(See also: The Oprah Effect)

Stars React to Lack of Female Oscar Nominees

At the 16th annual Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment breakfast, actors decried the dearth of meaty roles for women and said they don't know who will be nominated for an Oscar as a leading lady. "I honestly don't know. This is a toss-up year," said actress Jodie Foster, reports USA Today.

(See also: At the Oscars: I'm Not Celebrating Racial Diversity Just Yet)

Under Fire, Romney Fires Undocumented Lawn Mowers

A year after the Boston Globe revealed that Mitt Romney had undocumented workers cutting his lawn, the former Massachusetts governor and now Republican presidential contender has fired the landscaping company that employed them. Romney, while campaigning, has criticized Republican rivals Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani, in Huckabee's case for trying to grant in-state tuition fees to undocumented people and in Giuliani's case for running a "sanctuary city," reports NPR. Romney fired the landscaping company Tuesday after the Boston Globe again confronted him with evidence that he surreptitiously employed undocumented workers, reports NPR.

(See also: 'Sanctuary City'? More Immigrants, More Political Lunacy)

Special-Education Leader Dies

Sally Smith, founder of the Lab School for kids with disabilities in Washington, D.C., died last weekend. She was 78, reports NPR. Smith started the Lab School in 1967 when no one would teacher her son, who has learning disabilities. Smith's school influenced educators throughout the country. "She had found that through art and through drama, through activity, her child could learn a tremendous amount of information, both academic and content-related," Neela Seldin, head of the primary school at Lab, told NPR. Smith spent her last years trying to spread the Lab School model to other cities. She taught special-education courses at American University, wrote books on special education and served with national groups dedicated to learning disabilities, a field she helped create, reports NPR.

(See also: Special-Education Committee Gets Heat from Parents)

Church Fight Over LGBT Members Goes to Court

Since the Episcopal Church affirmed its first openly gay bishop in 2003, roughly 55 parishes nationwide have split with the denomination to affiliate with more conservative Anglican dioceses in Africa, according to records kept by the national church. The mainline Presbyterian Church in the United States is experiencing the same reaction as a number of its congregations have voted to leave to join the more conservative Evangelical Presbyterian Church, reports The New York Times. The religious rifts are now civil lawsuits over church property causing courts to navigate First Amendment separations of church and state.

Should Cops Check Citizenship Status?

As opposition to undocumented workers swells, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon said he plans to study whether the city's police should also routinely ask the citizenship status of people arrested, reports The New York Times. A number of critics, including bloggers, radio talk-show hosts and the city police union, had urged a change in the policy to reflect a surge of immigration into Arizona in the past two decades after the federal government intensified enforcement of the Mexican border in California and Texas.

(See also: How Does Your State Measure Up on Immigration?)

Hanukkah, Defined by What It Isn't: Christmas

Growing up in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y., meant Hanukkah was the main holiday in the "holiday season" for writer Amy Klein. "Like most families on the block, we placed our menorahs in the front window. We said the blessings, sang Hebrew songs, and played dreidl. We got Chanukah gelt--money, not presents like other kids in my class," Klein writes on National Public Radio. Klein's father told her that presents are for Christmas, not Hanukkah. "That's how Chanukah was in America, even in the recesses of religious Brooklyn; still defined by what it was not: not Christmas." When Klein moved to Israel the tables were switched. There, Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Succot and Passover are national holidays. When she moved back to the United States, Klein was hit with the realization that the "holiday season" is really about Christmas and shopping. "Okay, so it's not really the shopping that bothers me, but the sensation that there's a giant party to which everyone but me is invited," she writes.

Read Religion in the Workplace: Muslims, Gays & Fundamentalists from the Nov./Dec. 2007 issue of DiversityInc magazine to learn best practices for engaging and accommodating people of all faiths at work.

Bank of America Discrimination Lawsuit Moves Forward

A federal judge determined that a lawsuit against Bank of America is allowed to proceed in Massachusetts court, reports The Charlotte Observer. The lawsuit, which is seeking but has not been granted class-action status, alleges the bank practiced racial discrimination against blacks in pay, territorial assignments, promotion, training, resources and business opportunities. Five plaintiffs allege the company focused them in "largely minority and/or low net-worth" areas. When they complained, they allegedly were told the bank's clients are more "comfortable" dealing with sales professionals of their own race and black clients are not "sophisticated," "competent," or "savvy," according to the complaint. Bank of America vehemently denies the allegations.