CNN Pushes Back on Ted Cruz Allegation

Media Said to Downplay Asian American Problems

"African-American students and others at MU were quite vocal last fall in protesting a climate of racism and discrimination on campus,"Sean Na reported Wednesday for the Columbia Missourian.

"Their continued demonstrations, including Concerned Student 1950's protest during the Homecoming parade and its days-long campout on the Mel Carnahan Quadrangle, helped lead to the resignation of former University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe and, in part, to then-MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin.

"Although MU's Asian students will say anecdotally that they experience the same types of racist episodes that African-Americans do, they also are reluctant to report them. Russell Hsu, a third-year journalism student and vice president of the Taiwanese Student Association, said one reason for the generally passive attitude of Asian students is their 'fear of persecution' from non-Asian peers.

"'We don’t have that many people whom we know anyway,' Hsu said. 'So, our social circles are a lot tighter. So, you don't want to offend anybody and (get) everything broken up.'

"Zack Morrison is president of the Asian American Association, the largest Asian student organization at MU. He said the media's portrayal of Asians and the way Asian parents raise their children might explain why Asians' concerns are under-reported.

"'It ties back to representation in the media,' Morrison said. 'We are always treated as the silent model minority. We always have to do good. We have to be the best at math, and we can't be troublemakers.' . . ."

Sinclair Establishes $500G Scholarship Fund for Minorities

"Sinclair Broadcast Group has established a $500,000 scholarship fund to help minority students finance their undergraduate studies related to broadcasting or journalism," TVNewsCheck reported Wednesday.

"'This fund complements our existing widespread internship program,' said Don Thompson, Sinclair SVP of human resources. 'We have long-standing relationships with numerous colleges, including historically black colleges and universities in markets where we have stations. These relationships are a great source for talent, and many student interns become full-time employees.

"This scholarship fund is another way for us to invest in the future of broadcast television, by ensuring that students dedicated to careers in broadcasting can complete their educations.'

"Sinclair's goal is to distribute up to $50,000 per year in grants of up to $5,000 each. The fund is open to minority students enrolled at an accredited four-year college and who have a demonstrated financial need. Additional qualifications will be set forth in the scholarship application, which will be available this spring on the Sinclair website (www.sbgi.net). The first grants will be awarded by the summer of 2016, applicable toward fall 2016 tuition. . . ."

Photographer Captures "Humanity" of Colombia's FARC

"The guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, have been at war against the Colombian state for five decades, one of the word’s longest-running insurgencies,"Kirk Semple reported Tuesday for the New York Times "Lens" blog.

"The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, cost the state many billions of dollars, fractured the nation and destabilized the entire region.

"But negotiations that began in Havana in 2012 have now brought the possibility of peace into sharper focus than ever. The sides have reached tentative agreements on a range of key issues and set a March 23 deadline for a final deal.

"Since the talks began, Federico Rios, 35, a Colombian photographer who lives in Medellín, has made several trips into the Colombian hinterlands to spend time with the rebels and photograph them. His aim, he said, was to demystify them and 'capture the humanity' of the group's fighters during what may well be the insurgency’s final days before they lay down their arms. . . ."