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Oprah Tops Highest Paid TV Stars
By Yoji Cole
July 25, 2007
Oprah Tops Highest Paid TV Stars
Oprah Winfrey tops a list of the highest-paid television stars in the United States. Winfrey, host and supervising producer of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," earns an estimated $260 million a year, according to a list in TV Guide magazine's July 23 issue. The list breaks down star salaries by category--primetime TV, daytime, cable and news. The top five yearly salary earners are: Winfrey ("The Oprah Winfrey Show"), $260 million; Simon Cowell ("American Idol"), $45 million; Judge Sheindlin ("Judge Judy"), $30 million; Katie Couric ("CBS Evening News Anchor"), $15 million; and Zach Braff ("Scrubs"), $6.3 million according to Yahoonews.com.
FOX's '24' to Feature Female President
Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones will be tasked with leading the United States through the latest terrorism crisis--and signing off on Jack Bauer's maverick missions--as Day 7 dawns on the FOX network's "24." Leadership happens in a refreshingly quiet political environment on the show. "24" never debates whether the nation is ready for a female or black president; it simply assumes it is. In the absence of such a discussion, the leaders are judged solely on character, not race or gender. The message that "24" seems to send is that the presidency is not about race or gender but about choices, told The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
(See also: Oh, Jack Bauer! Does '24' Discriminate?)
Obama Ads Court Black S.C. Voters
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is reaching out to black voters in South Carolina through a minute-long radio spot scheduled to begin airing Wednesday on 36 radio stations with predominantly black audiences. The Illinois senator, whose father is black, has been careful to not be defined strictly as a black candidate, but he and rival Sen. Hillary Clinton are in a close fight for black voters. In the ad, Obama ticks off problems facing the black community, such as the number of black men in prison, serious illnesses that disproportionately affect blacks and the fact that it took Hurricane Katrina to reveal problems of race and poverty. Read more.
Click here for more news about Election '08.
Harley-Davidson Woos Female Riders
American women are the fastest-growing part of the motorcycle business, buying more than 100,000 of them a year. "Fifty percent of the population is female and there is pent-up demand," said James L. Ziemer, Harley-Davidson's chief executive. "We need to remove barriers." So they are producing more motorcycles that are low to the ground--so women can plant their feet firmly at rest--with narrower seats and softer clutches, and adjusting handlebars and windshields to make bikes more comfortable for smaller riders. They are selling more clothes, too, in bright colors and with rhinestones, rather than the standard-issue black-and-orange leather jackets. Even the skull motif that appears on some of the clothing sold at Harley outlets has undergone a makeover to include wings and flowers. Read more.
Senate Votes to Increase School Grants
By a vote of 95 to 0, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday approved legislation to renew the Higher Education Act that would, among many other things: raise the ceiling for the maximum Pell Grant to $6,300; make it easier for students to apply for federal financial aid; sharply restrict the relationships between lenders and colleges; and scuttle the Education Department committee that recognizes accrediting agencies. The passage of the legislation means that within the space of five days, senators passed two mammoth bills (the other a budget-reconciliation measure that would shift billions of dollars in federal funds from lenders to students) that could reshape federal higher-education policy for years to come. Read more.
(See also: Blacks, Latinos Caught in Battle to Cut College Costs)
Lesbian Ex-Wife Gets Alimony
An Orange County, Calif., judge has ordered a man to continue paying alimony to his ex-wife, even though she's in a registered domestic partnership with another woman and uses the other woman's last name. California marriage laws say alimony ends when a former spouse remarries, and Ron Garber thought that meant his alimony payments stopped when he learned his ex-wife had registered her new relationship under the state's domestic-partnership law. However, the judge ruled that a registered partnership is cohabitation, not marriage, and that Garber must keep writing the checks, $1,250 a month, to his ex-wife. Garber plans to appeal. Read more.
YouTube Presidential Debate Ignores Immigration
The YouTube/CNN presidential debate Monday night made history with its unusual format, but not with regard to immigration, one of the most heated and critical issues facing the nation. Some bloggers are angry. The only question on the topic was about healthcare for undocumented immigrants, but nothing on how to handle the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. No questions were asked on how to police the U.S.-Mexican border or on the failed immigration-reform measure. Read more.
(See also: YouTube Viewers Grill Democrats During Online Video Debate)
Women Air Force Generals Talk About Work/Life Balance
The Air Force's Gen. Terry Gabreski, Brig. Gen. Dana Born and Maj. Gen. Linda Hemminger talk about balancing military life and personal life. General Gabreski says in her 33 years in the Air Force, the percentage of women has increased and the number of career fields in which they serve has expanded considerably. As a woman and a leader in what is considered a male-dominated career field, she says the best way to defy stereotypes and change negative perceptions is to be knowledgeable and competent. Born, the first woman dean of faculty at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, says it is important for female members of the Air Force to have strong role models and mentors. Hemminger says that the Air Force continues to create opportunities for everyone to excel, not based on gender or race, but on the diverse strengths and capabilities of each individual. Read more.
Youth Literature Features Diversity
Books for children and teenagers featuring lead characters of color have become extremely popular among book publishers. Local children's bookstore owners, publishers and authors attribute the growing diversity to demand from consumers. According to research collected by Kimani Press, publisher of the KimaniTRU line of books targeting black teen girls, the population of Americans ages 15 to 19 in 2003 was 20 million, a 14 percent increase from 1990. Of that 20 million, 3 million were black and about half were female, with $49 million in buying power. Examples of new titles include Volume 1: The Pox Party, which is about a black teen from Boston raised by radical philosophers during the American Revolution. Another is The Marvelous Effect about Louis Proof, a black 13-year-old from East Orange, N.J., who lapses into a coma and awakens as a superhero.
New Rules Led to Medicaid Decline, Says Study
New documentation requirements caused Medicaid enrollment to decline in many states, but most of the drop-off appears to be among people eligible for coverage--not undocumented immigrants, as thought. A law that took effect July 1, 2006, requires states to obtain evidence of citizenship and nationality when determining whether people are eligible for Medicaid. The Government Accountability Office surveyed states on the impact of the new rules. Twenty-two of 44 states reported enrollment declines, the GAO said Tuesday, and most of those states said the decline was due to delays in coverage or a loss of coverage for eligible citizens. Read more.
Schools Spend More Time on Math, Reading
Roughly two-thirds of elementary schools surveyed by the nonpartisan Center on Education Policy reported increasing math and reading time since the law was passed in 2001. The report, released Wednesday, says that of the districts reporting an increase, elementary schools are spending on average 37 minutes more per day on reading, math or both since No Child Left Behind was passed. Nearly half of the districts said they have cut time in elementary schools for non-tested subjects such as social studies, science, art, music and gym. Read more.
Get a 'Second' Life
When San Francisco software developer Philip Rosedale dreamed up the idea for Second Life in 1998, he never imagined it would have such an impact on the world. Just as Google sexed up the way we search and instant messaging altered the way we interact, Second Life is fast becoming the next red-hot tool on the Internet. Rosedale launched Second Life in 2001, but it got off to a slow start, reaching only 1.5 million registered users in 2006. In the past year, membership has soared to more than 8 million users--2 million having signed on in the last two months alone. This hypergrowth, driven mainly by word of mouth, is now attracting competitors. By 2011, four of every five people who use the Internet will actively participate in Second Life or some similar medium, according to Gartner Research, which recently did a study looking at the investment potential of virtual worlds. Read more.
First Americans Graduate From Free Cuban Med School
Four New Yorkers, three Californians and a Minnesotan, all people of color, have studied in Havana since April 2001, forming the first class of American graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine. One other American previously graduated from the school after transferring from a U.S. university, but the six women and two men graduating Tuesday were the first Americans to complete the entire six-year program since Cuban dictator Fidel Castro offered the free medical training to U.S. students. The offer followed a meeting a delegation from the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus. The curriculum matched much of what is taught at U.S. medical schools, but there was more of an emphasis on preventative medicine. Read more.
Can Richardson Build on Appeal?
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has run a state, served in a president's Cabinet and gone around the globe solving diplomatic crises, but as his presidential bid lags behind Democratic frontrunners Clinton and Obama, he's trying to showcase his record. Richardson's support has climbed in Nevada, Iowa and New Hampshire, where early nominating contests can propel a presidential hopeful to frontrunner status. In an era of rigorous adherence to talking points, Richardson doesn't give the same speech twice. He covers Iraq, energy policy, a "hero's health card" for veterans, the need for more gym classes in schools, balancing the budget, and more. He suggests an "Apollo-like program" to develop energy technology and a "massive federal program" for arts education. Read more.
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