Charles Barkley, who has become one of the most vocal supporters of gay rights in the athletic arena, shocked people in a radio interview when he said that he had several gay teammates, and that their sexual orientation did not concern him.

While it may be easier for straight male athletes to advocate gay rights, it seems more difficult for gay athletes to come out of the closet. Not a single American male athlete has ever come out while still playing for a professional sports team. However, there’s a lot of support in the sports community now and as former NBA MVP and longtime gay rights supporter Steve Nash said recently, “Anyone who’s not ready for this needs to catch up.”

Article Title: Giving Gay Rights a Sporting Chance
Source: In These Times Magazine/ September 2011
Author: Pete Redington
URL: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/11789/giving_gay_rights_a_sporting_chance/

Student Researcher: Claire Lueders, Sonoma State University
Faculty Evaluator: James Dean, Sonoma State University

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Official reports are claiming that these deaths are unrelated to the recent hunger strikes in these prisons. Many people believe that these recent deaths are a direct result of the cruel and unusual punishment that these prisoners are protesting against. One cannot ignore the fact that inmates housed in the many forms of solitary confinement have a much higher rate of suicide than their fellow inmates in general population.

The hunger strike participants are demanding an end to group punishment, long-term solitary confinement, and gang validation and debriefing. These men have claimed that their participation in this strike is being retaliated against through disciplinary actions and threats. Other prisoners who were present when these men died claim that in two of the deaths guard failed to respond to cries for help from the deceased as well as other inmates.

Title: “Three Prisoners Die in Hunger Strike Related Incidents: CDCR Withholds information from Family Members, Fails to Report Deaths”
Source: Prison Hunger Strike Solidarity November 18, 2011
Author: Isaac Ontiveros
URL: http://sfbayview.com/2011/three-prisoners-die-in-hunger-strike-related-incidents-cdcr-withholds-information-from-family-members-fails-to-report-deaths/

Student Researcher: Max Ivey, Sonoma State University
Faculty Advisor: Barbara Bloom, Sonoma State UniversitySimilar Posts:

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The 99 Percent Movement was born out of the fact that the country has grown incredibly unequal and millions of Americans are struggling to get by. The richest 1 percent of the country now owns more than 40 percent of the wealth and takes home nearly a quarter of national income.

The American economy wasn’t always structured in a way that so generously rewarded the one percent while giving the 99 percent less and less. Following the Second World War, widespread unionization, higher and fairer tax rates on the wealthiest Americans, and New Deal policies helped craft an economy with widespread prosperity. In fact, if you look at income growth in period between 1947 and 1949, it was approximately equal across the board. Meanwhile, income gains between 1980 and 2007 went overwhelmingly to the richest

Not only should Americans be concerned that only 1 percent of the country owns majority of wealth, but that there was once a time when everyone was semi equal and there was not such a large gap between classes. The author, Jilani, explains that since there was a time wealth among people were similar, it’s optimistic to assume that one day it can be possible for people in America to be equal once again.

Title: It Wasn’t Always This Way: America’s 99 Percent Used to Have a Much Greater Share of The Nation’s Riches

Source: ThinkProgress.org, October 25, 2011

Author: Zaid Jilani

URL: http://thinkprogress.org/special/2011/10/25/351981/it-wasnt-all-this-way/

Student Researcher: Brianna Santo, Sonoma State University

Faculty Evaluator: Marco Calavita, Sonoma state UniversitySimilar Posts:

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Mike Konczal’s article charts jobs and income growth of top one percent earners and the causes of changing income inequality. With evidence from tax returns the data shown in the article depicts that the top occupations are non-financial executives first, then financial professionals, followed by lawyers, real estate and medical professions.

Konczal’s article says that 60 percent of the top percentile of income goes to these top professions. The article points out that with the way corporation are structured under our laws that “a business exists only to enrich its shareholders, including, of course, senior managers themselves and this is done by paying out more in dividends that is earned in profits”.

This type of action is what upsets the people of the Occupy Wall Street movements, that the top one percent are “cashing out wealth during good times and then leaving workers and the rest of the real economy to deal with the aftermath”.

There’s good reason to focus on the top 1% instead of the top 10 or 50%. There is evidence that financial pay at this elite level is correlated with deregulation and the other legal changes that brought on the crisis. High-ranking senior corporate executives’ pay has dwarfed workers’ salaries, but is only a reward for engaging in shady financial engineering practices. These problems require a legal solution and thus they require a democratic challenge and a rethinking of how we want to structure our economy.

Title: Who are the 1 percent and what do they do for a living?

Source, Rortybomb, 10/17/11

Author, Mike Konczal

http://rortybomb.wordpress.com/2011/10/14/who-are-the-1-and-what-do-they-do-for-a-living/

Student researcher, Nicole Trupiano, Sonoma state University

Faculty Evaluator, Peter Phillips, Sonoma State UniversitySimilar Posts:

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Biofuel targets set by the European Union and the large financial incentives given to the biofuel industry are some of the real culprits of world hunger (according to Meals per gallon report released Feb., 2010 by the UK Charity ActionAid).  Biofuels competing with food for feedstock, as well as shady land takeovers also impact the inflated food prices.  Tracts of land that were once farmed for food production have been replaced with biofuels.  Land is also being taken from poor farmers all over the world without their permission.

The jatropha scam is a huge related problem also, because it was hyped as a miracle non-food biofuel crop that would supposedly grow anywhere.  It has failed to deliver on it’s promise and poor farmers scammed into growing it have lost their source of income (and nourishment) by replacing real food crops with jatropha.  Another key issue is that biofuels actually release more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels, according to more and more scientists.  ActionAid has called for a global moratorium to address these issues.

Title: Biofuels and world hunger

Source: Third World Resurgence, Issue No. 247 (March 2011)

Author: Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

Article: http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/resurgence/2011/247/cover05.htm

Student Researcher: Cheryl Fonseca, Sonoma State University

Faculty Evaluator:  Elaine Wellin, Sonoma State University

( Can be linked to Project Censored article: http://www.mediafreedominternational.org/2010/04/09/massive-african-land-grab-by-rich-nations/ )

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Tom Horne, who wrote the bill and was the state superintendent of schools found that the Tucson ethnic studies program were in violation of the new law. Tucson teachers and students filed an appeal of his decision. When a state-commissioned audit was done the results found the MAS program actually was in compliance with the new law.

However, the new supervisor of the MAS program, appointed by the TUSD superintendent, has reassigned La Raza teachers to other courses, reduced their course offerings, and accused the Chicano/a student group MECHA in Tucson of being unpatriotic and anti-Semitic.

Before summer break, students, teachers and supporters were engaged in civil disobedience and other protests. They are working toward saving La Raza studies and its high standards for public schools.

Article Title: Ethnic Studies Elicits “Cult” Charge
Source: Freedom Socialist Party/ October 2011
Author: Monica Hill
URL: http://www.socialism.com/drupal-6.8/?q=node/1720

Student Researcher: Claire Lueders, Sonoma State University
Faculty Evaluator: Daniel Malcipa, Sonoma State University

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A former NYPD narcotics detective, Stephen Anderson,  testified in October that he regularly saw police plant drugs on innocent people as a way to meet arrest quotas.  He was testifying, under cooperation with prosecuters, in the trial of a fellow detective charged with falsifying public documents and business documents.

Anderson says he frequently witnessed the practice of “flaking,” or planting cocaine on innocent people. The NYPD has come under heat this year for arresting 50,000 people for low-level marijuana offenses, 86% of whom are black and Latino, and most of which results of illegal “stop and frisk” searches conducted by officers.

Gabriel Sayegh has this to say: “One of the consequences of the war on drugs is that police officers are pressured to make large numbers of arrests, and it’s easy for some of the less honest cops to plant evidence on innocent people. The drug war inevitably leads to crooked policing…and quotas further incentivize such practices.”

Title: Former NYPD detective testifies that police regularly plant drugs on innocent people to meet arrest quota

Source: gothamist.com, 13 October 2011

Author: John Del Signore

URL: http://gothamist.com/2011/10/13/nypd_narcotics_detective_testifies.php

Student Researcher: Cary Esovedo, Sonoma State University

Faculty Evaluator: Sheila Katz, Sonoma State UniversitySimilar Posts:

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It is possible that nanoparticles in food packaging materials may migrate into food it comes into contact with. This is cause for alarm, a range of nanoparticles that are widely used in food packaging (including nano silver, nano zinc oxide and nano chlorine oxide) demonstrate specific adverse health impacts – with tests on nano zinc oxide producing damaging health impacts on mice and rats as well as being very toxic to human cells, even at very low concentrations. Despite the myriad claims from government and industry associated with nanotechnologies the global, corporate nano-revolution is set to steer us further away from a localized, democratic and sustainable agri-food system.

Title: Nanotechnology: Transforming Food and the Environment
Source: Food First Backgrounder, April 5, 2010
Author: Dr. Kristen Lyons
URL: http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2862

Student Researcher: Garrett Scafani, Sonoma State University
Faculty Advisor: Cathy Charmaz, Sonoma State UniversitySimilar Posts:

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At some point this year, student loan debt will exceed $1 trillion, surpassing credit card debt. Students accepted a home mortgage worth of debt before they ever even had a regular income. This is based on phony promises, and that the debt is inescapable, regardless of life circumstances or ability to pay. Due to the 2005 bankruptcy bill, debtors cannot discharge student loans through bankruptcy. The government is shielded from the risk, and creditors are licensed to collect by almost any means they deem necessary.

This student loan epidemic is going to lead to a generation of wage slavery. If students are lucky enough to find a job during our economic crisis, they will be spending a lot of their money paying off their student loans, and the banks will continue to see massive profits. Different institutions are encouraging people to take out student loans through mainstream media, when in reality taking out these loans are a big scam.

Title: The $1 Trillion Student Loan Rip-Off: How An Entire Generation Was Tricked Into Taking On Crushing Debt That Just Enriches Banks.”

Source: Alternet, October 20, 2011

Author: Alex Pareene

URL: http://www.alternet.org/story/152809/the_$1_trillion_student_loan_rip-off%3A_how_an_entire_generation_was_tricked_into_taking_on_crushing_debt_that_just_enriches_banks/?page=1

Student Researcher: Joshua Nervis – Sonoma State University

Faculty Advisor: David McCuan, Sonoma State Uinversity

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The Vatican is now calling for stricter regulation of global financial markets, a tax on financial transactions, and a global authority that can enforce these new rules.  The Vatican even confirms a shared view.  Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the council that authored the Vatican’s note, said that the “basic sentiment” of the Occupy movement is in line with Catholic social teachings.  Working for a more just economy is not limited to Catholicism, however. Interfaith organizations such as Interfaith Worker Justice and PICO focus on wage theft, globalization, workforce development, and low-income housing.  Vatican note states, this global economic crisis requires the concerted efforts of everyone, a thorough examination of every facet of the problem—social, economic, cultural, and spiritual.

Title: Vatican Supports Occupy Wall Street

Source: Reader Supported News October 25 2011

Author:Cindy Wooden

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/275-42/8069-vatican-supports-occupy-wall-street

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/11/vatican_ows.html

Student Researcher- Cameron Orsi, Sonoma State University

Faculty Evaluator- Cynthia Boaz, Sonoma State UniversitySimilar Posts:

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