The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is working with the Small Business Administration, Southern University, and Xavier University on a workshop to be held at Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA, later this year to be announced. The National Workshop on Entrepreneurship for Historically Black Colleges and Universities will target African-American students with the specific goal of creating an awareness among students about business ownership as one of their options for the future. Lee Allen, who serves as the National Black Chamber of Commerce's (NBCC) national federal liaison, hopes to have input on the NBCC planning committee and get interested African-American businesses involved. The National Institute of Health has awarded the Office of Minority Affairs at the University of Florida College of Medicine a five-year grant of $463,380 to fund the short-term Minority Research Training Program. This will allow a group of 15 minority students in their junior year and above to participate each summer in a 10-12 week research project conducted by the College of  Medicine faculty.

The City College of New York's School of Education has received a $153,350 grant from the United States Department of Education's Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology program. The grant will enhance the capacity of education and liberal arts faculty, who are involved in teacher preparation to integrate the latest technology into teacher training. The ultimate goal is to implement a new technology-rich teacher preparation program at CCNY for full implementation by September 2000.

The National Black Programmers Coalition (NBPC) held its 22^nd annual conference in New Orleans on Nov.17-20, 1999. One of the highlights was the organization's awarding of $3,000 scholarships to 16 students at 13 predominately Black Colleges and Universities. The  scholarship recipients were chosen by their respective college/university communications departments based on their GPAs and commitment to community service. The NBPC is concerned with the future direction of Black radio and wanted to ensure African Americans in the business were instrumental in decision-making and even ownership. Their specific goals were to establish a scholarship fund for Black Colleges and Universities in need of financial assistance.

NBA star Grant Hill, (right) who has close ties to New Orleans, visited Dillard University's campus last fall and announced he would be establishing the Grant Hill Endowment. This will finance scholarships to Dillard in memory of his grandfather, Malcolm McDonald, who was a long-time resident of New Orleans, and a strong supporter of Dillard University. The total amount of his gift to the university was $84,700.

Southwestern College, located near Wichita, Kansas, made history when it became the first in the state to distribute laptop computers (IBM Think Pads) to its 150-member freshman class. It joined the less than three dozen colleges and universities in the United States in launching fully-linked laptop campuses significantly increasing communication between faculty and students.

INROADS will be implementing a new program for students of color planning to attend law school in 2000 or 2001 called the INROADS Law Internship Program. The program's goal is to encourage greater technical excellence and academic preparation for students of color in the field of  law. The internship would be paid, and students will intern with a law firm during their last summer of college and on into law school. The ultimate goal would be to place the student with the law firm they intern with. To qualify for this internship, a student must be a minority and have a 3.0 GPA.

Dillard University and Xavier University of Louisiana have each received five-year development grants from the Kresge Foundation of Troy, MI, and the Southern Education Foundation of Atlanta. The grants, $2 million for Dillard and $1.95 million for Xavier, will allow both schools to boost their endowments by improving their development programs. These were highly competitive grants. Sixty-three historically Black colleges and universities nationally applied for the funds. Xavier and Dillard were two among the five chosen.

The Jackson State University Office of Research and Development received more than $15.2 million in external funding for the period of July 1 through Nov. 30,1999, including $5.45 million for educational and training programs and nearly $1.7 million for HIV/AIDS and STD reduction, intervention, and prevention projects. Dr. Felix Okojie, interim vice president for research and development at the Jackson, MS-based university, is excited about the additional funding that has been generated by faculty and staff to support the research efforts of the university. He feels confident that they will reach their goal of $50 million in external funding for sponsored programs in the near future.

Dr. George Campbell, Jr. (right) has the honor of being selected the first African-American president of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, effective July 1, 2000. Dr. Campbell has previously led the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering (NACME), a not-for- profit corporation committed to increasing access to careers in science-based disciplines for 10 years. During his tenure at NACME, Dr. Campbell gained national prominence as an advocate for both quality and equality in science, mathematics, and engineering education. Under his leadership, the organization developed new processes for identifying students with academic promise and won both the 1998 President's Award for Excellence and the 1998 U.S. Department of Labor EPIC Award for Exemplary Public Interest Contribution. NACME is the nation's largest private source of scholarships for minorities in engineering, having supported 10 percent of all African-American, Latino, and American-Indian engineers, who have graduated since 1980.

Howard University has been awarded a $359,970 grant from the Aetna Foundation Quality Care Research Fund of the Academic Medicine and Managed Care Forum to support an asthma education and counseling project for District of Columbia residents. Dr. Floyd J. Malveaux, vice president for health affairs and dean, College of Medicine, will serve as the grant's principal investigator. The grant will fund the "Strategies for Asthma Management in Inner City Subject" study designed to help facilitate patient education and asthma management skills to a target population of District residents from six wards in the area.