The Tavis Smiley Communication School at Texas Southern University (TSU) will be renamed as school’s governing board voted to cut ties with the author and journalist for not delivering on his pledge to raise $2 million for the historically Black college.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Smiley agreed in 2004 to personally donate $200,000 annually for a period of five years as well as raise $1 million through private and corporate donations.

TSU officials said Smiley raised $300,000.

Smiley said concerns with the school’s fiscal management after its previous president was fired and sentenced to probation for improper usage of school funds, made it difficult to raise funds for the institution.

“I … will continue with my benevolence where it’s appreciated,” said Smiley in an email to TSU officials.

Smiley formerly worked for BET.

Five students are charged with attacking a teacher. Five students were arrested and charged Tuesday with attacking two teachers at Forest Park High School in Baltimore, school officials told The Baltimore Sun. The attack was apparent retaliation against one of the teachers, who alleged he was the victim of an unarmed robbery by two other students at the school the day before. City police came to the school on Tuesday to arrest those two students. Then, later that morning, the brother of one of the robbery suspects attacked the teacher, and other students joined in, school sources said. Another teacher tried to come to his colleague’s rescue, and took the brunt of the beating. City police were called to assist school police. City school system spokeswoman Edie House told the Sun that no one was hospitalized or seriously injured. The five students were charged with assault and disorderly conduct.

Zimbabwe leaders reportedly reach a power-sharing agreement. After a violent voting season and two disputed elections, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have agreed on a power-sharing deal, according to reports. The two parties will sign the agreement on Monday, said South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki who mediated talks between the two, reports CNN. He did not, however, release any specifics about the deal. Earlier this week, Tsvangirai said he would only sign a deal if Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe since 1980, would agree to relinquish some power as leader and have his presidency reduced to a ceremonial position. The opposition leader won the majority of votes in the first round of elections in March but, according to the official figures, he didn’t get the more than 50 percent needed to secure a victory. The weeks before June’s runoff election were so violent, Tsvangirai decided to drop out of the race out of fear for his safety and the safety of his supporters. Mugabe, whose name was the only one on the ballot, won the runoff, which many in the international community dismissed as a “sham” election. Under intense scrutiny, both inside and outside of Zimbabwe, Mugabe agreed to sit down with the opposition to discuss a power-sharing deal.  The county has sunk to financial run in recent years, with an inflation rate at an astounding 11.2 million percent, which is the highest in the world.
Obama’s Kenyan grandma is targeted in burglary. People attempted to break into the home of Sen. Barack Obama’s grandmother in Kenya, reports CNN. They were not able to get into Sarah Obama’s house, though, despite using a ladder to get on the roof after they noticed all the doors were locked, according to Obama’s uncle, Said. “I just spoke to Sarah, and she’s OK. The police have been there since yesterday, and we’re not worried. Everything is fine,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press. The family is mum on what type of security, if any, they are given. No word on how many people were involved in the break-in or if the police caught them yet. Barack Obama, whose late father was Kenyan, is very popular in the nation.
Many Tanzanian students faint during finals. Were they sick or just trying to buy some study time? While taking final exams, 20 girls at a Tanzanian school fell out and fainted, reports the BBC. More than 140 students at Ali Hassan Mwinyi School in Tabora, a co-ed junior school, were taking the test when the incident happened. Officials aren’t positive why they all fainted at about the same time, but they have their speculations. “I’m not a specialist, but I imagine this was a case of mass hysteria that does happen in some of the schools,” the educational officer of Tabora told the news service. “There was chaos, crying, screaming, running after that first paper.” What makes this even more bizarre is that the mass fainting spells have become a common occurrence at the school within the last month or so; and in all incidents only girls were involved. After the girls were revived, they were permitted to finish their exams.

Trying youths as adults causes mental stress. Young people who are tried as adults, which continues to be a growing trend, suffer stress that results in mental disease, new research shows. Juveniles who are transferred to adult court, known as “transferred youths,” are a growing population. Between 1983 and 1998, the number of transferred youths in the United States almost quadrupled. But as much as two-thirds(68 percent) of the transferred youths were found to have psychiatric problems, and nearly half had one or more types of disorders, says the study in Septembers issue of Psychiatric Services. For the study, Jason J. Washburn of Chicago’s Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and colleagues examined the cases of 1,715 youths, aged 13 to 18, who were processed in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago. Of the youths, 275 were transferred to adult court. Another finding was that Black and Hispanic males were more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to be transferred, even when the researchers controlled for violent crime. What’s more, there is also evidence that males from minority groups are among the least likely to receive mental health treatment, either in the community or in prison.

Black students are more likely to get HIV test. When it comes to HIV testing, Black college students make the grade. Blacks in college are much more likely to get tested for HIV than are White students, according to a cross-sectional survey. The survey also found that college students are less knowledgeable about HIV testing than about the disease itself. Overall, 61 percent of Blacks and 18 percent of Whites said they had been tested for the virus , according to the study by the University of Georgia researchers.  Even at that, Black students were nearly seven times more likely to have been tested than non-minority students. And although the students were generally knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, both races scored lower on questions specific to testing. “Misconceptions regarding testing results could lead to students underestimating their risk or the importance of testing and retesting, or having false assurance from the negative test result,” said Su-I Hou, the study’s lead researcher. The studies authors suggest that HIV prevention messages to heterosexual and White students should be strengthened to encourage them to get tested.

Many youths tried as adults suffer from mental disorders.
Trying youths as adults causes mental stress. Young people who are tried as adults, which continues to be a growing trend, suffer stress that results in mental disease, new research shows. Juveniles who are transferred to adult court, known as “transferred youths,” are a growing population. Between 1983 and 1998, the number of transferred youths in the United States almost quadrupled. But as much as two-thirds(68 percent) of the transferred youths were found to have psychiatric problems, and nearly half had one or more types of disorders, says the study in Septembers issue of Psychiatric Services. For the study, Jason J. Washburn of Chicago’s Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and colleagues examined the cases of 1,715 youths, aged 13 to 18, who were processed in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago. Of the youths, 275 were transferred to adult court. Another finding was that Black and Hispanic males were more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to be transferred, even when the researchers controlled for violent crime. What’s more, there is also evidence that males from minority groups are among the least likely to receive mental health treatment, either in the community or in prison.

Most of the students needed more information about testing.
Black students are more likely to get HIV test. When it comes to HIV testing, Black college students make the grade. Blacks in college are much more likely to get tested for HIV than are White students, according to a cross-sectional survey. The survey also found that college students are less knowledgeable about HIV testing than about the disease itself. Overall, 61 percent of Blacks and 18 percent of Whites said they had been tested for the virus , according to the study by the University of Georgia researchers.  Even at that, Black students were nearly seven times more likely to have been tested than non-minority students. And although the students were generally knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, both races scored lower on questions specific to testing. “Misconceptions regarding testing results could lead to students underestimating their risk or the importance of testing and retesting, or having false assurance from the negative test result,” said Su-I Hou, the study’s lead researcher. The studies authors suggest that HIV prevention messages to heterosexual and White students should be strengthened to encourage them to get tested.

Many youths tried as adults suffer from mental disorders.
Trying youths as adults causes mental stress. Young people who are tried as adults, which continues to be a growing trend, suffer stress that results in mental disease, new research shows. Juveniles who are transferred to adult court, known as “transferred youths,” are a growing population. Between 1983 and 1998, the number of transferred youths in the United States almost quadrupled. But as much as two-thirds(68 percent) of the transferred youths were found to have psychiatric problems, and nearly half had one or more types of disorders, says the study in Septembers issue of Psychiatric Services. For the study, Jason J. Washburn of Chicago’s Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and colleagues examined the cases of 1,715 youths, aged 13 to 18, who were processed in the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago, reports HealthDay. Of the youths, 275 were transferred to adult court. Another finding was that Black and Hispanic males were more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to be transferred, even when the researchers controlled for violent crime. What’s more, there is also evidence that males from minority groups are among the least likely to receive mental health treatment, either in the community or in prison.

Most of the students needed more information about testing.
Black students are more likely to get HIV test. When it comes to HIV testing, Black college students make the grade. Blacks in college are much more likely to get tested for HIV than are White students, according to a cross-sectional survey. The survey also found that college students are less knowledgeable about HIV testing than about the disease itself. Overall, 61 percent of Blacks and 18 percent of Whites said they had been tested for the virus , according to the study by the University of Georgia researchers.  Even at that, Black students were nearly seven times more likely to have been tested than non-minority students. And although the students were generally knowledgeable about HIV/AIDS, both races scored lower on questions specific to testing. “Misconceptions regarding testing results could lead to students underestimating their risk or the importance of testing and retesting, or having false assurance from the negative test result,” said Su-I Hou, the study’s lead researcher. The studies authors suggest that HIV prevention messages to heterosexual and White students should be strengthened to encourage them to get tested.

Black kids get more in-school spankings than Whites.

If the adage that sparing the rod spoils the child, Black schoolchildren are a lot less spoiled than their White counterparts. A new study shows that of the more than 200,000 children who got spanked at school last year, Black and Native American and kids with disabilities got more than their fair share. You can find more about the findings at BET.com/News. 

Study says Blacks are treated fairly in sentencing. Researchers at the University of Nevada-Reno say that, contrary to the common perception, African American defendants do not get a raw deal from the justice system when it comes to sentencing. When such factors as socio-economic status, education, criminal history and drug use, there is no indication that the courts favor White defendants over Blacks, the researchers said. “A similarly situated African American or Caucasian or Hispanic appeared to be treated fairly in the same way across the board,” said Judge Douglas Herndon. The results of the study, revealed Monday at a legislative hearing, reviewed the circumstances of Black and White inmates currently serving time. It did not explore issues other than their race and incarceration. Gary Peck, of the American Civil Liberties Union, told Channel 8 Eyewitness News that the researchers are wrong if they believe that Blacks and Whites are treated fairly by the courts. “It would be wrong to conclude on that basis that the system is devoid of race-based iniquities or institutional racism,” said Peck. The fact that people of color are far more likely to be arrested amplifies the magnitude of the race problem.

He calls the public school system a throwback to Jim Crow days.

Because Chicago Public Schools have done far too little to distance themselves from the separate-and-unequal school system of the Jim Crow Era, parents should keep their children away from classrooms when school convenes on Sept. 2, says the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has joined the growing boycott. “Whether it be funding and whether it be graduation rates, we are still separated and unequal,” Sharpton said, speaking to the congregation at the New Landmark Missionary Baptist Church on Sunday morning. “Well maybe if it wasn’t unfair, they [ministers] wouldn’t be talking about a boycott.” Illinois Gov. Todd Blagojevich says he’s working with lawmakers to bring about educational equity, The Chicago Sun Times reports. “I have called the legislators back into special session on Tuesday to focus specifically on school funding,” he told Channel 2 News. “But I think it’s wrong to encourage kids to miss school.”

Their names were changed in the yearbook to insulting fake namesAt suburban Los Angeles’ Charter Oak High School, where fewer than 5 percent of the student body is African American, somebody stuck fake “ghetto” names under the yearbook photos of members of the Black Student Union, prompting angry parents and students to call for a reprint. “A yearbook is very significant and something you always hold on to,” Toi Jackson, mother of Charter Oak student Evanne, told the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. “When she shows it to her kids she will have to explain why she has the name Crisphy.” Among the phony names given to the nine Black students were “Crisphy Nanos,” “Tay Tay Shaniqua” and “Laquan White,” the Tribune reports. School Board President Joseph M. Probst called the incident “atrocious.” He said he did not know the student’s name or race but promised that “appropriate actions will be taken,” telling the Tribune that “I am sure the students will be spoken to and given an apology if they haven’t been already.” Authorities at the Covina, Calif., school, which has about 2,000 students, said that the prank was discovered after the yearbooks were distributed. “Someone was just trying to be funny, but it’s not funny,” Jordan Smith, a Black Student Union member, said. “It’s upsetting. It’s a mistake that should not have been overlooked.” About 4.5 percent of the student body are African American; 45 percent are Hispanic; and 30 percent are White, according to the Tribune.