News Roundup: Week of Sept. 14-20

HBCUs Get Recovery Funds to Repair Buildings

The Department of the Interior Friday announced the that 20 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will receive $14.25 million for historic preservation grants aimed to assist in the repair of buildings on their campuses. The funds were made available under the Recovery Act.

“The recovery funds not only will restore historic buildings on these campuses but also will provide a boost to individuals and companies performing the repairs, college communities and related local economies,” Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said today.

The repairs will address issues such as termite and wood rot damage, leaking roofs, asbestos removal, masonry work, electrical rewiring, heating, air conditioning and ventilation systems and achieving accessibility for disabled persons.

Schools receiving grants and amount awarded
1. Alcorn State University — $400,000
2. Allen University– $1,000,000
3. Bennett College– $400,000
4. Central State University — $1,750,000
5. Cheyney University — $300,000
6. Clark Atlanta University — $ 400,000
7. Dillard University — $800,000
8. Elizabeth City State University — $500,000
9. Fisk University — $989,516
10. Florida A&M University — $700,000
11. Harris Stowe State University — $1,000,000
12. Howard University — $800,000
13. Kentucky State University — $1,000,000
14. Langston University — $500,000
15. Meharry Medical College — $1,000,000
16. St. Paul’s College — $349,706/$245,000
17. Talladega College — $700,000
18. Tougaloo College — $829,007
19. West Virginia State University — $123,570
20. Xavier University — $463,201

— Deborah Creighton Skinner

Mistrust of Media Rises Among Blacks

African Americans’ distrust of the news media is on the rise, outpacing that of whites, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center

. The study, released last week, shows that overall distrust of the media is the highest its been in the 20-year history of the survey.

“We show that the share of blacks in the survey who said that news stories are often inaccurate is at 68% up from 47% the last time we did they study in 2007,” says Michael Dimock, assistant director at Pew Research Center for People and the Press.

The number of non-Hispanic whites who said stories in the news are often inaccurate jumped six percentage points to 62% over the same two year period. Blacks are also distrustful when it comes to biases in the news with 69% saying press tends to be skewed when reporting on political and social issues, this is jump of 15 percentage points since the survey was last conducted in 2007.

Reasons behind such a sharp rise may be partly due to the President Barack Obama. “Criticism of the press has increased substantially among African Americans and its linked to a similar increase among Democrats,” Dimock says. “When your party or candidate is the president, that crucial press coverage is often seen as overly critical or bias.

Just 29% of Americans say that news organizations generally get the facts straight, while 63% say that news stories are often inaccurate. In the initial survey conducted in1985, 55% people surveyed said news stories were accurate while 34% said they were inaccurate.

This Pew Research Center biennial study sample size consisted of 1,506 people and was conducted in July.

— Renita Burns

Stimulus Funds to Target Obesity, Smoking

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services initiative

to decrease obesity and smoking could also help decrease health disparities that affect blacks and Hispanics.

With nearly 37% of African-American children and 43% of Mexican-American children obese or overweight, compared with about 32% of white children, ethnic communities can apply for grants to improve access to healthy foods and physical activities. These Communities Putting Prevention to Work grants can also be used to enact smoking cessation programs, since African Americans are more likely to develop and die from lung cancer than any other racial or ethnic group.

“Chronic diseases linked to obesity, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and tobacco use are the leading causes of death and disability in our nation,” said Thomas Frieden, director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. “These additional resources will improve the quality of life for millions of Americans.”

Organizations can apply through the Chronic Disease Prevention in U.S. Communities program. Funded by the Recovery Act, the $650 million initiative, allots $373 million to policies, such as clean-indoor-air laws and/or physical education programs, and the remainder will be used for additional support and evaluation.

“Black and Latino Americans are hit hardest by the dual crises of obesity and diabetes,” said Angela Glover Blackwell, CEO of PolicyLink and an advisor for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity. “These new funds will put us on a path toward healthy communities for all.”

PolicyLink, an organization that advocates for economic and social equity, has previously petitioned the White House to provide funding for programs that promote healthy food in schools and communities and healthy and safe places to live and play.

— Marcia Wade Talbert

NFL Urges Men to Know Their Prostate Cancer Stats

Just in time for National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, the National Football League (NFL) has teamed up with the American Urological Association (AUA) Foundation to raise awareness among men, particularly African American men.

“We encourage men to be as passionate about their health as they are about their favorite NFL teams and players,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement.

Part of the organizations’ “Know Your Stats About Prostate Cancer” campaign, which kicked off Sept. 16, 27 retired NFL Hall of Famers recorded a public service announcement urging men to get tested, including prostate cancer survivor Michael Haynes, Tony Dorsett, “Mean” Joe Greene, and Michael Irvin.

According to the American Cancer Society, one in every six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in his lifetime. African American men are more than twice as likely to die

from the disease as white men.

To fight the disease, the AUA has issued new guidelines recommending that men 40 and older talk with their doctors about prostate cancer testing. A physical exam and blood test to determine your prostate-specific antigen (PSA) score could help save your life

For more information on prostate cancer testing and the “Know Your Stats” campaign, visit KnowYourStats.org.

— Janell P. Hazelwood

New Tool Tracks Cardiovascular Disease

The National Minority Quality Forum launched a new database to help increase awareness about the prevalence of peripheral arterial disease (P.A.D.) and to identify groups that may be most affected.

The P.A.D. Atlas maps by zip code the disease’s prevalence down to the street level. Users can create color-coded maps that depict national, state, county, and city P.A.D. prevalence. The database can also search by age, gender, and race/ethnicity.

P.A.D. is a type of cardiovascular disease that doubles the risk of a heart attack or stroke and primarily affects individuals over 50 years of age.

Approximately nine million Americans suffer from P.A.D., and of that number more than one million African Americans have been diagnosed.

“There are 38,000 zip codes [in the atlas], and 87% of African Americans that have P.A.D. live in 8,615 of those zip codes,” said Gary Puckrein, CEO and founder of the NMQF, an organization that works to eliminate disparities in ethnic minorities. “There are risk communities out there. Now that we know where they are we want to make sure they get appropriate therapy.”

The cities with the most diagnosed cases of P.A.D. are Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, Houston, and Los Angeles.

P.A.D. is even more common in African Americans and Hispanics who have diabetes, reports the Peripheral Arterial Disease Coalition, an alliance of health professionals and government agencies. The NMQF collaborated with the coalition and drew support from the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership to develop the database.

In addition to the P.A.D. Atlas, the NMQF also developed atlases for kidney disease, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and HIV/AIDS. They also plan to release an obesity atlas and an acute coronary syndrome/stroke atlas for 2009.

Researchers, patient advocacy groups, legislators, and health professionals can use the constantly updated database to direct educational resources to communities most affected by the disease.

— Marcia Wade Talbert