Returning to Worship
Cheryl Townsend Gilkes, John D. MacArthur Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology and African-American Studies, was quoted in an article in the San Jose Mercury News about the spiritual renewal among middle-class African Americans.
Burgeoning "megachurches" are the latest evidence of black baby boomers' desire for spiritual nourishment, the article said. Gilkes noted that these large churches fulfill a need in the African-American community. "Primarily, they've grown because of very hard-working pastors who bring to those congregations traditional African-American worship that addresses the current problems of baby-boomer AfricanAmerican Christians and younger," she said. "Usually [these churches] are geographically mobile, so church is the way in which they reconnect with the black community."

Not Nearly Enough
Assistant Professor of Economics Saranna Thornton '81, in an opinion article in the Providence Journal-Bulletin, said recent congressional and White House budget proposals fall far short of what is necessary to reduce the national deficit over the long term.
Thornton said both the Clinton Administration and the Congress have failed to address the underlying problems that result in large deficits. Budget plans proposed by both would eliminate the deficit by the year 2002 as advertised, but would merely postpone even larger deficits in future years, she said.
"Cuts in discretionary spending won't solve the long-run deficit problem," Thornton wrote. "The combination of current legislature and impending demographic changes would cause spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare to equal 100 percent of government revenues by 2012. Proposed balanced budget plans would only push the date back a few years."