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Abuse, Fondling? What's Going On at Oprah's School?

A teary Oprah Winfrey apologized to students and parents after reports surfaced that the matron of a new leadership academy that Oprah opened for girls in South Africa allegedly fondled one of the students, and others purportedly suffered physical abuse. Winfrey has visited her school at Henley-on-Klip near Vereeniging at least twice since the allegations became public, reports News24.com. Although many of the parents say they don't fault Winfrey, she assured them the incident will be thoroughly investigated and gave the students her personal telephone number and e-mail address in case of emergency.

(See also: Oprah Bashing: Why Is Her S. Africa School Under Fire?)

New Mental Healthcare: Good, But Not Good Enough

Senators last month unanimously passed a bill that would require insurance companies to have the same fees and co-pays for mental-health treatment as for the treatment of other diseases, give the same access to medicine, and have the same annual and lifetime caps and limits, reports Reuters. The new legislation, if enacted, exempts businesses with 50 or fewer workers, does not affect the Medicare health program for the elderly, and doesn't increase access for the 47 million uninsured. Advocacy groups are unsure if the new legislation, if enacted, would have a significant impact. But is it better than nothing?  

Is Missouri Gov. Guilty of Racial Profiling?

Gov. Mike Blount is doing what he thinks is best to solve the undocumented-worker problem in his state of Missouri. In late August, he ordered Missouri Highway Patrol agents to check the immigration status of everyone presented for incarceration and ordered the Missouri Department of Economic Development to check the immigration status of workers employed by contractors who get state incentives, reports The Associated Press. While Blount's initiatives to crack down on undocumented immigration in the state have turned up fewer undocumented workers than expected, the governor's witch hunt has some business owners worried that the new policies are one step from racial profiling and feel virtually helpless when it comes to verifying information submitted by Latino applicants.

(See also: Raids in 6 States May Be Largest Ever)

Obama's 'Lost Years' Raise Questions

What do you get when you have a presidential hopeful who is mum about his years spent in the city that never sleeps? Questions. Inquiring minds want details of Sen. Barack Obama's stint as a student at Columbia College and working life in New York during the early '80s. Offering little more than slight mentions to incidents while in the Big Apple, Obama has denied requests for his transcripts and describes his time at Columbia this way: "I spent a lot of time in the library. I didn't socialize that much. I was like a monk," reports The New York Times. While he is described as a scholar by his professors and hardly remembered by his peers, Obama's vagueness during his years in New York has many asking questions. What won't he talk about?

(See also: Face to Face With Barack Obama: He Talks Education, Healthcare, Unions)

What's Ward Connerly Doing in Missouri?

Missouri civil-right activists are gearing up for a battle with conservative Ward Connerly over affirmative action, set to go down next November. A proposed amendment would eliminate race-based recruitment and admissions programs at state colleges and universities, scholarships designated for women or people of color and state requirements to hire or contract with minority- and women-owned businesses, reports KCUR. Connerly has been pivotal in banning affirmative action in state employment and contracting in education in Washington state, California and, most recently, Michigan. If the amendment passes, Missouri will be the fourth state where Connerly has succeeded. Does he stand a chance, and why is he saying he might back off?

(See also: The End of Affirmative Action? Who Can Stop Ward Connerly? and Ending Affirmative Action: Ward Connerly's Big Plans for 2008)

Southern State Schools Flooded By Poverty

For the first time in nearly 40 years, poor children are the majority of southern schools, reports the Houston Chronicle. Eleven southern states, including Louisiana and Mississippi, saw a significant increase in the number of poor children attending public school, which has many school officials scampering to find the best-educated kids from economically disadvantaged homes. In 2000, Mississippi's highest per-pupil expenditures were $5,631; Connecticut's lowest per-pupil expenditure for the same year was $8,030. Educational experts hope promoting proper early childhood education will help all students, regardless of income level, to succeed.

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