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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: literacy

literacy stories: 14 news summaries

 'Candid' 
 Laura Bush 
 Tells Her Story 

Met with historians to discuss her little-known legacy

May 24, 09 10:14 AM CDT
(Newser) - Shortly before the election last November, Laura Bush sought to shape her somewhat hazy legacy. The former first lady spoke to historians, reporters, and other DC insiders in a 3-hour “legacy lunch,” at which she was called “candid,” “funny,” and “open” as she... More »

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women's rights • Laura Bush • literacy • history • historian • first lady • legacy

(Newser) - Less than 10% of blind Americans know how to read Braille, and just 10% of blind children are being taught the printed language, the AP reports. A study by the National Federation of the Blind also pegs Braille illiteracy to unemployment. While the blind population faces 70% unemployment overall, that... More »

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education • literacy • blindness • unemployment • National Federation for the Blind • Louis Braille • print

(Newser) - Howard Dean didn't get the health cabinet post he wanted, and doesn't want the job that's open—surgeon general—but is pushing President Obama's health-care plan just the same, the Washington Times reports. "Democrats can’t cave," says the former doc. Obama’s plan is "perfect,"... More »

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alternative energy • Rush Limbaugh • Howard Dean • literacy • Rahm Emanuel • Democratic National Committee • health care reform • Obama administration • Bill Maher Grid

 32M Lack Basic Reading Skills 

Study says Illiteracy crisis getting worse

Jan 9, 09 8:18 AM CST
(Newser) - One in seven American adults in the US—about 32 million people—have such low literacy skills that they cannot read a newspaper story or a prescription bottle, a new federal study says. "They really cannot read paragraphs (or) sentences that are connected," says an Education Department researcher.... More »

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Florida • immigration • California • New York • Department of Education • literacy • Mississippi • Nevada • learning disabilities • National Assessment of Adult Literacy • ProLiteracy

(Newser) - New York may be America's cultural capital, but Seattle and Minneapolis top the list as the nation's most literate cities, reports LiveScience.  The rankings are based on newspaper, magazine, and online news readership, library usage, book purchases, and educational levels. The two cities also topped the list last year.... More »

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newspaper • Minneapolis • San Francisco • Atlanta • Boston • Washington DC • Denver • St. Louis • literacy • libraries • Seattle • Cincinnati • book • online newspapers • Portland, Oregon • readership • St Paul • Central Connecticut State University • Jack Miller

(Newser) - Even for a seasoned actress like Kate Winslet, the role of Nazi guard Hannah Schmitz in The Reader was a game-changer, writes Brad Balfour in the Huffington Post. “I sort of walked away like some car crash victim who somehow hadn't been hurt on the outside,” Winslet... More »

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film • Holocaust • literacy • character • movies • Kate Winslet • Ralph Fiennes • The Reader

 Interviewers Let 
 Palin Off the 
 Hook: Couric 

Couric wonders why Palin wouldn't answer reading question

Nov 20, 08 9:37 AM CST
(Newser) - Sarah Palin’s non-answer to Katie Couric’s question about what periodicals she reads still has the CBS anchor puzzled. Couric visited with David Letterman last night, and he quizzed her about why post-election interviewers haven’t asked the VP wannabe about her non-response, Gawker reports. Meanwhile, Letterman has a... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Katie Couric • politics • literacy • David Letterman • campaign • Election 2008 • Sarah Palin

OPINION

Laura Bush's Feminist Agenda Is Anything
but Demure

First lady quietly used her clout for every lady

Oct 29, 08 8:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - You don’t hear much about Laura Bush, probably because her “demure librarian-teacher persona has minimized her appeal,” but women around the world owe a lot to the first lady, writes Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post. Bush has campaigned for breast cancer awareness in the Middle... More »

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breast cancer • feminism • Laura Bush • literacy • Bush legacy • Aung San Suu Kyi • first lady

Glossies

 Death of Reading 
 Greatly Exaggerated 

Author Eggers pooh-poohs skeptical pundits, says it's 'as alive as ever'

Sep 29, 08 4:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Our bleak outlook on the future of reading owes itself to a doomsday reflex, the pervasive belief that things are bound to get worse, author Dave Eggers writes in Esquire. "It must be true, we think—just yesterday I saw some kid on the bus, and he wasn't reading... More »

MORE ABOUT:
literacy • reading • youth • book • children's books • Dave Eggers • publishing industry • 826 Valencia

Depressed Dads Make Kids
Less Literate

Sad fathers don't read as much to babies, whose vocabs suffer

May 7, 08 1:20 PM CDT
(Newser) - About 10% of new fathers show signs of clinical depression—a rate twice that of other men—and that can have a noticeable effect on their children, an American Psychiatric Association study finds. Sad dads interact less with their progeny, which means less bedtime reading and a smaller vocabulary by... More »

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fatherhood • parenting • depression • literacy • reading • infant • vocabulary • toddler

Eating Isn't Only Healthy Benefit of Family Dinner

Structured, deep interaction at meals yields adjusted kids

Feb 7, 08 1:18 PM CST
(Newser) - Studies in the 1990s showed that regular family dinners made kids less likely to do drugs, smoke or have psychological problems, but a closer look now finds that it's what goes on during those meals—strong verbal interaction, parents showing interest in their children—that really counts in the youngsters'... More »

MORE ABOUT:
family • literacy • reading

Survey: Minneapolis the Most Literate US City

Researchers looked at 69 major metropolitan areas

Dec 29, 07 6:25 AM CST
(Newser) - New York may be the US city with the most literary pretensions, but the nation's most literate city it's not, a new survey finds. Minneapolis takes the honors as most literate large metropolitan area in a Central Connecticut State University survey reported in LiveScience. The nine runners-up are, in order:... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Internet • Minneapolis • publishing • literacy • libraries

Is Our Children Reading?

No, and neither are teenagers and adults, new study finds

Nov 19, 07 12:46 PM CST
(Newser) - As far as young people are concerned, books are so 20th century. Reading's popularity has fallen as gadgets have taken over modern life, according to a new National Endowment for the Arts report. Only a third of high school seniors read at a proficient level. “And proficiency is not... More »

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children • literacy • reading • book • National Endowment for the Arts

India Short On Skilled Workers

Despite the tech boom, a third of the country
is still illiterate

Apr 9, 07 10:42 AM CDT
(Newser) - Why is India short on skilled labor when it's teeming with Ph.D.s? While the staggering growth of its tech industry seems to have put the country in the running for the world’s next superpower, James Surowiecki observes that the Bengal tiger could be made of paper. Thirty... More »

MORE ABOUT:
education • India • globalization • labor • literacy • tech industry

14 Stories


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