Headlines

Local Politics
Twenty-Four Candidates File for Local Office

Twenty-four candidates filed for local office on Thursday, the first day that candidates could officially file paperwork to run. The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports that Thomas Van Kinerd filed as a Republican for Brazos County treasurer. He joins Republicans Jerry Pitts and Tanya Kay Skinner in the race to replace Kay Hamilton, who will retire at the end of her term. Two Republican candidates filed for Brazos County Judge -- Bryan Mayor Mark Conlee and former Bryan Mayor Ernie Wentrcek -- and two Republicans filed for Precinct 2 county commissioner - former Bryan police Sgt. Jerry Fickey and rancher Sammy Catalena. Gerald "Buddy" Winn, former tax assessor-collector for Brazos County, filed for District 14 state representative. His three opponents, incumbent Fred Brown, former judge Rick Davis and Blinn administrator Blanche Brick did not file with the local party on Thursday, according to a list provided by party officials. The filing period lasts until Jan. 4. In all, 20 Republicans and four Democrats filed for office. In addition, Maggie Charleton filed to continue as chair of the Brazos County Democratic Party.

Texas News
Fort Hood Unit Deploys Despite Losing Soldiers in Shootings

According to the Dallas Morning News, nearly a fourth of the Wisconsin-based 467th Medical Detachment's soldiers died or were injured in the shooting rampage last month at the sprawling Texas post. The accused gunman, Army psychiatrist Major Nidal Hasan, was supposed to deploy with the unit. The 43 members of the Army Reserve combat stress unit were deploying to Afghanistan this week; Department of Defense officials decided only recently that the unit would deploy as originally scheduled.

Texas A&M News
Unlikely Tuition at Texas A&M Will Rise

Leaders of all 11 universities in the Texas A&M system, including the flagship campus in College Station, have been warned that they may not be able to raise tuition in the coming year. The Houston Chronicle reports that could affect everything from student services to faculty pay raises. A final decision won't be made until next spring, but system Chancellor Mike McKinney said Thursday that campus presidents have been told that even if tuition isn't frozen, not to expect it to go up more than 3.95 percent. Tuition went up 4 percent this year. Members of A&M's governing board have talked for months about their desire to keep tuition affordable, even embarking on a systemwide savings drive that McKinney said has yielded $4.3 million in actual savings so far, plus another $12.9 million in expected savings. The Texas House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution asking university governing boards to keep increases to 3.95 percent or below.

National News
Isolationist Sentiment Surges to Four-Decade High

The general public and members of the Council on Foreign Relations are apprehensive and uncertain about America’s place in the world. In polling conducted by the Pew Research Center before President Obama’s decision to increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, both groups expressed pessimism about prospects for long-term stability in Afghanistan. Fewer than half of the public (46%) and CFR members (41%) say it is very or somewhat likely that Afghanistan will be able to withstand the threat posed by the Taliban. While half of the CFR members (50%) favor increasing the number of troops in Afghanistan, just 32% of the public agrees.

War and Peace
NATO Countries Pledge 7,000 More Troops for Afghanistan

The Christian Science Monitor reports that NATO countries are responding positively to President Obama's plan to ramp up the international counterinsurgency effort in Afghanistan, committing to sending 7,000 more troops to complement the 30,000 additional US forces that Obama announced this week. The 7,000 NATO forces announced at a meeting of the alliance's foreign ministers in Brussels this week does not yet match the 10,000 additional international forces that the Obama administration is said to be seeking. That number, when joined with the new US forces set to begin arriving in January, would add up to the 40,000 additional troops that the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has called for. But NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen suggested at the meeting that the 7,000 forces from 25 countries was not the limit of what NATO countries would contribute, predicting there were "more to come."

Economy
States May Shed Another Million Jobs

According to a report by New America Media, state and local governments could shed almost a million jobs next year, further worsening our national unemployment rate. The nation’s unemployment rate already stands at 10.2 percent, its highest rate in 26 years. Unemployment is even higher for blacks (15.7 percent) and Hispanics (13.1 percent). The Labor Department says more than one in four teenagers is unemployed. Unions and liberal lawmakers hope the president will use his jobs forum to get the ball rolling on a second stimulus package that builds on the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) he signed in February. That Recovery Act contained a $53.6 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, which the government reports saved 250,000 education jobs across the country. Other provisions of ARRA helped prevent layoffs of police officers, firefighters and health care workers. But that money has all been spent and the financial picture of most state and local governments remains grim. So unless Congress ponies up new money, many of those workers whose jobs were saved by the stimulus will have to be let go.

Environment
Texas Environmental Agency Creates Office of Water

To cope with severe drought and a rising population, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality announced Tuesday that it has established a new Office of Water. The Environment News Service reports that the new office will include the three existing water divisions in the agency - Water Planning, Water Supply, and Water Quality. The new Office of Water will be a busy place. The TCEQ has begun internal preparations for the next revision of the Texas Surface Water Quality Standards including criteria development for nutrients, toxics, and bacteria. The TCEQ says revisions to the standards and the Standards Implementation Procedures are needed to incorporate recently developed site-specific standards for individual water bodies, incorporate new research on the toxicity of specific chemicals, and improve the way that the standards are used and applied.

Health Care
Dramatic Surge in Diabetes Expected by Year 2034

According to Health News, more and more adults and children are getting type 2 diabetes, a condition in which the cells of the body don’t use insulin properly. In fact, according to CDC investigators, the prevalence of diabetes in the U.S. has risen by about 5 percent annually since 1990 and today about 24 million Americans have the disease. Researchers based at the University of Chicago say if the current trend continues, the number of diabetes cases will nearly double in the next 25 years, climbing from the current 23.7 million to about 44.1 million in 2034. At the same time, the cost of treating people with diabetes is expected to triple, rising from an estimated $113 billion $336 billion.

Immigration
New Arizona Law Rattles Immigrant Community

A new Arizona law aimed at denying public benefits to undocumented immigrants could hurt U.S. citizens as well. New America Media reports that pastors, community activists and non-profit directors in Arizona are warning that the bill which took effect last Tuesday could have a chilling effect on immigrant communities and their U.S born children in need of health care, food and housing services. HB 2008 requires state, cities and any government employee in Arizona to report to immigration authorities any undocumented immigrants who request a public benefit. Government workers could face up to four months in jail if they fail to make a report. The law also gives taxpayers the right to sue a state or city agency if they believe the law is not enforced properly. Arizona is considered a testing ground for immigration laws for the rest of the nation. Over the past five, years Republican have enacted legislation that ranges from banning scholarships for undocumented students to denying bail to undocumented people charged with a crime.

Civil Rights
Report Examines Civil Rights During Bush Years

According to an article in the New York Times, when the Bush administration ran the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department, career lawyers wanted to look into accusations that officials in one state had illegally intimidated blacks during a voter-fraud investigation. The 180-page report is densely packed with statistics about civil rights enforcement by the division’s sections. The accountability office also examined a sampling of matters that were closed without further action, finding several cases — including the curtailed voter intimidation inquiry — in which supervisors rejected the recommendations of career lawyers to go forward. The report represents a comprehensive review of the division’s litigation activity in the Bush administration. When compared with the Clinton administration, its findings show a significant drop in the enforcement of several major antidiscrimination and voting rights laws.

Human Rights
Afghans Allege Abuse at Bagram Air Base

Two Afghan teenagers held in U.S. detention north of Kabul this year said they were beaten by American guards, photographed naked, deprived of sleep and held in solitary confinement in concrete cells for at least two weeks while undergoing daily interrogation about their alleged links to the Taliban. The Washington Post reports that the teenagers presented a detailed, consistent portrait suggesting that the abusive treatment of suspected insurgents has in some cases continued under the Obama administration, despite steps that President Obama has said would put an end to the harsh interrogation practices authorized by the Bush administration. The two teenagers said in interviews this week that they were punched and slapped in the face by their captors during their time at Bagram air base, where they were held in individual cells.

Reproductive Rights
Study Finds Reduction in Maternal Deaths and Decline in Newborn Deaths Within Reach

According a new report by the Guttmacher Institute, maternal deaths in developing countries could be slashed by 70% and newborn deaths cut nearly in half if the world doubled investment in family planning and pregnancy-related care. Currently, more than half a million maternal deaths and 3.5 million newborn deaths, many of them easily preventable, occur each year, in developing countries. The new report also found that investments in family planning boost the overall effectiveness of every dollar spent on the provision of pregnancy-related and newborn health care. Simultaneously investing in both family planning and maternal and newborn services can achieve the same dramatic outcomes for $1.5 billion less than investing in maternal and newborn health services alone.

Women’s Issues
Report Finds High Rates of Rape, Closed Hearings, and Confusing Laws on College Campuses

A nine-month investigation by the Center for Public Integrity has found that a thick blanket of secrecy still envelops cases involving allegations of sexual assault on college campuses. One national study reports that roughly one in five women who attend college will become the victim of a rape or an attempted rape by the time she graduates. But while the vast majority of students who are sexually assaulted remain silent — just over 95 percent, according to a study funded by the research arm of the U.S. Justice Department — those who come forward can encounter mystifying disciplinary proceedings, secretive school administrations, and off-the-record negotiations. Many college administrators believe the existing processes provide a fair and effective way to deal with ultra-sensitive allegations, but alleged victims say these processes leave them feeling like victims a second time.

Race and Racism
College Degree Can’t Close Racial Gap

Race remains a serious obstacle in the job market for African-Americans, even those with degrees from respected colleges. The New York Times reports that there is ample evidence that racial inequities remain when it comes to employment. Black joblessness has far outpaced that of whites. The disparity for the first 10 months of this year has been even more pronounced for those with college degrees, compared with those without. According to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for black male college graduates 25 and older in 2009 has been nearly twice that of white male college graduates, 8.4 percent compared with 4.4 percent. A recent study published this year in The Journal of Labor Economics found white, Asian and Hispanic managers tended to hire more whites and fewer blacks than black managers did.