Hsi-Chang Lin

Check your mailbox, you may have already received a letter warning of the imminent arrival of your mandatory census questionnaire. But did you know that answering those questions is vitally important for the funding of local, regional and nationally funded programs? Or that the information you put in remains confidential for 70 years?

• CONGRESS: College students may find student loan programs in the federal health care bill's package. Meanwhile, Virginia became the first state to pass an anti-mandate bill on health care. Takeaway Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, updates us on the health care debate on Capitol Hill. 
• SPORTS: Takeaway Sports contributor Ibrahim-Abdul Matin discusses Marion Jones' return to sports after signing with the WNBA.

Even after you restore safety and security, how do you begin to rebuild? Haitian President Rene Preval will meet with President Barack Obama in Washington today to discuss what Haiti needs two months after the earthquake that devasted large swathes of the country. Along with severe damages to infrastructure in the wake of the disaster, Haitians are trying to deal with economic issues — some of them pre-existent — brought into sharp relief by the quake. We're checking in with two people who have a birds-eye view of Haitian need, and how it interacts with that country's economy, past and future. 

• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT: Bank of America offered an unexpected olive branch to its millions of debit card users when they announced a plan to do away with all debit card overdraft fees. But is this public relations gambit enough to improve the bank's public image? We talk with Louise Story, finance reporter for our partner The New York Times, who brings us details from an article in today's paper.
• SPORTS TAKEOUT: The Big East tournament holds many of the major players in college basketball, and yesterday St. John's beat UCONN handily. Ibrahim Abdul-Matin joins us to take a closer look at the Big East.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will visit Afghanistan today. His visit has strategists around the world scratching their heads as they try to discern his agenda.

• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT:  New York Times finance reporter, Louise Story, joins the Takeaway with a look at how government and private employers have shifted their long term investment strategies.  One of them has been playing it safe, and the other may be taking your retirement to Vegas.

• SPORTS TAKEOUT:  The Los Angeles Lakers are on their longest losing streak in three years. Takeaway sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, explains why the team may be distracted. 

Minority communities have been hit hardest by the recession, but they are receiving fewer of the stimulus project contracts doled out by the government.  

• WASHINGTON TAKEOUT: Everyone loves a political dogfight. Rep. Eric Massa, freshman congressman from western New York resigned on Monday. Is that because the House Ethics Committee is investigating complaints that he made innappropriate sexual remarks to a staffer? Or because, as Massa says, his president and party have pushed him out? Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich joins the show with a play by play in the tete-a-tete between the former representative and… well… everybody else in his Democratic Party.
• YOUR RESPONSES: We asked you to weigh in about what is and isn't genius, and got plenty of feedback. We hear what you had to say.
  

You’ll be hearing a lot about the winners of last night’s glamorous Oscars, but you may not hear about its millions of losers. A dispute between Cablevision and ABC left more than three million New York area cable subscribers unable to see last night’s awards ceremony.

Friend of the show Lakshan Achuthan joins us to tell a tale of two economic Americas. Contrary to popular belief, the current recession has not been all that bad for many Americans. Unfortunately, the other 40 percent of unemployed fall into what Lakshman calls the "long term unemployed;" and he adds that their plight may not be over any time soon.

Later today we expect to hear new national unemployment data which should offer economists a reasonable idea of where our economy is moving on a macro scale. But what about the smaller economic engines of America? How about the small towns in our country that may be largely sustained by a single industry or plant? Even if the economy, as a whole, were to make an unexpected recovery, that wouldn’t bring back the single manufacturing plant that sustaining some ten percent of its nearby residents, or the auxiliary economy that springs up around it like housing, restaurants, or shopping centers.

Along with our friends at The Week Magazine, we look at the past week, review give you the score. Who had a good week? Who had a bad week? In this week’s segment we learn that it was a great week to vent your frustrations … if you happen to live in Nepal. A ritual in the country allows young people from neighboring villages Parsaway and Lamipur get to yell insults at each other as part of an annual festival this week. They say it's all in good fun.

How far would you go to get a potential employer’s attention? It's a question being answered today by Bill Bunten, mayor of a city formerly known as Topeka. In a bid to attract the global search giant, Topeka has officially changed its name to "Google Kansas — the Capital of Fiber Optics," in the hopes of attracting attention from the global search and advertising company, which is currently searching for a location to try out a new ultra-fast internet connection.

• CHILEAN EARTHQUAKE UPDATE: Last weekend's devastating earthquake severely damaged Chilean architect Pierina Benvenuto's home and dislocated family members — while she was in Chicago. Though the worst damage seems behind her, Pierina tells us of her desire and hesitation to return home.
• SPORTS TAKEOUTS: Baseball's spring training has just kicked off, and with the return of baseball come pennant dreams and steroid scandals. Takeaway sports contributor Ibrahim Abdul-Matin joins us to talk about a Canadian doctor embroiled in a new steroid scandal.  

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has declared a “state of catastrophe” and has sent soldiers into some of the streets. U.S. Ambassador to Chile Paul E. Simons gives the view on the ground from Santiago, Chile.

All week we’ve been exploring the mechanics of a broken legislative body in our series, “Frustration Nation.” We wrap up the series with a look at the solutions to government gridlock. Can we move away from filibusters? Should we rehaul our election rules? Should we get rid of the Senate altogether?

In the nightmarish chaos that ensued after Hurricane Katrina, the city turned to police for order and protection. But on Wednesday, it became evident that trust was violently broken as some New Orleans police officers allegedly acted more like a lawless gang.

GOOD WEEK/BAD WEEK:  Along with our friends at The Week Magazine we’ll give you the score.  Who had a good week?  Who had a bad week?  We found that it was good to be a typo, but a very bad week to be Cleveland, Ohio.

Buyer beware: your bank may be trying to protect its revenue stream in the face of increased government scrutiny by adding unnecessary fees to financial instruments like your debit card. A report in today's New York Times says banks are beginning to aggressively market products like automatic overdraft protection fees. Without these fees, banks stand to lose some $20 billion annually.

College applications used to be all about personal essays and letters of recommendation. Now YouTube videos are entering the mix.