Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups

"Status and Trends in the Education of Racial and Ethnic Groups examines the educational progress and challenges students face in the United States by race/ethnicity. This report shows that over time, students in the racial/ethnic groups of White, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Two or more races have completed high school and continued their education in college in increasing numbers. Despite these gains, the rate of progress has varied among these racial/ethnic groups and differences by race/ethnicity persist in terms of increases in attainment and progress on key indicators of educational performance..."
Education- racial & ethnic grouups

Digest of Education Statistics: 2015

"The Introduction provides a brief overview of current trends in American education, highlighting key data that are presented in more detail later in this volume. Topics outlined include the participation of students, teachers, and faculty in U.S. educational institutions; the performance of U.S. elementary/secondary students overall and in comparison to students in other countries; the numbers of high school graduates and postsecondary degrees; and the amounts of expenditures on education at the elementary/secondary and postsecondary levels.

In fall 2015, about 75.8 million people were enrolled in American schools and colleges (table 105.10). About 4.6 million people were employed as elementary and secondary school teachers or as college faculty, in full-time equivalents (FTE). Other professional, administrative, and support staff at educational institutions totaled 5.3 million FTE employees. All data for 2015 in this Introduction are projected, except for data on educational attainment. Some data for other years are projected or estimated as noted. In discussions of historical trends, different time periods and specific years are cited, depending on the timing of important changes as well as the availability of relevant data..."

Digest of Education Statistics

Profile of the labor force by educational attainment

"Increased education is associated with both higher wages and lower unemployment. This Spotlight on Statistics highlights how that relationship has changed over time and examines additional detail on educational attainment.

The charts and analysis that follow illustrate historical and current statistics from the Current Population Survey on the U.S. labor force for people age 25 years and older by educational attainment, defined as the highest diploma or degree received at the time the survey was conducted..."

Labor force and education

Battery Gun" By Richard Jordan Gatling, 1865

"Officially adopted by the U.S. Army on August 21, 1866, the Gatling gun was the first successful rapid-fire repeating gun. Invented by Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling, a physician, the first model of his "Battery Gun" was patented on May 9, 1865, and had six barrels revolving around a central axis. It proved superior to other rapid-fire guns of the time and, for more than 40 years, the Gatling gun was used by almost every world power..."
Gatling Gun

The True Story of the Short-Lived State of Franklin

"As the story of the lost State of Franklin shows, the American Revolution left some western communities in complicated circumstances.

After the war was won, communities west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi didn't default to becoming part of the United States. "It was never assumed," writes Jason Farr in The Tennessee Historical Quarterly. Instead, those communities “had the option of creating jurisdictions within existing states, forming new states within the union, or creating their own sovereign republics.” The residents of Franklin chose the middle option, feeling, as George Washington himself feared, that they had become “a distinct people” from those in the Atlantic states who fought for independence. The story of Franklin highlights how uncertain the early Union was and the rocky relationship between the original 13 Atlantic states and the West.

“There was little concern for western political and economic interests during the Confederation era,” Farr writes, “especially among the northeastern elite. Some even assumed that frontier communities would remain outside the union.” But when Franklin officially declared independence, as it did in 1784 starting with a conference on this day, it showed that the Founders had to pay more attention to the west...."
State of Franklin

A Look Inside Food Deserts

"If you struggle with finding affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk and other healthy foods, the important thing to remember is that you can still take steps to improve your diet.

Food Deserts Explained

Food deserts are areas that lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and other foods that make up the full range of a healthy diet.

Are There Food Deserts in the United States?

According to a report by the US Department of Agriculture, a small percentage of American consumers are limited in their ability to access affordable, nutritious foods because they live far from a supermarket or large grocery store and do not have easy access to transportation.

How Does Food Access Affect Your Health?

Limited access to affordable, healthier foods is one factor that may make it harder for some Americans to eat a healthy diet and could negatively affect their health..."
Food deserts

5 Things You Should Know About Epilepsy

"How much do you know about epilepsy? Get the facts!

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes repeated seizures. There are many different types of epilepsy and many different kinds of seizures. Epilepsy can get in the way of life, mostly when seizures keep happening.   To control their seizures, people with epilepsy may take medicine, have surgery, or follow a special diet. Here’s what you need to know:

#1   Epilepsy is common.

In fact, you probably know a few people with epilepsy. A new CDC studyhas found that the number of people with active epilepsy (which means the person with epilepsy is under treatment or has had recent seizures) has increased compared to findings from 2007 and 2010.  In 2015, about 3 million adults (age 18 and older) and 470,000 children (age 17 years or younger) had active epilepsy in the United States—that’s 3.4 million people.¹ Think of a football stadium that seats 80,000 – that means about 900 people could have epilepsy...."

Epilespy

Healthy Contact Lens Wear

"You only have one pair of eyes, so take care of them! Taking proper care of your contact lenses can help you see better and keep your eyes healthy.

When cared for properly, contact lenses can provide a safe and effective way to correct vision. More than 45 million Americans wear contact lenses. However, contact lenses can increase your chance of getting an eye infection—especially if you do not care for them the right way.

Healthy Habits = Healthy Eyes

You can enjoy the comfort and benefits of contact lenses while lowering your chance of an eye infection. Follow your eye doctor’s instructions for how to wear, clean, and store your lenses to lower the chance of getting germs in your eyes that could cause infections. Contact lens-related eye infections can lead to long-lasting damage to your eyesight. Even minor infections can be painful and disrupt day-to-day life. Your contact lens wear and care habits, supplies, and eye doctor are all essential to keeping your eyes healthy..."
Contact lens

School Starts Soon—Is Your Child Fully Vaccinated?

"School-age children – from preschoolers to college students – need vaccines. Getting your child all their vaccinations on time is one of the most important things you can do as a parent to ensure your children’s long-term health—as well as the health of friends, classmates, and others in your community.

CDC has online resources and tools to help you make sure your kids are up to date on recommended vaccines and protected from serious diseases. Use the childhood vaccine quiz to see what vaccines your child needs, at any age. If you find out your child needs any vaccines to protect them against any of the 16 serious diseases, schedule a visit with your doctor to get caught up..."

School vaccines

Global Trends in Terrorism: 1970-2016 (Working draft)

"Terrorism has become one of the dominating national security threats of the 21st century. It is also one of the most complex — mixing the actions of states, extremists, and other non-state actors in a wide range of threats and types of conflicts. Terrorists range from individuals carrying out scattered terrorist acts, to international terrorist networks of non-state actors, to state terrorism including the use of conventional forces and poison gas to terrorize portions of a civil population. Terrorism has also become a key aspect of civil war, insurgency/counterinsurgency, and asymmetric warfare, as well as ideological, ethnic, and religious warfare.

There is no easy way to categorize the resulting patterns of violence, to measure their rise, or to set national security priorities. For more than a decade, the U.S. has focused on the threat of terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq, but it has dealt increasingly with the expansion of the threat into North Africa, other parts of the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world. Key warfighting threats like the Islamic State and its affiliates, and the Taliban and Haqqani Network, are only a comparatively small part of the rising threat in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia..."
Global Terrorism

19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote

"Passed by Congress June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920, the 19th amendment guarantees all American women the right to vote. Achieving this milestone required a lengthy and difficult struggle; victory took decades of agitation and protest. Beginning in the mid-19th century, several generations of woman suffrage supporters lectured, wrote, marched, lobbied, and practiced civil disobedience to achieve what many Americans considered a radical change of the Constitution. Few early supporters lived to see final victory in 1920...."
19th Constitutional amendment

Adults With Chronic Conditions: Get Vaccinated.

"Vaccines are an important step in protecting adults against serious, sometimes deadly, diseases. Even if you were vaccinated at a younger age, the protection from some vaccines can wear off with time, or the viruses or bacteria that the vaccines protect against change so your resistance is not as strong. As you get older, you may also be at risk for vaccine-preventable diseases due to your age, job, hobbies, travel, or health conditions.

CDC recommends that all adults get the following vaccines:

• Influenza (flu) vaccine every year to protect against seasonal flu.
• Td vaccine every 10 years to protect against tetanus.
• Tdap vaccine once instead of Td vaccine to protect against tetanus and diphtheria plus pertussis (whooping cough) and during each pregnancy for women.
• Other vaccines you need as an adult are determined by factors such as age, lifestyle, job, health condition, and vaccines you have had in the past. Vaccines you need may include those that protect against: shingles, human papillomavirus (which can cause certain cancers), pneumococcal disease, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A and hepatitis B, chickenpox (varicella), measles, mumps, and rubella...."

Chronic conditions and vaccinations

Valley Fever Awareness

"Valley fever is a fungal lung infection that can be devastating. Learning about Valley fever can help you and your doctor recognize the symptoms early.

Valley fever is an infection caused by a fungus that lives in the soil. About 10,000 U.S. cases are reported each year, mostly from Arizona and California. Valley fever can be misdiagnosed because its symptoms are similar to those of other illnesses. Here are some important things to know about Valley fever, also called coccidioidomycosis.

From soil to lungs

The fungus that causes Valley fever, Coccidioides, is found in the southwestern United States, parts of Mexico and Central America, and parts of South America. The fungus has also been found in south-central Washington State. People can get Valley fever by breathing in the microscopic fungal spores from the air in these areas. Valley fever does not spread from person to person..."
Valley fever

National Diabetes Statistic Report, 2017

"Diabetes cases are beginning to level off, but the number is still enormous: more than 100 million people in the United States have diabetes or prediabetes. Much work still needs to be done.

In July, CDC’s Division of Diabetes Translation (DDT) released the National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2017. The report presents the “state of the disease” in our nation, providing the most recent scientific data on:

• Diabetes incidence (new cases)
• Diabetes prevalence (existing cases)
• Short- and long-term complications
• Risk factors for complications
• Prediabetes
• Mortality (death rate)
• Costs..."

Diabetes statistics

Protect Your Eyes During a Solar Eclipse

"The Sun in Your Eyes
Looking directly at the sun without the correct eye protection, even for a short time, can cause permanent damage to your retinas, a light-sensitive part of the eye that transmits what you see to your brain. Damage can occur without pain, and it can take a few hours or even a few days after viewing the eclipse to have symptoms of damage, which include not being able to see colors as well and loss of central vision, with only side vision remaining. If you notice any symptoms after viewing the solar eclipse, seek immediate help from your eye care professional.

Safe Watching

The only way to look directly at the sun when it’s not eclipsed or is only partly eclipsed is with a special solar filter, such as eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer. Goggles, homemade filters, or sunglasses, even very dark ones, will not protect your eyes. Also, always avoid looking at the sun through an unfiltered camera, smartphone, telescope, or any other optical device. You’ll need to add a certified solar filter to these devices to safely look at the sun.

Eclipse glasses and handheld solar viewers are inexpensive and can be purchased from many retailers. However, not all meet the required ISO 12312-2 international safety standards; make sure yours do. Even if your eclipse glasses meet the safety standards, don’t use them if:

• The lenses are scratched.
• The lenses are wrinkled.
• They are older than 3 years...."
  Solar Eclipse