March 1, 2007
Briefs: L.A. Koreans and Jews protest anti-Semitic cartoons published in South Korea; Police Chief Bratton warns terrorism will be threat for the rest of our lives
Follow JewishJournal.com on 
(Page 2 - Previous Page)
The LAPD currently has 9,503 uniformed police officers, plus another 3,000 civilian employees. "We need a minimum of 12,500 officers" Bratton stated. "Even if we had that number, we would still be less staffed than other major American cities. If L.A. were to have the equivalent number of police officers for its size as New York City, we would need 17,500."Bratton called on the audience to help him get the needed additional personnel. "Until we have a larger force" he explained "we are compelled to act like a fire department and respond to incidents, since we don't have the staff for crime prevention."
-- PLR
JFLA offers interest-free loans to nursing students
To help ease the local nursing shortage, the Jewish Free Loan Association has launched a new program to offer interest-free loans to nursing students.
The new program extends loans up to $5,000 per year for area nursing students. JFLA hopes to raise up to $1 million over the next three years to fund the project.
"We're trying to relieve the financial burden faced by nursing students throughout the city," JFLA Executive Director Mark Meltzer said. "With the baby boomers heading into retirement, nurses are more in demand than ever."
Southern California, like the rest of the state, suffers from an acute nursing shortage. The California Institute for Nursing & Health Care in Berkeley reported in May that, with the exception of San Francisco and Redding, the state has fewer registered nurses per 100,000 population than the national average. The California Employment Development Department recently said the state will need more than 109,000 new RNs by 2010, but that nursing schools are expected to produce only about half that number.
For more information on the nursing student loan fund, call (323) 761-8830
-- Marc Ballon, Senior Writer
1 | 2 |
