Strengthening Community, News & Research

The longer a Latino child's family has lived in the US, the less likely he or she is to have a healthy diet, according to a report by researchers at New York University. With every successive generation after immigration from
Mexico and other Latin American countries to the US, the researchers found, young members of the family were increasingly likely to adopt a less healthy diet that included more fat and less fruit.

President on methods of improving mental health care.

Blacks and the less educated in the US have life expectancies about 6 years shorter than their white and better-educated counterparts, respectively. Now a new report suggests that smoking-related diseases are largely to blame when it comes to cutting the life expectancy of people with lower levels of education. And high blood pressure, HIV, diabetes and homicide appear to be the greatest contributors to the discrepancy in death rates among blacks versus whites, according to a team of California researchers.

In recognition of National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, HHS has launched a new resource section on the department's Healthfinder Web site devoted to American Indians and Alaska Natives. Available at http://www.healthfinder.gov/justforyou/, the easy-to-use consumer resource provides a central point for up-to-date health information of special interest to these communities.

A new White Paper from Public Knowledge is a primer and advocate for Net Neutrality. The paper not only lays out the arguments for nondiscrimination in broadband service, it also addresses the major arguments against Network Neutrality. It includes draft language for policymakers.

The Center for Digital Democracy focuses on the full potential of public media -- including public broadcasting, but focusing especially on a range of new digital technologies -- in the broadband era. The Center believes it's time for more collaborative and community-based efforts. Technological convergence, says their latest report, must not be allowed to become the latest victim of media consolidation. Part 1, Expanding Public Media in the Digital Age, is available at the URL below. It contains chapters titled, "Edgewise: The Media Landscape's New Geography", "Back to the Future: Public Broadcasting in the Digital Age" and "Do-it-Ourselves" Media: New Opportunities for Alternative Voices."

While newspapers are not known for their technology innovations, some papers are changing tactics as they see their subscriber lists shrinking. One tactic that's working very well for some news operations is using hyperlocal, Web-based news in which local stories are both written and read by a large local audience on-line.

"Binge drinking on college campuses, a significant public health factor linked to deaths, injuries, rapes, assaults and poor student performance, is significantly lower in states where fewer adults are binge drinkers and where laws discourage excessive consumption, according to a new study from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)." (Source: Harvard School of Public Health)

These five projects were chosen as 2005 Batten Innovation Award finalists for "new standards for interactive journalism, creativity in digital storytelling and recalibrating the role news organizations play in their communities." Take a look.