plus 3, Upcoming Census Hiring Set to Boost Jobs Reports By Over Half a ... - ABC News |
- Upcoming Census Hiring Set to Boost Jobs Reports By Over Half a ... - ABC News
- Deployed Andrews Communicator, Bronx Native, Is Mission Focused in ... - dvids
- WNY Black Film Fest showcases emerging filmmakers - Buffalo News
- Oshawa taxpayers livid over paying $46,000 for MBAs - Toronto Star
| Upcoming Census Hiring Set to Boost Jobs Reports By Over Half a ... - ABC News Posted: 19 Feb 2010 05:32 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Temporary help is on the way for the country's battered job market, thanks to the upcoming U.S. Census. According to a new study released today by the Commerce Department, which includes the Census Bureau the survey will add up to 635,000 temporary jobs by May to the nation's employment reports. The study also predicts that Census Bureau hiring will cause the country's unemployment rate to drop by several-tenths of a percentage point this spring. Census spending, the report also forecasts, will boost the nation's gross domestic product by 1/10 of a percentage point during the first quarter of this year and by 2/10 of a percentage point during the second quarter. "The Census has a very positive effect on the economy," Rebecca Blank, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs at the Commerce Department, said in an interview with ABC News. "And the hope, of course, is that this is going to be hitting just as the prime economic growth and employment are picking up, so that it will help that acceleration." In all, the Census Bureau is hiring about 1.2 million temporary workers this year, with 800,000 of those people coming onboard in April and May. Due to the short-term nature of these jobs, not all of them will show up in the Labor Department's employment reports, but the $14.7 billion once-a-decade project is still poised to provide a big boost – albeit temporarily – to a nation currently grappling with a 9.7 unemployment rate. "With the unemployment rate expected to be well above those witnessed during the previous Census," the report says, "the effect of large changes in temporary 2010 Census employment on the unemployment rate may be more noticeable in 2010." However some analysts are preaching caution. "With the government set to create some one million temp jobs to conduct the 2010 Census in the next few months, it's hard to see how job growth won't resume soon," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com, noted recently. "Yet there are reasons to be nervous that job growth won't revive in earnest or may even peter out after Census temp jobs fade this summer." Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Deployed Andrews Communicator, Bronx Native, Is Mission Focused in ... - dvids Posted: 19 Feb 2010 05:32 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.
SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Every day Airman Adam J. Gonzalez, deployed to the 380th Expeditionary Communications Squadron, finds himself on the front lines. In a May 2009 letter to Airmen, Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff, said, "In executing our Air Force mission of fly, fight, and win, our Airmen, civilians and contractors, knowingly or unknowingly, engage daily on the cyber battlefield." Gonzalez, a cyber transport apprentice, is a member of the communications focal point, or CFP and performs his duties on the front lines of the cyber battlefield. According to the Air Force fact sheet, the cyber transport career field was established on Nov. 1, 2009. Cyber transport personnel establish and sustain Air Force communication systems. They perform network design, configuration, operation, defense, restoration and improvements. Cyber transport personnel also analyze capabilities and performance, identify problems and take corrective action. They manage wiring and associated network infrastructure devices. In short, they are computer network hardware and communication equipment specialists. Of his job, Gonzalez said, "On a daily basis, the CFP briefs the squadron leadership on the internet and telecommunications status of the base. Throughout the day the CFP staff provides response to various incident reports, which can vary from user account difficulties to major outages across the deployed areas." A one-year, 10-month Air Force veteran, Gonzalez is deployed from the 744th Communications Squadron at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. The 2004 graduate of Laguardia High School said his deployed duties significantly impact the deployed mission. "The CFP serves as the middle man between the customer and the various communications-based response departments. Without the CFP, the base would have no communications and no functionality." Gonzalez grew up in what he calls the "Boogey Down Bronx," and was on his way to "becoming a New York state corrections officer while studying to become a New York state trooper." Then Gonzalez changed his mind and changed his plans. "Instead, I joined the military in order to serve my country rather than just my state. I am very proud to wear the uniform that many great American heroes wore before me." It was no easy accomplishment for Gonzalez to join the military. "Prior to my enlistment I was obese, weighing in at upwards of 230 pounds. At my first recruitment interview I was informed that I would need to lose weight in order to be eligible for basic training. In a matter of six months I lost over 70 pounds." Gonzalez continues to keep fitness as part of his lifestyle and helps other Airmen with their fitness goals. "I currently weigh less than 145 pounds and am a physical training leader for the 380th ECS." Gonzalez and his team keep the lines of communication flowing for more than 1,200 Airmen assigned to the 380th AEW. The 380th AEW is comprised of four groups and 12 squadrons and the wing's deployed mission includes air refueling, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of overseas contingency operations in Southwest Asia. The wing supports operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| WNY Black Film Fest showcases emerging filmmakers - Buffalo News Posted: 19 Feb 2010 06:22 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. COVER STORYThe WNY Black Film Festival showcases short films that stress life options, awarenessShare this story: The theme of the eighth annual WNY Black Film Festival, starting Saturday at the Market Arcade moviehouse, is "choices." A second theme that runs unofficially through five of the seven short films, which range from 11 to 29 minutes in length, is the absence of fathers in black children's lives. "The youth are dealing with a lot of socio-economic issues— dealing with broken homes, peer pressure—and the films tap into a lot of these difficult situations," said Jayme Smith, the film festival's event coordinator and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Buffalo Alumnae Chapter, which co-hosts the event. The festival opens with three films at 6 p. m. Saturday, and concludes with four more geared toward teen issues at 3 p. m. Feb. 28. Each program at Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre (639 Main St.) will have a question-and-answer session following the screenings. Filmmakers Morocco Omari and Randall Dottin and writer John Gary Long will be on hand opening night, while people who work with youth will be present for the second day's films. One of the festival's goals is to educate the public on vital issues affecting the black community, leading organizers to reach out to public schools, church groups and youth organizations. The winners of a festival-sponsored essay contest for high school students in which youth are asked to write on "a choice you made that changed your life for the better" will be announced during the second program. "One of the great things about the film festival is that it's educational," Smith said. "The February 28 discussion should give youth an opportunity to discuss issues, to serve as an outlet." The festival's other goal is to support the efforts of independent filmmakers, and by sticking to short films—a training ground for aspiring filmmakers —the screening committee for this year's WNY Black Film Festival is doing so. Dottin, 37, who wrote and directed "Lifted," said shorts are one way for filmmakers to master basic storytelling and display their abilities, just as the film festival circuit provides an important forum for gaining exposure. Dottin's "Lifted" concerns a single mother whose professional dancing skills have slipped along with her confidence as she struggles to raise a young son. An encounter with a stranger forces her to confront her life and the choices she is making. While that happens, her son, who is left alone in a pizza shop, is befriended by the male shop owner. The 29-minute film began as a story about a woman stuck in a subway station (much of it takes place in the Harvard Square station in Cambridge, Mass.), but Dottin said it quickly gravitated into a much more personal mother-son story. "People relate to [the film] because in the black community so many of our households are run by black women. I definitely wanted to shed some light on that myself, and talk about how the community responds in a way to abandonment. I wanted to show the relationship this kid has in this community with other black men," Dottin said. Dottin's mother suffered from mental illness for many years. He also was abandoned by a father he never knew, which resulted in feelings of anger and a sense of blame that he said followed him into his adult years, when he was better able to work through the issues. The aspiring filmmaker works on films between teaching screen-writing and directing at the New York Film Academy, and visual photography and video at two schools in Harlem. The film was sponsored by Fox Searchlights' Emerging Directors program. Ultimately, "Lifted" is about the festival's central theme of choices one makes, Dottin said. "I think often times when people think they have no choices, they make the worst choice. Deena (the mother) discovers through the course of the narrative that she has choices, and she doesn't have to make one that might damage or destroy her family," Dottin said. Morocco Omari, an actor with a string of credits in television and theater who wrote, directed and starred in "(Mis)leading Man," deals with another tough subject that disproportionately affects the black community— suicide. The 18-minute film, which packs a wallop at the end, concerns a Hollywood star (Omari) who can't escape his fame or forgive himself for an extramarital affair that broke up his family. After threatening suicide, Holland allows his young daughter, Sameera (Zuri Amina, Omari's real-life daughter) into his room to talk. The film was inspired, he said, by a picture of Britney Spears being swamped at a gas station under the headline, "Lost." "I thought, 'What would it be like to live in that fish bowl, to be constantly on display and not be normal?,' " Omari said. Omari has made a number of guest television appearances, including "Prison Break" and "NCIS," and is in rehearsals for David Schwimmer's play "Trust" that opens in March in Chicago, where Omari lives. The busy ex-Marine chose the short film form to get his first chance at directing. "I started out in the theater, and it kind of morphed into TV and film. I just understood that I have to create my own roles and take control of my career. I can't let the gatekeepers give me a job; I have to create jobs, and that's what I set out to do," Omari said. The 20-minute film has also helped expose the work of John Gary Long, 42, the writer and coexecutive producer for "The Night We Died." The film is the only one in the festival not to involve parental strife. Long, a Lorain, Ohio native, moved to East Amherst two years ago with his wife and two children. He works as the supply chain director of Goodyear Dunlop Tire North America, writing in his spare time. In "The Night We Died," the lives of a young white-collar couple are soon to be changed forever after an angel forecasts shocking information to Jason, the husband. The message of the 20-minute film, Long said, is vitally important and easily overlooked. "Are we living every day knowing it could be our loved one's last day, and truly valuing our time together?," Long said. The film was influenced by events of four years ago. Long's mother and brother died within six months of one another, and he and his wife agreed that she should stop climbing "the corporate ladder" to become a stay-at-home mom. Long at first planned to enter the story in short story contests, but was persuaded by his friend Marty Ezell, who plays Jason, to have it turned into a screenplay, which Eric Peter Schwartz eventually did. Like most low-budget shorts, "The Night We Died" was filmed in a few days. "I feel the story was a gift from God, but over time, as parts of the story change as you go through development, the primary theme is a universal one," said Long, a member of the True Bethel Baptist Church. "We all need to take a step back, and remember who and what is truly important and valuable in life." • msommer@buffnews.com  Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Oshawa taxpayers livid over paying $46,000 for MBAs - Toronto Star Posted: 19 Feb 2010 06:22 AM PST Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it.  Oshawa Mayor John Gray says the expenditure was never a secret. STEVE RUSSELL/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTOOshawa residents are demanding a politician and political staffer return $46,000 of taxpayers' money used to pay for MBA degrees. "I'm pretty outraged because of what I've been through myself," says Marissa Kata, who has been unemployed for 14 months and just started second-career training. "I've jumped through hoops to get to this stage, and I'm struggling, like a lot of people." Councillor April Cullen and the mayor's executive assistant, James Anderson, should "do the right thing," says Kata, 37, who's part of a Facebook group demanding they cough up the $23,000 each the city is spending on their MBAs in community economic development. "It's a bitter pill to swallow when the mayor says, `I'm the boss of council,' and just writes a cheque," said Kata, who's sharing the cost of her 10-month course to become a medical lab technician with the provincial government. Mayor John Gray approved the expenditure under the corporate training and financial assistance program for staff and council, which pays up to $2,000 per person per year for educational courses, to a maximum of $5,000 over three years. Requests for funding above the limit require the city manager's approval, the policy says. Critics charge Gray breached policy and overstepped his authority when he acted alone in signing off on the degrees from the University of Cape Breton, which Cullen and Anderson began in 2008. Councillor Louise Parkes plans to ask for reimbursement to the city at Monday's council meeting. "This has to be paid back because it's an unauthorized expenditure of tax funds," said Parkes, who's getting calls from "some pretty angry folks." The mayor "ignored policy" and exceeded his powers under the municipal act, she said. The program, taught in Oshawa by visiting professors every second weekend, is the only one of its kind in Canada and "very, very relevant" to what councillors do, Cullen said. "I'm taking the degree for the benefit of my community and not to go out and get a CEO job somewhere," said Cullen, who expects to complete it this summer. "I will hold my head up high because I haven't done anything wrong." She's calculated the actual cost to taxpayers, based on a four-year term as councillor, at 48 cents per household. A clearly irritated Gray questioned why the MBA issue is controversial now, "in an election year," and not in 2008. "There were never any secrets about this. Members of council knew all about it," he said, adding Parkes "had no problem asking me to approve her expenditures for education." The education policy covers the costs of short courses to help people do their job, said Parkes, who has taken $200 tutorials in speed-reading and computer skills. Gray said Cullen and Anderson's studies are "very important" to understanding challenges and future trends in the city's economic development. The mayor said both would have to repay a portion of the costs if they're out of a job after the October municipal election.
In 2008, former Toronto Catholic school board chair Oliver Carroll came under fire for billing to the board half of his $14,000 tuition toward a master's degree in education administration. An audit did not find this violated the board's rules at the time. But new rules, now in place, would not allow it. In Toronto, training and development courses for staff and politicians are paid if they are relevant to the business of the city, said city clerk Winnie Li, adding it's unlikely an MBA program would be funded. However, Toronto councillors control office budgets of $53,100 and "the bottom line is the (councillor's) office budget can be used for training and development if it is relevant to the business of the city." Civil servants can be reimbursed for 75 per cent of tuition costs, with an annual ceiling of $1,000, for taking courses related to their jobs. The issue has raised the ire of the 3,000-strong Oshawa Ratepayers Association, said president Bruce Wood, noting people are "stunned" the city would pay for two master's degrees when residents are struggling with the GTA's highest taxes.
With files from Paul Moloney
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