a significant property tax relief package and direct more state money to local government coffers….

The projections need to be viewed with some caution because they represent best guess efforts to predict what schools and municipal governments will do with their tax rates, said Steve Hinze, the report’s author….

The report highlights a continuing disparity along geographic lines. Homeowner taxes are slated to rise 9.3 percent in greater Minnesota while only 5.1 percent in the metropolitan area.

House Minority Leader Marty Seifert characterized the report’s findings as ‘‘a sharp stick to the Legislature to get its work done on property taxes.’’

His House Republican caucus is backing a one-time property tax rebate using $1.1 billion of the state’s projected surplus and caps that would restrict local governments from boosting taxes too high down the road….

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

By Goldie Blumenstyk

Colleges must be sure they are teaching “the right skills,” says Robert B. Reich, U.S. secretary of labor in the Clinton administration.

He offered a pep talk this month about the value of skills-focused education to the owners and managers of for-profit colleges at the annual meeting of the Career College Association.

“The new middle class in the United States is going to depend inordinately on technological careers” because of the changes in the economy being brought on by globalization, advances in technology, and demographic shifts, said Mr. Reich....

“It is a vicious, cruel conceit” that all students will need four-year liberal-arts degrees to be successes, said Mr. Reich, who now teaches at the University of California at Berkeley and at Brandeis University....

“We need to give our students a mastery of a domain of technology” and not just teach them skills for a job that can be “easily replicated abroad” for lower wages, he said.

--Jane Kay

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. is holding an event today to launch a program that lets customers offset their household energy use by voluntarily paying extra for environmentally beneficial projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Customers can enroll in the utility’s ClimateSmart program, which helps figure the annual tonnage of carbon dioxide emissions related to the electricity use of a household or business. That carbon footprint can be offset, or neutralized, by paying a few dollars a month, PG&E says.

An average household’s use produces 4.8 tons of carbon dioxide a year, which would come to $4.31 a month under the program.

The utility will spend the money on such projects as managing mature forests that absorb carbon dioxide or controlling greenhouse gas emissions from livestock manure, PG&E spokesman Keely Wachs said.

Only projects that have been approved by the state’s California Climate Action Registry, a public-private entity that oversees voluntary carbon reductions, will be supported with customers’ funds, he said….

At 10 a.m. today, a panel will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of carbon offsets at the Golden Gate Club in the Presidio, 135 Fisher Loop.

Participants include Peter Liu, initial founder and vice chairman of New Resource Bank, and Dan Kammen, professor in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley….

3. “What Campaigns Need is a Blind Trust” – commentary by ROBERT REICH (Marketplace, American Public Media [NPR], June 27, 2007; Listen to commentary

Scott Jagow: This week, the Supreme Court struck down a key restriction on campaign ad spending… Some people are worried the court has opened the floodgates to a barrage of last-minute issue ads. But commentator Robert Reich says they’re missing the real issue here.

Robert Reich: Until the 1960s, presidential candidates were usually chosen in conventions. Then, state primaries became the deciding force.

But now, even the primaries are declining in importance, and the real nominating process is happening elsewhere and earlier—in quarterly reports filed with the Federal Election Commission showing how much money each candidate has raised during the year before the convention.

It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy, a little like investing in commodity futures: Hog bellies, soybeans and presidential candidates. By placing their bets early and accurately, these investors secure a seat at the winner’s table. This means special access and influence, or at least the appearance of such, which is almost as useful….

So what can we do? The best idea I’ve heard comes from Bruce Ackerman of Yale Law School. Essentially, he wants to require that all contributions be put into blind trusts for each candidate. So candidates can use the money, but cannot know who contributed what….

Jagow: Robert Reich teaches public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He was labor secretary under President Clinton.

4. “Inside the Economics of Illegal Immigration” (ABC7 News, June 25, 2007); program featuring commentary by ROBERT REICH; http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=politics&id=5433549

By Mark Matthews

SAN FRANCISCO, (KGO) - A new ABC7 Listens poll shows most Bay Area residents believe illegal immigrants are a drag on the economy, but that doesn’t square with much of the evidence….

First of all, the issues surrounding illegal immigration have more opinions and fewer facts than any other I’ve ever come across. The government doesn’t collect data on illegal immigrants. The millions that we believe are here are in the shadows and not easily tracked….

The conservative Heritage Foundation says each illegal immigrant costs taxpayers $22,000 dollars a year….

The Heritage Foundations numbers are widely disputed. Robert Reich, a former secretary of labor, says illegal immigrants on the whole benefit the economy because they’re ambitious.

Robert Reich, Former Secretary of Labor: “You wouldn’t get here and go over all the hurdles that you have to go through if you weren’t ambitious, and that ambition translates maybe not immediately because you have language problems and other problems, but it does translate eventually into a contributing member of society.”…

A study by the non-profit, non-partisan, Rand Corporation, found that contrary to public opinion, little public money is spent treating undocumented immigrants.

Prof. Herbert Klein [of the conservative Hoover Institution and director of Stanford’s Center for Latin American Studies]: “The major part is more uninsured workers in the United States who are citizens of the United States.”…

So if illegal immigrants aren’t weakening the economy, why do so many people think they are?

Robert Reich: “The problems that most Americans have today are not because of illegal immigrants—they’re because of globalization, they’re because of technological change, an education system that is not up to par. There are many other culprits. Illegal immigrants are an easy fall guy, but they are not the primary problem.”…

5. “SERIES; BLACK LUNG; Miners keep dying despite federal laws” (Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), June 24, 2007); story citing ROBERT REICH; http://www.courier-journal.com/cjextra/blacklung/index.html

By R.G. Dunlop and Laura Ungar - The Courier-Journal

Mark McCowan is a 42-year-old former coal miner who has black-lung disease. C-J Photo by Matt Stone

POUNDING MILL, Va. — Mark McCowan knew he had inhaled a lot of coal dust during 20 years of operating heavy equipment in underground mines in southwest Virginia.

But at 40 years old, he had no symptoms of disease, and a chest X-ray taken eight years earlier had shown nothing amiss.

Plus, a federal law enacted to eliminate coal workers’ pneumoconiosis—black lung—had been in effect for more than 35 years.

Yet, after McCowan followed a friend’s example and got a second chest X-ray in April 2005, he found he was another example that the nation’s commitment to eliminating black lung has been imperfectly fulfilled.

The 1969 law set the level of coal-mine dust that miners can breathe during an eight-hour shift at 2 milligrams per cubic meter of air. But 38 years later, they’re still dying—more than 20,000 nationwide since 1990.

Black lung death rates in Kentucky rose 38 percent in the six years ending in 2004, even as they dropped in other major coal-mining states.

And there are signs that the deaths will continue. Among Kentucky miners getting chest X-rays last year, the number of black lung cases was three to five times higher than expected….

Fifteen years after the federal law went into effect, McCowan began working in the mines, so he never should have been exposed to dust levels sufficient to scar his lungs, end his career and perhaps consign him to a premature death….

Some federal health officials and others also have raised questions about whether the current coal-dust standard needs to be tightened further.

In 1995 NIOSH [the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health] concluded that the dust limit needed to be cut in half, to 1 milligram per cubic meter of air, to eliminate severe cases of black lung.

That recommendation, consistently opposed by the mining industry—and now also by the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration—has never been implemented. Legislation introduced in Congress last week, however, would cut coal dust levels to those recommended by NIOSH.

In 1996, U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich appointed a nine-member federal advisory committee to formulate recommendations that would “lead to the elimination of black lung.”

In 11 months, the committee produced a 154-page report that contained 20 recommendations for eradicating the disease.

The committee cited “substantial evidence” that either a “significant number of miners” were being exposed to levels of dust that exceeded the federal standard, or else that the standard was insufficient. The panel recommended consideration of a lower standard.

It also proposed that the federal government take over dust testing, now largely the responsibility of the industry and supplemented by periodic MSHA samplings.

A Courier-Journal investigation in 1998 disclosed widespread cheating by mine operators and miners on dust samples, despite repeated warnings to MSHA by independent experts and government auditors that reported dust levels often were improbably low.

Although Reich's committee included academics and representatives from labor and industry, who often are at odds over mine safety, most recommendations were unanimous.

Yet more than nine years after its report was issued, virtually all of its key proposals have come to naught, and at least 7,600 more miners have died of black lung….

The problem, [Committee Chairman David Wegman, a dean at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell] said, was that the committee was created during the Clinton administration, and efforts to implement its recommendations stalled after Bush took office in 2001….

6. “Carbon auction’s your winner” – Commentary by ROBERT REICH (Marketplace, American Public Media [NPR], June 20, 2007); Listen to commentary

Robert Reich: The best idea I’ve heard so far to deal with global warming is not a carbon tax. I can’t imagine any politician calling for higher taxes affecting the middle class….

The winning idea is not a cap-and-trade system, either. That system would allow companies to continue polluting, just require them to buy the right to pollute more from other companies that keep their dirtying to a minimum. Today’s biggest polluters—those who’ve done least to reduce their emissions—would be the biggest winners, because they’d get the highest caps.

No, the best idea I’ve heard is described as a carbon auction. Companies would have to bid for the right to pollute. And, most ingeniously, the money raised in the auction would be shared equally by all citizens in the form of yearly dividend checks. Just like the residents of Alaska now get yearly dividends for their share of the state’s oil revenues….

Jagow: Robert Reich was Labor Secretary under President Clinton. He now teaches public policy at the University of California Berkeley….

By Margaret Cook

The demand for preschool education may eventually result in for-profit centres in Victoria, according to a visiting academic from the US.

David Kirp, professor of public [policy] at the University of California, Berkeley, says these can offer very good programs as long as “they are held to the high quality standards required of the public sector”. But Professor Kirp, who spoke recently at the University of Melbourne, is a strong campaigner for universal, free preschool education. He says research has found that for every public dollar invested in it, there is a return of nearly $3 to the individual and society. For example, people who have attended preschool earn higher wages, and are less likely to commit crimes and be on welfare than those who do not.

Early education has become a major issue in the US, says Professor Kirp, with governments putting a lot of money into it and all Democrat candidates calling for free, universal preschool. This push is supported by executives from the Fortune 500 companies and the bipartisan group Fight Crime, Invest in Kids, whose members include police chiefs and prosecutors.

But Professor Kirp warns: “Often it’s easier for politicians to claim credit for providing more places than focus on how good the places are. Some (American) states have done it very well, while some have done it very badly.”

Preschools need highly trained teachers, small classes and adequate resources, “otherwise it’s child-minding and worthless”...

8. “A tale of political economics” (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, June 16, 2007); interview citing ROBERT REICH.

By Bill Steigerwald

Amity Shlaes’ new book, “The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression,” has been praised by George Will for supplying Americans with just what they need— “a fresh appraisal of what the New Deal did and did not accomplish.” ... I talked to her Thursday by telephone from New York City:

Q: Is there anyone you found who no one has ever heard of who is an unsung hero?

A: The book has a big hero on the left. It was a man called Rex Tugwell. Rex Tugwell was sort of like Labor Secretary (Robert) Reich. He was an idealist. He ran left to his own president. He had the president’s ear some days. Then the president abandoned him as too left-wing in favor of other people in another department....

9. “Even he’s still waiting for his passport” – Commentary by ROBERT REICH (Marketplace, American Public Media [NPR], June 13, 2007); Listen to this commentary

Kai Ryssdal: It seems there are no exceptions to passport complications. Not even for a former high-ranking federal official like commentator Robert Reich.

Robert Reich: I wasn’t worried about getting a new passport in time for my Canadian trip, because the passport office’s web page assured me that a new one would arrive in six weeks, eight weeks maximum.

Nine weeks later and still without a passport, I phoned the local passport office. I should say, I tried to phone. No one answered….

I don’t know whether I’ll get to Canada, but I doubt any of this has made it harder for terrorists to enter America. All we’ve done is make it harder for Americans to leave….

10. “Investing in pre-schools ‘a better bet than stock market’” (The Australian, June 12, 2007); story citing DAVID KIRP.

By Stephen Lunn, Social affairs writer

Some childcare centres that US public policy expert David Kirp saw while visiting Australia were so bad that he wanted to scoop up the children and bolt.

The shame of it was that public investment in good pre-school education programs offered a better return than the booming stock market, said Professor Kirp, a specialist in pre-school education at Berkeley University in California. He said it was pleasing that pre-school education was a federal election issue in Australia, but that focus on ‘‘skilling and drilling’’ numeracy and literacy was counter-productive.

‘‘From what I’ve seen of your childcare and pre-school systems here, you have the quantity but not necessarily the quality,’’ the professor said.

‘‘Like the US, it is a mixed bag. At the top end you have miracle workers and at the bottom end you have programs where you want to go in, pick up the kids and run out the door.’’ Professor Kirp said all international studies recognised that investing in pre-school education offered a pay-off in terms of avoiding future social costs such as juvenile crime and health issues such as obesity.

‘‘Even at the conservative end, the return on investment is in the order of three to one, a return that rivals the stock market,’’ he said.

‘‘But that is predicated on having good programs in place, because if you don’t, the economics are an illusion.’’ Professor Kirp’s formula is to keep the teacher-student ratio low and have highly qualified teachers.

‘‘You need more than a carer’s instinct,’’ he said. ‘‘They need to understand how children learn and grow. The less well-educated the child-minder, the more likely it is to be discipline-oriented and less creative and interactive.’’…

11. “Larry Summers’s Evolution” (The New York Times, June 10, 2007); story citing ROBERT REICH.

By David Leonhardt

Back in the 1980s, two young Harvard professors trying to reinvigorate the Democratic Party would meet at the Wursthaus restaurant in Cambridge, Mass., to have lunch and argue with each other. They must have made for an entertaining sight, one of them bearish and the other less than five feet tall, debating each other in a dark Harvard Square dive. The argument, in a nutshell, came to this. The smaller man—Robert Reich, a future secretary of labor—argued for something that he called ‘‘industrial policy.’’ Since the government couldn’t avoid having a big influence on the economy, he said, it should at least do so in a way that promoted fast-growing industries and invested in worthy public projects.

The bearish professor was Lawrence H. Summers, who was then the youngest person to have received tenure in the modern history of Harvard University. He loved to tackle big, broad questions, and, by his lights, industrial policy amounted to another version of the governmental meddling that had helped consign the Democratic Party to opposition status. How could bureaucrats know which industries and projects to support with tax credits? The better solution, Summers responded, was to get the economy growing fast enough that the problems of the middle class would begin to solve themselves. And the way to do this was to slow government spending and raise taxes on the wealthy, which would bring down the Reagan-era budget deficits and, eventually, interest rates. Once that happened, the American economy would be unleashed.

The debate, friendly as it was when Summers and Reich were having it, would come to dominate the struggle over domestic policy within the Democratic Party for more than a decade. Bill Clinton ended up embracing the centrist, business-friendly ideas of Summers and his mentor, Robert Rubin, and the situation played out just as they had predicted: interest rates fell, and along came a boom that helped almost everyone. In the late ‘90s, the wages of rank-and-file workers rose faster than they had in a generation. A frustrated Reich left the Labor Department after Clinton’s first term, while Summers eventually ascended to the top job at the Treasury Department.

All of which makes it rather fascinating to listen to Summers talk these days. Having left the presidency of Harvard after a rocky five-year tenure, he has turned his attention back to economics. But he doesn’t sound like a triumphant Clinton alumnus who simply wants the country to return to the policies of the 1990s. He sounds, strangely enough, a little like Bob Reich….

Summers’s favorite statistic these days is that, since 1979, the share of pretax income going to the top 1 percent of American households has risen by 7 percentage points, to 16 percent. Over the same span, the share of income going to the bottom 80 percent has fallen by 7 percentage points. It’s as if every household in that bottom 80 percent is writing a check for $7,000 every year and sending it to the top 1 percent. This is why the usual assurances that come from people like Summers—that an open, technologically advanced global economy is inevitable and good—feel, as he himself wrote in The Financial Times, like ‘‘pretty thin gruel.’’…

To liberal Democrats, it seems long overdue. ‘‘I breathe a great sigh of wistfulness and relief and say, ‘Finally, they’ve come around,’ ‘‘ Reich says. ‘‘It was, I think, a fundamental failure on the part of the Democrats in the late ‘90s not to face the structural changes that needed to be faced.’’

12. “The Poverty Platform” (New York Times Magazine, June 10, 2007); story citing ROBERT REICH.

By Matt Bai

… On the left end of the continuum are the populist Democrats who tend to gravitate, at least at this early stage of the campaign, toward [John] Edwards’s candidacy and who espouse a philosophy you might call “predistribution”—using the tools of government to divert money from the wealthiest Americans before they earn it. According to these Democrats, the rising tide stopped lifting all boats sometime in the 1970s, when manufacturers, challenged by foreign competitors, began to seek out cheaper labor overseas. That’s when the fortunes of American employers and their workers, so closely aligned throughout much of the 20th century, began to diverge. “The rising tide is lifting all yachts,” quips Robert Reich, the former labor secretary, “but rowboats and dinghies have had a harder time.” …

In fact, the more you talk to Edwards, the more apparent it is that the populist label doesn’t quite fit. While he talks incessantly about economic injustice, Edwards isn’t proposing anything—beyond an oil-company windfall tax, which Hillary Clinton has also embraced—that would strike a serious blow against multinational corporations or the top tier of American earners….

“Rhetorically, if you’re calling Edwards an economic populist, it’s true he cares a lot about the poor,” says Robert Reich, who isn’t yet supporting a candidate. “He evinces a lot of concern for the middle class and middle-class anxieties. But he’s not in any way attacking the rich or corporations.” Reich says this with a note of disappointment. “He’s not explaining one fundamental fact of modern economic life, which is that the very rich have all the money.”…

Berkeley, Calif., June 8 (UPI) -- Weighing less than 5.5 pounds at birth increases the probability of dropping out of high school by one-third, according to a U.S. study.

The study, presented in Washington at the National Summit on America’s Children, is the first to link birth weight with adult health and socioeconomic success using a full, nationally representative sample of the U.S. population, according to economists Rucker Johnson at the University of California, Berkeley, and Robert Schoeni of University of Michigan....

The study also found that a low birth weight of less than 5.5 pounds also reduces yearly earnings by about 15 percent and increases the probability of being in fair or poor health as an adult by more than 70 percent.

14. “Low birth weight hinders health and success in adults” (Report from the Asian News International published in the Hindustan Times, June 6, 2007); story citing RUCKER JOHNSON.

Washington, June 6 -- Boffins have found how birth weight significantly affects health and success in adults.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers, including Rucker Johnson and Robert Schoeni, at the Universities of California and U-M respectively.

As part of the study, researchers analysed 12,000 individuals from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, conducted since 1968 by the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research (ISR).

The research included data from the original study families, plus their descendants who have formed their own families….

“The poor economic status of parents at the time of pregnancy leads to worse birth outcomes for their children. In turn, these negative birth outcomes have harmful effects on the children’s cognitive development, health, and human capital accumulation, and also health and economic status in adulthood. These effects then get passed on to the subsequent generation when the children, who are now adults, have their own children,” the authors wrote….

By Rose Hoban

Social scientists have long argued whether environment or heredity is more important in determining an individual’s behavior, intelligence, and personality. Now, an economist from the University of California at Berkeley says he has found a strong environmental determinant to a person’s adult health and success. Rucker Johnson says they’re both tied to birth weight....

Johnson compared poor children born weighing less than 2.5 kilos to their siblings who were normal birth weight. That way, each group of subjects had the same family background and experiences, and were easy to compare. “What we found was that not only were they having reduced levels of cognition in terms of math and reading and passive comprehension scores in early childhood, but we also found that they had worse health in childhood and they had lower levels of high school graduation.”

He also found that the health effects of low birth weight extended into adulthood. “It’s equivalent to being 12 years older in one’s 30s and 40s,” he explains....

He found that children from families that were better off, who had access to health care and educational help, overcame the effects of low birth weight.

Johnson says this research points to the need to create policies that focus on improving the lives of poor youngsters. He says that may be the only way to overcome the combined effects of environment and heredity that he says play a role in the intergenerational continuation of poverty in some families....

[Read more about the paper, “The Influence of Early-Life Events on Human Capital, Health Status, and Labor Market Outcomes Over the Life Course” at http://www.npc.umich.edu/publications/working_papers/?publication_id=117 ]

16. “News media warm to climate change reporting” (Daily Astorian, June 11, 2007); story citing MICHAEL HANEMANN.

By Cassandra Profita

Climate change isn’t just science news anymore.

For many media outlets, the scientific debate on the existence of climate change is over, and the question of its social impacts is taking center stage.

At a daylong seminar in Portland Saturday, more than 80 print and broadcast journalists from across the country sat face to face with leading experts on climate change….

On the agenda Saturday was the discussion of moving news coverage beyond the existence of a warmer world and into the consequences.

Bob Doppelt, director of the University of Oregon’s Climate Leadership Initiative, said his experience as a source for a news story on climate change triggered questions in his mind about whether journalists were seeing the same picture as the majority of climate scientists….

Climate experts including Washington state climatologist Dr. Philip Mote, Dr. Stephen Schneider of Stanford University, Dr. Michael Hanemann of the University of California-Berkeley and IPCC report co-authors Dr. Jayant Sathaye, Dr. Patricia Romero-Lankao and Dr. Kathleen Miller gave reporters detailed presentations on the state of global warming science. Though some of the science may be settled, they said, the political, economic and philosophical debates are just getting started….

17. “Corn-Powered in Yuma” (Time Magazine, June 7, 2007); story citing DAN KAMMEN; http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1630560,00.html

By Bob Diddlebock / Yuma

Most days, main street in the tiny farm community of Yuma, Colo., is slow, save for a few folks meandering from Hardware Hank’s to the coffee shop and maybe some pickup trucks poking along, the better to avoid a stray dog or loose child.

But this agricultural town of 3,400, where Colorado’s greenest acres gently slope into Kansas and Nebraska, is placing itself smack in the middle of the global energy game. Farmers are plowing their fields, planting corn and feeding cattle while work continues on the first of two multimillion-dollar corn-ethanol plants that could transform Yuma into one of the more vibrant alternative-fuel production centers in the Western U.S. The timing couldn’t be better, with gasoline prices well over $3 per gal. as the summer driving season begins. But the choice of corn-based ethanol is one that might not play out in the energy future, from either an environmental or an economic standpoint....

Indeed, corn ethanol is no slam dunk. It costs more than gasoline to manufacture. It breaks down in existing pipelines, so it has to be trucked. It gets about 30% fewer miles to the gallon than gas. And ethanol does little, on balance, to reduce greenhouse gases. Nor does it help that corn ethanol’s success depends on imponderables like subsidies, commodity prices, the weather, Congress, the geopolitics of oil and a limited distribution network. “Corn ethanol is clearly flawed,” says Daniel Kammen, director of the Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, noting the billions of dollars in subsidies that Uncle Sam has been funneling to distillers for years. “Everything we’re seeing is politically expedient; [ethanol is] a scientifically naive choice.”...

18. “Before we let in the world’s best and brightest...” – Commentary by ROBERT REICH (Marketplace, American Public Media [NPR], June 6, 2007); Listen to this commentary

ROBERT REICH: A century ago, America’s immigration policy was best summarized in Emma Goldman’s famous lines on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

I’m afraid that under the immigration bill now pending in Congress, it will be: “Give me your rich, your well-educated, your young high-tech moguls yearning to make even more money.”…

Now don’t get me wrong: I’m all in favor of immigration. Our country was built on it. But I worry about bringing in well-educated people with high-tech skills when we’ve failed to give enough Americans a good education—or pay those who have it what they deserve.

JAGOW: Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich now teaches at the University of California at Berkeley….

19. “Gas prices are budget busters for many” (USA Today, June 4, 2007); story citing STEVEN RAPHAEL; http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2007-06-04-gasoline-low-income-usat_N.htm?csp=34

By Barbara Hagenbaugh, USA Today

Esther Guzman of Monmouth Junction, N.J., says high gasoline prices have made what was already a tight family budget even tighter. Photo by Eileen Blass, USA TODAY

Single mom Esther Guzman is used to juggling her family finances. But lately, it’s gotten harder to make ends meet....

With the recent increase in gas prices, she has been forced to cut back on extras, such as the family’s traditional meal out on Saturdays, trips to the movies and even visits to see her 76-year-old father, who lives in the next town over and is dying of emphysema....

Poorer families tend to live in central cities, but the strongest job growth in recent years has been in the suburbs, according to UCLA professor Matthew Kahn....

Such reverse commutes—from the city to the suburbs—are often not served well by public transportation, notes Steven Raphael, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, who studies poverty and low-wage labor markets. Plus, low-wage workers often work in the service industry, requiring them to work nights or weekends, when public transportation often is not operating at full swing.

“Those commutes aren’t really well-facilitated by public transit,” Raphael says. “Owning a car can actually be quite important.”

...Low-income families often drive older cars that need maintenance and repair, Raphael notes. That means gas mileage is likely lower than what drivers get on a new vehicle....

20. “Nuclear Power Revisited” (The California Report Magazine, KQED-88.5 FM, June 1, 2007); features commentary by DAN KAMMEN; Listen (RealMedia stream)

Coal-powered power plants are a big contributor to global warning, so much so that nuclear power is getting a second look, even here in California, where a moratorium on new nuclear power plants has put a lid on the industry for 30 years. Will California have a change of heart?

Reporter: Amy Standen

…Today California has 2 nuclear plants in operation, one near San Luis Obispo, the other north of San Diego, but that may soon change. A group of California businessmen have big plans for the empty lot of a waste water treatment plant in southeast Fresno. John Hutson, who heads the Fresno Nuclear Energy Group, says plants are much safer than they used to be and times have changed. “Building a plant right here to help stop global warming and provide economic opportunity is the right thing to do.”... Not everyone shares his enthusiasm… Rochelle Becker, the director of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility says, “If you have a radioactive release, that’s it. That’s it for your fishing industry. That’s it for your agriculture, your wine industry. That’s it. And they’re betting that won’t happen. I wouldn’t take that bet.”

In the past, nuclear plants have been notoriously expensive. Dan Kammen, a professor in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley, has found that the cost of nuclear plants can range from a bargain at 4 cents a megawatt all the way up to 14 cents a megawatt, a fortune compared to most other technologies. “If you’re a proponent of nuclear power, you’d look at our study and say, ‘Look, some of these plants are really good deals,’ and an anti-nuclear person looking at the same study would say, ‘Some of these are absolute dogs, the cost is more than solar and thermal, it costs 3 times as much as wind. Why would you ever build such a thing when these other technologies with very little risk are available?’” …

Ken Livingstone, the mayor of London, last year caused a mild panic among drivers who cruise the city’s narrow streets in “Chelsea tractors” (SUVs to the rest of the world). He announced that he was planning to charge cars emitting more than 225g of CO2 per kilometre £25 a day to go into the centre of London rather than the standard £8. “Red Ken” has always enjoyed stirring it among the rich, so he was probably quite happy at the stink he caused.

Worldwide car ownership is growing around 5% a year, so if emissions from cars are to be cut, engines will have to become dramatically more efficient, or there will have to be a technological breakthrough to replace petrol with a clean fuel. Now that governments seem to be getting serious about emissions, car and fuel companies are getting serious about finding less polluting alternatives….

There are three problems with corn ethanol. First, the market is limited….

Second, corn ethanol is expensive….

Third, corn ethanol is not very green. Some people think that corn ethanol is responsible for more emissions than it saves, because so much energy is used in growing the corn. Dan Kammen [Michael O’Hare, Brian T. Turner] and Alex Farrell of the University of California at Berkeley reviewed six studies on the issue and concluded that, gallon for gallon, ethanol is probably 10-15% better than petrol for emissions of greenhouse gases. That is a help, but no panacea….

FACULTY SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & EVENTS

June 9 MICHAEL HANEMANN spoke at the seminar, “The Changing Climate Issue: Reporting Ahead of the Curve,” presented by the University of Oregon’s Climate Leadership Initiative.

June 14 ROBERT REICH addressed the annual Career College Association Convention and Exposition, in New Orleans, LA.

June 25-30 DAN KAMMEN’s talk on “The 13th Tipping Point: When Will We Face Up to Global Warming?“ at The World Affairs Council of Northern California, was broadcast on KQED-88.5 FM, local NPR radio.

June 2007 DAVID KIRP was a visiting distinguished lecturer at Melbourne University and Sydney University, lecturing on preschool policy and higher education policy. The visit attracted considerable publicity, with national radio interviews (The National Interest and Life Matters, both ABC radio shows, aired segments, which can be found on the internet, and the major newspaper, The Age [see “Faculty in the News” above]). Kirp also spent a day consulting with the Premier’s Office in Victoria (Melbourne) and New South Wales (Sydney)—and an afternoon advising investment bankers on whether they should invest in early education centers in the U.S.

VIDEOS & WEBCASTS

To view a complete list of GSPP videos, visit our Events Archive at: /news-events/archive.html

Recent events viewable on UC Webcast: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/events/archive.php?select2=36

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Annette Doornbos

Director of External Relations and Development