Poor Mojo's Newswire

Advertising represents a huge slice of the social game revenue pie, and it looks like Zynga has discovered a new way to wring a few more bucks out of it. Ads in the hit doodler Draw Something were previously confined to conventional banners in the free version of the game, but now advertisers are paying Zynga to insert branded words into both the free and paid editions of the game. The National Hockey League was at the vanguard of the charge, buying hockey-related words like "puck," "Zamboni," "hat trick," "slap shot" and "Leafs suck" [I may have made that one up] and even posting some of the results on Pinterest. Dan Porter, formerly the CEO of Draw Something studio OMGPop who now serves as vice-president of mobile and general manager of Zynga's New York office, said tests of recognizable brands in the game led to the idea. "People loved to draw the Colonel and bags of Doritos," he told Ad Age.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) shocked the Florida Council Against Sexual Violence this week when he vetoed $1.5 million in funding for 30 rape crisis centers in the middle of Sexual Assault Awareness Month. State lawmakers allotted the money to offset an increase in need and a lack of sufficient funding for victim services. A spokesperson for Scott said he vetoed that particular line item in the state budget because the state already funds sexual violence programs, and nobody was able to make it clear to him why rape crisis centers needed the new funding. . . . "We say 'here's the need, here's the need, here's the need,' and frankly, nobody's paying any attention," she told HuffPost. "We gave them information about the number of new survivors we have and we showed them that these rape crisis centers have waiting lists. Survivors are having to wait weeks, sometimes six weeks, in some programs three months to be seen. We included quotes from the programs about the waiting lists and what services they weren't able to offer because of a lack of money. There is clearly an unmet need." As for the $6.5 million that Scott said the government provides for rape prevention and sexual assault services, a large percentage of that money is distributed to education programs, not actual crisis centers serving the victims. . . .

We’re worried about Brooke’s students too. Last month Brooke Harris’ eighth-grade class asked her about the “kid who was killed over some skittles;” she seized the opportunity to bring her students’ lived experiences into the classroom—a strategy we and other experts advocate. Brooke’s students identify with Trayvon Martin. Many of them are African American. Many have been stopped by police who thought they looked suspicious. In fact, her students engaged so deeply with the issue that they asked to take it beyond essays and class discussions—they wanted to take action to help Trayvon’s family. They, like many students across the nation, wanted to show their support by wearing hoodies. Each student who participated would pay $1. Proceeds would be donated to Trayvon’s family. Again, Brooke saw a teachable moment. She and her students began the formal process of organizing a school event. Students wrote persuasive letters to the principal and superintendent. Brooke and a co-worker filed the necessary paperwork. The principal immediately signed off on the fundraiser. Superintendent Cassell was less enthusiastic. She refused to approve the proposal, despite having supported many other “dress down” fundraisers. Brooke’s students took the disappointment in stride, but asked to present their idea to Cassell in person. And that’s when things got weird. . . .