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Today's News for May 3, 2005System NewsState News National News ASHLAND HANDICAP PARKING: A BLURRED VISION 5/1/2005 Ashland Daily Independent ASHLAND Kevin Gunderson doesn't get aggravated when he sees someone park in a space reserved for a disabled driver - he's accustomed to it. "I never call the police anymore. I used to, but I see it so frequently," he said while sitting in his van in the MidTown Shopping Center parking lot. Gunderson made that comment Wednesday while giving a citywide tour to an Independent reporter to point out issues related to handicap parking and building accessibility. Gunderson, a 15-year member of the Ashland Board of City Commissioners, knows well how the disabled parking system works and, more importantly, how it is abused. Shot while serving a search warrant on July 18, 1980, this year marks Gunderson's 25th year in a wheelchair. Gunderson had been on the police force for three years when he was injured. At 2:03 p.m. in the Kroger Mid-Town parking lot, three of nine cars parked in handicap spaces are parked illegally, Gunderson points out. First offense: Two people sit in a van in the first spot directly in front of Kroger. They have been in the car for at least 40 minutes, the length of time watched by Gunderson and the reporter. Finally, a person, who is obviously disabled, emerges from Kroger and gets into the car. Still, a violation has occurred. According to Kentucky Revised Statutes 189.459, "no person shall park a vehicle displaying an accessible parking placard in a parking area designated as accessible to and for the use of a person with a disability when the person with a disability is not in the motor vehicle." Second offense: Parked adjacent to the van is a white car with Kentucky plates. The problem with this vehicle is that it is not actually in a parking space at all, rather it is parked on a space painted with blue lines. It is between two spaces clearly marked and designated for the disabled. The extra, blue-lined space between vehicles could be used by someone like Gunderson whose van is equipped with a wheelchair lift used for entering and exiting the vehicle. Because space is required to use the lift and, because the violation is so common, Gunderson steers clear of places like this where he might get blocked in. Third offense: In an actual parking space, next to the car parked on blue lines, is a silver vehicle. Two teenagers and a middle-aged woman exited the car and bounded into the grocery store after parking. There is no handicap parking decal in the car's window. According to Kentucky Revised Statutes 189.459, "no person shall park in a parking area designated as accessible to and for the use of a person with a disability ... not displaying either an auto registration plate ... or an accessible parking placard issued to a person with a disability." Gunderson, a frequent Kroger shopper, said he doesn't even try to park in the handicap spaces anymore because he knows it's useless - for reasons like these. "It's not the merchants' fault because it's not their job to police these," said Gunderson. But he is not critical of the Ashland Police Department, either. Gunderson said he knows policemen work the parking lots and write citations when they have time. But that work falls secondary to responding to emergency calls. APD Chief Tom Kelley said that is exactly the case. "Those things are done on a time-available basis," said Kelley. "We have to take calls for service first." However, Kelley said patrol officers do check parking lots on a routine basis. "We do recognize this as a problem," he said. Gunderson believes the real solution to the problem of handicap parking space abuse is in issuing the parking permits. "I think the solution is, there needs to be more restriction on who gets them," he said. People who apply for handicap permits must do so through the county clerk's office. The application requires a doctor's recommendation or the county clerk's signature for approval. "There's probably one of two things going on," said Gunderson. "There's too many handicap drivers or there's not enough spaces." According to Boyd County Clerk Doris Stephens Hollan's records, 782 handicap permits - which include license plates, first-time applications and renewals - were issued from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2004. During the first three months of 2005, 165 permits have been issued. The permits are good for 8 years. "There are several of them on the highway," said Hollan. "The doctors do pretty good not to give it to (someone) unless they think they need it." Hollan said the number of permits issued in a year is not indicative of how many are in use in the public because the permits are good for an extended period of time. And even though Hollan said the application for permits is not abused, she said she is surprised by the number of people she sees parked in handicap spaces without a parking permit. "They should realize they should not be parking in those spaces," she said. Moving on After leaving the midtown center, Gunderson drives to other locations he said are notoriously bad for handicap parking abuse, including the Town Center Mall and Ashland Community and Technical College. While mall security does not have jurisdiction to write violation citations, they will call the APD to do it for them. Merri Hurn, mall manager, said mall security officers will put large stickers on cars that let violators know they've been caught. And APD officers will write tickets that carry a heavy fine of $250. But Hurn said many times violations are misunderstandings. "What we've found ... is that a lot of people don't put their tags up," she said. In the case of ACTC, security officers have the capability to write $5 citations, said Allen Klaiber, ACTC night security officer. "If they don't pay it, the school holds their grades," said Klaiber. ACTC has more than 40 handicap designated spaces, spaces that are often taken by cars without the handicap decal or license plate. But ACTC security is fed up with the problem, Klaiber said. Because the $5 citations are often ignored and parking abuse is rampant, the daytime security officer has started calling APD officers to issue citations when he finds a violation. Once again, the tickets issued for violations carry a $250 fine - a fine ACTC security officers believe will deter future violations. " JOURNALISM 5/3/2005 WKU Alumni Magazine Bryan Leigh Armstrong was born to attend Western and to study journalism. His father, Don Armstrong, came from a newspaper family and became Western's director of public relations. Bryan grew up in Bowling Green and was on the staff of the Bowling Green High School newspaper. He worked there with his neighbor, David T.Whitaker, the son of David B.Whitaker, who taught journalism at Western and was the head of the Journalism Department from 1977 to 1987. "Bryan was brought up as a Western family member," David T.Whitaker said. Bryan was editor of the College Heights Herald in the spring of 1979. "Bryan ate, drank and slept the Herald," said Rhonda Armstrong, who married Bryan in 1980. Bryan graduated in December 1979 and went to work as a reporter for the Kansas City Star. Bryan was at the Star when two aerial sidewalks at the Hyatt-Regency Hotel collapsed, killing 114 people and injuring 188. The Star found that the hotel had been rushed to completion and that the aerial sidewalks were poorly designed. The disaster has become a case study for architects, engineers and building inspectors. Rhonda Armstrong said that Bryan was proud when the newspaper staff was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. "But he wasn't in journalism to be in the spotlight," she said. "He always said it was just his job. He was very unassuming." Bryan left the Star in 1983 and went to work for The Cincinnati Post and later the Kentucky Post. In early 1994 he became the state bureau chief for the Post. In 1997 he became director of public relations for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. In the 1990s Bryan was diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which is also known as complex regional pain syndrome. It is a progressive eurological condition that affects bones, joints,muscles and skins. Bryan died at his home on March 25, 2004. Classmate David T.Whitaker, working with Bryan's sister Kitty, established a College Heights Foundation scholarship in his name last fall. "I think he set a great example for Herald editors and staff to follow," Whitaker said."I hope the scholarship will, in some way, let Bryan remain part of two institutions he loved - WKU and the Herald." Public weighs in on future of ACTC 5/3/2005 Ashland Daily Independent SUMMIT Hometown schooling, academic and technical programs that lead to solid jobs, dual credit programs and community relationships all rank high on the list of strengths at Ashland Community and Technical College, a panel of community leaders and residents said Monday. On the flip side, however, the panel saw some weaknesses and threats - and most of them had dollar signs attached. Among them were rising tuition, diminishing state and federal funding, and technology and maintenance costs. The occasion for the insights was a public forum that is part of ACTC's strategic planning for the next five years. Public opinion will be useful in setting goals for that span of time, said ACTC President Greg Adkins, who started the session with an overview of expansion plans for the college. Already funded in those plans is a second building at the Technology Drive campus at EastPark. The Kentucky Community and Technical College System will seek funding in the next legislative session for another building there and, at the College Drive campus, a library, student services department and health sciences building, he said. Ranking ACTC's strengths, participants agreed that students benefit from educational opportunities close to home. They also valued relationships ACTC has built with business and industry in the region, the dual credit option for getting college credit while in high school, and the compatibility of ACTC's programs with the job market. However, they worried about the diminishing state support for education, coupled with rising tuition and the rising cost of the technology ACTC needs to keep up with modern industry. "This was a new experience for me," said Phillip Morris, an area venture capitalist whose only connection with the college is that he is married to a mathematics professor there. "I tried to do a conscientious job making my decisions." One of the strengths of the session was the range of comments, said Debbie Cosper, who is the director of the Boyd County Public Library. "It brings out some really good ideas and prioritizes them." Also, people from outside the college bring fresh ideas, said Barbara Nichols, an English professor at ACTC who led the discussion. "Community people have insights we may not have," she said. Among them, she said, were calls for campus tours and handrails in the auditorium for older people who attend events there. "I'm impressed by the knowledge our community leaders have of ACTC's strengths and challenges," Adkins said. Many of their observations coincided with those made in similar meetings of faculty, staff and students, he said. Among other community leaders attending were Ashland city commissioner Don Maxwell, Ashland Alliance president Jim Purgerson, Shawnee State University President Rita Rice Morris, and Ohio University Southern Dean Dan Evans. Results from all the meetings will be used to identify issues for the plan, which is expected to be complete in September. It then will be submitted to KCTCS for approval. SCC's Johnna Atkinson-Bigelow invited to perform at Governor's Mansion 5/1/2005 Somerset Commonwealth Journal Somerset Community College's Johnna Atkinson-Bigelow, a professor of communications, has been invited to perform her one-woman performance piece entitled "Stepping Into the Ring" at the Kentucky Governor's Mansion on Monday, May 2. "Stepping Into the Ring" is a dramatic portrayal of one woman's fight to overcome breast cancer. The battle to overcome the disease is compared to "being in the middle of a boxing ring, standing toe-to-toe with the heavyweight champion of the world. The crowd is looking on and you're in your pajamas and don't even know how to throw a punch," Atkinson-Bigelow explained. The piece is an adaptation of a dramatic piece written by Nicole Johnson, a Christian dramatist and author. Atkinson-Bigelow first performed the piece at the 2004 Phi Theta Kappa International Convention held in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Atkinson-Bigelow is the faculty sponsor of Phi Theta Kappa at SCC. The organization is the two-year college honor society. The SCC chapter is Omicron Zeta. Since that first performance, Atkinson-Bigelow has been invited to perform at various cancer related functions in Kentucky, Nebraska, Illinois, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The occasion of Atkinson-Bigelow's performance at the Kentucky Governor's Mansion will be Kentucky First Lady Glenna Fletcher's "Celebration of Hope" Tea. The event honors breast cancer survivors. 2 seek 59th District seat in House in May 24 vote 5/3/2005 Louisville Courier-Journal FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Two candidates have filed papers to seek the 59th District state House vacancy. Republican David W. Osborne of Prospect and Democrat Glenna "Jody" Curry of Crestwood are seeking the seat formerly held by Rep. Tim Feeley, R-Crestwood. Osborne, 41, owns a real estate company and is involved in horse breeding. Curry, 47, is a private attorney in Oldham County. Gov. Ernie Fletcher has called a special election for May 24, according to papers filed with the secretary of state's office. Feeley resigned to become a circuit judge after the close of this year's General Assembly session. Feeley had been a member of the House since 1998. The district is made up of parts of Oldham and Jefferson counties. Before Feeley's resignation, the Democratic Party held a 57-43 advantage in the House. ConnectKentucky Releases Inventory of Statewide High-Speed Internet Coverage 5/3/2005 Yahoo! News LEXINGTON, Ky., May 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The ConnectKentucky Steering Committee met Monday, April 25, 2005 to unveil the Phase I maps of current broadband coverage in Kentucky. "Today is a great day for the growth of technology in the Commonwealth," stated Governor Ernie Fletcher. "Technology is a critical economic development component that will help Kentucky grow and prosper in the coming years. Creating a first-of-its kind inventory of high- speed Internet service by using GIS maps makes Kentucky a leader in the push for full broadband deployment by 2007. The maps illustrate that we have much work to do, and they are a powerful economic development tool for every community across Kentucky, allowing local leaders to work with the private sector to more strategically plan for technology growth." According to Governor Fletcher's Prescription for Innovation, the maps will be used along with other demand and supply-side incentives towards full broadband deployment, dramatically increased residential use of computers, and a meaningful online presence for every community in Kentucky. "Understanding where we are and how far we must go is important to the success of Governor Fletcher's technology initiative," stated Jim Host, Commerce Secretary and Co-Chair of the ConnectKentucky Steering Committee. "Now is the time for citizens, providers, and local leaders to come together to realize the benefits of expanding technology." In addition to the maps, the Steering Committee also announced the release of the Community Benchmarking Tool. Upon completion of the Community Benchmarking Tool, communities will better understand their current technology usage and adoption rates in nine different sectors including education, agriculture, business, and tourism. With this information, community leaders and providers can more appropriately plan for the growth of technology in each community. According to John Hall, retired Chairman and CEO of Ashland Inc. and ConnectKentucky Co-Chair, "The community assessment is key in helping to better understand technology usage and to set goals for the future. Understanding the needs of the community is the first step towards increasing awareness and usage of computers and Internet-related technology in our communities." About ConnectKentucky: ConnectKentucky is Kentucky's technology-based economic development alliance of private sector companies, universities and government entities working together to accelerate technology in Kentucky. For more information visit http://www.connectkentucky.org . Editorial: Parochialism 5/3/2005 Paducah Sun Cheerleaders for the state's higher education reform program were shocked and appalled when they learned recently that a prominent university president apparently wasn't playing by the rules of the reform game. The rah-rah-let's-go-team crowd was even more shocked and appalled that the university chief was lured into error by some of the same politicians who created the enlightened, progressive, apolitical system of higher education. The reform law was supposed to put an end to turf battles between the universities, eliminate duplication of programs and establish disinterested, nonpolitical oversight of the higher education system. In our view, the evidence is overwhelming that these goals were discarded shortly after the law went into effect. The colleges and universities -- especially the regional universities -- have continued to jockey for position in Frankfort, pursuing projects and tax dollars and ignoring the new higher education bureaucracy. But it takes a lot to kill the illusions of Kentucky's self-styled progressives, so we don't expect the latest brouhaha to cause the enlightened ones in Frankfort and their allies in the press to reassess the real-world impact of the 1997 higher education reform law, which they have vigorously promoted as a historic legislative achievement. Still, the reformers must have been devastated to discover that several top associates of former Gov. Paul Patton -- the man who gave the state higher education reform -- have been working behind the scenes to circumvent the key objectives of the legislation. Word got out last week that University of Louisville President James Ramsey met with the chief executive of the Pikeville Medical Center to discuss building a medical research center in the eastern Kentucky town. The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Jerry D. Johnson, a former Democratic Party chairman and a longtime Patton aide, and Patton's former chief of staff, Skipper Martin, also participated in the meeting. An editorial in the Herald-Leader noted that Ramsey was Patton's budget director, which made him "one of the architects of higher education reform." The only thing needed to make this an official committee meeting of the original higher education reformers was the presence of the former governor himself. Perhaps he was there in spirit. Under the higher education reform legislation, the University of Louisville is supposed to be a premier metropolitan research center and a focal point for economic development in Louisville. Disappointed reform cheerleaders quickly noted that Ramsey's foray into Pikeville didn't seem to fit that mission. Some officials at the University of Kentucky didn't think this was an appropriate project for U of L, either. A UK spokesman fired off an e-mail objecting to the move to Al Smith, the host of "Comment on Kentucky" on KET, the (Louisville) Courier-Journal reported. The e-mail accused U of L and other institutions of engaging in "mission creep -- that is to say, they (are) clearly stepping well beyond their mission." The higher education reform law gives UK the task of becoming a top 20 research university. Unlike U of L, UK has a statewide mission that includes developing medical centers in all areas of the state. But missions can change in the politically charged environment of higher education in Kentucky. Clearly, the Pikeville folks have some heavyweights -- the founding fathers of higher ed reform, no less -- supporting their quest for the research center. Ramsey said he was "impressed that the Pikeville people have done a lot of thinking about possible funding sources." Apparently, they've done more than think about new sources of funding. During this year's session of the General Assembly, Pikeville hospital officials successfully pushed for a change in state law allowing coal severance tax money to be used for "public health and safety" as well as industrial development in coal-producing areas. In Kentucky, parochial politics are everything. That's why higher education reform has never come close to achieving its worthy objectives. University presidents are lobbyists first and higher education leaders second. Reducing duplication and making better use of limited tax dollars are fine goals, but the state hasn't attempted to stop university leaders from scrambling for money and turf. Gordon Davies, the first head of the Council on Postsecondary Education, the panel that is supposed to ensure the colleges and universities follow the reform blueprint, was practically run out of Frankfort for attempting to do his job. After he was forced out, Davies said, "The leaders of some ... state universities and their legislative patrons remain committed to advancing the narrow self-interest of particular institutions." Davies said that three years ago. So why was anyone surprised by the U of L-Pikeville talks? Fletcher calls special election for House vacancy 5/3/2005 Lousiville Courier-Journal FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Gov. Ernie Fletcher has called a special election to fill a state House vacancy created when the former incumbent left to become a circuit judge, according to papers filed with the secretary of state's office. Fletcher decreed that the special election to fill the 59th House District vacancy should be held May 24. Fletcher signed the order on April 18. Former state Rep. Tim Feeley, R-Crestwood, resigned to become a circuit judge after the close of the 2005 General Assembly. Feeley currently presides as a family court judge in the 12th Judicial Circuit, Division 2, which includes Oldham, Henry and Trimble counties. Two candidates have filed papers seeking the office. Republican David W. Osborne, of Prospect, and Democrat Glenna "Jody" Curry, of Crestwood, are seeking the seat. Osborne, 41, owns a real estate company and is involved in horse breeding. Curry, 47, is a private attorney in Oldham County. Before Feeley's resignation, the Democratic Party held a 57-43 House advantage. He had been a member of the House since 1998. The district is made up of Oldham and parts of Jefferson counties. Hybrid auto line might be in Scott 5/3/2005 Lexington Herald-Leader A Japanese business newspaper is reporting that Toyota will build a hybrid Camry at its Georgetown plant beginning next year, but a Toyota spokesman in Kentucky called the report "speculative" and said no decision has been made. Sunday's edition of the business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun cited Toyota Motor Co. sources as saying the automaker will build a gasoline-electric hybrid version of the Camry in the latter half of 2006 at the Georgetown plant. The report comes two weeks before Gov. Ernie Fletcher is scheduled to travel to Japan to promote Kentucky among business leaders at the 2005 Aichi World Exposition and host a reception with Toyota officials. "Kentucky Week" in the expo's U.S. pavilion is scheduled for May 16-22. Toyota plants in Ontario, Indiana and California as well as Kentucky have been considered possible locations for the first North American hybrid production, with an announcement expected before the end of June. Rick Hesterberg, spokesman at the Georgetown plant, said yesterday he had seen some speculative stories recently, but not the Nihon Keizai Shimbun article. Hesterberg said he was not aware of any official decision on where to build the hybrid in North America. David Healy, an auto industry analyst for Burnham Securities who has tracked Toyota for years, said last night he had not yet seen the Japanese newspaper report, but it did not surprise him that a decision might be first leaked to the business publication. "It's highly probable. I think the official announcement will follow this," he said. But officials in the governor's administration said last night they were not aware of any Toyota decision. Communications director Carla Blanton said the state continues to pursue hybrid manufacturing. State Economic Development Secretary Gene Strong also had not seen the report but said he did not think Toyota has decided where to locate its hybrid expansion. "Our understanding of Toyota's decision is that it will most likely come in June," Strong said. "We're working on this every day. In fact, we had a conversation with the company today about the project." Whatever community is the site of the project, Strong said, "it will be a major coup." In March, the General Assembly passed legislation that provides income tax credit for the manufacture of environmentally preferred products. The incentives are for businesses that make at least a $5 million investment. The state also will pay 100 percent of training costs for workers and 25 percent of equipment costs. The Japanese newspaper also reported Toyota is considering making the Prius or other hybrid sport-utility vehicles in 2007 in the United States. Toyota has an estimated 60 percent of the hybrid market. Demand for gas-electric hybrids -- which can get fuel efficiency of 60 miles per gallon -- has increased as gas prices rise. Analysts said it makes a lot of sense to begin with the Camry, the highest-selling passenger car in 2004 in the United States. "Their strategy on hybrids is to get away from hybrid-only models," Healy said. In Georgetown, Toyota has a large, established operation with suppliers nearby, said Mike Jackson, director of North American vehicle forecasts for CSM Worldwide, an auto industry forecaster in Farmington Hills, Mich. Hybrid manufacturing is not likely to create a job boom like the one when Toyota began making cars in Kentucky in the late 80s, Jackson said. New NKU program for adult workers 5/3/2005 Kentucky Post Northern Kentucky University has developed a flexible degree program tailored to working adults that is called the Program for Adult-Centered Education (PACE). The program begins in the fall and will allow students to work around careers, families and community commitments. Students can complete an associate degree in two years or a bachelor's degree in four years. Three bachelor's programs are currently available through PACE: business administration, organizational leadership and liberal studies. PACE classes will meet for consecutive eight-week sessions throughout the year on Monday and Thursday nights from 6 to 9:30 p.m. There will be six sessions per year, and students can enter the program at any of the six enrollment periods. Summer session classes will meet from 6 to 10 p.m. The program also includes 90 minutes per week - and 120 minutes during the summer - of Web-enhanced instruction, and some classes will be delivered entirely on-line. All courses required for graduation at the associate and bachelor levels will be included in the program. "The PACE curriculum has been carefully crafted to provide a structured, yet flexible schedule for working adult students," said Vicki Culbreth, executive director of educational outreach at NKU. "We believe PACE will enable many adults to achieve their educational goals in a timely manner, while maintaining their career, family and community commitments." Classes in the first session begin Aug. 22. Students will take two courses each session or, if necessary, can alter their schedule. Working adults can plan their academic calendar for up to four years in advance. All classes will be at NKU's Covington campus at 1401 Dixie Highway. Students can transfer credits from other regionally accredited institutions. For more information, send an e-mail to pace@nku.edu. Publication date: 05-02-2005 Publication recognizes Kentucky's economic development efforts 5/3/2005 Louisville News A leading international economic development publication, Site Selection, has ranked Kentucky fourth in the United States in its 2005 Annual Competitiveness Award. The benchmark measures the competitiveness of each state in the area of economic development. Open only to state-level economic development agencies, the states were ranked according to an indexing system based on 10 criteria for measuring business-expansion activity that took place in the previous calendar year. Kentucky has consistently ranked in the Top 10 since the inception of the Award in 2003. During 2004, 360 manufacturing and or supportive/service companies located or expanded in Kentucky resulting in more than 16,500 new jobs, according to a news release from the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. Investment was estimated at nearly $2.3 billion, an increase of more than 50 percent from 2003. "A state finishing in the top 10 most competitive states list year after year indicates a high degree of competitiveness," Mark Arend, editor of Site Selection, said in the release. "Kentucky economic development officials should recognize this performance as evidence of a well-managed and effective business recruitment plan." Regional briefs for Pikeville, KY: State will fund hospital for drug treatment effort 5/3/2005 Louisville Courier-Journal Pikeville Medical Center will receive public funding from coal severance tax revenues to treat young drug addicts in Eastern Kentucky. The hospital will get $750,000 over the next two years to help pay for a juvenile drug rehabilitation center. Coal severance tax money historically has been used to improve infrastructure, including developing industrial parks and extending municipal waterlines into communities where mining has fouled wells. But state Sen. Ray Jones said he pushed for the medical center appropriation because of the region's severe drug problem and because most treatment programs are geared toward adults. Jones said the state appropriation will come in two installments, $400,000 this year and $350,000 the next. Some states push for health care pooling 5/3/2005 Lexington Herald-Leader COLUMBUS, Ohio - The cost of health care has more than doubled in Milton Williams' two decades as treasurer of a small school district in northeast Ohio. With Lakeview schools now paying almost $2 million a year in premiums, Williams says he's open to a legislative proposal to have the state's school districts pool together to buy health insurance. He isn't alone: Advocates in at least a half dozen states where insurance pooling plans are being considered say it makes little sense for school systems to negotiate health plans individually. "We'd definitely like to spend more money on textbooks and instructional supplies," Williams said. Opponents of insurance pooling - including many teachers' unions and districts with generous benefits - say a state-run bureaucracy can diminish benefits and strip them of collective bargaining rights. But proponents of insurance pooling see it as a way for states to free up money for books and teachers' salaries in their school districts, which are both hurting for revenues and pressed by rising health care costs. In Ohio, Republican Gov. Bob Taft is backing insurance pooling legislation. The House gave its approval in April, and Senate Republicans support the idea, although they want to study it further. Support is strong in other states, too: In Michigan, Senate Republicans are pushing for a pool after several superintendents complained about rising health care costs. The goal is to "spend less on the cost of education and more on educating children," said state Sen. Shirley Johnson, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. In Oregon, Gov. Ted Kulongoski says a common health care plan could save the state's 198 districts and community colleges $50 million a year. And in Pennsylvania, a study commissioned by lawmakers concluded a statewide plan could have saved $585 million in 2003. In Zumbrota, Minn., high school math teacher Mike Matuska hopes a statewide study on the subject commissioned by lawmakers leads to health care pooling there. Matuska, 38, a father of three children under age 9, said his premiums jumped from $186 per month five years ago to $550 after his district suffered a handful of expensive claims. He said the district is now debating dropping health insurance for employees. A pool "just gives you a more consistent, year-to-year increase, which I think school districts have to have," he said. Georgia, Kentucky and North Carolina require health care pools for schools, while Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah and Wisconsin have optional plans, according to a 2004 study by Reden & Anders Ltd., a Minneapolis consulting firm. In Oregon and Minnesota, teachers' unions support pooling, arguing it will help schools avoid budget cuts driven by soaring medical costs. But unions in Michigan and Ohio are opposed, saying a state-run monopoly would limit competition and hurt benefits. Tom Schmida, a middle school social studies teacher in the Cleveland area, pays $50 a month for health care benefits, a low premium he says would disappear with pooling. "We negotiated to keep strong benefits," said Schmida, 54, president of the Cleveland Heights teachers' union. But House Republicans in Ohio predict savings of $650 million to schools over four years. That's a fraction of the state's $7 billion education budget, but still welcome as districts continue to ask voters for more money, proponents of the measure say. "The bottom line is we want districts to have the least expensive but highest value health care they can get," said Rep. Chris Widener, a Republican from Springfield. ON THE NET Ohio Education Association: http://www.ohea.org/ Michigan Education Association: http://www.mea.org/ Uranium work to bring $7.7 million in contracts primarily to local firms 5/3/2005 Paducah Sun Uranium Disposition Services will award $7.7 million in contracts -- mostly to local firms -- within 90 days as it moves into the construction phase of a factory to rid the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant of 37,000 cylinders of hazardous uranium hexafluoride waste. A contract for engineering, precasting and erection of the factory is expected to be awarded this week and foundation work should start about July 1, said UDS President Tim Forden. Other contracts will follow through July for soil strengthening, waste disposal, a warehouse, railroad spur and administration building. The construction site is in front of the plant. UDS has spent $8 million to $10 million on site preparation work since breaking ground last July. The new contracts will increase spending to about $20 million, Forden said. "Now that we've got the design behind us, we're starting to think more about two years from now when the factory opens," he said. "Things will start to change pretty dramatically over the next two to three months." Forden said work is being broken into pieces to encourage bidding by smaller local subcontractors. Overall the $90 million project involves 30 to 40 contracts, including more than $50 million spent locally. The factory will convert the contents of the cylinders into more stable material from which valuable fluorine will be extracted. Leftover waste will be shipped to Energy Department-approved disposal facilities in the desert Southwest. Once the factory shell is erected by early 2006, employment for mechanical and electrical work will quickly increase to about 200 and remain at that level for about six months, Forden said. Workers will receive prevailing wages for the local construction industry, he said. Doug Adkisson, UDS operations and maintenance manager, said hiring for 150 long-term operational and support jobs will start about six months before the plant opens, sometime in 2007. The Paducah factory will operate for 25 years with four production lines, each converting about one of the massive 10- and 14-ton cylinders daily. So far, the project has employed an average of 30 people per month with Morsey Inc. of Calvert City for site preparation and Murtco Mechanical Contractor Shop of Paducah for underground plumbing and electrical work. UDS will assume plant cylinder yard maintenance operations from DOE cleanup contractor Bechtel Jacobs in July. Adkisson said that work involves eight to 10 jobs. In Rare Move, a University Will Pay $200,000 in Fines for Not Reporting Campus Crimes 5/3/2005 The Chronicle of Higher Education Salem International University has agreed to pay $200,000 in fines to the U.S. Department of Education for failing to disclose or accurately report information about crimes that occurred on its campus in the late 1990s. The fines come five years after complaints about Salem International's reporting on campus security were first raised. The Education Department subsequently found repeated violations of the Clery Act, a federal law requiring colleges to report crimes that occur on or near their campuses as well as to make those statistics open to the public (The Chronicle, January 21, 2002). The settlement agreement was reached in April and was made public on Friday by Security on Campus Inc., a campus-crime watchdog group. From 1997 to 1999 the West Virginia university failed to report more than 80 crimes, including at least five sexual assaults, reported no burglaries when 16 occurred, and ran a poorly financed and trained security department, according to a 2001 review by the Education Department. The department also concluded that it was possible that university officials had deliberately chosen not to include certain crime statistics in their annual reports on campus security. Salem International, which is now owned by a different group and has a different name than when the violations occurred, decided to settle with the Education Department because appealing the fines would have been too costly, said Jeff Handler, the university's vice president for marketing. "The new administration was saddled with this violation from the 90s that ultimately got resolved in a $200,000 fine," he said. "No one at the university argues with the fact of the importance of the Clery Act and the commitment to make it a safe learning and teaching environment, but the amount of money and the example doesn't necessarily speak to safety, it speaks to nonreporting." In a written statement, Howard K. Clery Jr. and Constance R. Clery, the watchdog group's founders, said the agreement "finally puts the much-needed teeth in the Jeanne Clery Act that we have been asking for since Congress first passed the law 15 years ago." The federal law, originally part of the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990, is named for the Clerys' daughter, who was raped and murdered in her dormitory room at Lehigh University in 1986. Salem International's administrators felt the fines were "a bit excessive," Mr. Handler said. "Making an example out of this school doesn't do the act justice," he said. "There likely could have been other remedies." The Education Department originally sought fines of $250,000. The settlement is only the second time a college has paid fines for violating the Clery Act. |