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America’s Top Young Scientist Winner is Heman Bekele

DeeMan — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 21:21:36 +0000

While this story has been covered by many news outlets, it is a story worthy of Faith Seeds. Exercising the spirit of overcoming world challenges. Coupled with applying human effort to solve problems is certainly embodied in Faith Seeds desire to encourage and support others. Because of those attributes we salute Heman Bekele

Who is Heman Bekele?

Heman Bekele is crowned “America’s Top Young Scientist” after winning this year’s 3M Young Scientist Challenge. The memories of people working long hours outside under the glaring sun in Ethiopia stayed with him.

“Skin cancer is mostly found on people who live within developing countries,” Heman says. “But the average price for an operation is $40,000. I was devastated by the idea of people having to choose between treatment and putting food on the table for their families. There are so many preventable deaths.”

He was determined to find a better way. So Heman researched skin cancer, learning about dendritic cells, which he says help protect skin by boosting immune response. He spent months playing with salicylic acid, glycolic acid and tretinoin. Seeking the right combination to help treat skin cancer. He developed SCTS, which stands for skin cancer treating soap, and works by reactivating dendritic cells.

“I was just looking for a fun science experiment at first,” he says.

The Spirit of Humanity

The process taught him the value of persistence, Heman says, with one major challenge being how to find the right combo to ensure the soap held together without flaking into pieces. Using 3M Cavilon (a moisturizer and barrier cream), coconut oil, and organic shea butter, he was able to make that happen.

“It was so difficult to get a bar of soap that didn’t just melt immediately,” Heman says, adding he probably tried a dozen different combinations. “Persistence is a very important part of the scientific process.”

Bekele researched more about skin cancer and dendritic cells. In the video he submitted for the contest, he mentioned the three ingredients are salicylic acid, glycolic acid, and tretinoin. He further explained that the three ingredients are keratolytic agents that break down the skin’s outer layers.

Supporting the Cause

The young genius named the product skin-cancer treating soap (SCTS). A patient can apply the soap to the skin every two to three days after getting a prescription.

Bekele also received $25,000 with the award, which he plans to put towards securing a patent and college education.

Heman aspires to become an electrical engineer in the future. He said, “I envision myself leading a team of professionals. Developing innovative electrical systems that will shape the future of technology. Alongside my professional success, I hope to have a fulfilling personal life with a loving family and a strong network of friends.”

Give Back

He added, “I also hope to have given back to my community by mentoring aspiring engineers and supporting initiatives that promote STEM education. Ultimately, in 15 years, I hope I positively impacted the world through my work and personal endeavors.

According to Bekele’s LinkedIn profile, he is a freshman attending Woodson High School and a self-taught programmer, fluent in Python, Lua, JavaScript, and C. He describes himself as “passionate about medicine, programming, and making an impact” and “eager for opportunities in research and internships in STEM & computer science.”

All told, Heman’s product, SCTS can be made for $0.50 a bar, or $8.50 for a pack of 20 bars, he says. He believes using the soap every few days can help treat certain forms of skin cancer.

Declining College Enrollment

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Federal Loan Servicer Mohela Forces Default of Student Loans

DeeMan — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 04:34:19 +0000

Mohela Creates Default Status for Hundreds of Thousands

According to the Federal Education Department Mohela the Federal Loan Servicing, a dot com company, forced nearly a million students into default status. With hundreds of thousands more on the verge of default. Many argue that the action is intentional with an eye on generating revenue. Faith-Seeds.org was made aware of a string of reckless violations made by Mohela. In response notified various agency watch dog groups, who verified multiple policy breaches. Consequently the Education Department announced on Monday that over two millions borrowers were not properly billed this month. October marks the first official billing month after the three-year, Covid-era student loan pause, which ended in August. Forcing over 30 million borrowers back into repayment simultaneously.

How we got here

The US Federal Student loan program has restarted loan collection. The program had been postponed on two fronts.

COVID Pandemic
President Joe Biden’s effort to seek loan forgiveness through the legal channels.
Active Student loans holders were sent into default status without being billed.

The COVID Pandemic has ended and the Presidents efforts were not successful. The US Department of Education outsourced the collection of the loans to a “dot com” company “Mohela”. This is where the issue begins.

Faith-Seeds.org kept track of the proposed loan forgiveness by the current administration as it weaved its way through the court systems. Ending at the US Supreme court which ruled against the proposal.

The return to student loan repayment is not going smoothly. The Biden administration revealed massive billing problems this week that are even more widespread than previously known. The Education Department is asserting its oversight by imposing a penalty on a key federal student loan servicer.

The billing problems are just the latest issue in a cascading series of problems borrowers have been facing after the student loan pause ended this summer.

Who is Mohela and How did they Fail ?

Mohela, a non government commercial contract loan servicer, has been accused of intentionally forcing loanees into a default status.

October of 2023 marks the billing restart. However Mohela failed to mailed billing notices to the loanees. By law, It is required for all businesses to send a bill showing the account information, payment amount and date due. However Mohela has avoided normal billing process. This led to Mohela forcing loanees into default status. If you are unaware of the bill; then there is a very high percentage chance that you not pay it. Which will result in default status.

Leveraging Students Loans into default could be seen as strategy used by the dot com Mohela. If true It is unethical, and illegal. In a word, it is wrong.

Mohela has been aware, (as has most of student loan recipients ) for many months prior to the October restart. Financially Mohela could make millions by forcing default. Students on a payment plan which enters default, loses reduced payment status immediately. Activating the highest possible payment scenario. A loan repayment with monthly installments at $250 could instantly become a $3000 or more while in default. In some cases require payment in full. The remedy to default is very laborious and should be avoided.

The FEDS Take Action

The Department of Education announced Monday that it is withholding millions of dollars in payment to the student loan servicer Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA) over billing statement errors it made.

The department said MOHELA “failed to meet its basic obligation” of getting the statements out in a reasonable time frame, resulting in 2.5 million borrowers getting late statements. Some of the borrowers got their bill days before their payment was due. As a result, more than 800,000 borrowers transitioned into delinquency status under MOHELA.

The department is withholding $7.2 million in its October payment to MOHELA due to the error and told the student loan servicer to put all borrowers affected by this issue in forbearance until it is resolved. Any borrower on an income-driven repayment plan won’t have the months counted against them.

We took immediate actions to protect borrowers from the fallout of this error and hold the responsible servicers accountable, including “withholding $7.2 million in payment from one servicer,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said.

“The actions we’ve taken send a strong message to all student loan servicers that we will not allow borrowers to suffer the consequences of gross servicing failures. We are committed to fixing our country’s broken student loan system, and that includes strengthening oversight and accountability and taking every step possible to improve outcomes for borrowers,” he added.

Additionally, the department found “a small number of borrowers” received billing statements with incorrect payment amounts, and people on the Borrower Defense program were incorrectly put back on repayments. Those borrowers have also been placed on forbearance until the issue is corrected.

Trade School Training Leads to home ownership

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Unlocking Medicare Benefits

Staff — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 06:55:24 +0000

What is Medicare

Medicare is the federal healthcare program for adults aged over 65, adults with disabilities, and people with end stage renal disease. The program provides coverage for inpatient and outpatient services, and prescription drugs.

Medicare gets money from two trust funds: the hospital insurance (HI) trust fund and the supplementary medical insurance (SMI) trust fund.

The trust funds get money from payroll taxes, as allowed by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) enacted in 1935. Also, Medicare taxes at a rate of 2.9% are taken from people who are self-employed. Other trust funding money includes premiums and income from investments.

Taxes paid by employers, employees, and self-employed workers provide money for the HI trust fund, established in 1965. The trust fund also garners the interest earned on its investments, income taxes from some Social Security benefits, and income from Medicare Part A premiums.

The HI trust fund covers the services provided through Medicare Part A, which pays for inpatient hospital stays and care, including nursing care, meals, and a semi-private room. Part A also covers skilled nursing care, hospice services, and home health.

The HI trust fund also pays for Medicare administrative costs, including tax collection, and fighting fraud. The HI trust fund’s expenditures in 2019 totaled $328.2 billion.

Supplementary medical insurance trust fund

The SMI trust fund has two parts, namely Part B and Part D, funded by the premiums paid for each part. In addition, it receives funds authorized by Congress, and the interest from trust fund investments.

The SMI trust fund covers the services offered by Medicare Part B, a portion of Part D, and some of the Medicare program’s administrative costs.

Medicare Part B includes outpatient services, such as doctor’s visits, lab tests, certain cancer screenings and preventative care, and ambulance transport.

Medicare Part D provides coverage for prescription drugs. It gets funding from the SMI trust fund, and from premiums.

What Part A covers

Note
If you’re in a Medicare Advantage Plan or other Medicare plan, your plan may have different rules. But your plan must give you at least the same coverage as Original Medicare. Some services may only be covered in certain facilities or for patients with certain conditions.

In general, Part A covers:

2 ways to find out if Medicare covers what you need

Talk to your doctor or other health care provider about why you need certain services or supplies. Ask if Medicare will cover them. You may need something that’s usually covered but your provider thinks that Medicare won’t cover it in your situation. If so, you’ll have to read and sign a notice. The notice says that you may have to pay for the item, service, or supply.
F ind out if Medicare covers your item, service, or supply.

Medicare coverage is based on 3 main factors

Federal and state laws.
National coverage decisions made by Medicare about whether something is covered.
Local coverage decisions made by companies in each state that process claims for Medicare. These companies decide whether something is medically necessary and should be covered in their area.

How Do Medicare Advantage Carriers Make Money?

Advantage plan companies receive payments from Medicare. These plans get money per enrollee; it’s a set amount. Medicare makes separate payments for any plans that provide prescription drug coverage. Plans are paid for by Medicare through a bidding procedure. Bids are submitted depending on the costs for each member for services.

Bids that meet all qualifications receive approval. Benchmark amounts vary depending on the region. Benchmark amounts can range from 95% to 115% of Medicare costs. If bids come in higher than benchmark amounts, the enrollees must pay the cost difference in a monthly premium.

When bids are lower than benchmark amounts, Medicare and the health plan provide a rebate to enrollees after splitting the difference in cost. A new bonus system works to compensate for health plans that have high-quality ratings. Advantage plans that have four or more stars receive bonus payments for their quality ratings.

Get Started with Social Security

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Retirement Path for Seniors

Staff — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 22:14:07 +0000

Ready for Retirement ?

A very challenging passage in life’s transition is aging . Age is considered by many as just a number. Certain today’s 60plus generation is exceeds the quality of health experienced by previous generation. Although life expectancy numbers took a slight step back during COVID pandemic, its prior position showed a steady increase in longevity. Today’s 60-plus society is very active in the work force or running businesses. They are athletic and highly health conscious.

It is not a stretch to say that today’s 60s is yesteryear’s 50 plus group. The comparative quality of health and cognition would be nearly indistinguishable between groups of those who were 50+ in the 80s, compared to those who are 60+ post millennium.Which in fact, in many cases favorable to today’s group in comparison.

The one key difference is that the 60s of todays have more retirement opportunities compared to the 50s group. In fact if you were to combined the US demographic those age 50 and above with those in their 60s, it would equate to the 3rd largest economy in the world.

Being gifted with good health and financial footing has led many in the US to seek the retirement path earlier in the qualify matrix, with many starting in the age 62 category. Those “seniors” are looking to take advantage of those retirement opportunities but are not sure how to get started with some of the basic staples, like social security.

This is the first of a three-part series on how to 1) getting started on Social Security, 2). Manage Medicare and Medicaid, 3) How to add income during retirement.

How Social Security Works

Social Security is an insurance program. Workers pay into the program, typically through payroll withholding where they work. Self-employed workers pay Social Security taxes when they file their federal tax returns.

Workers can earn up to four credits each year. For every $1,510 earned in 2022, one credit was granted up to $6,040, or four credits had been achieved. It’s $1,640 up to $6,560 in 2023.

Social Security is financed through a 12.4% tax split among employers and employees; self-employed individuals pay the entire 12.4%. This tax money is deposited into the two Social Security trust funds: the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund and the Disability Insurance (DI) Trust Fund.

The Social Security Administration pays current benefits and administrative costs out of these trust funds. Unused money is left in the trust funds and invested in Treasury bonds.A board of trustees oversees the financial operation of the two Social Security trust funds. Four of the six members are the secretaries of the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services, and the Commissioner of Social Security. The remaining two members are public representatives appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

Workers who have paid into the Social Security for at least 10 years become eligible for early retirement benefits at age 62. Waiting until your full retirement age (FRA), between ages 66 and 67 (depending on when you were born), results in higher monthly benefits. You’ll receive even more if you delay collecting retirement benefits to age 70, but benefits don’t continue to increase if you wait longer than that.

How to get started

The easiest and most convenient way to apply for retirement benefits is by using an online application. You will need to create or sign in to your personal my Social Security account. If SSA is not able to process your request, you will receive specific information on how to contact SSA by phone or schedule an appointment.

You can apply for retirement benefits up to 4 months before you want to start receiving your benefits. Even if you are not ready to retire, you still should sign up for Medicare 3 months before your 65th birthday.

You can also apply by calling 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778), Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m local time or visiting your local Social Security Office. (Call first to make an appointment.)

Know Your Pay Rates

Seocial Security has a sliding scale which targets where on the scale you choose to take your retirement pay. Starting at 62 years of age up to full retirement. Estimate your rate here. To find your income estimate based on delayed claim you can see that here. Lastly you may also find a more specific benefit calculator here.

If you live outside of the United States, you can find the office that serves your country of residence on the Social Security Office of Earnings & International Operations page

Unlock Your Medicare Benefits

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American Dream Today.

Staff — Thu, 05 Oct 2023 21:53:55 +0000

In Pursuit of the Dream

It is the expectation of life journey in America as is envisioned. Children will enter school, carve a field of interest to use as a tool to acquire the prizes of life. A home, a family a good car, career advancement, retirement savings, and then retirement. This is often referred to as the American Dream. It’s one of the things that attracts so many to this country.

Over the last decade the dream has become a nightmare. The path along the way has rerouted to detour to a dead end. Something happened along the cycle of American life. Something that appears to be very grave, disheartening and depressing.

Housing prices are growing more unaffordable even with the astronomical rise in mortgage rates, putting ownership out of reach for millions of Americans.

That’s according to a new report published by real estate data provider ATTOM, which examined 572 U.S. counties and determined that median home prices in 99% of those areas are out of reach for the average income earner, who makes about $71,214 annually.

“The latest trend continues a two-year pattern of homeownership getting more and more difficult for average U.S. wage earners,” the report said.

Affordability is worsening across the country, thanks to a third-quarter spike in both home prices and mortgage rates. Combined, the two have helped to push the typical portion of average wages nationwide required for major homeownership expenses up to 35%.

The housing shortage has only served to boost consumer demand, which is keeping prices uncomfortably high. The National Association of Realtors reported that the national median existing-home price was $407,100 at the end of August — up 3.9% from the same time one year ago.

“The dynamics influencing the U.S. housing market appear to continuously work against everyday Americans, potentially to the point where they could start to have a significant impact on home prices,” said ATTOM CEO Rob Barber. “We will see how this shakes out as the peak 2023 buying season winds down.”

The average rate for a 30-year fixed loan jumped to 7.31% last week, Freddie Mac reported, well above both the 5.89% rate recorded one year ago and the pandemic-era lows of 3%.

Even though mortgage rates are nearly double what they were three years ago, home prices have hardly budged. That is largely due to a lack of available homes for sale. Sellers who locked in a low mortgage rate before the pandemic began have been reluctant to sell, leaving few options for eager would-be buyers.

With that said the real “devil in the details” in the number of homes being bought by people like Warren Buffet and B.W. Hughes. who buy up a very large percentage of homes on the market, and some that aren’t. Couple that with Corporate ownership and it’s a direct impact on available homes for sale. The competition between corporation buyers against American Citizenry has driven prices continually upwards.

The most difficult part to watch is the death kneel of optimism in the dream with the influx of low wage workers though mass immigration. This has driven the average wages far below what is required for home ownership today.

Annual wages of more than $75,000 needed to afford typical home in more than half of counties analyzed

Annual wages of more than $75,000 are needed to pay for major costs on the median-priced home purchased during the third quarter of 2023 in 330, or 57 percent, of the 578 markets in the report.

All but one of the top 25 highest annual wages required to afford typical homes are on the east or west coasts, led by New York County (Manhattan), NY ($407,125); Santa Clara County (San Jose), CA ($357,889); San Mateo County (outside San Francisco), CA ($356,519); Marin County (outside San Francisco), CA ($325,323) and San Francisco County, CA ($319,673).

Type	Date	Purchase Price	Down Payment	Loan Amount	Effective Interest Rate	Qualifying Income Needed
Median-Priced Starter Home	2020	$255,200	10%, or $25,520	$229,680	3.42% (with PMI)	$49,008
Median-Priced Starter Home	2Q 2023	$342,200	10%, or $34,220	$307,980	6.82% (with PMI)	$96,576
Median-Priced Home	2020	$300,200	20%, or $60,040	$240,160	3.17%	$49,680
Median-Priced Home	June 2023	$416,000	20%, or $83,200	$332,800	6.79%	$104,016

The American Job Market is operating at very low percentages of unemployment but the wages don’t equate to large scale buying power when you factor in things like the costs related to upkeep and maintenance.

There doesn’t seem to be a solution insight as to how to put wages and home pricing in the same stratosphere.

To solve this problem there needs to be income that can both sustain the day to day existence while allowing for savings for the dream of home ownership. While the American Dream may not be dead it is certainly absent in today’s economy and has been since the COVID Pandemic. The question is will we recover or is this the death kneel. Will America become a land of renters and squatters whose purpose is to enrich the wealthy? We can and should keep the dream alive.

The answer may lie in policy and economic stimulus. This needs to addressed sooner rather than later. Home ownership is the number 1 measurement of weath in the US.

The post American Dream Today. first appeared on .

The American Mental Crisis Problem

Staff — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 18:29:21 +0000

America the wealthiest country in the world

The US always prided itself on being financially powerful. Able to sufficiently care for and sustain its citizenry in medical mental, and social environments. It is what foreign countries envied and citizens took pride in. It was a time when it was expected of politicians to be for the people and by the people. However, there are opposing voices as to to what caring for the Mentally unstable. is And the consequences of those polar views have left many uncared. Consequently life has deteriorated for both the mentally ill and the American society.

In addition to committing mass shootings and bazaar acts, a high percentage of many mentally disturbed people are homeless. Further complicating solutions many go undiagnosed. Still others self medicate using drugs like Marijuana, Opioids and Hallucinogenics. Sending the problem to more extreme levels. While drug use may provide sedation, and in some cases relaxation, It is not a cure but rather an anesthetization of the anguish.

Yet other conditions once considered “Mentally ill” were declassified as such designations to relieve communities of the financial burden of caring for them.

How did we get here

1965 The U.S. Congress establishes Medicaid and Medicare. Mentally disabled people living in the community are eligible for benefits but those in psychiatric hospitals are excluded. By encouraging patients to be discharged, state legislators could shift the cost of care for mentally ill patients to the federal government.

Coinciding with a movement during the 1970s for rehabilitation of people with severe mental illnesses, the Mental Health Systems Act supported and financed community mental health support systems, which coordinated general health care, mental health care, and social support services.[2] The law followed the 1978 Report of the President’s Commission on Mental Health, which made recommendations for improving mental health care in the United States. While some concerns existed about the methodology followed by the President’s Committee, the report served as the foundation for the MHSA, which in turn was seen as landmark legislation in U.S. mental health policy.

The Mental Health Systems Act of 1980 (MHSA) was United States legislation signed by President Jimmy Carter which provided grants to community mental health centers. In 1981 President Ronald Reagan, who had made major efforts during his Governorship to reduce funding and enlistment for California mental institutions, pushed a political effort through the U.S. Congress to repeal most of MHSA.[1] The MHSA was considered landmark legislation in mental health care policy.

Where are we now

2015 In the San Francisco Homeless Count, 55 percent of people experiencing chronic homelessness report they have emotional or psychiatric conditions.

A severe shortage of inpatient care for people with mental illness is amounting to a public health crisis, as the number of individuals struggling with a range of psychiatric problems continues to rise.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 6.3 percent of the population suffers from severe mental illness [2], defined as longstanding mental illnesses, typically psychosis, that cause moderate-to-severe disability of prolonged duration [3]. Given that the number of adults 18 and over in the United States in 2010 was estimated to be roughly 234,564,000 [4], approximately 14.8 million people have severe mental illness. Experts polled by the Treatment Advocacy Center estimated that about 50 beds per 100,000 people would meet needs for acute and long-term care, but in some states the number of available beds is as low as 5 per 100,000 people [5]. Thus, many who need residential treatment cannot obtain it.

The changes that led to this lack of space, as well as changes to the institutionalization process, have made it impossible for people with severe mental illness to find appropriate care and shelter, resulting in homelessness or “housing” in the criminal justice system’s jails and prisons [6]. The percentage of people with severe mental illness in prisons and jails is generally estimated to be 16 percent of the total population [6]. Given that the population in U.S. prisons and jails totaled 2,361,123 in 2010 [7], it would appear that nearly 378,000 incarcerated persons have severe mental illness [7].

How do we fix this

State hospitals must return to their traditional role of the hospital of last resort. They must function as entry points to the mental health system for most people with severe mental illness who otherwise will wind up in a jail or prison. State hospitals are also necessary for involuntary commitment. As a nation, we are working through a series of tragedies involving weapons in the hands of people with severe mental illness—in Colorado, where James Holmes killed or wounded 70 people, Arizona, where Jared Loughner killed or wounded 19 people, and Connecticut, where Adam Lanza killed 28 including children as young as 6 years old

Homeless Asian Man Mentally distrubed askng for help

. All are thought to have had severe mental illness at the time of their crimes.

After we finish the debate about the availability of guns, particularly to those with mental illness, we will certainly have to address the mental health system and lack of services, especially for those in need of treatment but unwilling or unable to seek it. With proper services, including involuntary commitment, many who have the potential for violence can be treated. Just where will those services be initiated, and what will be needed?

Affirmative Action for the Wealthy

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Legacy Admissions: Affirmative Action for the Wealthy

Staff — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 20:36:59 +0000

Economic Battle Grounds

While the battle ground over access to higher education was seated in the Supreme court ruling on Affirmative Action, the real issue may be one of access and economics. The shot fired around the world was the Supreme Court’s decision to end any discussion of race in college acceptance consideration. This decision could be hurtful to non Asian, low income racial minorities. African Americans and Hispanics are the least represented in the highest ranked Universities and Colleges.

Statistically proven, a College degree goes far in creating opportunities and pathways to over coming economic impoverishment. Here are the median lifetime earnings of full-time workers by level of education:

less than high school – $1.2 million
high school diploma – $1.6 million
some college, but no degree – $1.9 million, equal to about $47,500 annually
associate’s degree – $2 million, or about $50,000 per year
bachelor’s degree – $2.8 million, the equivalent of $70,000 annually
master’s degree – $3.2 million, or $80,000 annually
doctoral degree – $4 million, equal to $100,000 per year
professional degree – $4.7 million, or an average of $117,500 annually.

Distribution

These numbers are also skewed when observing the annual pay along racial lines:

Among high school graduates, white workers earn a median of $1.7 million. Compared to $1.4 million for Asian, Black, and Latino workers.
White workers with an associates’ degree earn a median of $2.1 million. Compared to $2 million for Asian workers. $1.9 million for Latino workers. And $1.7 million for Black workers.
At the bachelor’s degree level, white and Asian workers each earn a median of $2.9 million. Compared to $2.3 million for Black and Latino workers.
At the master’s degree level, Asian workers earn $4 million. Compared to $3.2 million for White workers, $3 million for Latino workers. And $2.7 million for Black workers.

The Fall Out From the Supreme Court Decision

When the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action, it may have inadvertently created an opening to spotlight another controversial college admissions program. Which has been in use for about a century now: legacy admissions, aka “affirmative action for the wealthy.”

It’s been a common practice since the 1920s, with higher education institutions initially using it as a way to limit Jewish applicants and eventually Black students too. Legacy students made up 36 percent of the class of 2022, according to a Harvard Crimson survey. And documents from the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard College case revealed that nearly 70 percent of Harvard’s donor-related and legacy applicants are white.

Supreme Court PBS/News

Oren Sellstrom, litigation director at Lawyers for Civil Rights, has been eyeing legacy admissions for some time. He believes that now is the moment to challenge it. He filed a complaint with the Department of Education over Harvard’s practice of legacy admissions. Citing widespread violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 on behalf of the Chica Project, the African Community Economic Development of New England, and the Greater Boston Latino Network.

“Our complaint stands on very firm legal footing. The issues that we’ve presented are clear both from a fairness perspective and from a legal perspective. Obviously, in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision on affirmative action. It is even more critical to remove unfair and undeserved barriers that stand in the way of equal opportunity for students of color. Our complaint is based on long-standing federal anti-discrimination law that makes clear that if there are barriers that have a disproportionate impact on students of color, they need to be dismantled, unless the institution can provide an adequate justification for them.”

In the case of Harvard, it’s clear that donor and legacy preferences have a significantly disproportionately harmful impact on applicants of color, and there is no educational necessity for them. Harvard is not the only institution practicing legacy admissions—one report estimates that 787 colleges and universities reported using legacy preference in 2020.

Getty Pictures

“Our hope is that once the Department of Education has investigated Harvard, that it will also turn its eye and turn the power of the federal government on to all other institutions of higher learning that receive federal funding, and that also have these unfair and undeserved preferences. Many colleges and institutions at this point have done away with legacy preferences and donor preferences or have never used them in the first place. Particularly over the past eight to 10 years, we have seen significant movement away from those unfair and undeserved preferences.”

College Attendance is Dropping in Large Numbers.

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Tax Records Being Sold to Facebook

Staff — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 04:22:40 +0000

H&R Block, Gave Extraordinarily Sensitive Customer Data To Facebook

WASHINGTON — Three large tax preparation firms sent “extraordinarily sensitive” information on tens of millions of taxpayers to Facebook parent company Meta over the course of at least two years, a group of congressional Democrats reported on Wednesday.

They say some of that data was then used by Meta to create targeted advertising to its own users, other companies, and to train Meta’s algorithms.

The report urges federal agencies to investigate and potentially go to court over the wealth of information that H&R Block, TaxAct and TaxSlayer shared with the social media giant.

In a letter to the heads of the IRS, the Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission and the IRS watchdog, seven lawmakers say their findings “reveal a shocking breach of taxpayer privacy by tax prep companies and by Big Tech firms.”

Their report said highly personal and financial information about sources of taxpayers’ income, tax deductions and exemptions were made accessible to Meta as taxpayers used the tax software to prepare their taxes.

How we got Here

That data came to Meta through its Pixel code, which the tax firms installed on their websites to gather information on how to improve their own marketing campaigns. In exchange, Meta was able to access the data to write targeted algorithms for its own users.

The program collected information on taxpayers’ filing status, income, refund amounts, names of dependents, approximate federal tax owed, which buttons were clicked on the tax preparers’ websites and the names of text entry forms that the taxpayer navigated, the report states.

Taxpayer data was also shared with Google, through its own tracking tools — though the firm told lawmakers that it never used the information to track users on the internet, according to the report.

Action Items

The letter to federal agencies was signed by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, Richard Blumenthal, Tammy Duckworth, Bernie Sanders, Sheldon Whitehouse and Rep. Katie Porter. The lawmakers called for the agencies to “immediately open an investigation into this incident.” To fully investigate this matter and prosecute any company or individuals who violated the law.

They ask the agencies to investigate “and prosecute any company or individuals who violated the law,” saying it could result in billions of dollars in criminal liability to the firms.

The Markup, a nonprofit journalism outlet focusing on technology, initially reported on the data-sharing between tax firms and Meta in November. TaxAct told The Markup noted that it takes the privacy of its customers’ data “very seriously” and “endeavors to comply” with all IRS regulations.” TaxSlayer said that its customers’ privacy is “of utmost importance” and that it had removed the Pixel to evaluate its use.

H&R Block said on Wednesday that it takes protecting client privacy very seriously and has taken steps to prevent the sharing of information through the Pixel coding.

Meta said that it has been clear in its policies that advertisers “should not send sensitive information about people through our Business Tools.”“Doing so is against our policies and we educate advertisers on properly setting up Business tools to prevent this from occurring,” the company said in an emailed statement. “Our system is designed to filter out potentially sensitive data it is able to detect.” However it must be duly noted that Facebook has been found responsible on multiple occasion of abusing privacy laws.

Next Steps

Representatives from the IRS, the Justice Department, the FTC and the IRS watchdog also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Sharing such taxpayer information without their consent is a “breach of taxpayer privacy by tax prep companies and by Big Tech firms that appeared to violate taxpayers’ rights and may have violated taxpayer privacy law,” the lawmakers added.

High Rate Of Decline for Student Enrollment

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Huge Decline In College Enrollment

DeeMan — Sun, 16 Jul 2023 02:43:21 +0000

Big Drop in College Enrollment

The annual student enrollment in ” higher education” has significantly diminished across America. Young student are making a concious choice not to attend College.

Undergraduate college enrollment is continuing its years-long decline, though at a much less drastic rate than during the pandemic. According to data released Thursday, Feb. 2, U.S. colleges and universities saw a drop of just 94,000 undergraduate students, or 0.6%, between the fall of 2021 and 2022. This follows a historic decline that began in the fall of 2020; over two years, more than 1 million fewer students enrolled in college.

“I certainly wouldn’t call this a recovery yet,” said Doug Shapiro, who leads the research center at the National Student Clearinghouse. “There’s bad news and good news here.”

The declines in undergrad enrollment were concentrated at four-year public schools. Private non-profit enrollment stayed essentially the same as fall 2021.

More than 1 million fewer students are enrolled in college now than before the pandemic began. According to new data released Thursday, U.S. colleges and universities saw a drop of nearly 500,000 undergraduate students in the fall of 2021. Continuing a historic decline that began the previous fall.

How we got here

Cha Pornea for NPR

Compared with the fall of 2019, the last fall semester before the coronavirus pandemic, undergraduate enrollment has fallen a total of 6.6%. That represents the largest two-year decrease in more than 50 years, Shapiro says.

The nation’s community colleges are continuing to feel the bulk of the decline, with a 13% enrollment drop over the course of the pandemic. But the fall 2021 numbers show that bachelor’s degree-seeking students at four-year colleges are making up about half of the shrinkage. In undergraduate students, a big shift from the fall of 2020, when the vast majority of the declines were among associate degree seekers.

The biggest factor for the years of decline is the strong economy. The last time U.S. college enrollment went up was 2011, at the tail end of the recession. As the economy gets better, unemployment goes down — it’s currently at 3.5 % . And more people leave college, or postpone it, and head to work.

When the recession hit a decade ago, the reverse happened: Many people, especially older adults, returned to college. That bump in college enrollment set records. And in some ways the current downturn is simply “colleges returning to more historic levels of enrollment,” Shapiro says.

U.S. demographics are also shifting. The number of high school graduates is flat — and in some cases declining — because of lower birth rates about 20 years ago. Those numbers are also projected to decline, so the trend of fewer students coming from high school isn’t going away anytime soon.

Long-term economic, social consequences

And finally, there’s the cost of college. States are putting less money into higher education, and that’s led to an increased reliance on tuition. As tuition goes up, and grants and scholarships don’t keep pace, that’s pushed the cost of college down to students and their families. Without state investment, institutions are strapped, and so are American families.

Education experts and economists are starting to think about the long-term effects if the drop continues. Some warn the decline could affect the U.S. as competing nations like China greatly increase their college attendance.

HBCU Howard University

Jason Lane is the leader of the College of Education, Health and Society at Miami University in Ohio. He called it a “crisis” that is not widely recognized.

With fewer people going to college, “society is going to be less healthy,” Lane said. “It’s going to be less economically successful. It’s going to be harder to find folks to fill the jobs of the future. There will be lower tax revenues because there won’t be as many people in high-paying jobs. It will be harder for innovation to occur.”

The growing gap in educational attainment could also worsen existing divisions over politics, socioeconomic status, race and national origin, said Adriana Lleras-Muney, an economist at UCLA.

Expectations

“What does that mean for the modern American family? There are implications here that just go miles and miles and miles,” said Monty Sullivan, president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. “We have a million adults in this country that have stepped off the path to the middle class. That’s the real headline.”

Overall, enrollment in undergraduate and graduate programs has been trending downward since around 2012, but the pandemic turbocharged the declines at the undergrad level. When fewer students go to college, fewer students graduate, get job training and move on to higher-paying jobs, meaning all this could have huge ramifications for the U.S. economy.

“It’s very frightening,” says Doug Shapiro, who runs the nonprofit research center at the heart of the study. “Far from filling the hole of last year’s enrollment declines, we are still digging it deeper.”

“College is the best chance you have to get into well-paying jobs in this economy,” says Shapiro. “It’s not the only path, and it’s certainly not a guarantee. But it’s the best path we have right now. And so, if more students are thrown off that path, their families and communities suffer. And our economy suffers because businesses have fewer skilled workers to hire from.”

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Are Corporations Stealing the American Dream?

Staff — Fri, 23 Jun 2023 04:35:35 +0000

Some of the most beautiful dreams of life in America, involve getting a good education, a good paying job, buying a house and raising a family. American prosperity has been a magnet to much of the world. Any side of the world, USA meant wealth and prosperity. Nothing signified the dream of a prosperous American life like owning your own home. It sends a statement: ” This is my country; this is my life and this is my home” It exudes joy and the pride of living and working in the USA. But that dream might be coming to a swift end as home affordability is pricing many individuals out of the market.

75% of homes on the market are too expensive for middle-income buyers

As market watching goes, that dream may be more difficult to reach with each passing year. A pulse check of the housing market shows some shadowing signs that cast doubt on whether this current season of generational change will be able to buy in.

The US housing market is so unaffordable, over 75% of homes on the market are too expensive for middle class buyers, according to a recent report from the National Association of Realtors and Realtor.com.

That’s largely due to the shortage of housing supply, which has hit middle income buyers the hardest. Thanks to elevated mortgage rates, the housing market is missing around 320,000 homes priced at or below $256,000 – the maximum price a middle-income buyer earning up to $75,000 can afford.

Of the 1.1 million listings on the market in April, middle-income buyers could only afford 23% of them, the report said. That’s less than half of what the group could afford five years ago, when around 50% of all listings on the market were considered affordable for that group.

Economists say housing inflation will soon fall

“Ongoing high housing costs and the scarcity of available homes continues to present budget challenges for many prospective buyers, and it’s likely keeping some buyers in the rental market or on the sidelines and delaying their purchase until conditions improve,” said Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “Those who are able to overcome affordability constraints may be increasingly drawn to newly constructed homes or to the suburbs and beyond, both of which may offer buyers more realistic opportunities for homeownership in the near term.”

With that said it is important to note that the “scarcity” of homes is exacerbated by the competing forces of corporate ownership.

Big business is buying up homes and rates unparalleled in US history. Institutional investors became major players in the rental market. They promised to return profits to their investors and convenience to their tenants. In fact, a significant part of the few new homes that are being built in this economy is being built with the express intention of being rental property and not for sale.

It worked. Between 2011 and 2017, some of the world’s largest private-equity groups and hedge funds, as well as other large investors, spent a combined $36 billion on more than 200,000 homes in ailing markets across the country. In one Atlanta zip code, they bought almost 90 percent of the 7,500 homes sold between January 2011 and June 2012; today, institutional investors own at least one in five single-family rentals in some parts of the metro area, according to Dan Immergluck, a professor at the Urban Studies Institute at Georgia State University. Some of the nation’s hardest-hit housing markets were finally stabilized.

The median price of an American house has increased by 28 percent over the last two years, as pandemic-driven demand and long-term demographic changes send buyers into crazed bidding wars.

Might the fact that corporate investors snapped up 15 percent of U.S. homes for sale in the first quarter of this year have something to do with it? The Wall Street Journal reported in April 2021 that an investment firm won a bidding war to purchase an entire neighborhood worth of single-family homes in Conroe, Texas.

Part of a cycle of stories drumming up panic over Wall Street’s increasing stake in residential real estate. Then came the backlash, as cool-headed analysts reassured us that big investors like BlackRock remain insignificant players in the housing market compared with regular old American families.

Blackstone is not the only player in the corporate housing rental market.

You’ll find Invitation Homes and Rich investors like Warren Buffett (left) and B.W. Hughes are buying up many of the single-family homes that have long sustained the US middle class. They along with Blackstone buy up high percentages of properties in America. Investment firms aren’t buying all the houses. But they are buying the most important ones.

The real danger here is not just a decline in the middle class but a removal of the middle class. Could it be that America of the not to distant future will be a place where the average worker will never own a place to call your own nor have generational wealth to pass down?

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