In the News

Don Norris, Public Policy, in the Baltimore Sun
The future remains unclear in terms of what Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith will do after leaving office, as he has decided against running for state comptroller in 2010. In the past, he hinted to the Baltimore Sun about running for other statewide offices. Don Norris, public policy professor, thought the decision was surprising – but logical. “It’s not an exciting position,” Norris said. “The comptroller really doesn’t have any opportunity to make policy, and has little opportunity to influence policy.” The article, “Smith says he won’t run for comptroller,” ran Tuesday, July 7.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bal-md.smith07jul07
LaMont Toliver, Meyerhoff Scholars Program, in Black Enterprise
Although African Americans have had great achievements in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the pool of talented professionals is still low. Enrollment numbers in these programs extend back to the high school level, where minority youth are graduating without proper backgrounds in math and science. LaMont Toliver, director of the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, believes exposure to STEM areas should happen earlier. “We are continually counting on people coming out of high school and we really need to be proactive about kindergarten to grade 12 students,” he said. “By the time students are in 10th, 11th and 12th grade, they’ve already created a mindset that they do not want to do math or science or that they can’t. And by then, it could be too late.”
The print article, “Moving the Numbers,” ran in the July issue of Black Enterprise magazine.