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Monday, November 13, 2006

NOTE ON FORMATTING: When stories are transferred from the Web, certain punctuation marks and other marks in this report don't carry over and result in symbols and other formatting errors. To see or print the story in full without these translation errors, simply click on "full story" at the end of each item."

Total Clips: 5

	Date	Outlet
Retailers take sides on layaway	11/13/2006	Montgomery Advertiser
Immigration still polarizing political debate: Even after election, positions unclear	11/13/2006	Decatur Daily
AU mulls core studies change	11/11/2006	Opelika-Auburn News
AU board considers core studies change	11/11/2006	Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
'Tiger' makes final gridiron flight on Saturday	11/10/2006	The Times-Herald


Retailers take sides on layaway 11/13/2006 Montgomery Advertiser David Irvin		Return to Top
Keivan Deravi, an economist for AU is quoted in this story. With just one week until Wal-Mart stops its layaway program, its competitors are using the opportunity to say they will keep theirs alive for their customers. But other retailers already have pulled out of the layaway game, opting instead for in-store credit cards and other financing options, much like Wal-Mart is doing now. "Demand for layaway service has declined steadily as consumers turn to other options, such as online shopping, gift cards and no-cost credit alternatives," said Pat Curran, executive vice president of store operations at the retailer. In light of the announcement, some of Wal-Mart's chief competitors have made it a point to stick with the program. "Basically, we think it's an important, value-added service for our customers," said Kimberly Freely, a manager of corporate public relations with Sears Holding, which operates both Kmart and Sears. Target, another of Wal-Mart's chief competitors, doesn't have a layaway program. According to one economist, the programs just don't make any business sense. "To me, the layaway program is a stupid program to begin with because ... you never recover the money until later on, but you are holding on to the commodity," said Keivan Deravi, an economist for Auburn University.
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Immigration still polarizing political debate: Even after election, positions unclear 11/13/2006 Decatur Daily Eric Fleischauer		Return to Top
AU Economics Professor Richard Ault is quoted in this story. Many of the Founding Fathers objected to political parties, arguing that factions should form around specific issues, not broad platforms. They would no doubt approve of North Alabama’s raucous debate over immigration. Party affiliation is irrelevant in immigration debates, which colored campaigns leading to the Nov. 7 elections. Left-leaning Democrats agreed with many right-leaning Republicans that fewer restrictions, not more, should be the goal of immigration reform. Liberals and fiscal conservatives took shots at each other over the issue, but they said the same things. Incumbent state Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, campaigned almost solely on his legislative efforts to persuade illegal immigrants to leave Alabama. Bills he sponsored — several stalled by other Republicans in the last legislative session — would strip illegals of every state public benefit not mandated by federal law. "If we prevent them from receiving public benefits, if we take their vehicles, if we allow law enforcement to seize the personal property of illegal aliens, if we keep them from using the public health department, these people are not going to be as apt to come to Alabama," Hammon said. "They will want to locate somewhere else. The ones that are here will probably start leaving." He won. Immigration as a central platform in a campaign for state office would have been inconceivable a few years ago. Census numbers are notoriously unreliable for immigrants, especially illegal ones, but still show dramatic growth in the number of Hispanics in Morgan County. The 1990 census showed 584 Hispanics in the county, well under 1 percent. By the time of a census survey in 2005, that number had grown by almost 1,000 percent and represented 5 percent of the county's population. Possibly a better indicator is the number of Hispanics enrolled in the English as a Second Language program in Decatur City Schools. In 1992, there were 27. By 1999, that number had grown to 276; now it is 886. There are 1,500 Hispanic students in Decatur public schools. Decatur police estimate there are as many as 10,000 Hispanics in Decatur, more than one-fifth of the city's population. Whatever the numbers, Hispanic growth has been explosive and has tattered the area's social fabric. Decatur Hispanics were in force at a Hispanic rally in nearby Huntsville — aimed at reducing immigration restrictions — on May 1, causing some local employers to shut down and shrinking school attendance. Later that month, Decatur was home to a demonstration against immigrants. The issue is a major one in Decatur, and politicians like Hammon know it. Hammon's persuade-them-to-leave campaign position seems clear, but Hammon embodies North Alabama's schizophrenic view on immigration. Initial appearances notwithstanding, Hammon — off the campaign trail — said his goal is more immigrants, not fewer. The employment shortage created by a crackdown would force liberalization of immigration laws. "I think the pressures from the business groups that need the labor would change from 'Leave it alone,' to 'OK, let's find a real solution to this problem. Our labor source is starting to leave,' " Hammon said. "Without us putting pressure on them to have to make a change, they will not." Decatur immigration attorney Allen R. Stoner said that approach is too simplistic. "Immigration law is so complicated," Stoner said. "Particularly in the area of removal. … Every campaign you hear Republicans and Democrats talk about cracking down on illegal immigrants. It's sad, but that's the way it is." Hammon is more outspoken than most, but hardly unique. The weeks before Tuesday's election were a blur of mailers, full-page ads and television spots proclaiming hostility to illegal immigrants. The answers Hardliner Hammon, though, like many candidates, worries about employers when he's not making speeches or distributing fliers. "The answer to this is bringing legal immigrants into the country faster," Hammon said. "The process is too burdensome and long." Helen Rivas is a self-proclaimed "progressive," a Spanish interpreter and a leading pro-immigrant activist in Birmingham. She has never met Hammon, but has no use for him. His anti-immigrant rhetoric has hurt Hispanics and embodies the defects in the Republican Party, she said. But — and this may pain Rivas — the expressed goals of the two are the same: increase legal immigrants. This, of course, is where the Founding Fathers opposed to the party system would say, "I told you so." The far left and the corporate right find themselves in an embarrassing marriage. Helen, meet Micky. "My opinion is you have a group of Republicans who really seriously want to do something about this problem," said Hammon. "Then you have some other Republicans who would really rather not deal with it. You have special interests on this; employers are one of them. … There is a split on this in both parties." The arguments Hammon used to support his anti-illegal-immigrant political campaign were typical of other campaigns in the weeks leading to the Nov. 7 election: Illegal immigrants commit crimes. Illegal immigrants reduce wages of U.S. citizens. Illegal immigrants use up tax dollars by relying upon public services. Some of these arguments are decades old. Charles Fanning, director of Irish Studies at Southern Illinois University–Carbondale, is the author of several books on Irish immigration. He said the crime and wage issues triggered U.S. protests as millions of Irish escaped famine in their homeland to enter the U.S. in the late 1840s. Immigrant crime 'work real jobs. They work in human trafficking; they work in illegal drugs; they work in money laundering, fraudulent document sales. The drug trade in this area has been totally taken over by illegal aliens." Fanning said studies have shown that crime among Irish immigrants, though much ballyhooed, was no greater than others of their economic status. Anti-immigrant cries that the Irish were violent made good press, but the statistics belied them. "There was no such thing as an illegal immigrant until the 1920s," Fanning said. "Everybody could come." By 1890, there were 3 million Irish-born people in America. "They were seen as "But at the same time, as with the Hispanics, everybody recognized that there’s a huge contribution being made to the economy by these people. So we don't want them in, but we're making a lot of money because they are here." The state does not identify perpetrators of crime as Hispanic, although that will occur soon, but Lt. Col. Kenneth Collier of the Decatur Police Department said he sees no evidence that area Hispanic immigrants commit more crimes than do others in their economic class. Criminologists question the link between immigrants and crime, too. Robert J. Sampson, a Harvard sociologist and lead author of a recent study on the topic, said the recent flow of immigrants "has been one of the more plausible explanations that we've seen for the decrease in the violence rate." Sampson's study focused on Hispanics, and its conclusion was that first-generation immigrants, regardless of educational level or parents’ marital status, are less likely to commit violent crimes than the rest of the population. Not all scholars agree. Another study, by Northwestern University political scientist Wesley Skogan, concluded that an influx of Spanish-speaking immigrants increased violent crime in some Chicago neighborhoods. The probable reason, the author theorized, is that most of the immigrants were young men, who have the highest crime rate regardless of ethnicity. A paper by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Urban Institute was blunt: "Few stereotypes of immigrants are as enduring, or have been proven so categorically false over literally decades of research, as the notion that immigrants are disproportionately likely to engage in criminal activity … (If anything) immigrants are disproportionately unlikely to be criminal." Said one sociologist: If native-born Americans had the same low probability of being incarcerated as immigrants, the nation's prisons would have one-third fewer inmates. The job issue Most politicians, like Hammon, accept that illegal immigrants reduce the wages of U.S. citizens. More workers competing for a given number of jobs push wages down, even more so when those workers are willing to work for low wages. A common argument in the past, that illegal immigrants increased unemployment among U.S. citizens, holds less credibility these days. Morgan County’s unemployment rate is 3 percent. Limestone's is 2.6 percent. Lawrence County is at 3.4 percent. The Federal Reserve has expressed concern that the unemployment rate is too low and may spark inflation. "I understand our unemployment rate is low," Hammon said. "But illegal immigrants are driving down the wages for the laborers in our state." Auburn University Economics Professor Richard Ault is not so sure. "A knee-jerk analysis is that immigration increases the supply of unskilled workers and depresses the wages of those workers. It is tempting to stop there," Ault said. "However, the depression of wages serves to keep jobs here which would otherwise have been lost. It also provides incentives for new firms to locate here." Alabama's major economic success stories of late, the Hyundai automotive plant and numerous suppliers for a Kia plant in Georgia, may owe much to America’s failed border policy, he suggested. "One could argue that Korean auto firms would be much harder to recruit in Alabama had our labor force not been augmented by immigrant workers," Ault said. Economics Professor Niles Schoening at The University of Alabama in Huntsville said he suspects immigrants, legal or not, tend to depress wages, but he said the issue is neither obvious nor simple. The North American and Central American free trade agreements skew what would otherwise be a simple supply-demand equation. Free trade NAFTA and CAFTA, along with reduced trade barriers with China and other developing nations, give U.S. employers two options not readily available a few decades ago. They can outsource labor-intensive jobs to companies across the border, and they can open operations across the border for labor-intensive production. "I think if we restricted entry, a lot of low-wage industry would probably leave the U.S.," Schoening said. In North Alabama, the combination of a shortage of low-cost labor and foreign competition has pushed many jobs to other countries. Wolverine Tube Inc. outsourced a product line to a company in China. It opened a plant in Mexico and shifted some of Decatur’s production to that plant. Nova Chemicals, a Canadian company with a plant in Decatur, entered into a joint venture with a company in Mexico, thereby substituting inexpensive Mexican labor for comparatively expensive U.S. and Canadian labor. In Birmingham, labor costs caused McWane Inc. to quit production of labor-intensive pipefitting. It outsourced production to a company in China. Wolverine, Nova and McWane, of course, are the success stories. Alabama textile mills have gone out of business. In Decatur, Solutia did not outsource its textile division — it closed it. The impact of each of these decisions was a loss of American jobs. That loss of jobs, which did not come with a corresponding decrease in American workers, has the same economic impact as a flood of immigrants. Too many people chasing too few jobs reduce wages. In the wake of globalization, American workers are competing with low-wage foreign workers whether those workers live in America or in Mexico, said Schoening. "I'm afraid we're hopelessly a part of the global economy," he said. "We can't isolate ourselves, and we probably can't isolate our labor market either." Fanning agrees. "The porousness of the economic borders now are dramatic," he said. "Go to Wal-Mart, everything's made in China. Trying to stop the people without stopping the products is inconsistent." Politicians, Fanning said, would do well to study the Irish "immigrant crisis." "We're seeing the same sort of intolerance (toward Hispanics) that the Irish and Germans faced," Fanning said. "But they were able to work through it, they did contribute and they came out on the other side making the society stronger." The death-knell of opposition to Irish immigrants, Fanning said, did not come until John F. Kennedy Jr. became the first Irish-Catholic president. "The Irish were willing to work for less. They were seen as taking jobs from people who had been here longer," Fanning said. "They were welcomed by others who said they were building the railroads, building the canals, doing factory work." Fanning said those who welcomed the Irish were largely employers. Public benefits Without question, illegal immigrants are a drain on North Alabama tax dollars. The children of illegal immigrants often have language barriers that dramatically increase the expense of educating them. They burden the free-lunch program. Emergency rooms must treat illegal immigrants, who rarely have health insurance. A study by the Center for Immigration Studies, a conservative group, concluded that households headed by illegal aliens imposed more than $26.3 billion in costs on the federal government in 2002 and paid only $16 billion in taxes, creating a net fiscal deficit of almost $10.4 billion, or $2,700 per illegal household. Among the largest costs are medical treatment for the uninsured, free school lunches and federal aid to schools. Interestingly, the same study concluded that documented immigrants are an even greater drain on tax dollars because they don't pay much more than their illegal counterparts in taxes, but they are eligible for many benefits that illegal immigrants can't receive such as food stamps, Medicare, Medicaid and welfare assistance. Political rhetoric notwithstanding, Schoening aptly summarizes the immigration debate: "There is no simple answer to this." Hispanics in Decatur Decatur police estimate up to 10,000 Hispanics live in the city. 1,500 Hispanic students are in Decatur schools. English as a Second Language costs the school system $875,807. Hispanic visits to the Decatur Health Department have increased 74 percent in the past three years. A child born in Decatur or the U.S. to illegal parents is a U.S. citizen and entitled to all government benefits.
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AU mulls core studies change 11/11/2006 Opelika-Auburn News Amy Weaver		Return to Top
Auburn University is taking steps to ensure it attracts Alabama's brightest students, but its board of trustees could call for changes to its core curriculum to ensure it creates bright students as well. Trustee members expressed concern Friday after learning results of the new Collegiate Learning Assessment, calling for the Academic Affairs Committee to discuss potential changes to core curriculum. Director of Assessment Dr. Drew Clark explained that the evaluation examines critical thinking, analytical reasoning and written communication of randomly selected incoming freshmen and seniors. Freshmen are tested in the fall and seniors in the spring. The process started last fall and will paint a complete picture after three academic years. He stressed that the Collegiate Learning Assessment, or CLA, is not a test of knowledge or recollection of facts from the curriculum, though the classes taught at Auburn should contribute to the analytical thinking required to do well on the evaluation. "It is designed to get at how well they can process information," Clark said. Trustee Jack Miller, who prompted the discussion on raising scholarships and recruitment this summer, claimed the university is failing to teach writing, a basic skill. "It's bad enough we graduate (some of) them illiterate," he said. Trustee Sarah Newton, an elementary school principal, said the problem must be before they get to Auburn, in the state's K-12 system. "The best practice seems to be to test them when they get here," Miller said. Results can determine what kind of class a student should enroll in, like remedial or advanced. Clark said the CLA results went to the English department and will impact the skills taught in freshman writing. The CLA allows the university to measure student performance by comparing ACT scores with CLA results. Based on how a student scores on the ACT, Clark said the university can predict with some accuracy how the student should score on the CLA. Results of the first year of CLA show AU students are at or below the expected level. Clark said the numbers are not a precise measurement and shouldn't cause grave concern, but can nonetheless drive changes in assignments and assessments. Seniors evaluated did better than incoming freshmen as predicted, he said. To him, that's a sign that the student's abilities are improving through the college years. President Ed Richardson said after the board and AU learn more from CLA in the next couple years, they could institute a proficiency test. He anticipated more discussion on the matter at the February board meeting. Richardson confirmed to the board that a pilot test of the new post-tenure review policy will be held during second semester. Although the premise of post-tenure review and the new policy have received criticism from AU faculty, Richardson and several members of the board expressed their support. "I believe this is long overdue," Richardson said. Trustee Bobby Lowder said if Auburn is going to take action to improve the quality and abilities of its students, it should to do the same for its faculty. He considered post-tenure review to be a measurement tool to determine if the faculty is good or not. "We, as a board, don't have any measurement so we don't know," he said. Newton supported the idea of using results of the CLA and post-tenure review together to indicate improvement of students and faculty, which could create a better Auburn, she said
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AU board considers core studies change 11/11/2006 Columbus Ledger-Enquirer Associated Press		Return to Top
This AP story also appeared in Decatur Daily, Herald-Tribune, Gadsden Times, TimesDaily, Alex City Outlook, Chattanooga Times, Gainesville Sun, Montgomery Advertiser and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and was broadcast on WTVM-TV. AU board considers core studies change Associated Press AUBURN, Ala. - Trustees could change Auburn University's core curriculum after reviewing results of an assessment of students' scholastic skills. Starting last year, freshmen are being tested in the fall and seniors in the spring. The assessment takes three academic years. Trustee members expressed concern Friday after learning results of the new Collegiate Learning Assessment, calling for the Academic Affairs Committee to discuss potential changes to core curriculum. Dr. Drew Clark, who directs the assessment effort, said the evaluation examines critical thinking, analytical reasoning and written communication of randomly selected incoming freshmen and seniors. He saiid the Collegiate Learning Assessment, or CLA, is not a test of knowledge or recollection of facts from the curriculum, though the classes taught at Auburn should contribute to the analytical thinking required to do well on the evaluation. It is designed to get at how well they can process information, Clark said. Trustee Jack Miller of Mobile, who prompted the discussion on raising scholarships and recruitment this summer, claimed the university is failing to teach writing, a basic skill. It's bad enough we graduate (some of) them illiterate, he said. Trustee Sarah Newton, an elementary school principal, said the problem must be before they get to Auburn, in the state's K-12 system. The best practice seems to be to test them when they get here, Miller said. Results can determine what kind of class a student should enroll in, like remedial or advanced. Clark said the CLA results went to the English department and will impact the skills taught in freshman writing. The CLA allows the university to measure student performance by comparing ACT scores with CLA results. Based on how a student scores on the ACT, Clark said the university can predict with some accuracy how the student should score on the CLA. Results of the first year of CLA show AU students are at or below the expected level. --- Information from Opelika-Auburn News
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'Tiger' makes final gridiron flight on Saturday 11/10/2006 The Times-Herald Tony Jones, sports column		Return to Top
They had come down from Minnesota, an excited family headed to a place they love to visit. The attractive group of four included the parents as well as a daughter I would guess was about 20 and a son I would estimate around 17. Like me, on last Friday, they were having breakfast at a local restaurant just off I-85. I heard the waitress ask them where they were from and where they were headed. "We live in Minnesota but we graduated from Auburn and we are on our way to see them play a football game," said the father. They were thrilled to be this close to their destination and as I gazed out at their Explorer, I could tell they had seen some recent snow. The Auburn opponent on this Saturday would be Arkansas State, which in no way could ever entice me to drive to Alabama from Minnesota. But there was something special about this group. And they were headed to Auburn for more than just a football game. They wanted to see something else. Hearing them talk about getting to Auburn once a year, if they were lucky, made me feel fortunate about the number of North Carolina, Georgia, and Auburn games I get to see in person on an annual basis. They talked about the game but what they really wanted to see was "the eagle fly." And why not? I can't think of a greater college football tradition. There are other great traditions that are sure to get the blood pumping. You need to experience "The Grove" in Oxford, see the dotting of the "i" in Columbus, watch them touch the rock in Clemson, see South Carolina storm out of the locker room as "2001" screams over the speakers in Columbia, and be a part of the crowd as a heart-pounding bugle plays in Athens coupled with the delivery of famed Georgia broadcaster Larry Munson. Those are all wonderful but they seem to fall a tad short of what happens on the Plains. Auburn people have learned not to be late for games. The weekly fly by of F-16s that follows our national anthem is nice, but the entrance of the War Eagle takes things to a different level. Two years ago at Jordan-Hare Stadium, ESPN SportsCenter anchor Scott Van Pelt, joined me in the press box at the Georgia-Auburn game. "Tiger", the 26 year-old War Eagle who will be retired tomorrow, made her appearance. It left an impression on Van Pelt. "Every hair on the back of my neck is standing up. This is the greatest scene in college sports and I have seen the light...Auburn style," said the popular broadcaster. "How does she do that," I was asked. I replied, "I don't know...I just fear one day, she's going to see a small child or a pigeon, scoop it up, and just fly right on out of here." One over-zealous member of the media had a suggestion. "Let's throw that UGA character off the upper deck and see how well he flies!" Uh...let's don't. "Tiger", also known as War Eagle VI, will make her final journey through the air tomorrow as Auburn and Georgia tangle again in the Deep South's Oldest Rivalry. Auburn will be seeking its third consecutive win over the guys from Athens and Georgia is a poor 7-15-1 in the series since 1983. The nickname of Auburn is obviously the Tigers, so where does the "War Eagle" title we hear so often come from? It goes way back. During the Civil War, an Auburn student fighting for Robert E. Lee was left for dead in no-man's land, the stretch of earth between two armies that belonged to neither friend or foe. After the battle, all that was left alive was the Auburn student and a baby eagle-an eaglet. With the eaglet in his pocket, the wounded soldier scampered 26 miles back to friendly lines. At the conclusion of the war, he returned to Auburn, and resumed his education, nurturing the eagle back to health and maturity. The man eventually joined the Auburn faculty and when a train departed for Atlanta in 1892, the instructor and eagle known as "War Eagle" because of the circumstances which brought man and eagle together, were on the train. Auburn was meeting Georgia in football at Atlanta's Piedmont Park. As the game began, the eagle broke free of its handler and began to circle the field. Looking skyward, the Auburn crowd said, "War Eagle." Again and again, "War Eagle." Soon they began to chant in unison, "War Eagle." Auburn won the contest 10-0 and at the end of the game, the old eagle, now almost 30, collapsed and died just off the playing field. War Eagle I may have died that day, but in the hearts and minds of Auburn people, he lives forever. His name, War Eagle, is recognized around the world. His name is etched on Mount Sarabachi in Japan and on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. His likeness resides on the moon, sent there by Apollo astronaut Ken Mattingly (famous for missing Apollo 13), an Auburn graduate. The spirit of War Eagle I lives on today, through "Tiger", the American Gold eagle who also flew proudly during the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake Olympics, and through her successor, the six-year old "Nova" and the 11-year-old bald eagle "Spirit." Tiger, who became War Eagle VI in 1986, is being retired but will still be a fixture at Auburn events. "Tiger has, and will continue to be, a much-treasured part of Auburn University history," said Auburn University President Ed Richardson. "She will still make guest appearances at games and will remain a vital part of the educational programs of the Southeastern Raptor Center." Tiger has had a recurring cancerous tumor to her right leg surgically removed three times and it has also been treated with local radiation therapy. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rescued Tiger in the mid-80s from an illegal breeding operation in Missouri. She is now viewed by more than 50,000 children per year during the Raptor Center's educational programs, not counting spectators each fall at home football games and the millions more watching on television. The Raptor Center's mission is to promote wildlife conservation with the educational use of birds of prey, to rehabilitate ill and injured raptors, and to collaborate in raptor research efforts. Tiger weighs 10 pounds with a wingspan of six and a half feet. The Auburn football team has won four SEC titles during her reign, posting undefeated seasons in 1993 and 2004. As the son of Auburn grads, I was subjected to the legend of War Eagle early. And although many of the best years of my life took place in Athens, for me, there's little as sweet as yelling "War Eagle" and truly understanding the meaning. Now I hope you too understand this remarkable story. We have tons of Auburn graduates here in Coweta County. Individuals we are fortunate to share a community with. People such as John Goodrum, Kip Oldham, Susan Goodson, Paul Ellen, Adrian Anderson, Bill Headley, and John Daviston. If your friends with any of these fine people or any other Auburn graduate, tell them something next time you see them that is uniquely Auburn...tell them..."War Eagle!"
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