Dr. Kimberly Moffitt, Professor of American Studies, was the guest host for The Marc Steiner Show’s “Weekly News Roundup,” which aired on Friday, July 26.

Dr. Moffitt was joined by panelists E.R. Shipp, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and Journo-in-Residence at Morgan State University, and Dr. Avis A. Jones-DeWeever, President and CEO of Incite Unlimited, LLC., to discuss the decline in the latest Maryland State Assessment scores and the existing achievement gaps based on race. Panelists and callers also commented on the repercussions of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on voting rights and the Justice Department’s role in pursuing legal action against voting rights cases throughout the nation.

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Catonsville is seeing a change in its demographics – and this is nothing new, according to UMBC American Studies professor, Ed Orser. In recent years, the 21228 zip code has seen a noticeable influx of younger single families looking to plant their roots in the quaint Baltimore suburb, leading to a revival in the housing market and increased enrollment in local schools, the article cites.

This isn’t the first time Catonsville has seen a demographic shift that brings a surge of school-age children to the area. The current boost is similar to the one from a century ago, Orser said. “Catonsville has this sort of unique blend. There is sort of an old character, it’s a historic community and people come and they stay.”

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There are tight controls on the NSA’s access to U.S. phone records and data from U.S. Internet companies, the agency’s director says.

The National Security Agency’s collection of phone records and Internet data from U.S. companies provides a model for other nations, the agency’s director, General Keith Alexander, said today at a prominent computer security conference in Las Vegas.