< Previous28 | TALK MAGAZINE • WINTER 2022 TALK ACROSS PA continued from page 9 SCRANTON Library in downtown Scranton, says late fees may soon go away for good. "Many libraries, many of us feel that late fees are an impediment to service. And the people who need us the most are the people who can't afford to pay them," Thomas said. The Lackawanna County Library System has had discussions about following the big wigs like the New York Public Library and abolishing all late fees. "Is this the first step in that direction? I can't say that definitively, but it is going down that road a bit, yes." There are some exemptions to the Auto-Renew program, including books and movies on a wait list, but most library items are eligible. Auto-Renew extends to the Scranton Chil- dren's Library and all the libraries in Lackawanna County. It goes into effect on February 1. PHILADELPHIA Both those issues have since been resolved, but the district has far more repairs to make than capacity and funds to make them, the superinten- dent said. “We try to prioritize the most significant issues, and respond to those issues so that we are both meeting the regulatory requirements for a response but also ensuring that our young people and staff members are safe,” Hite said. Philadelphia has evidence that greater invest- ments lead to better outcomes for students, the plaintiffs’ attorneys said, pointing to the case of Mitchell Elementary in Southwest Philadel- phia. At one point, it was designated one of the district’s lowest-performing schools and placed in the Acceleration Network, given more scrutiny but also more resources — guaranteed reading and math specialists, for instance. Mitchell has flourished, and exited the Acceler- ation Network. That means that soon, it will lose all its extra supports, despite still having a needy student population. “After this year, many of the supports that allowed Mitchell to see the type of success that they received must be moved to other schools that need that level of support,” Hite said. The trial began in November and is expected to last for several more weeks. COLLEGE NEWS continued from page 7 and CEO to Community First Fund. The fund, which will start at $10 million for its first year, will provide loans for 1,000 Black and brown-owned small businesses under 500 employees in the Philadelphia region. A spokesperson said details of how the fund will be split between CDFIs are not yet established, but “grants will be given commensurate with the needs of CDFIs.” The CDFIs that will receive additional direct investment from members of the coalition in the first phase of this initiative are Beech Capital, En- trepreneur Works, Enterprise Capital, WORC, Impact Loan Fund, Neighborhood Progress Fund and VestedIn. “Despite the efforts made in the past year, the help provided to small businesses have not met their needs, especially for minority businesses,” Betan- court said in a statement. “The GPFSLC effort is unique — we are not aware of financial institution leaders coming together at this scale to address such pressing issues.” Black & Brown Business Owners continued from page 11 PENN The law paved the way for the creation of an organization called the 568 Presidents Group, a reference to the section of the America's Schools Act that exempts universities from antitrust laws if they use a need-blind model for admissions. The group of 28 universities meets a few times each year to discuss financial-aid calculations. In addition to Penn, the universities named in the lawsuit are Yale University, Georgetown University, Northwestern University, Brown University, California Institute of Technology, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology, University of Notre Dame, Rice University and Vanderbilt University. Some of the colleges are accused of giving admissions preference to wealthier applicants, particularly the children of wealthy donors. Some universities also allegedly considered the financial situations of wait-listed applicants when making final decisions or filling places in competitive academic programs. "Under a true need-blind admissions system, all students would be admitted without regard to the financial circumstances of the student or student's family," the plaintiffs wrote in the complaint. "Far from following this practice, at least nine Defendants for many years have favored wealthy applicants in the admissions process." The Wall Street Journal reported that as many as 170,000 former undergraduate students, who received partial financial aid at the schools in the lawsuit, could be eligible to join on as plaintiffs. The student would need to have attended the universities within the last 18 years. CALIFORNIA PA Recently, Alston was featured on Franki- eVision, a popular media page with over 100 thousand followers, in a spotlight series that highlights underrated college hoopers. After missing last season due to COVID, Cal U is looking to turn things around and compete for a conference title this year. Sitting at 3-3 in league play, the Vulcans have some work to do to make it back to the top, but Alston and his teammates believe that they can. “I definitely feel like we can win out, but our goals are to win our conference, win our conference tournament then make the NCAA Tournament and win a national championship. I know we also want to be ranked, I don’t know when the last time Cal had a ranked team.” As for his individual goals, Alston still has two years of eligibility left at Cal U after this season, and plans to make the most of them before pursuing his ultimate dreams of playing pro ball. “My main goals right now are to win player of the year for my conference, make the tournament, be an All-American this year, and then eventually play professionally,” he said. “My main goal is the NBA but overseas would be great too.” DUQUESNE The final two years of training will take place at the university’s partner hospitals. Duquesne said it has agreements with several hospitals in western and northwestern Pennsylvania that will offer clinical placements for third-year and fourth-year medical students. “We are excited to receive candidate status from COCA,” said Dr. John Kauffman, dean of the proposed college. “Gaining accreditation is a very involved process. This signifies that we are reaching our goals and our planning work is paying off.” Kauffman said Duquesne’s plan is to recruit students from the region and keep them here. “With a state-of-the-art medical school featuring Pittsburgh as its backdrop, we are excited about the future,” he said. The start of the medical school comes as the region and nation face a shortage of primary care doctors, particularly in underserved areas. Kauffman said the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s immediate plans call for assembling a senior leadership team and coming up with more detailed plans focusing on the curriculum and the building.Wyndham Pittsburgh University Center 100 Lytton Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213 Saturday ~ April 23, 2022 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Please Wear Your Mask Except When Eating 19th Pennsylvania African American Network Convention JOIN US IN-PERSON IN PITTSBURGH ON APRIL 23, 2022 ALIQUIPPA ALTOONA BRIDGEVILLE CANONSBURG DONORA ERIE FARRELL GREENSBURG JOHNSTOWN MCKEES ROCKS MONROEVILLE MON-VALLEY NEW CASTLE PENN HILLS PITTSBURGH ROCHESTER UNIONTOWN WASHINGTON WILKINSBURG BETHLEHEM CARLISLE HANOVER HARRISBURG LANCASTER READING STEELTON YORK ALLENTOWN BRIDGEPORT CHESTER COATESVILLE COLLINGDALE DARBY LANSDOWNE NORRISTOWN PHILADELPHIA SCRANTON YEADONTalk Magazine P.O. Box 143 Monroeville, PA 15146-0143 Phone: 412.823.4007 Email: info@talkmagazineonline.com The LJS Group P.O. 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