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Submitted by jrjacobs@stanfo... on Tue, 05/22/2012 - 13:19.
 The Free Government Information blog has been tracking on HR 5326 "Making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013" and more specifically the Webster-Lankford amendment (which passed the House on May 9, 2012 by a vote of 232 - 190) which cuts funding for the American Community Survey. Data collected by the ACS are used by policy makers to determine the distribution of federal funding for everything from schools to roads and bridges, to emergency services and Medicaid benefits -- and is of vital interest to researchers, teachers, students and the public to learn more about and track on issues important to their communities. As the Sunday NY Times succinctly put it, in an article entitled "The Beginning of the End of the Census?":
This survey of American households has been around in some form since 1850, either as a longer version of or a richer supplement to the basic decennial census. It tells Americans how poor we are, how rich we are, who is suffering, who is thriving, where people work, what kind of training people need to get jobs, what languages people speak, who uses food stamps, who has access to health care, and so on.
It is, more or less, the country’s primary check for determining how well the government is doing — and in fact what the government will be doing. The survey’s findings help determine how over $400 billion in government funds is distributed each year.
But last week, the Republican-led House voted to eliminate the survey altogether, on the grounds that the government should not be butting its nose into Americans’ homes.
If you care about this vital program, please sign the Save the American Community Survey petition. It's crucial that our Federal lawmakers know about the public's concern, and understand why they need the ACS to do their very jobs!
[Note: this was originally posted on Free Government Information, the personal blog of James Jacobs, Stanford's US Government Information Librarian]
Submitted by cmatson@stanford.edu on Tue, 05/22/2012 - 10:24.
Des Voix...Found in Translation, a three-day festival that features "staged readings of three brand new French plays translated into English," takes place this weekend in San Francisco.
One of the plays—Nathalie Fillion's A l'Ouest—is being presented as Out There in a translation done by Emily-Jane Cohen and Michelle Haner. Cohen is an Acquisitions Editor for Literature, Philosophy, and Religion at Stanford University Press.
You can read more about the Des Voix Festival in SF Gate and in the San Francisco Examiner.
May 25–27, 2012
Z Space, San Francisco
Submitted by cmatson@stanford.edu on Mon, 05/21/2012 - 07:27.
Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, since 2006, Cory Booker, will be the 2012 Commencement speaker at Stanford University. Stanford's 121st Commencement Weekend is scheduled for June 16-17.
From the Stanford Report:
Cory A. Booker is serving his second term as the mayor of Newark, where he is leading an urban transformation to help Newark reduce crime and spur security, foster economic growth and create an environment that nurtures residents, particularly families. Booker was first elected in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. In April 2010, Newark experienced its first homicide-free month in more than 40 years.
Twenty years ago, Mayor Booker received a BA in political science from Stanford, followed by an MA in sociology in 1992. While at Stanford, he was elected to the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU) council of presidents and earned honorable mention Academic All Pac-10 honors in football. Interested then in the challenges faced by urban youth, he operated a student-run crisis hotline, The Bridge, to aid youth in East Palo Alto.
After leaving Stanford, Booker earned a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford, where he was awarded an honors degree in modern history in 1994. He then attended Yale Law School, where he received his JD in 1996.
Under Booker’s leadership, Newark has committed to a $40 million improvement of parks and playgrounds through a ground-breaking public-private partnership; doubled affordable housing production; and transformed the Newark Police Department. That change, together with the deployment of over 100 surveillance cameras throughout the city, has led to Newark setting the nationwide pace for crime reduction.
"Cory Booker, by the relatively young age of 41, has used his education and his passion for service to improve the lives of every citizen in Newark, N.J., and well beyond," said Stanford President John Hennessy. "His leadership and many accomplishments in Newark are serving as a model for urban renewal in troubled places around the globe. Cory Booker also exemplifies the potential of every Stanford graduate to make a profound difference in the world, and I know he will inspire our 2012 graduates to similarly go forth and make positive contributions with their own lives."
"In choosing Cory Booker to give the 2012 Commencement address, the President’s Office has selected an impassioned and inspirational speaker who will be able to relate naturally with Stanford students," said senior class presidents Jack Trotter, Shruthi Baskaran, MK Li and Amy Kroll. "Cory shares a lot of the same values that we do as students, including the importance of real social change and the power of individuals to make a difference. He was in our shoes 20 years ago, and this speech gives him the opportunity to share with us his perspective and the lessons that he has learned."
You can see here articles on Cory Booker. You can also see Booker interviewed here by Bill Moyers.
See also:
Photo by L.A. Cicero
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