---Author Harriette Cole offers advice for a new generation in "Sense & Sensitivity"
There's a new voice offering sound, supportive advice: Harriette Cole. Beginning July 29, best-selling author/entrepreneur Cole will provide advice to readers three times each week in her Q&A column Sense & Sensitivity, available through United Feature Syndicate. Sense & Sensitivity has appeared in the New York Daily News since 2001. Cole provides modern advice for problems ranging from questions about etiquette, to relationship issues, to tough topics like depression. She answers readers' questions with empathy and a positive attitude. She authored the bestseller Jumping the Broom: The African-American Wedding Planner (Henry Holt & Co., 1993) and How to Be (Simon & Schuster, 1999), a guide to living with grace and integrity. United Feature Syndicate is a division of United Media, the information and entertainment company that develops and markets 150 comic strips and editorial features worldwide, including Miss Manners, Working Wounded, Peanuts and Dilbert. United Media (www.unitedfeatures.com ) is a wholly owned subsidiary of The E.W. Scripps Company. For more information on the column, contact Lkuczwaj@unitedmedia.com.

---Catalyst finds women of color are moving up the corporate ladder---Many women of color are taking charge of their careers, networking, finding mentors and moving up the corporate ladder as a result. Improved career strategies and accompanying success is the theme of the new Catalyst study, Women of Color in Corporate Management: Three Years Later, the first longitudinal look at the experiences of women of color in the workplace. In a study of 368 women over a three-year period between 1998 and 2001, Catalyst finds that 57 percent have been promoted and overall income is up 37 percent. Building on Catalyst's groundbreaking research on women of color in corporate management, Catalyst tracked a core group of women of color managers over the past three years to chart their career movement and outline their steps to success. Although current job and career satisfaction is high, these women do perceive a decline in opportunities to advance to senior leadership and are less satisfied with their prospects for further advancement at their current employer.

---NAHJ dismayed with newsroom survey findings---
The National Association of Hispanic Journalists is dismayed and alarmed by an apparent reversal in minority employment progress within the news departments of our nation's television and radio stations, as revealed by the latest Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA) annual survey of employment. The RTNDA survey found that the percentage of people of color working in television newsrooms dropped from an all-time high of 24.6 percent in 2000 to 20.6 percent last year. African American, Asian American and Native American journalists all experienced declines, but the most dramatic slide occurred among Latinos, who plummeted from 10.1 percent to 7.7 percent of newsroom employees -- a drop of more than 20 percent in just one year. The RTNDA survey also noted that a sharp decline in the percentage of journalists of color working at radio stations started with the elimination of the Federal Communications Commission's Equal Employment Opportunity Regulations.

---African Methodist Episcopal Church announce homeownership initiative---Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., a national leader in residential finance, and the 5th District African Methodist Episcopal Church announced the Financial Literacy and Homeownership Program. The program is expected to generate $30 million in new mortgages and create more than 400 new homeowners in the 15 states served by the 5th District AME Church. The Financial Literacy and Homeownership Program is one of many educational and outreach initiatives under the umbrella of Countrywide's One Hundred Billion Dollar Challenge, a $100 billion commitment to increasing homeownership among low income and minority home buyers by 2005. In addition to holding financial literacy and homeownership workshops, Countrywide will provide access to mortgage financing for eligible consumers through both its retail and wholesale divisions. In most areas of the 5th District, Countrywide's retail branches will provide a broad spectrum of loan products to fit consumers' needs. Countrywide will also explore with the Church the creation of mortgage brokerage entities that will be affiliated with the local churches in communities where the 5th District AME Church has large constituencies. Significant technical assistance will be provided by Countrywide to enhance the operation of these brokerage entities.

---Saluting General Benjamin O. Davis---
General Benjamin O. Davis Jr., the Tuskegee Airmen leader during World War II and the first African American general in the U.S. Air Force, was recently laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, July 17, 2002. Davis was buried with full honors. General Davis died July 4.

---Association of Black Cardiologists supports enrollment in the first heart failure study---African Americans in Maryland suffering from heart failure may now be able to enroll in a national clinical trial of a medication being developed specifically for this underserved population. The Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC) announced the organization's support of the African American Heart Failure Trial (A-HeFT), the first study designed to examine whether a unique nitric oxide (NO)-enhanced heart drug (BiDil, NitroMed, Inc.), can help African American heart failure patients survive longer, with a better quality of life. There are nine research centers in Maryland participating in the trial, including six in Baltimore. For more information on A-HeFT, please call 1-866-685-9799. Research has demonstrated that black patients are twice as likely as white patients to suffer from heart failure. In addition, death rates from heart failure are more than twice as high in Black patients than in white patients.

----Job Opportunities of the Week----
1) Peoples Bank of Commerce (Miami, Florida) Branch Manager
The successful candidate must have 7 yrs + of retail banking exp. with 2-4 yrs of management exp., direct knowledge of the Broward County/Lauderdale Lakes market and customer base is essential, along with excellent communication and presentation skills. Bachelors' degree preferred but not required. Resumes are accepted via e-mail kjackson@bboc.com or fax to (617) 457-4430. An Equal Opportunity Employer

2) Boston Bank of Commerce(Boston, MA) - Product Manager
The successful candidate must have a bachelor's degree and 4+ years of marketing/sales experience. An MBA is preferable, but not required. Excellent analytical, oral and written communication skills, and the ability to work as part of a team are required. This unique position provides an opportunity to develop and manage retail-banking products for a community bank branches located in three major markets across the country. The position must establish a broad product strategy for the bank, while also managing daily product operations. This opportunity offers the candidate a chance to work in an exciting African- and Caribbean-American centered community Bank with a successful national roll up strategy. The environment is fast paced and challenging. Travel to all Bank locations (currently Boston, Miami and Los Angeles) is required. Qualified candidates should send resume to Kimmie Jackson at kjackson@bboc.com or fax to 617-457-4430. Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender, Equal Opportunity Employer

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