?A Place Worth Living?: Defending a Deeply Stigmatized ... - Rust Wire

This is part of a series on being a white person in the African-American Hough neighborhood of Cleveland. You can see the intro,?why it?s like a small town,?Mansfield Frazier?s response,?history of the neighborhood, and?@#!& black people say to white people.

The worst part about living in Hough is that you can?t talk about living in Hough.

Not unless you want to experience Horrible Things from your friends, family and colleagues. ?There are three types of Horrible Things: 1) The LOOK, 2) The pat on the back, and 3) The argument.

Horrible Thing 1: the LOOK:
Several of my high school friends went out to dinner, the ladies who have been there through the highs and lows, from the hilariously awkward middle school dances through baby showers and funerals. ?One friend was looking to buy a house and I chimed in, ?Oh yeah, the neighborhood is everything.?

She gave me this incredulous look as if to say, ?What are you talking about? ?Where you live isn?t even a neighborhood.?
That night I burned in silent anger. ?It?s never completely gone away.

She didn?t mean to hurt me; it was a pure gut reaction. ?But in that moment, I saw clearly that places like Hough are not her list of Places Decent People Live. ?That possibility of seeing herself as my neighbor in Hough is forever closed to her, and with it so is a piece of my heart.

Horrible Thing 2: The pat on the back:
Scene: social justice networking event. An old friend and colleague who commutes from a wealthy exurb out of the county introduces me to someone new. ??This is Meagen. ?She and her family live in Hough. ?Isn?t that so amazing? ?She?s so brave.?

Ugh. ?Yes, I get it: You are all about serving poor people as long as you don?t have to actually live with them. ?But you?re glad someone?s doing it, because this mess certainly needs to be cleaned up. Thanks a lot.

Horrible Thing 3: The argument:
This one should be obvious. ?That neighborhood is dangerous. You?re putting your kids in harm?s way. I hate that you live there and I can?t wait until you move out.?

This one is reserved for my closest family members, the ones whom I love and cherish and respect and sacrifice for above all things. The only people who dare say this to me are the ones who know my neighbors by name and spent hours rehabbing our home. These are the people to whom I owe my very bodily existence on this earth. They are the people who should know better. Instead some of them are just biding their time until we get over our little idealistic phase.

The examples go on & on.

For seven years of living in Hough, I?ve been sharing less and less of what I really experience in the neighborhood thanks to these depressing interactions with some family, friends, and colleagues. When good things happen I rarely hear, ?wow, what a great place you live!? But all the bad things should be a ?wake up call.?

Is that how the residents of Chardon, Ohio and Newton, Connecticut responded when they had nationally televised tragedies in their communities? Did they say ?this is a wake-up call? and got the hell out of Dodge? No. They said, ?This is a terrible thing that happened in a great community.? They said, ?It will take us a lot of time and resources and support to heal, but we?ll face it together.?
That captures how I feel about violence in my neighborhood. Living in Hough is not an idealistic phase that?s going to pass. We?re not just flipping the house to make money by renting or selling. We?re not just living here until our kids are in school. This is our home and we get more benefits than we are exposed to dangers. It is much more dangerous to drive daily on highways, and I am very serious about that. But do my friends and family stop driving their cars because we?ve had loved ones die in accidents? They wouldn?t dream of it?to them the daily benefits far outweigh the increased risks.

The idealistic phase will never pass because even if we do move away at some point, which is a high possibility with our mobile American lifestyles, I?m never going to be able to pretend that my Hough neighbors and their joys and struggles have nothing to do with me. I will never be able to run the other way, move out to avoid tragedy, and hope our isolation will save us. I can never say ?as long as I have my dream home and a good school for my kids and a shopping mall, life is good,? and then reminisce about when I was young and had energy and passion.

Wherever I go, I will instead reminisce that when I lived in Hough I had my dream home, Excellent rated schools for my kids, and a shopping plaza right nearby. Life is good now.

Except when it?s not. As I?ve written in previous posts, none of us are immune from trauma and tragedy. And the history of Hough tells us how quickly communities can become stigmatized as a ghetto. Less than one hundred years ago, this neighborhood was a pseudo-rich community with elite private schools, close to all the entertainment and shopping available in a booming industrial city. Now it?s full of lead dust, corner liquor stores, and slum lords. It?s also full of inter-faith hunger programs, child care centers, musicians, and community gardens.

We are all responsible for that: the good and the bad. You can be part of the solution just by reading this post and joining me in considering inner city neighborhoods as Places Worth Living. We can all contribute to the solution by being open to the full reality of a place.

Over time, some of my friends and family have slowly begun to remove the stigma of The Bad Neighborhood and actually see the mix of good and bad. After a recent break-in, my Dad commented, ?I know you have a lot of great folks in your neighborhood and good stuff going on. But we just want to make sure you?re doing everything you can to make sure you?re safe.?
That?s a perfectly reasonable request, not just a gut reaction of prejudice but a gentle and smart approach. But another family member honestly thought that a compassionate response to a break-in would be: ?I wish you would move out.? The more I hear Horrible Things like that, the longer I want to live here just to prove this is a Place Worth Living.

But then I despair that my futile words have any impact on gut prejudice. If all someone sees is crime and violence, if they watch the nightly news which consistently portrays black neighborhood as ?war zones,? then nothing that is said or seen or experienced will change their mind that I live in a Dangerous Ghetto. Once on a plane ride I was sitting next to a student coming to Case Western Reserve University from Beijing and that was what he had heard about my neighborhood: ?Don?t drive through it or you will be shot.? The ?war zone? reputation has made it to Beijing!

If I could change one thing about the neighborhood, it wouldn?t be the actual neighborhood itself. I would change the phrase ?Hough is rough.? We would take off our glasses that can only see CRIME, and look around and see the full spectrum of reality. Most of it isn?t even racism. ?It?s the Stigma of Place. I?m convinced now I?d get similar negative gut reactions if I decided to raise my kids in a trailer park, or even a gated community?in Montana.

I know you can relate. We experience the Stigma of Place all through the Rust Belt. The Stigma is why I never know what to say at parties when someone asks me, ?So what is it like to live in Hough?? I usually just say, ?It?s a lot of things.? I find myself just telling about the good things, since I know they?ve probably only heard the bad. But sometimes I feel like they are just waiting for me to say I?ve experienced crime so they can say ?Aha, I knew it? and confirm their Stigma. As a result, I?m constantly at a loss to explain my choice of place to even my family and friends because I don?t want to experience more of the Horrible Things: the look, the pat on the back, or the argument.

But I think maybe it will be softer to say in public what has been too painful for me to say in private. The problem is that I understand all their objections, and I see what they see: crime, poverty, and historic racial tension. I?m not na?ve. But what is worse than any neighborhood challenge? Not being able to talk honestly about these challenges with the people I love because they refuse to see past their Stigma.

The worst part about living in Hough is not being able to talk about living in Hough. It?s the feeling that I don?t have the support of my friends and family for the long (and repeated) journey of healing from trauma because they can?t see the joy and benefits that make it all worthwhile. They don?t see the same ?great community? that gets portrayed in Chardon, Ohio or Newton, Connecticut. That Stigma gets translated into fewer charitable donations, lower housing prices, and lack of businesses. But I see the greatness, and I?m willing to invest in making it even better.

When kids shoot other kids in Hough, I want to hear the same number of talk shows full of support on grief. ?Can we please view it as a traumatic experience that requires hope, counseling, and years of love to heal, just the same as it would if it happened anywhere else?
Start by valuing the beauty of Hough: its rich history, vibrant Afro-centric culture, children playing outside, living where you work, proximity to cultural assets, political activism, compassionate service to people in need, and most importantly the burning need for solidarity and cross cultural communication. Glimpsing the neighborhood as it really is?filled with diverse people and organizations with a range of gifts and struggles?has indeed been life changing for many of my friends, family, and colleagues.

I feel like on Rust Wire, I?m preaching to the choir, but that gives me the courage to be honest and to hope I?m not alone. Maybe you, too, regardless of who you are or where you live, can see Hough as a Place Where Decent People Live, and not just a waste to be bulldozed.

Meagen Farrell is an educational consultant,?blogger, mother of two adventurous boys, and proud resident of the Hough neighborhood. You can connect with her on?Twitter or?Facebook.

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Source: http://rustwire.com/2013/02/01/a-place-worth-living-defending-a-deeply-stigmatized-neighborhood/

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Asian shares steady; regional PMI data dampens mood

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares were on the defensive on Friday after a series of surveys on factory output signalled a tough outlook for the region's manufacturers, though Japanese equities were a notable exception, logging their longest winning run in 54 years on a weaker yen.

European markets are likely to inch higher, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100, Paris's CAC-40 and Frankfurt's DAX would open up as much as 0.2 percent.

A 0.3 percent rise in U.S. stock futures suggested a firmer open on Wall Street.

Several surveys on Friday suggested Asia's manufacturers face a challenging business climate in the coming months, with China's vast factory sector managing only a shallow rebound at the start of 2013 as feeble foreign demand dragged on sales.

Two separate surveys of China's purchasing managers' index (PMI) showed that factory output in the world's second-biggest economy rose in January, but the pace of the revival in activity was uneven.

China's official PMI logged a reading of 50.4, easing from December's 50.6 and below forecasts for a nine-month high of 50.9. A separate private sector PMI released by HSBC, however, rose to a two-year high of 52.3.

"It seems new orders for exports have declined even when new orders overall rose, suggesting that infrastructure spending and other investment to spur domestic demand is needed to keep (China's) economy growing," said Naohiro Niimura, a partner at research and consulting firm Market Risk Advisory.

"But it's not going to change the view about the Chinese economy recovering. The official data was just neither good nor bad."

Other PMI releases showed manufacturing growth slowed or stalled in India and South Korea, while factories in Indonesia said business shrank in January from December for the first time in eight months.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was little changed by mid-afternoon after swinging up and down 0.2 percent during the day. It was set for a weekly gain of 0.6 percent and 2.6 percent so far this year.

A 0.9 percent jump to a 21-month high in resources-reliant Australian shares helped the pan-Asian index out of the negative territory, but weak Hong Kong shares capped the index.

The commodity-linked Australian dollar fell 0.3 percent to session lows around $1.0382.

"Australia is a high-yielding country and there are a lot of foreign funds coming here and that is supporting the market," said Macquarie Equities division director Lucinda Chan.

Investors' focus now turns to the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report, which will likely show a rise of 160,000 jobs and the jobless rate staying steady at 7.8 percent.

Manufacturing purchasing managers' indexes from the United States and the euro zone, as well as the Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index, are also due later in the session.

The euro added 0.3 percent to $1.3623 to the dollar, after earlier reaching a fresh 14-month high of $1.3634. The common currency's strength has pushed the dollar index to a one-month low of 79.078.

"The euro revival looks set to continue for some time, as investors return to euro zone bond markets, content with the combination of the European Central Bank backstop for sovereign risk and low inflation danger due to lack of economic growth. The dollar bloc looks to be a key loser in the portfolio reallocation back into EUR," Westpac bank said in a note.

YEN STILL UNDER PRESSURE, NIKKEI SHINES

Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average closed at a fresh 33-month high, bolstered by the yen's decline to new lows, and logged its 12th straight week of gains, the longest run of weekly gains since 1959. The benchmark index rose 0.5 percent.

The dollar advanced further against the yen, up 0.6 percent to 92.25 yen, having earlier hit its highest since June 2010 of 92.27. The euro extended gains, soaring 1 percent to its highest since April 2010 of 125.75.

The yen also plunged to its lowest since August 2008 against both the Australian dollar, at 95.84 yen, and against the New Zealand dollar at 77.58 yen.

"The yen selling is seen as a safe bet because Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has not faltered on his election pledge about beating deflation, highlighting the government's resolve," said Kimihiko Tomita, head of forex at State Street in Tokyo.

Oil and copper prices firmed and the euro extended gains against the dollar, reflecting a recent trend of improving sentiment across asset classes, underpinned by easing stress in the euro zone and a generally positive global economic outlook.

"Chinese data should get stronger into the second quarter. Global indicators are improving, so it makes sense to a certain extent that speculators are taking another look at copper," said analyst Bonnie Liu of Macquarie in Singapore.

London copper added 0.6 percent to $8,213.50 a tonne.

U.S. crude futures inched up 0.1 percent to $97.56 a barrel while Brent hit its highest in over three months at $115.91.

(Additional reporting by Victoria Thieberger in Melbourne and Melanie Burton in Singapore; Editing by Eric Meijer and Shri Navaratnam)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-retreat-china-pmi-u-payrolls-eyed-021603605--finance.html

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Open online classes raise questions about future of education

Dozens of elite institutions are now partnering with start-up companies such as Coursera, Udacity and edX, to deliver so-called massive open online courses or MOOCs. NBC's Rehema Ellis reports.

Allison Flicker, NBC News writes

University of Virginia history professor Philip Zelikow has taught the course, "The Modern World: Global History Since 1760" for 16 years -- but this semester is different. Instead of delivering it to 120 students on campus, he'll be teaching 42,000 students around the world.

While online learning is not new, access to top-notch professors at some of the world's most prestigious universities is. Along with the University of Virginia, Harvard University, Stanford University, Brown University, Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia University are among dozens of elite institutions partnering with start-up companies such as Coursera, Udacity and edX, to deliver so-called massive open online courses or MOOCs.

Now, Greek history at Wesleyan University, poetry at the University of Pennsylvania, astronomy at Duke University, and "Introduction to Music Production" at the Berkley College of Music are all just a click away. And they're absolutely free.

Since 2011, more than 2.5 million students from around the world have enrolled in MOOCs. Even though they are not offered for college credit and completion rates are low, some educators see the potential to revolutionize higher learning.

"Thanks to these free online courses, you can shop a range of disciplines and do it all from the comfort at your own home," Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller said.

Zelikow was apprehensive at first.?

"I'm not a techie guy who's interested in experimenting with all this computer stuff," he said. "In fact, I was kind of a skeptic about all this online stuff. I thought it was fad-ish."

But after spending hundreds of hours preparing for this semester's course, Zelikow now sees the potential in expanding online.

"Bruce Springsteen is involved in selling recorded music to people all over the world. And he also sells tickets to live concerts," Zelikow said. "Nobody thinks the recorded music is just as good as the live concert. But he wants to be in both those lines of business."

He says there's not only value in reaching thousands of students worldwide, but believes the move online has actually improved his course for those taking it on campus.

"I thought of ways to use this [online course] to actually re-invent the ways I teach my ordinary class at the university and make it a better class than it used to be, to solve certain problems that are kind of structural problems in the way we teach our residential courses," Zelikow said.

Dawn Smith, 38, has taken "Fundamentals of Pharmacology" through the University of Pennsylvania and a public health class through Johns Hopkins after deciding to change careers.??

"I needed some textbook knowledge," Smith said. "I felt in order to be taken seriously as a candidate I needed to show I was doing something proactive."

Critics of MOOCs complain about their size, saying it leads to minimal student-professor interaction.

"I've met students from Germany that I've spoken to quite frequently - Australia, Japan, China, and then some in Africa," Smith said.

Although she would "absolutely recommend" this online platform, Smith acknowledges the limitations, too.

"There isn't that immediacy of being able to ask a question and then have an answer," Smith said. "There's no one standing in front of you showing you how to do something."

Other concerns include measuring student progress and the sustainability of these courses over a long period of time.

Siva Vaidyanathan, University of Virginia media studies professor, says he thinks MOOCs are an "interesting experiment," but that they're just that - an experiment.

He doesn't believe they can replace a traditional college education.

"Imagine taking a university and removing all the really fun stuff," Vaidyanathan said. "And all you're left with is me talking to you through a camera. That's not that good for anybody."

As professors, students and investors navigate this new terrain, there are questions about the potential for profit in the future and the place MOOCs may have in higher education.

For some, however, these online classes bring about hope.

"Education is such an equalizer. It raises people's abilities ? lets people build a better life," Coursera co-founder Andrew Ng said.

Even Vaidyanathan sees the silver lining.

"I hope somewhere in some corner of the world ? some child discovers calculus, discovers physics, or discovers poetry through a MOOC and gets ? inspired to change the world," he said.??

Source: http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/31/16795195-massive-open-online-classes-raise-questions-about-future-of-education?lite

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Generic competition, charges cut Merck Q4 profit

Merck & Co.'s fourth-quarter profit fell 7 percent as generic competition slashed sales of its blockbuster allergy drug Singulair and the drugmaker took sizeable restructuring and acquisition charges. The company still beat Wall Street expectations.

The world's third-biggest drugmaker by revenue said Friday that net income was $1.4 billion, or 46 cents per share, down from $1.51 billion, or 49 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time charges totaling $1.14 billion, net income was $2.54 billion, or 83 cents per share, 2 cents more than analysts polled by research provider FactSet were expecting.

The maker of Januvia and other diabetes pills says revenue totaled $11.74 billion, down 5 percent from 2011's fourth quarter. Analysts expected $11.47 billion.

"Merck overcame significant challenges last year and delivered strong results in 2012 by successfully growing our businesses, expanding geographically and reducing our expenses," CEO Kenneth Frazier said in a statement.

Along with the weak global economy and government health programs in many countries trying to rein in spending, Merck has been hurt by generic rivals to what had been its top seller. Singulair, which treats asthma and allergies, lost patent protection in the U.S. in early August. In the last quarter, its global sales nosedived 67 percent to $480 million.

That pulled down total prescription drug sales by 6 percent, to $10.09 billion. Most of Merck's other big drugs produced higher sales, led by the Januvia Type 2 diabetes drug, up 18 percent to $1.13 billion, and Janumet, a diabetes combo pill, up 17 percent to $452 million.

Merck's smaller divisions saw increased sales, however. Veterinary medicine sales edged up 3 percent to $898 billion. Sales of consumer health products such as Dr. Scholl's foot care products climbed 9 percent to $395 million.

Merck, based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., forecast 2013 earnings per share of $3.60 to $3.70, excluding charges. Analysts were expecting $3.68 per share.

In premarket trading, Merck shares dipped 45 cents to $42.80.

For the full year, Merck reported net income of $6.66 billion, or $2.16 per share, up from $6.27 billion, or $2.02 per share. But sales in 2012 dipped nearly 2 percent, to $47.27 billion.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-02-01-Earns-Merck/id-299b8e3fb4204bf9829525ec64a97ac7

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China?s New Militancy Chinese leaders' repeated calls for the PLA to be ready t...

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Source: http://www.facebook.com/diplomatmagazine/posts/10151302031787979

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A Map Of NFL Team Allegiance

Facebook data shows exactly where the fans are.

We've posted visualizations from Facebook's Data Science Team before, but I think it's safe to say that their newest effort--a county-level map of NFL fandom across the U.S.--is their most admirable yet. Based on the team page Likes and locations of over 35 million account holders, it's probably the most accurate, precise geography of sports fandom ever.

Deadspin has a nice run-down of the take-aways, to which I would add only one question: Does anyone know what that blob of Steelers fans is doing in southern Oregon?

Click here to see a larger version of the map.

[via Deadspin]

Source: http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-01/map-nfl-team-allegiance

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2 NFL seasons since agreement, still no HGH tests

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Baltimore Ravens defensive end Arthur Jones is among those NFL players who want the league and the union to finally agree on a way to do blood testing for human growth hormone.

"I hope guys wouldn't be cheating. That's why you do all this extra work and extra training. Unfortunately, there are probably a few guys, a handful maybe, that are on it. It's unfortunate. It takes away from the sport," Jones said.

"It would be fair to do blood testing," Jones added. "Hopefully they figure it out."

When Jones and the Ravens face the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl on Sunday, two complete seasons will have come and gone without a single HGH test being administered, even though the league and the NFL Players Association paved the way for it in the 10-year collective bargaining agreement they signed in August 2011.

Since then, the sides have haggled over various elements, primarily the union's insistence that it needs more information about the validity of a test that is used by Olympic sports and Major League Baseball. HGH is a banned performance-enhancing drug that is hard to detect and has been linked to health problems such as diabetes, cardiac dysfunction and arthritis.

"If there are guys using (HGH), there definitely needs to be action taken against it, and it needs to be out of (the sport)," Ravens backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor said. "I'm pretty sure it'll happen eventually."

At least two members of Congress want to make it happen sooner, rather than later.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa, a California Republican, and ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings of Maryland wrote NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith this week to chastise the union for standing in the way of HGH testing and to warn that they might ask players to testify on Capitol Hill.

Smith is scheduled to hold his annual pre-Super Bowl news conference Thursday.

"We have cooperated and been helpful to the committee on all of their requests," NFLPA spokesman George Atallah said. "If this is something they feel strongly about, we will be happy to help them facilitate it."

Several players from the Super Bowl teams said they would be willing to talk to Congress about the issue, if asked.

"I have nothing to hide. I can't speak for anyone else in football, but I would have no problem going," said Kenny Wiggins, a 6-foot-6, 314-pound offensive lineman on San Francisco's practice squad.

But Wiggins added: "There's a lot more problems in the U.S. they should be worried about than HGH in the NFL."

That sentiment was echoed by former New York Giants offensive lineman Shaun O'Hara, who now works for the NFL Network.

"Do I think there is an HGH problem in the NFL? I don't think there is. Are there guys who are using it? I'm sure there are. But is it something Congress needs to worry about? No. We have enough educated people on both sides that can fully handle this. And if they can't, then they should be fired," said O'Hara, an NFLPA representative as a player. "I include the union in that, and I include the NFL. There is no reason we would need someone to help us facilitate this process."

Issa and Cummings apparently disagree.

In December, their committee held a hearing at which medical experts testified that the current HGH test is reliable and that the union's request for a new study is unnecessary. Neither the league nor union was invited to participate in that hearing; at the time, Issa and Cummings said they expected additional hearings.

"We are disappointed with the NFLPA's remarkable recalcitrance, which has prevented meaningful progress on this issue," they wrote in their recent letter to Smith. "We intend to take a more active role to determine whether the position you have taken - that HGH is not a serious concern and that the test for HGH is unreliable - is consistent with the beliefs of rank and file NFL players."

Atallah questioned that premise.

"To us, there is no distinction between players and the union. ... The reason we had HGH in our CBA is precisely because our players wanted us to start testing for it," Atallah said. "We are not being recalcitrant for recalcitrance sake. We are merely following the direction of our player leadership."

Wiggins and other players said no one can know for sure how much HGH use there is in the league until there is testing - but that it's important for the union's concerns about the test to be answered.

"The union decides what is best for the players," said Ravens nose tackle Ma'ake Kemoeatu, who said he would be willing to go to Capitol Hill.

"I feel like some guys are on HGH," said 49ers offensive lineman Anthony Davis, who would rather not speak to Congress. "I personally don't care if there is testing. It's something they have to live with, knowing they cheated, and if they get (outplayed) while they're on it, it's a hit on their pride."

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Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FBN_SUPER_BOWL_HGH_TESTS?SITE=ORLAG&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

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