Former NBA star battles Learn.com. The man who once played Chicago Bulls on-court lieutenant to Michael Jordan’s captain is suing a Web site. Scottie Pippen alleges that the heads of Learn.com for which Pippen is a stockholder, reduced share prices and improperly gave away millions in loans. Pippen and fellow investors want a Florida court to award them damages from James Riley and J.W. Ray, who head the company.

Team standout deactivated for alleged violation.  The football player formerly known as Chad Johnson, now Chad Ocho Cinco, should be well-rested this morning after sitting out Thursday’s game versus Pittsburgh. The Cincinnati Bengals star was deactivated after a reported team rule violation. Ocho Cinco is said to have had words with a coach over the violation. The player had just recently told a newspaper of his positive focus this season after friend and competitor Donovan McNabb reminded him that he’s fortunate to play in the NFL. Ocho Cinco had suggested during the summer that he wanted to be traded from Cincinnati.

Los Angeles Sparks guard joins Athlete Ambassadors effort. Temeka Johnson of the Los Angeles Sparks and Ben Gordon of the Chicago Bulls are among pro hoops stars to join the Athlete Ambassadors for Education Program benefiting the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The effort brings top sports performers into contact with students through speaking engagements, fundraisers and Black college and university tours. “I am honored to be a part of UNCF’s Athlete Ambassadors Program for Education,” says Johnson. “In today’s economy, all the best jobs require a college education. And in order to get into college and to do well once you get there, you have to start preparing early.”

HIV-testing advice isn’t being followed. Two years after federal health officials urged patients in emergency rooms and doctors’ offices to routinely get HIV tests, the advice generally isn’t being followed, according to a large number of studies presented this week at a Arlington, Va., conference on HIV testing. The Washington Post reports that only about 5 percent of patients who come to hospital emergency rooms with serious illnesses are being routinely tested for the virus that causes AIDS, said Veronica Miller, director of the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research, an independent public-private partnership based at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services. “HIV is a life-threatening disease that is so grossly under-diagnosed and under-treated in this country,” Miller said in a briefing on the two-day Summit on HIV Testing. In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that everyone between 13 and 64 years old be routinely tested when they come to a medical facility or doctor’s office. The choice, however, would be theirs and they can opt out if they want to. Among the reason for the poor showing, the scientists said, were that many clinics think the test is time-consuming, and some insurers are reluctant to pay for the tests, which cost between $80 to $120. “Reimbursement is a major barrier to routine testing,” said Kevin Fenton, director of HIV prevention at the CDC. When the emergency department at George Washington University Medical Center began offering the saliva test, 0.8 percent of those accepting were infected, far below the District’s estimated 5 percent HIV prevalence rate, the Post reported. At Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, where trained counselors offered rapid testing to emergency room patients in an interaction that lasted slightly more than five minutes, 83 percent of patients said yes. Half were women, 80 percent were black, and the average age was 36. About one-quarter had never been tested, and 0.7 percent were infected. The research suggests that if routine testing is implemented, it would detect the infection at a much earlier stage in many patients. For more on why testing is important and to talk about the issue, go to Vital Signs.

UNCF and Merck offer science fellowships. The United Negro College Fund – the nation’s largest minority education assistance organization – has announced that it is now accepting applications for the UNCF/Merck Science Initiative, which provides money for African-American students pursuing science research degrees at both the undergraduate and post-graduate level.  Applicants may visit www.uncf.org/merck to access applications for the 2009 selection process until Dec. 15, 2008, at 11:59 p.m. (ET). Thirty-seven people will be selected to receive 15 undergraduate awards, 12 graduate awards, and 10 postdoctoral awards. The UNCF-Merck Science Initiative offers biological and chemical research fellowships to minority students, for training, mentoring, networking and institutional support.  In 13 years, the partnership has provided support to almost 500 students and scholars in the sciences.

A former school teacher gifts $500,000 to UNCF. Former school teacher Winifred Davenport Barnes gave the United Negro College Fund, the nation’s oldest and most successful minority education assistance organization, a $500,000 gift.  Proceeds from Barnes’ estate will benefit the 55,000 students who attend the 39 historically Black colleges and universities that are members of UNCF, officials say. Barnes was an avid believer in higher education. A native of South Carolina, she moved to New York, married Dr. Lloyd T. Barnes, and returned to school to complete the education she had been deprived of in her youth due to her gender and race.  She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in early childhood education from New York University and studied finance and investments at Temple University, the Bank of New York and the New School for Social Research. “Our students are Mrs. Barnes’ beneficiaries twice over,” said UNCF President and CEO Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D.  “Her determination to get an education, and the full and active life that her education opened to her, set an example for today’s young people.  And her generous bequest will enable many young men and women to enjoy the benefits of the education that meant so much to her.”