Nonprofit News and Comment

ADVOCACY

“Loose Network of Activists Drives Reform Opposition.” By Dan Eggen and Philip Rucker. Washington Post. August 16, 2009. The rowdy protests that threaten President Obama’s health-care reform efforts have been spurred on by a loose network of activists — from veteran advocacy groups with millions of dollars in funding to casual alliances of like-minded conservatives unhappy over issues from taxes to deficits to environmental laws. Most of the groups helping to organize protests view the proposed health-care overhaul as just one part of a broader assault by government on free markets and individual liberty, their leaders say. Conservatives portray the movement as largely organic, fueled by average citizens alarmed at the direction the country has taken since Obama moved into the White House. One of the most prominent organizers is FreedomWorks, a Washington-based advocacy group headed by former House majority leader Richard Armey (R-Tex.) that is also pushing to defeat Democratic climate-change legislation. FreedomWorks’s major financial backers have included MetLife, Philip Morris and foundations controlled by the archconservative Scaife family, according to tax filings and other records. , Democratic party leaders have portrayed the protesters as products of a fake grass-roots — or “Astroturf” — organizing.
Related story:
“Oil Group’s ‘Citizen’ Rally Memo Stirs Debate; Firms Asked to Recruit Employees, Retirees.” Washington Post. August 16, 2009.

ARTS & CULTURE

“Architecture: When Creativity Diminishes Along With the Cash.” By Nicolai Ouroussoff. New York Times. August 12, 2009. three years ago when the Parrish Art Museum unveiled its plan to build a lavish new home in a meadow in Water Mill, part of the town of Southampton, N.Y. Established at the end of the 19th century, the Parrish had been a sleepy institution. The economic boom that preceded the current financial collapse sparked plans for an ambitious new building and a collection featuring noted contemporary artists associated with the Hamptons like Willem de Kooning and Roy Lichtenstein. The crash has forced a radical scaling back of the Parrish’s plans.

“Mission: Rebuild a Workable City Opera.” By Anthony Tommasini. New York Times. August 16, 2009. When George Steel took over as general manager and artistic director of the New York City Opera in February, it faced a debt of $15 million, staff members were demoralized, and unions representing the orchestra and chorus did not know whether to dig in and hold the City Opera to its commitments or face facts and negotiate new contracts with fewer guaranteed work weeks. Since he arrived, some $10.5 million has been raised for various funds and future projects. Things could still fall apart. City Opera has had to dip into its dwindling endowment for operating expenses. And delicate negotiations are still under way with the American Guild of Musical Artists, representing the chorus, solo singers, dancers, stage managers and others.

CHARITY

“From Pulpit to Policy, Souls to Stomachs; Bread for the World Founder Reflects On Life, Mission.” By Greg Gaudio. Washington Post. August 13, 2009. Profile of Rev. Arthur Simon, the New York clergyman who founded an international charity that boasts 61,000 members whose annual letter-writing campaign has helped to generate billions for the cause at home and abroad. In his recently published memoir, The Rising of Bread for the World: An Outcry of Citizens Against Hunger, Simon recounts Bread’s rise from a shoestring operation run out of a parish building in Manhattan to a Capitol Hill mainstay that leverages $1.2 billion annually for hunger prevention.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

“Corporations Take a Low-Key Approach to Event Sponsorship.” By Leslie Wayne. New York Times. August 12, 2009. Even in these tough times, major corporations are spending to entertain valued clients at golf tournaments and exclusive receptions. But where these companies once splashed their names and logos on every polo shirt and tote bag in sight, they are now going to extraordinary lengths not to be noticed. Those who plan corporate events call the new practice “stealth spending.” In some cases, a corporate gathering is so well disguised that the event planners may not even know whose event they are working on. The subdued approach — no greeters at airports with corporate signs, no large banners — stems from worries that anything too lavish will suggest the companies are out of touch with the painful financial circumstances of many Americans.

“What Does Financial Capital Owe Society? Corporate social responsibility is a worthy goal, but it’s no substitute for regulation, subsidy, and government sponsorship of social institutions.” By Barry Zigas. American Prospect. August 14, 2009. The idea that private enterprise should be harnessed to the creation of social capital is an old claim given new resonance by the financial crisis. After beggaring millions of people and threatening the global economy with ruin, banks and other credit providers surely have an obligation both to run their businesses soundly and to meet a higher standard of social responsibility. While some argue this could hobble, distract, or damage corporate focus on the bottom line, It was not an excess of attention to social needs that caused the near total collapse of the world’s financial system but almost every other kind of excess.

EDUCATION

Charter Schools

“Villaraigosa advocates letting outside operators bid for control of L.A. Unified schools.” By Howard Blume. Los Angeles Times. August 11, 2009. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said Tuesday he will push the school district to allow outside operators to bid for control of hundreds of campuses, a move he described as the centerpiece of education reform for his second term. The mayor’s proposal would let charter-school organizations, the mayor’s nonprofit, and other groups compete to run 50 new schools scheduled to open over the next four years. Villaraigosa also wants to allow outside groups or the district to shut down and restaff hundreds of existing schools that have long been rated “failing” under federal accountability rules. Critics of the plan include United Teachers Los Angeles and other employee unions.

“Charter schools lag in serving the neediest; Disparity widens rift with districts.” By James Vaznis. Boston Globe. August 12, 2009. Although Governor Deval Patrick has touted his proposed expansion of charter schools as a way to help students who face the greatest academic challenges, such as language barriers and disabilities, a Globe analysis shows that charter schools in cities targeted by the proposal tend to enroll few special education students or English language learners. This raises questions about whether these schools can recruit and meet the needs of students whose academic needs are generally greater than those of other children. In Boston, which hosts a quarter of the state’s charter schools, English language learners represented less than 4 percent of students at all but one of the charter schools last year, although they make up nearly a fifth of the students in the school system. Collectively, the 16 Boston charter schools taught fewer than 100 students who lacked fluency in English; six schools enrolled none.

“Norcross, Statesboro charter schools cleared to get matching funds.” By D. Aileen Dodd. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. August 12, 2009. Two charter schools have been given state school board support to become Georgia’s first commission charter schools. This clears the way for local matching funds to be released to Ivy Preparatory Academy in Norcross and Statesboro’s Charter Conservatory for Liberal Arts & Technology – a key benefit of becoming a commission charter school. The schools can receive a share of local education dollars as well as the state and federal funds they already receive. They would be funded as any other public school.

“Expanding the Charter Option.” By Anne Marie Chaker. Wall Street Journal. August 13, 2009. The U.S. Education Department is engaged in a high-pressure campaign to get states to lift limits on charter schools through a $4 billion education fund, Race to the Top, that encourages more charters as one of the criteria for states to qualify for a piece of the pie. A total of 40 states and the District of Columbia permit charter schools. In recent weeks, seven states have lifted restrictions, a spokesman for the department says. Tennessee, for instance, passed a law that raises the state’s limit on the number of charter schools to 90 from 50 and allows more students to qualify for entry. Illinois doubled its limit on the total number of charter schools to 120. Louisiana passed a law that simply eliminated the existing cap of 70. And several other states are moving in a similar direction. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick proposed legislation that more than triples slots for students in charter schools to over 37,000 from the 10,000. Rhode Island’s Legislature, which had considered cutting $1.5 million from the budget for charter schools, restored that money in large part to compete for the federal funds.

Higher Education

“Strapped colleges keep leaders in luxury.” By Tracy Jan. Boston Globe. August 12, 2009. The opulent estates housing the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and other elite area universities strike a contrast to the frozen faculty salaries, widespread layoffs, and slashed programs that these institutions have resorted to in the wake of the global financial collapse. Nationally, 28 percent of public and private college presidents live in university-owned housing, and another 20 percent receive a housing allowance, according to the most recent survey conducted by the American Council on Education. At some private colleges, the longstanding tradition of free housing also extends to senior administrators, including provosts, deans, and even former presidents.

“For-profit colleges’ increased lending prompts concerns.” By Justin Pope. USA Today/Associated Press. August 15, 2009. Some of the nation’s biggest for-profit colleges and vocational schools are boosting enrollment in tough times by making more loans directly to cash-strapped students, knowing full well many of them probably won’t be able to repay what they borrowed. The schools still make money because the practice boosts their enrollment and brings in tuition dollars subsidized by the government. Among the for-profit colleges that are booming are ITT, Corinthian Colleges and Career Education Corp. They and other such institutions have an estimated 1.2 million U.S. students pursuing degrees in such fields as nursing, computers and the culinary arts. Many for-profits are seeing enrollment surge. New enrollments at ITT are up one-third from a year ago; last month the company forecast profits 50% higher than last year. Laid-off workers returning to school and increased government aid have boosted the number of students at many of these places. Even critics acknowledge many for-profit schools — also called “proprietary” colleges — offer convenience and innovation that nonprofit colleges could stand to emulate. They also proudly enroll many low-income students.

“ NYU Commute To Get Better If You’re In Abu Dhabi.” No by-line. Weekend Edition Sunday. NPR. August 16, 2009. New York University is in the midst of an ambitious plan to build a campus in the United Arab Emirates. Guest host David Greene talks to NYU president John Sexton about what it means to be a global university.

HEALTH CARE

“Hospital For Hollywood’s Elderly Set To Close.” NPR. August 10, 2009. “We Take Care of Our Own” is the motto of the Motion Picture and Television Fund. For almost 90 years, the fund has supported the people who are the backbone of the entertainment industry — not the highly paid stars, directors and producers, but the below-the-line folks: prop masters, wardrobe mistresses, secretaries, janitors and character actors. The victim of rising costs, the Fund will be closing its long-term care unit because the costs of maintaining it threaten to bankrupt the charity.

“South Florida Hospitals Compete For Foreign Patients.” By Greg Allen. NPR. August 13, 2009. As U.S. citizens go abroad to save money on medical care, some U.S. hospitals are trying to lure foreign patients of their own: They’re marketing to well-to-do and even middle-class people in the Caribbean and Latin America, urging them to come to the U.S. for quality care. In 2008, 400,000 people from foreign countries came to the U.S. for health care, spending nearly $5 billion. It’s a fast-growing market that’s expected to double within the next three years. The competition for international patients among hospitals in Miami is intense. To help build ties with patients and doctors, Florida hospitals are opening recently offices in Caribbean and Latin American countries. Prestigious institutions like the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins Hospital have long catered to patients from abroad. Hospitals in Houston, led by Methodist Healthcare, have also worked to market their region as an international medical destination.

“Super-clinic finds super-need in L.A. region; Remote Area Medical Foundation provides free care with volunteer doctors and dentists for unemployed and poor people at an eight-day event at Inglewood’s Forum arena.” By Bob Pool and Kimi Yoshino. Los Angeles Times. August 12, 2009. Remote Area Medical Foundation, a Tennessee-based charity, has staged health clinics in rural parts of the United States, Mexico and South America. This week it brought its health camp to urban Los Angeles County for an eight-day stint that the group’s officials described as its first foray into a major urban setting. The mobile clinic, based in Knoxville, Tenn., has staged 576 medical clinics over the last 25 years. They have treated nearly 380,000 patients and provided care valued at $36.9 million. The group raises money through contributions. Doctors, nurses and other medical workers donate their time and skills to the effort.
Related Stories:
“Thousands Line Up for Promise of Free Health Care.” New York Times. August 13, 2009.
“LA sports arena hosts health clinic of last resort.” Reuters. August 13, 2009.
“The brutal truth about America’s healthcare; An extraordinary report from Guy Adams in Los Angeles at the music arena that has been turned into a makeshift medical centre.” The Independent (UK). August 15, 2009.
“How L.A.’s massive free clinic event came together; A record producer and his wife saw a piece on 60 Minutes about the Remote Area Medical Foundation and contacted the founder. The couple used their connections and pieces fell into place. Thousands have been helped.” By Kimi Yoshino. Los Angeles Times. August 16, 2009.

“Blood banks brace for donation drop.” By Ben Jones. USA Today. August 13, 2009. Across the USA, plant closures and layoffs have reduced the number of workplace blood drives or canceled them altogether. Corporate blood drives make up about 20% of collections for the American Red Cross. Regional blood bank officials across the country say they are seeing declines in donations.

“‘You don’t want to go to war with me’; Voicemail puts hospitals’ aggressive recruiting efforts in spotlight.” By Robert Weisman and Liz Kowalczyk. Boston Globe. August 16, 2009. Boston area hospitals are seeing intense competition area to hire and retain established physicians. Primary care doctors are an especially prized commodity. They can help hospitals attract more patients, boost revenue, and draw medical specialists when the health care industry is bracing for sweeping change. Some doctors say they expect to see predatory behavior intensify as the state overhauls the health care payment system. A special commission has recommended that Massachusetts insurers and public payers scrap their method of paying doctors and hospitals negotiated fees for individual visits or procedures, and instead put providers on a budget, paying a set amount intended to cover a patient’s medical care for an entire year. Under that scenario, primary care doctors could become even more powerful if they more closely orchestrate where their patients get speciality and hospital care.

HUMAN SERVICES

“Santa Clara County Supervisors vote to keep victim’s advocacy services with non-profit group.” By Karen de Sá. San Jose Mercury-News. August 12, 2009. Santa Clara County supervisors voted unanimously this week to approve a new $1.8 million contract for Silicon Valley FACES, the region’s longtime provider of victim support services. In doing so, the supervisors rejected an aggressive bid by District Attorney Dolores Carr to fold the state-funded services for victims and witnesses into the prosecutor’s office. Carr had argued that the thousands of victims and witnesses to crimes would be more effectively served by her staff. Supervisors — lobbied heavily by retired judges, elected officials and law enforcement — determined that FACES deserved to keep its contract of more than three decades. The nonprofit’s supporters maintain that crime victims deserve an independent agency to serve them with their myriad needs, including therapy and help paying for funerals.

“Priest’s anti-gang program in budget crisis.” By Christina Hoag. USA Today/Associated Press. August 13, 2009. A Roman Catholic priest’s 21-year-old effort to rehabilitate gang members by offering jobs, counseling and schooling, will run out of cash — the result of an economic recession that has ripped a $5 million hole in the nonprofit’s budget this year. One of few agencies that have proven success with a population traditionally difficult to reach, Homeboy last year received $500,000 for mental health programs from the Califonia Endowment, which has donated to the nonprofit since 1999. But this year contributions from foundations and corporations dried up, government contracts were slashed in half, and state budget woes made collecting bills for past contracts impossible, including a $310,000 tab owed by the Division of Juvenile Justice for mentoring young parolees. The nonprofit, which carries a top, four-star ranking from nonprofit analyst Charity Navigator, has lost about 40% of its $9 million annual budget.

“From its inception, Wilsonville complex for people with mental illness unlike any other in country.” By Stephanie Yao Long. Oregonian. August 13, 2009. Rain Garden, along with two group homes and two apartment complexes for adults with mental illness, is situated squarely among the 700 upscale houses and condos at Wilsonville’s Villebois “urban village.” Developers, along with state and county mental health experts, say this is the first place in the United States where mental-health housing was part of a larger master-planned community from its inception. From 1961 until 1995, Dammasch State Hospital was located here. Hailed at its opening as a national model for progressive treatment regimens, the hospital eventually succumbed to the move to deinstitutionalize the mentally ill. Legislators, recognizing that Dammasch had been dedicated to mental-health uses, passed a bill stipulating that money from its sale to private developers be set aside for grants to groups wanting to build housing there for people with mental illness.

“State shifting clients to cash-strapped nonprofits.” By Christine Stuart. ctnewsjunkie.com. August 14, 2009. The closure of state operated group homes for the mentally retarded and drug rehabilitation facilities grabbed headlines the past few weeks, as Connecticut’s private nonprofit network warned state officials about a precarious trend. They say while the state is increasingly turning to nonprofit providers to serve the mentally ill, mentally retarded, and other disabled individuals, it is failing to provide funding. Without a state budget in place and facing major cuts in human services expenditures, the state’s nonprofits face major challenges in meeting rising demand for their services.

“Downturn Brings A New Face to Homelessness; Charities See More Women, Families.” By Alexi Mostrous. Washington Post. August 15, 2009. Across the country, community housing networks, charities and emergency shelters are seeing a flood of mothers driven out of their homes by the economic collapse. More than half a million family members used an emergency shelter or transitional housing between Oct. 1, 2007, and Oct. 1, 2008, the latest figures available from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The number of homeless families rose 9 percent, and in rural and suburban areas by 56 percent. Women make up 81 percent of adults in homeless families, and tend to be younger than 30 with children younger than 5. In some areas of the country, family homelessness has almost tripled since 2007, new figures obtained by The Washington Post show. Formerly prosperous areas such as Bergen County, N.J., and Hillsboro, Ore., have been particularly affected, with increases of 161 percent and 194 percent, respectively. Oakland County, Michigan has experienced a 111 percent jump in the number of families seeking shelter or emergency housing since 2007. The Obama administration announced last month a $1.5 billion package focused on tackling first-time and family homelessness. The funding, which lasts for three years, represents a change from President George W. Bush’s approach, which limited most HUD funding to the chronically homeless with substance-abuse or mental-health problems.

“Two Acres of Hope for Recovering Addicts.” By Cara Buckley. New York Times. August 16, 2009. The Renewal Farm in rural Garrison, NY is run by two dozen recovering addicts and alcoholics from New York City, men whose various addictions, and repeated relapses, have left them sickened and homeless. The farm is run by Project Renewal, a Manhattan nonprofit that helps the homeless, the addicted and the mentally ill. Headed by David Harrington, a 61-year-old horticulture expert, and Anthony DeArmas, a 45-year-old former crack addict and alcoholic, about two dozen men participate in the farm program at a time, usually for six to nine months. The farm is financed mostly by public dollars. The land was donated by the nearby Garrison and Highlands country clubs. Much of the harvest is sold at the farm’s road stand, about 1,200 pounds of the produce is provided to the two country clubs annually in exchange for the donated land.

IN MEMORIAM

“The Olympian Force Behind a Revolution.” By J.Y. Smith. Washington Post. August 12, 2009. Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 88, devoted her life to improving the welfare of mentally disabled people and founded the Special Olympics to showcase their abilities, died August 11 in Hyannis, Mass. She played a major role in changing the perception of mental retardation. When she began her work in the field half a century ago, it was common for mentally disabled people to be placed in institutions that did little more than warehouse them. Through Shriver’s programs and hands-on efforts, she demonstrated that with appropriate help, most developmentally disabled people can lead productive and useful lives. In the 1950s, as executive vice president of the Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, she shifted the organization’s focus from Catholic charities to research on the causes of mental retardation and humane ways to treat it. When her brother John became president in 1961, she persuaded him to appoint a committee to study developmental disabilities. An outgrowth of the panel’s work was the establishment the next year of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development as part of the National Institutes of Health. Shriver organized the Special Olympics in 1968. The Special Olympics has become the world’s largest year-round sports program for mentally disabled children and adults. More than 2.5 million athletes in 180 countries take part in competitions each year. Contestants work through local and regional meets toward the World Special Olympics, held every two years.
Related Story:
“Shriver poured heart, soul into helping disabled.” USA Today. August 11, 2009.

INTERNATIONAL

GENERAL

“For Global Investors, ‘Microfinance’ Funds Pay Off — So Far.” By Rob Copeland. Wall Street Journal. August 13, 2009. Investing in funds that make small loans to third-world borrowers has been lucrative the past 12 months. But the weak global economy has some investors worried about trouble ahead. The $30 billion industry, partly made up by small lenders on the ground financed by bigger microfinance investment funds, has been expanding its lending at a 40% to 50% annual pace over the past five years, according to the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, a research institute hosted at the World Bank.Those microfinance funds have returned 4.47% for investors the past 12 months, according to a benchmark index, compared with a 22% loss by the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. Already more than 100 investment funds are focused on microfinance, typically accepting money from targeted individuals or institutions, usually with a minimum of $10,000. The funds then buy the bonds or stocks of small, local banks in mostly third-world countries. These banks then lend money to tiny entrepreneurs at annual interest rates up to 50%.

BRAZIL

“ Bishop accused over billions of donations.” By Tales Azzoni. The Independent (UK)/ Associated Press. August 12, 2009. The founder of one of Brazil’s biggest evangelical churches siphoned off billions of dollars in donations from his mostly poor followers to buy jewelry, TV stations and other businesses for himself, authorities charged. A Brazilian judge accepted charges from prosecutors alleging that Bishop Edir Macedo and nine other people linked to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God committed fraud against the church itself and against its numerous followers. Sao Paulo state’s prosecutors office alleged in a statement that Macedo and the others took more than $2 billion in donations from 2003 to 2008 alone, but charged that the alleged scheme went back 10 years. Universal Church of the Kingdom of God receives nearly $800 million in donations every year from faithful in 4,500 temples across Brazil. The church claims to have nearly 8 million followers in Brazil and many more around the world.

CHINA

“China’s NGOs fear for the worst.” By Verna Yu. Asia Times. August 15, 2009. China has in recent weeks resorted to unusually heavy-handed tactics to crack down on non-governmental organizations (NGOs), prominent lawyers and human-rights activists, sparking concern that a new round of persecution has begun on the nation’s nascent civil society. Last month, authorities closed down the Open Constitution Initiative (locally known as Gongmeng), a NGO that provides free legal assistance, accusing it of tax evasion. Two weeks ago, its founder Xu Zhiyong, a respected law professor, was taken away by police and no one has been able to contact him since. Targeting NGOs is nothing new for the Chinese government – officials are always wary of groups over which they have no direct control. Unlike almost every other institution in China, from labor unions to schools, NGOs do no represent the ruling Communist Party and often receive funding from the West. According to statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, there were 230,000 registered “social organizations” across the country at the end of 2008. The Chinese government believes it has reason to fear the growth of a robust civil society. For a worrying precedent it need only look at the role an independent labor union (Solidarity) played in the eventual meltdown of the communist regime in Poland.

JAPAN

“Tokyo Medical University hospital linked to health insurance scam.” No by-line. Asahi Simbun. August 13, 2009. A hospital attached to the Tokyo Medical University illegally claimed medical fee reimbursements from public health insurance programs at the urging of its director, according to an in-house investigation by the university. The Ibaraki Medical Center siphoned 118.7 million yen from the national health insurance and other programs through underhand practices, the university and other sources said.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare’s Kanto-Shinetsu Regional Bureau is now investigating the case, the sources said.

RUSSIA

“Director of Children’s Charity, Husband Found Shot to Death in Chechnya.” By Philip P. Pan. Washington Post. August 12, 2009. The head of a children’s charity in Chechnya and her husband were found shot to death in the trunk of a car Tuesday in the latest sign of violence and lawlessness in the region and the Kremlin’s inability to contain it. The killings of the couple, who ran a center for children suffering from war injuries and trauma, came less than a month after the slaying of a colleague, the prominent human rights activist Natalya Estemirova, prompted international outrage. Kremlin critics suggested that the killings were intended to intimidate the few remaining activists left in Grozny, the Chechen capital.
Related Story:
“Head of Chechen children’s charity found shot dead with husband.” Times of London. August 12, 2009.

UK

“Private schools threaten legal action to keep charity millions; Watchdog challenged over public benefit test; Public ‘will pay up to £4bn extra tax if schools close’.” No by-line. Guardian (UK). August 11, 2009. The head of the organization that represents the country’s top independent schools today issued a threat to the government’s charities watchdog that it may consider legal action against moves to force private schools to open up their facilities to pupils from low-income homes. The chief executive of the Independent Schools Council (ISC says there is potential for a legal challenge against the Charity Commission’s interpretation of new laws to make every charity – including most private schools – pass a new “public benefit test” to qualify for charitable status and tax breaks worth millions of pounds every year. He said the 2006 Charities Act was not at fault, but that the commission had wrongly interpreted it. “There is the potential to test this in the courts. That’s a major and expensive step to take. Private schools, he argued, are already providing a public benefit by educating children who would otherwise be in state schools paid for by taxpayers, he said. The commission has said that to qualify, schools must not bar pupils who cannot afford their fees.

“Top universities: only the rich need apply; Money should not buy entry to our elite institutions, but with top-up fees, watch the market bite.” By David Papineau. Times of London. August 13, 2009. If the top universities asked the Government for permission to charge fees on top of their state funding, they would price themselves out of the reach of the poor. This is exactly what is about to happen to the British university system. Whichever party wins the next election, it will clamp down hard on state support for universities. In return it will allow the leading universities to charge top-up fees of £7,000 to £8,000 a year. At present university funding is a hybrid system. In most of Britain, the government gives universities an annual sum for each undergraduate of between £3,000 and £15,000, depending on subject. Students themselves are charged about £3,000 on top. The government doesn’t allow universities to ask for more, although they can, in principle, charge less. And because this cap on fees is so low, nearly all universities ask for the full £3,000, with the result that doing a degree at Oxford costs no more than at Hull. But if the limit on top-up fees is raised in line with all the noises currently emanating from Peter Mandelson’s überdepartment, the market will start to bite for real. Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College and the other top dogs will promptly charge the maximum. But the Hulls of this world won’t be able to fill their seats at those prices, and will ask far less. At which point the best universities will become the preserve of the rich. We all know that public money will be tight over the next decade. But the government must find some alternative to free-market university fees. It is no accident that admission to one of our world-leading universities is one of the few things in modern Britain that money can’t buy. Once it is restricted to those children lucky enough to have rich parents we really will start to slide down the international scale.

“Oxbridge squeeze on triple-A students.” By Richard Garner. The Independent (UK). August 13, 2009. Record numbers of pupils set to get three grade-A passes at A-level next week have been turned away from Britain’s most elite universities. Oxford and Cambridge experienced a large surge in applications for places, meaning that more than 12,000 students with three predicted top-grade passes have been left disappointed. The number of applications to Oxford has soared by more than 10 per cent from 13,388 in 2008 to more than 15,000. A spokeswoman said that home and overseas applications had increased. It had only made about 3,000 offers. At Cambridge, applications have risen from 14,498 to 15,679, while the number of offers made has been cut from 4,066 to 4,016. The admission’s crunch coincides with intensifying debate over educational inequality in the UK.
Related story:
“University clearing fears for A-level students; Top students fear missing out as courses declared full; Labour criticised as Ucas trebles helpline staff.” Guardian (UK). August 14, 2009.

LAW & REGULATION

“Church’s Request For Tax Break On Rental Property Is Denied.” No by-line. Hartford
Courant. August 12, 2009. The City of Manchester has rejected a request for a property tax break by a church that plans to move into a former gym in an industrial park. Faith Tabernacle First United Pentecostal Church and the owner of the former Body Fit gym at 110 Utopia Road had requested the exemption that would have cost the town $30,000 a year and allowed the church to pay less in rent. The money the property owner saved in taxes would have allowed a lower rent. The city feared granting the request would have forced them to extend the tax break to all other churches and nonprofit organizations that rent space in town. (Under normal circumstances, real estate is only tax exempt if it is owned by an exempt organization and used for activities relating to its charitable purposes).

“Look Who’s Discriminating Now.” By Patrick J. Reilly. Wall Street Journal. August 14, 2009. The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission took a giant leap toward encroaching on the religious liberty of Catholics when it ruled that a small North Carolina Catholic college discriminated against female employees by refusing to cover prescription contraceptives in its health insurance plan. With health-care reform looming before the country, this ruling is a bad omen for people of faith. Although the ruling is consistent with the commission’s published guidance on “pregnancy discrimination,” under which contraceptive coverage is mandated by the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination, North Carolina also has made its position clear with a law requiring employers to cover employees’ contraceptive expenses if other prescription drugs are insured. The difference, however, between the EEOC’s guidance and the North Carolina law is that the latter exempts religious employers such as a Catholic college, whereas the commission fails to consider that the tenets of a faith may preclude an institution from offering such benefits. It is increasingly obvious to Catholics and other religious groups that without very clear exemptions for religious employers—and conscience protections for individual doctors, nurses, pharmacists—federal health-care laws and guidelines could severely restrict religious freedom in the U.S.

MUTUAL BENEFIT ORGANIZATIONS

“An Era of Tribulation For Fraternal Orders; Md. Knights of Columbus Hall Burns As Groups’ Ranks, Finances Decline.” By Matt Zapotosky. Washington Post. August 10, 2009. Times are tough for organizations like the Knights of Columbus, Elks. and other private, charitable clubs. Old members are dying off faster than they can be replaced and what once were hubs of social activity are fading into obscurity.

PHILANTHROPY

“Charities Ask a Court to Direct More of Helmsley’s Billions to Help Dogs.” By James Barron. New York Times. August 11, 2009. A petition has been filed by three animal protection groups that say Leona. Helmsley’s money is not being spent the way she wanted it spent — on dogs. The Humane Society of the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Maddie’s Fund, a charitable foundation created by the former chief executive of the business software company PeopleSoft accuse the trustees of Mrs. Helmsley’s estate of a “scheme to deprive dog welfare charities” of their share of her fortune, estimated to be worth about $5 billion. They want the court to throw out a six-month-old decision by Judge Troy K. Webber that said Mrs. Helmsley’s money could be distributed as the trustees saw fit.
Related Story:
“Dog Charities Sue For More Leona Helmsley Wealth.” NPR. August 11, 2009.

“Soros Uses Leverage To Aid New York Children.” All Things Considered/NPR. August 11, 2009. Billionaire philanthropist George Soros says he will provide a $35 million gift to the state of New York as a way to leverage federal stimulus money to assist low-income children in the state. With the addition of federal funds, the gift will actually be worth $170 million. Under the program, about 850,000 low-income families will each get $200 to help cover the cost of back-to-school supplies and clothing. “Because we are in a particularly difficult period with a very severe recession,” he says. “Philanthropy has been badly hit by the financial crisis and so the usual donors actually are cutting back. I feel that people who can afford it should step up to the plate and actually increase their philanthropic donations.” The gift is being made by Soros’ Foundation to Promote Open Society, the sister organization to the Open Society Institute.

RELIGION

“Slump Strains Church Finances as Need Grows.” By Tom Benning. Wall Street Journal. August 11, 2009. The slowing economy is squeezing church budgets more families ask for spiritual and financial help, but fewer can afford to give. Churches, synagogues and mosques have historically fared reasonably well during recessions, even as other institutions struggled. But the magnitude of the current downturn has caught up with places of worship, too. According to the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at Indiana University, the economic climate for religious organizations is the worst in at least 30 years, forcing membership drives and construction projects to take a back seat to balancing the budget.

“Study: More diverse recruits joining Catholic orders.” No by-line. USA Today/ Associated Press. August 11, 2009. A study conducted by Georgetown University’s Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate for the National Religious Vocation Conference finds that next generation of priests, brothers, sisters and nuns who belong to Roman Catholic religious orders in the U.S. are more ethnically diverse and tradition-bound than their predecessors. The report found that most religious orders in the U.S. suffer from aging membership, diminishing numbers and few if any new candidates, though the few orders that are attracting and retaining younger members are more traditional.

“Confronting Religionophobia.” By Katherine Marshall. Washington Post. August 12, 2009. Mainstream development specialists neither take faith-inspired work seriously nor and truly engage with and support it. The issue came up again and again at three different gatherings this summer: a meeting on service delivery and faith in Accra in early July, organized by the World Bank and the World Faiths Development Dialogue; a U.N. agency meeting in New York last week organized by UNFPA, the Family Planning Organization; and the African Religious Health Assets Program meeting in Capetown, South Africa. At all three, participants were frustrated by the way the experts ignore the multitude of faith-run hospitals, clinics, and other programs, and genuinely puzzled as to why. Discounting the role of faith-based agencies in international development is due to “religionophobia,” a real tendency that was named by many working in distinguished institutions — the United Nations, national governments, think tanks, and universities.

“Hallelujah! Mich. church wins $70K in lottery.” No by-line. USA Today/Associated Press. August 13, 2009. The Covenant Life Worship Center and its 25 members in Haslett, Mich. had one of the second-prize tickets in the Lucky 7s raffle held May 4 — winning a prize of $70,000. The prize money will go toward the church building fund, setting up a missionary fund and supporting local community service projects.

“Focus on the Family faces ‘serious’ shortfall.” No by-line. USA Today. August 14, 2009. A “serious budget shortfall” at Focus on the Family has prompted the conservative Christian group to issue a special fundraising plea, and contributed to a decision to cede control of its contentious “Love Won Out” conferences about homosexuality to another religious organization. Founded by child psychologist James Dobson, Focus on the Family is projected to fall $6 million short of a $138 million budget for the current fiscal year. Last fall, budget problems prompted Focus on the Family to eliminate more than 200 positions.

“Believers Invest in the Gospel of Getting Rich.” By Laurie Goodstein. New York Times. August 16, 2009. Even in an economic downturn, preachers in the “prosperity gospel” movement are drawing sizable, adoring audiences. Their message — that if you have sufficient faith in God and the Bible and donate generously, God will multiply your offerings a hundredfold — is reassuring to many in hard times. Many in this flock do not trust banks, the news media or Washington, where the Senate Finance Committee is investigating whether the Copelands and other prosperity evangelists used donations to enrich themselves and abused their tax-exempt status. The ministry of prosperity gospel leaders Kenneth and Gloria Copeland boasts 386,000 “partners” worldwide — people who send regular contributions and merit special prayers. A call center at the ministry’s 481-employee headquarters in Newark, Tex., takes in 60,000 prayer requests a month, a publicist said. The Copelands’ broadcast reaches 134 countries, and the ministry’s income is about $100 million annually.

SCANDAL

“Madoff Had Affair With Ex-Hadassah Finance Chief, Her Book Says.” By David Voreacos. Bloomberg.com. August 13, 2009. An accountant who has publicly blamed imprisoned con man Bernard Madoff for stealing her family’s savings has written a book that will disclose a secret she previously withheld — they once had an extramarital affair. Sheryl Weinstein’s account, “Madoff’s Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie, and Me,” will be published Aug. 25 by St. Martin’s Press. Hadassah invested its own money with Madoff. Between 1988 and 1997, its investments with the financier totaled more than $40 million.

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

“Banks as Heroes: Community-development banks show what financial institutions can do when they have the right motivation and the right mission.” By Adam Serwer. American Prospect. August 10, 2009. ShoreBank, a community-development financial institution (CDFI), launched in 1973 as the South Shore National Bank, was founded to provide loans to Chicago neighborhoods devastated by redlining, racial discrimination, and the fallout of the riots of the late 1960s. A profitable business, it reported $2.6 million in profits in 2008 and, along with its affiliates across the United States, holds over $2.4 billion in assets. ShoreBank has purchased and renovated more than 55,000 units of affordable housing since 1973. Located in the same communities as their lenders, CDFIs like ShoreBank focus on a “triple bottom line,” that includes profitability, on raising the value of the homes in the community, and on making them environmentally sustainable. ShoreBank uses its influence with borrowers to encourage them to weatherize their homes and retrofit them with appliances that use less energy, which also leaves the borrower with more money in the long run. Since its creation, ShoreBank has become a model for CDFIs across the country.