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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – President Barack Obama on Monday addressed an audience of more than 300 in Washington, DC, on the virtues of fatherhood and the limits of government promoting it.

Obama spoke at THEARC, the Town Hall Education Arts & Recreation Campus, declaring the time ripe for “a new conversation around fatherhood in this country.”

Obama most of the time uses his own life and this time was no different as the president borrowed heavily from his own experiences with his father and his children.

Obama shared on the meaning of having a child, saying that “to have a child is to have your heart walking around outside your body.”

On the subject of his father’s absence in his life, Obama said: “While I was lucky to have a wonderful mother and loving grandparents … I still felt the weight of that absence. It is something that leaves a hole in a child’s life that no government can fill.”


Obama reiterated his pledge to be a good father, sharing an experience of driving home from the hospital after the birth of a child: “It is unadulterated joy and sheer terror. I made a pledge that day to give my child everything I could that I didn’t have. If I could be anything in life I would be a good father.”


With the pressures of presidency, Obama noted, “I have made plenty of mistakes as a parent. I have lost count all the times when the demands of work have taken me away from the responsibility of fatherhood … (there are) moments I will never get back. And that’s a hard feeling to accept.” 


He unveiled a new nationwide fatherhood and mentoring initiative that would promote responsible parenting on a host of fronts, specifically bettering job training services and domestic violence prevention, helping fathers fulfill child support payments and re-engaging out-of-touch parents in their children’s lives.

The president outlined a new program being overseen by the Attorney General’s office that would create “fatherhood reentry courts for ex-offender dads” that would help fathers leaving the criminal justice system reenter society.



Secretaries Timothy Geithner and Gary Locke were in attendance as well as Attorney General Eric Holder. In addition, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty were also on the stage. 



THEARC is part of a revitalization project in Anacostia officially opened in October 2005 and was the winner of the Urban Land Institute’s Award for Excellence in May 2007.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The United States would lead the world in college graduates by the end of this decade according to the pledges made by the top executive of the country on Wednesday at a manufacturing plant in Alexandria, Virginia.

Addressing an audience at Alexandria campus of the “Northern Virginia Community College,” during an event promoting the program, “Skills for America’s Future Manufacturing,” President Barack Obama touched upon ways aimed at enhancing skills through training workers and investing in research and technology to give the U.S. an edge in competing with other countries.

Citing a student named David, President Obama emphasized the importance of the facility said, “David said whatever he ends up doing, the automotive training program here was “the spark (he) needed to get (his) career started.”

“We’ve got to light more sparks all across America, and that’s going to make a difference in the futures of individuals who are looking for a better life, but it’s also going to make a difference in America’s future,” Obama continued.

Setting a goal “that by the end of this decade, we are going to once again lead the world in producing college graduates,” President Obama said, “To achieve that, we’re making college more affordable and we’re investing in community colleges.”

With unemployment figures still hovering at uncomfortable levels and economy sluggish in recovery, Obama balanced his words saying, “Obviously we’re slowly recovering from a very painful recession … But there are too many people out there still out of work.”

According to the White House officials, the latest program aims to train half a million community college students for manufacturing jobs over the next five years, which would help offset the gap left by the 2.7 million older workers who will be retiring in the next decade or so.

On a lighter vein, Obama explained his rolled-up shirt sleeves, saying, “My sleeves are rolled up. I was getting under the hood (to repair cars).”

Amid laughter, the president asked, “Do you guys want me to work on your car?” adding, “Don’t do it,” with more laughter breaking out among the audience.

Earlier before addressing the audience of more than 100 people, President Obama wearing button- down shirt with the cuffs rolled up, no jacket, light blue tie, gray pants, visited a classroom calling out, “Hello, hey everybody, what’s going on?” as he entered.

President made it a point to ask each students name and then had conversation with instructor Packer, who said it is the 5th semester of doing program.

From the classroom, the president moved to a garage where a half dozen people waited with cars with hoods propped open.

After the instructor had noted that the facility was a hybrid repair class, President Obama told the accompanying journalists, “This facility here at NOVA is one of the few that provides that kind of training.”

“This is going to be the future so you guys are on the cutting edge,” the president told students, adding as he was leaving, “You guys are doing great work, keep it up.”

Obama administration officials have confirmed that the National Association of Manufacturers is now backing the program, “Skills for America’s Future Manufacturing.”

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Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – According to a report released Wednesday, minority children spend an average of 13 hours a day using mobile devices, computers, TVs and other media. The figures cataloging how long they are plugged in mark about 4½ hours more than white kids.

The findings compiled by Northwestern University researchers and based on an analysis of two separate Kaiser Family Foundation surveys were presented to childhood and telecommunications experts in Washington, D.C.

Researchers analyzed that data to find out how black, Hispanic, Asian American and white youth use media for homework and for fun, and how long they’re plugged in on any given day.

Among 8- to 18-year-olds, Asian Americans logged the most media use with 13 hours, 13 minutes a day. Next came Hispanics with 13 hours, African Americans logged 12 hours, 59 minutes and whites garnered 8 hours, 36 minutes.

It remains unclear exactly why the racial disparity exists, however some experts believe children may turn to media if they feel their neighborhoods lack safe places to play or if their parents have especially demanding jobs that prevent engagement.

Based on the findings compared with white children, minority youth:

• Watch TV and videos one to two hours more a day;
• Listen to music about an hour more a day;
• Use computers about 1½ hours more a day;
• Play video games 30 to 40 minutes longer a day.

Black (84 percent) and Hispanic kids (77 percent) also are more likely to have TVs in their bedrooms and to eat meals in front of the TV, the study reported.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The latest US employment report revealed a major slowdown in the number of jobs created in May with the economy only adding 54,000 jobs to payrolls, not even enough to keep up with growth in the workforce.

It was a sharp contrast to April when the economy added 232,000 jobs added to payrolls, according to the US Department of Labor report released Friday.

However, even the April figures were not much help in bringing down the high unemployment rates created by the recession that officially ended in June 2009.

That is because economists say the nation needs to create around 200,000 jobs each month just to keep up with new people entering the labor force for the first time. But job creation has not picked up and new graduates are having a trouble getting their first job.

To put the nation’s unemployed back to work would require consistently creating more than 200,000 jobs monthly for a decade or more.

The disappointing creation of only 54,000 non-farm jobs basically left unchanged the unemployment rate of 9.1 percent and the number of people unemployed at around 13.9 million, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report.

It also left the percentage of working-age Americans who have either a part- or full-time job unchanged at 64.2 percent for the fifth consecutive month. Before the recession at least 89 percent, or more, of all working-age Americans had a job.

Long-term unemployment rates, defined as those who were jobless for 27 weeks or more, increased by 361,000 to 6.2 million. In addition, their share of the unemployed increased to 45.1 percent.

Unemployment rates among major worker groups were:

• adult men (8.9 percent)
• adult women (8.0 percent)
• teenagers (24.2 percent)
• whites (8.0 percent)
• blacks (16.2 percent)
• Hispanics (11.9 percent)

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New Haven, CT, United States (AHN) – The man who admitted to killing a gradaute student in 2009 while working as a Yale University lab technician was set to be sentenced on Friday.

Raymond Clark, 26, was facing 44 years in prison under a plea agreement he accepted last March. He was convicted of murdering Annie Le, a pharmacology doctoral student at the university.

Under the plea deal, Clark also admitted to sexual assault under the Alford Doctrine, which meant he agreed that there was sufficient evidence for him to be convicted of the charge. He admitted guilt as prosecutors released evidence indicating Le may have been sexually assaulted.

Family members of Le, who was a San Jose, CA native of Vietnamese descent, were to speak at the sentencing.

Le was last seen on surveillance video in the morning of Sept. 8, 2009, entering the university’s Animal Research Center in the medical school complex, where Clark took care of animals. Her body was found in a wall in the basement of the laboratory five days later, on the day of her wedding.

Clark, who worked at the lab for five years, was later arrested at a motel in Cromwell, CT and held on $3 million bond.

Le’s death received national attention and left the New Haven university deeply shaken. Yale later updated its workplace violence prevention policy and established a fellowship in Le’s honor.

Investigators said the 24-year-old Le died of strangulation. They found several items in the lab that led them to arrest Clark, who had nothing in his employment history at the campus that “gave an indication that his involvement in such a crime might be possible,” Yale University President Richard Levin had said in message to the campus community after the tragedy.

The evidence included blood stains on a white sock found inside a drop ceiling located in a secure area of the lab that contained both Clark and Le’s DNA. The single sock matched a sock found in the crevice where Le’s body’s was stuffed.

In addition, there was a pair of Vikings work boots with blood-like stains and “Ray-C” written on them. Police found a green pen under Le’s body which contained DNA from both Clark and the victim. The pen is believed to be the same one Clark used to sign task sheets, using the initials “RC,” while working.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – First time jobless claims dropped by 6,000 during the week ending May 28, but still remained above 400,000 mark, signaling continued weakness in the employment sector of the economy.

The advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment compensation insurance claims was 422,000, down from the previous week’s revised figure of 428,000, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Economists say that initial unemployment claims must drop below the 400,000 mark and stay there for the labor market to recover from the massive job losses of the recent recession.

However, bringing the unemployment rate down might not happen anytime soon, since first time claims for unemployment compensation have stubbornly remained above the 400,000 mark for the past eight weeks.

News was no better for the less volatile 4-week moving average, which was 425,500, down by 14,000 from the previous week’s revised average of 439,500.

In addition, the advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate at 3.0 percent for the week ending May 21 was unchanged from the previous week.

However, the total number of people claiming jobless benefits in all programs for the week ending May 14, the latest week for which such data is available, did drop. That number was 7,682,830, down by 56,742 from the prior week.

The largest increases in initial claims for the week ending May 21 were:

• California (+7,053)
• Massachusetts (+1,948)
• South Carolina (+1,066)
• Wisconsin (+1,019)
• Pennsylvania (+959)

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Hayward, CA, United States (AHN) – The search for a nursing student who went missing last week in California continued on Tuesday.

Michelle Le, 26, was at Kaiser Medical Center in Hayward on Friday when she went out to the parking garage and did not return. She left the hospital during a break in class, at about 7 p.m.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Le was planning a trip to Reno during the Memorial weekend. Her abandoned car was found a few blocks from the hospital.

Police told KGO television that there are no signs of foul play.

Le is enrolled in her final year at Samuel Merritt University in San Mateo. Her disappearance remains a missing persons case.

The university said it was “deeply concerned” about Le and that it was in regular contact with police and the student’s family. “We continue to hope for the best in this difficult situation,” it added.

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Trenton, NJ, United States (AHN) – Trenton Public Schools officials are working to continue bus service for students after transportation workers started a sick-out late in the week.

As state budget wrangling continues, the district is moving ahead with plans to privatize its school bus service, contending it could save about $2 million.

About half (15) of the district’s 29 transportation workers reportedly called in sick Thursday, though the number was reduced to about a third (9) Friday according to a school official. The 29 are a part of 196 school employees who recently learned they would lose their jobs to reduce the district’s school budget.

A report in the Trentonian stated 300 to 400 students missed school due to the school bus situation.

“So each of the (seven) drivers had to make three different runs, but that only covers 21 schools. There are 36 schools. Some students have to go to special schools as far out as Neptune. It’s a terrible mess. Kids are calling on the phones, left to stay at home, no way to get to school. Their parents have to take a bus to work, so they drop their child off, counting on a school bus to take them to school. Often they’re not picked up,” a source told the paper.

A school official admitted as much in a letter posted on the district’s website and sent home with students.

“We are experiencing a job action among our bus drivers,” interim superintendent Raymond Broach wrote. “This is causing delays in the pickup and delivery of our students and in some cases, (we’re) not picking up at all.”

With the drivers losing their jobs anyway, they will likely not be punished for their actions and the district will call upon drivers from other companies it has deals with — Rick Bus Co. and Delaware Valley Bus Line — to cover the gap in service, according to a report on nj.com.

Trenton Public Schools may get $12 million in additional school funding due to a recent action by the state legislature, but will still seek an outside vendor for its school bus service.

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Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – The U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Arizona law that fines firms in the state which hires illegal migrants. The law revokes the business licenses of such companies.

The justices, on a 5 to 3 vote, rejected the argument that Arizona’s law impinges on Washington’s power to control immigration.

In dismissing the arguments raised by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, civil rights groups, labor unions and the Obama administration, the court said states were given that option.

Although the 1986 federal Immigration Reform and Control Act general prevents states from imposing sanctions on employers to control immigration, Arizona used a clause in that act to punish companies that knowingly and intentionally hired undocumented employees.

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito Jr. voted in favor of Arizona. Justices Ruth Baden Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented, while Justice Elena Kagan did not participate in the case because she worked on the law when she was solicitor general of U.S. President Barack Obama.

Roberts pointed out that seven states recently enacted a similar law to the Legal Arizona Workers Act, which required employers to check the status of new workers through a federal database.

The court’s ruling paves the way for other states to play a greater role in addressing immigration problems.

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MN, United States (AHN) – Students who struggle with mathematics may be suffering from a neurocognitive disorder similar to people struggling with dyslexia.

University of Minnesota researchers say the condition is called dyscalculia. The disorder, they say, inhibits the acquisition of basic numerical and arithmetic concepts.

Dyscalculia affects about the same amount of people as dyslexia, but hasn’t received the same amount of attention or research funding, according to the researchers.

The researchers detail in their paper, “Dyscalculia, From Brain to Education,” how scientists worldwide have used magnetic resonance imaging to map the neural network that supports arithmetic. In people with dyscalculia, they have found abnormalities in the network.

The researchers are working on evidence-based interventions for the disorder.

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