In traditional Democratic stronghold Harlem, barrage of protesters greets Obama

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY – Barack Obama, CC ’83, became the first sitting president to visit Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater Thursday night. But in his second visit to Harlem since taking office, Obama was met by fierce protests.

Obama carried 95 percent of the African-American vote in 2008, according to CNN exit polls. But the heavily black community which W. E. B. Du Bois and Hubert Harrison called home hardly seemed well-disposed to Obama Thursday night.

Laurie Wen, a Morningside Heights resident and activist for Healthcare For The 99%, an Occupy Wall Street working group, said that Obama’s visit felt like a stab in the back.

–The Columbia Spectator
By Shayna Orens

Law professor argues pregnancy should be considered disability

THE UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON – University of Dayton law professor Jeannette Cox is making national headlines with her proposal that pregnant women should be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Cox said she wants to see the workplace reinvented to include a larger scope of people. Her paper, “Pregnancy as a ‘disability’ and Americans with Disabilities Act of 2008,” will be published in March, but is available on the Social Science Research Network’s website.

“I think the strongest reaction has been from a feminist perspective, because they’re concerned with linking pregnancy to disability,” Cox said. “Disability shouldn’t be considered a negative thing. People who are deaf make wonderful employees if they have the proper accommodations.”

Natalie Hudson, a UD political science assistant professor, said she has done research in gender studies, human rights and women’s activism. She said considering pregnancy as a disability is an improper way to confront the issue of pregnancy discrimination in the workplace.

Cox will present her paper during UD Disabilities Awareness week on Feb. 17.

–Flyer News
By Sara Dorn

‘America is open for business,’ Obama says at Disney World

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY – ORLANDO, Fla. -— President Barack Obama‘s visit Thursday to Walt Disney World is as much an appeal to Brazilians and their dollars as it is Florida voters and their jobs. But it was a brief one, highlighted by a speech that lasted just 13 minutes.

As expected, Obama announced he intends to expand the U.S. State Department’s Global Entry Program for trusted international visitors; expand and accelerate visa application processing for such countries as Brazil, India and China; and attempt to add more countries to the Visa Waiver Program that allows foreigners from 36 countries to skip the visa process.

The moves all are designed to make it easier for international travelers to visit the United States.

“I’m here because I want tourists here tomorrow,” he concluded. “I want America to be the top tourist destination in the world.”

Republican presidential front runner Mitt Romney didn’t miss a chance to take a shot, ridiculing the trip as another stop in “fantasyland” for the president.

–The Daily Titan
By David Mclaren