Marketing & Communications: Today's News
|
Back to Today's news
Today's News for December 2, 2005System NewsState News National News ACTC EastPark dedication planned Writer: MIKE JAMES 12/2/2005 Ashland Daily Independent COALTON - Ashland Community and Technical College will dedicate its new campus on Technology Drive in the EastPark industrial park on Dec. 19. The 2 p.m. ceremony will follow a meeting with Kentucky Community and Technical College System President Michael McCall to discuss the legislative agenda for the state's community colleges. The dedication marks preparation to move to a second phase in developing the campus, which is taking the place of the former Ashland Technical College campus on Roberts Drive outside Ashland. "We've been using Phase 1 for 18 months now and we're into planning for Phase 2," said ACTC President Greg Adkins. McCall's presentation will lay out budget requests and priorities for the upcoming biennium, he said. It's one of a series of meetings McCall is conducting at community colleges around the state, talking with area legislators, community and business leaders, and educators. The state has allocated $18 million for the second phase at EastPark, which engineering and architectural consultants are planning now, and within about a month the college will be ready to start on the broad outlines for the third phase, Adkins said. That phase will include housing for shop areas for diesel, carpentry, auto mechanics, applied process technologies and others. The first phase, which houses machine tool, industrial maintenance, welding and industrial electricity programs in a 42,000-square-foot building, has been a rousing success, said Gary Bradford, dean of community, workforce and economic development. The state's $18 million commitment to the second phase "is the highest accolade" it can give, he said. Though the existing facility is a long way from capacity for its technology programs, the campus needs more classrooms for general educational courses, he said. Also it needs to meet more student needs like food service, he said. There are no restaurants convenient to the campus. Some of those needs will be addressed in phase two, including food service, when the culinary arts program moves there, Adkins said. Also in phase two will be recreation areas and facilities to register, buy books and get financial aid information, Adkins said. Community college forum set Writer: JUDY JENKINS 11/30/2005 Henderson Gleaner Henderson Community College today will host the second in a series of statewide community meetings led by Michael McCall, president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. In that 12:30 p.m. session in the Stagg Room of the campus fine arts center, McCall will discuss the legislative agenda to advance KCTCS, which is the Commonwealth's largest provider of postsecondary education. He also will outline the system's strategic plan for 2006-2010 and requests for state funding for the next budget cycle, including an overview of the KCTCS operating budget, capital projects and special initiatives. The administrator hopes to meet with local legislators, community stakeholders, business leaders and educators to review KCTCS efforts to increase access to postsecondary education and workforce training at the system's 16 community and technical colleges on 65 campuses across Kentucky. The first community meeting is taking place at 8:30 this morning in Paducah. Following his appearance at HCC, McCall will travel to Hopkinsville Community College for a 5:30 p.m. presentation. Other schools will be visited on seven dates in December. "We welcome this opportunity to discuss the success KCTCS has achieved thus far in fulfilling our legislative mandate under the 1997 Postsecondary Education Improvement Act," McCall said in a Tuesday press release. "We also want to create support for the investment in state funding that will be necessary to continue our progress. "KCTCS will need support from legislators and local leaders throughout the Commonwealth to realize our goal of creating the nation's best comprehensive community and technical college system." Editorial: UNDERRATED 12/2/2005 Paducah Sun The mystery of higher education governance in Kentucky deepened with the release last month of a list of funding recommendations for capital projects at the state's colleges and universities. It appears that the Council on Postsecondary Education, the agency that was assigned the duty of overseeing the colleges and universities by the 1997 higher education reform law, has decided to take a more active role in budgetary matters. In a meeting last month, the council, which had previously taken a hands-off approach to funding requests from the institutions it oversees, produced a list that ranked proposed construction projects for the 2006 state budget cycle. Oddly, CPE officials ignored the recommendations of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. The council decided that it had a better understanding of the capital needs of the community and technical colleges than the people in charge of KCTCS. The system's top capital priority is a planned $16.5 million Emerging Technology Center on the campus of West Kentucky Community and Technical College in Paducah. This facility would house classrooms and laboratories designed to train students for jobs in the new, technology-dominated economy. Despite its importance to the leaders of the KCTCS, the CPE ranked the technology center below 13 other projects, including several projects in the community and technical college system. Two of the KCTCS projects -- proposed health and science facilities on the campuses of Jefferson Community College and Somerset Community College -- ended up near the top of the CPE list. Michael McCall, the president of the community and technical college system, says he doesn't know what criteria the CPE used to rank the projects. "My input was virtually nil," he told local legislators and civic leaders Wednesday. It's puzzling that the person in charge of a system that educates 41 percent of the students enrolled in Kentucky's public postsecondary institutions had little or no involvement in the process of ranking key higher education projects. More puzzling still is the fact that the council substituted its judgment for the recommendations of the WKCTCS officials. The higher education reform law supposedly gave the CPE the authority to referee the contest between the colleges for state funds, although there's little evidence that reform has ended institutional turf battles. However, it now appears that the council is trying to take over a coaching function by imposing its own priorities on the community and technical college system. It should be emphasized that the proposed technology center at West Kentucky isn't just a "local" project. The center has the unequivocal support of McCall, who sees it as "something that will make a major, major impact on the community and our state." "We believe that of all the construction projects, we need to get this one funded," McCall said Wednesday. "We're saying that if you don't do anything else with construction this year, you need to fund this one." The Paducah technology center would help Kentucky catch up with fast-growing states in the Southeast that have lavished funding on workforce development programs. According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Kentucky spends far less on workforce training than states such as Alabama. Not surprisingly, the business community in Paducah is enthusiastic about the technology center. Far western Kentucky has been hemorrhaging high-paying manufacturing jobs for more than a decade. The technology center would aid economic development by providing advanced training tailored to the needs of business and industry. Officials at WKCTC see the technology center proposal as a potential breakthrough for the college. It's been 17 years since the state provided any money for a major project on the West Kentucky campus. The community took on the burden of funding the construction of the engineering building and the Challenger Learning Center. It's time for the state to expand its investment in WKCTC. The college serves more than 6,700 students in the region. A substantial number of those students are older adults trying to rebuild their careers after losing their jobs in the wave of manufacturing layoffs. Many communities in far western Kentucky are in a struggle for economic survival. The Council on Postsecondary Education and the legislature should recognize that WKCTC has a critical role to play in that struggle. The proposed technology center isn't an educational frill or a vanity project. It deserves a much higher place on the list of college funding priorities. Holocaust escapee shares tale of escape from Nazis Writer:ERICA WALSH 12/1/2005 Elizabethtown News-Enterprise It took 61 years for Ilse Meyer to find out how her parents and younger sister died. The last time she heard from her family was by a letter that arrived at her home in the United States in 1943. It said that her parents and sister were being transported with other Jews to Poland, but that everything was fine. The letter, signed by her father, was dated a full year earlier. "When I got this, I knew they were dead," Meyer said. In 2003, she finally discovered that her family had died on June 30, 1942 in gas chambers at a Sobibor concentration camp. Meyer, a Holocaust survivor, shared her story Tuesday with community members and students from Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and Central Hardin High School. A woman of small stature, who stood only a foot taller than the podium she spoke from, she described her family's plight at the hands of the Nazis. By the time Adolf Hitler's reign of power ended in 1945, Meyer had lost 128 family members. Only she and her older brother survived the massacre. "I hope and pray that none of you here will ever know the fear and the anguish we went through," she said. "It's an episode in my life I will never forget. Hate -- it is such a bad thing. Hate brings destruction." When Meyer was growing up, her father worked as a tailor -- until 1933, when Hitler rose to power in Germany. The Lichtenstein family n Meyer, her parents, older brother and younger sister n could trace their connection back several centuries to Volkmarsen, Germany. Meyer's father was extremely proud of his German heritage. He received an Iron Cross for fighting during World War I and flew a German flag from his shop. "Hitler came to power and all of a sudden we weren't Germans anymore," Meyer said. By April 1933, Volkmarsen had changed dramatically. Meyer remembers walking around town and seeing signs that read "Jews, Negroes and dogs not allowed." Her family could sense that trouble was coming, but her father thought they would be safe. He was a well-known member of the community and a World War I hero. "That was wishful thinking," she said. "All of that didn't matter because we were Jews." On April 1, the family got up to go to synagogue. When they walked downstairs they saw Nazis, dressed in brown uniforms, standing outside their home. They held signs that read, "This is a Jewish home and business, do not buy from them." In school, Meyer was told to sit in the back of the classroom so she couldn't contaminate the rest of the children. Every morning she entered a Catholic school and said "Heil Hitler" along with her classmates. During gym class, she heard other children sing a folk song: "When the blood of the Jews spurts from the knife that's when Germany will be happy." "I would play with these children," she said. "I was terrified." The harassment continued until 1938. By then, Meyer's brother had already escaped to the United States and Meyer applied for a visa to follow him. On Nov. 8 and 9, 1938, Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, occurred. Meyer was at her aunt's home, about 15 miles away from her family. Meyer's father was one of the Jews arrested during Kristallnacht. Her mother called with the news while Meyer was still at her aunt's. Shortly after the call, Meyer received word that her mother and little sister had also been arrested. Meyer took the first train home and went to see her father at the jail. His appearance shocked her. "His hair had turned snow white overnight," she said. Her father was sent to Buchenwald, another concentration camp. Her mother and sister were released and the three went to their home, only to find it demolished. "The Nazis came with torches and axes and destroyed everything," Meyer said. Her father was in the concentration camp for a few months and then released. When he returned, he immediately applied for Meyer and her younger sister to take part in Kindertransport, an effort to rescue Jewish children by taking them out of Germany. On Jan. 4, 1939, Meyer left Germany without her parents. "We got on the train and there were 150 children," she said. "I was the oldest at 15." The transport traveled to Holland where the children were divided into four camps. Meyer's camp was right on the ocean. Each of the children were given a stamp and allowed to bring one German mark with them. Meyer scrapped together enough money to call her mother on her birthday. "She told me, don't do that again. It's just too hard to talk to you," Meyer remembers. That was the last time she heard her mother's voice. Meyer received her visa to come to the United States on March 26, 1940. Her parents and sister, who had applied for a visa a month after Meyer, still had to wait. The next day, Meyer received the last berth on a ship that carried her to the United States. Once in the U.S., she and her brother tried to get their family visas, but her parents' quota number was too high. Meyer received a few letters from her parents after she escaped. One of the last letters she received from her father said that he thought it was too late for the family and that there was nothing anyone could do to help. For years after the Holocaust, Meyer would contact the Red Cross in Germany asking for information about her family. They could never provide an answer. In 2003, a friend of her family researched what happened to Jews from Volkmarsen and discovered that Meyer's father, mother and sister had been arrested in 1942 and taken to Sobibor concentration camp. From there, they were taken directly train directly into the gas chambers with other Jews from their hometown. "There were probably 500 people on the train when they got to Sobibor and in two hours there wasn't anybody alive anymore," Meyer said. The friend brought back pictures of Sobibor and of trees he had planted to commemorate Jews from Volkmarsen. In front of each tree is a plaque, including one that reads in part: Familie Lichtenstein ... Käthe 1892-1942, Meinhard 1886 n 1942, Inge 1930 n 1942. "After 61 years I finally have a place where I can see where my parents died," she said. She also learned the details of exactly how her family was killed. "The gas chambers at Sobibor were not as big as they were in Auschwitz," she said. "They could fit six people at a time and they used the gas outlet from tanks to kill the people. She shook her head. "And then people have the gall to say it never happened," she said. Meyer traveled back to her hometown several times. In 1996, she found a paper in city hall in her teenage handwriting. It was an application to add the middle name Sara to her identification. One of Hitler's laws was that all Jewish women must have the middle name Sara and all the Jewish men must have the middle name Israel. She's managed to track down other mementos throughout the years: her passport, still stamped with a swastika and a red "J" for Jew; a picture of her father from World War I, the only photograph she has of him and a certificate given to her uncle thanking him for being a good fighter in World War I -- signed by Hitler. She later learned that of the 150 children on Meyer's Kindertransport, only three survived the Holocaust. Meyer has told her story at schools for several decades. She wants younger generations to know what happened to her and many others. "How can we cure everything if we don't teach the younger ones?" she asked. "It's up to everybody. The worst word that you can use is hate." KCTCS and HCTC honor benefactors at 7th annual President's Gala 11/30/2005 Hazard Herald Leon and Sandy Hollon of Hazard and The Telford Foundation of Naples, FL were honored for their contributions to Hazard Community & Technical College as the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) hosted its seventh annual President's Gala and Benefactor's Awards Dinner, Nov. 12, in the Lexington Center's Bluegrass Room. KCTCS President Michael B. McCall presented the awards along with HCTC President/CEO Jay K. Box. Leon and Sandy Hollon have always made supporting Hazard Community & Technical College one of their top priorities. Mr. and Mrs. Hollon have made personal commitments to education as well as through Peoples Bank and Trust Company of Hazard, where Mr. Hollon is president. "The Hollons understand the importance of education, and the College is fortunate to have such civic-minded couple in our community," Dr. Box said. Leon Hollon serves as co-chair of the Fulfilling the Promise Campaign; and his wife, Sandy, serves on the Leadership Awareness Committee for the campaign. The Hollon's lead gift to the Campaign will be used to establish a professorship in Appalachian Studies in honor of Mr. Hollon's father, Alva A. Hollon Sr. The Telford Foundation is honored for its financial support at the Lees College Campus of Hazard Community & Technical College. The Telford Foundation presented Hazard Community & Technical College its first lead gift for the Fulfilling the Promise Campaign in the amount of $580,000 of which $80,000 will be used to establish the Telford Foundation Endowed Scholarship Fund at the Lees College Campus. The remaining $500,000 is earmarked for the Invest in the Arts Initiative at Lees. The Foundation was created and funded by the generosity of the late Robert L. Telford. Bill Lickertt, board member of the Telford Foundation represented the Foundation. Dr. McCall presented a total of awards to 38 benefactors of the individual KCTCS colleges and the System Office during the night's festivities. Award recipients included The Steele-Reese Foundation of New York which recently pledged $200,000 to the KCTCS Foundation to create an endowed scholarship fund for part-time students at Hazard Community & Technical College and three other colleges--Big Sandy, Somerset and Southeast Kentucky. Accepting the award was Jane Stephenson, Appalachian Program Director for The Steele-Reese Foundation. Laundry list Writer: JUDY JENKINS 12/1/2005 Henderson Gleaner Henderson Community College will be one of 16 big winners if KCTCS President Michael McCall's new "Legislative Agenda" campaign is successful. As David Brauer, HCC dean of academic affairs, told some 50 community leaders, educators and area legislators Wednesday during McCall's presentation at the Henderson Fine Arts Center, the local college would receive "a $1 million additional state allocation" for the 2007-2008 academic year. That money, he noted, would be applied "to a long laundry list" of HCC needs, including operational expenses and strengthening the occupational/technical program. Brauer related that the 45-year-old school in only the past year has implemented 10 new occupational/technical offerings, including a practical nursing program. That course of study, he said, is being funded through a 2-year grant. Once the grant expires, he said, additional money will be needed to continue the practical nursing program. HCC's operating budget would, if the next state General Assembly complies with McCall's requests, increase from $12,479,700 at the start of the 2006-08 biennium to $13,769,100 in the institution's 2007-08 operating budget. McCall also pointed out that the local college's long-sought Child Development Center is included in KCTCS (Kentucky Community and Technical College System) General Assembly requests. Though HCC hopes to raise the needed $2,635,000 through private sources, the project nevertheless must have state authorization for construction. Referring to the $13 million Tri-County Technology Center destined for the HCC campus "within the next 18 months," McCall said additional funds for the facility's maintenance and programs will be included in KCTCS budget requests. On Wednesday, McCall and other KCTCS officials began an intensive effort to increase state funding for its 16 community and technical colleges on 65 campuses across the dommonwealth. HCC was the second school to be visited in the campaign launch that also saw stops in Paducah and Hopkinsville. Other colleges will be visited on Friday, Monday, Dec. 12, 15, 16, 19 and 20. McCall said money "was good" when KCTCS was established by the state legislature in 1997, but since then has suffered "three major cuts" because of state funding woes. Citing a comparison of KCTCS enrollment growth and state appropriation changes with the system's 19 benchmark programs over the last eight years, McCall said there is a "$79 million gap." While KCTCS has not had the funding growth it had hoped for, enrollment has increased by leaps and bounds. When the system started, enrollment was 51,647. This fall, it is 84,931 credit students, with 40,000 distance education enrollments and more than 600 academic/technical programs. KCTCS has 41 percent of the state's higher education students, as compared to 13 percent at UK and 11 percent at U of L. System enrollment has grown by 66 percent in only the last four years, Mccall said. The system administrator reported that not only is KCTCS seeking to expand its established mission of providing the first two years of a four-year degree, sponsoring two-year associate degree programs, one-year certificate programs, workforce training, continuing education and adult remedial programs, but also plans to help Kentucky become more prominent in "the global society." McCall presented the system's strategic plan for 2006-10, stressing that the plan incorporates measurable markers for improvement. It aspires, for example, to increase the number of diploma/certificate receiving students from the 16.6 per 100 in the 2003-04 academic year to 20.5 per 100 in five years. It also aims to have the percentage of minority enrollments match the state's minority population percentage. The KCTCS minority percentage in 2003-04 was 10.63 percent. The state's current minority percentage is 11.3 percent, but a KCTCS spokesperson said the state percentage "is a moving target" that is quickly growing. KCTCS hopes to persuade legislators to increase its current state appropriation of about $190 million to the system operating budget to $229,180,600 in academic year 2006-07 and to $252,497,500 in 2007-08. McCall said the "Legislative Agenda" is an instrument intended to see KCTCS recognized as the best community and technical college system in the nation. Math professor has the right equation for building a float Writer: Matt Rennels 12/2/2005 Hopkinsville New Era Jim Hunter has been entering award-winning floats in the Hopkinsville Christmas Parade since 1992. On Saturday, he hopes to continue that tradition. Saturday's parade will begin at 10 a.m., traveling on Main Street from Glass Avenue toward downtown. Hunter, who has been a math professor at the Hopkinsville Community College since 1985, first helped the honor students fraternity, Phi Theta Kappa, build a float 13 years ago. He has entered every year since with the exception of last year when he was recovering from surgery. "The last few years I have been getting a little too old but the students are helping," he said. He still heads the fraternity's float project. The deadline to enter the float competition was Wednesday and 13 floats had entered. The floats will be judged in four different areas and $400 will be awarded to the winner of each category. The four categories include technical merit, artistic decoration and theme adaptation. This year's theme is "The Joy of Christmas." The grand marshal award goes to the best overall float. Hunter and his team have won in at least one of the categories since they began judging separate categories. He said they won the grand marshal award a few years ago when they had Peanuts characters on the float. The winner of the award receives a trophy in addition to the money. He said they design their floats with the categories in mind. "We always fall in line with the theme," Hunter said. His last float had swiveling elves, to go along with that year's theme, "Santa's workshop." "We also try to do something with things that turn and special effects for the technical merit category." Pam Rudd, interim director at the Hopkinsville-Christian County Recreation Department, said that approximately 20,000 people line the streets every year to watch the parade. "We always have a good crowd," she said. The recreation department sponsors and coordinates the parade. "It will be very nice and I am really looking forward to it." In hopes of attracting a larger crowd, the parade will start at 10 a.m. rather than in the afternoon as it has years past. It will line up on Glass Street, turn onto Main Street and then go up to First Baptist Church. The grand marshal of this year's parade, Terry Hamby, president of BMAR & Associates, will ride in a horse-drawn carriage. Approximately 100 units, including three marching bands, have entered. That includes clubs, church groups, schools and businesses. Non-commercial groups were asked to donate one unwrapped toy for the Hopkinsville Jaycees to use as gifts at their annual underprivileged children's Christmas party. Hunter says the children's reaction is his favorite part of the whole experience. "When we are walking down Main Street and we see the children's reactions, it's a great thing," he said. "And then it doesn't matter if you win." Over the years Hunter said he has made a lot of friends working on the floats. "Whether we won or not, it has always been fun," he said. President of college system on state tour 12/1/2005 Lexington Herald-Leader The head of Kentucky's community and technical colleges will be in Harlan County and Bowling Green today to continue a statewide series of meetings to build support for the system as it seeks biennial funding from the 2006 General Assembly. The legislative agenda to advance the Kentucky Community and Technical College System -- the state's largest provider of postsecondary education -- will be presented by KCTCS President Michael B. McCall in a series of community meetings. McCall will meet with local legislators, community stakeholders, business leaders and educators to discuss KCTCS efforts to increase access to postsecondary education and work-force training at its 16 community and technical colleges on 65 campuses across Kentucky. The presentation will outline the organization's strategic plan for 2006-10 and its requests for state funding in the next budget cycle, including an overview of the KCTCS operating budget, capital projects and special initiatives. "We welcome this opportunity to discuss the success KCTCS has achieved thus far in fulfilling our legislative mandate under the 1997 Postsecondary Education Improvement Act," McCall said in a statement. "We also want to create support for the investment in state funding that will be necessary to continue our progress. KCTCS will need support from legislators and local leaders throughout the commonwealth to realize our goal of creating the nation's best comprehensive community and technical college system." Upcoming legislative briefings include: Friday * Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College, 8:30 a.m., Godbey Appalachian Center Gallery, 700 College Road, Cumberland. * Bowling Green Technical College, noon CST, Kentucky Advanced Technology Institute Campus, Round Room, 1127 Morgantown Road. Monday * Madisonville Community College, 8:30 a.m. CST, Glema Mahr Center for the Arts Gallery, 2000 College Drive. Dec. 12 * Gateway Community and Technical College, 8 a.m., Boone Campus, 500 Technology Way (at Sam Neace Blvd.), Florence. * Owensboro Community and Technical College, 5:30 p.m. CST, Campus Center dining area, 4800 New Hartford Road. Dec.15 * Hazard Community and Technical College, 8:30 a.m., First Federal Center, Room 123 D/E. * Somerset Community College, 5 p.m., Rogers Student Commons Community Room, 808 Monticello Street. Dec. 16 * Jefferson Community and Technical College, 8 a.m., Downtown Campus, Broadway Building, 101 West Broadway, Suite 302, Louisville * Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, 12:30 p.m., Occupational-Technical Building, Room 303. Dec. 19 * Big Sandy Community and Technical College, 8:30 a.m., Mayo Campus Building A, Room 109, 513 Third Street, Paintsville. * Ashland Community and Technical College, 12:30 p.m.; Technology Drive Campus at East Park, rooms 139 and 141. * Maysville Community and Technical College, 5:30 p.m., Calvert Center, 1755 U.S. 68. Dec. 20 * Bluegrass Community and Technical College, 8:30 a.m., Cooper Drive Campus, Academic Technical Building Lobby, Lexington. For more information, visit www.kctcs.edu or call 1-877-528-2748. Smart house is smart idea for training 11/30/2005 Hazard Herald Imagine being at work and remembering the house temperature needs to be lower. Think about wanting to see how a child is doing while you are away from home. With a Smart House, adjusting the house temperature or seeing via video what's going on is all possible. And since the Smart House seems like such a smart idea, the Technical Campus of Hazard Community & Technical College already has begun creating such a home by renovating a house on campus. "You can remotely determine what time the porch lights come on," said Danny Ingram, electricity faculty member, noting such Home Automation Systems are the new "must have" among homeowners. Ingram is working with Doug Adams, heating and air conditioning faculty member, to create such a home. "The beauty of this is that our students will have the skills to create a Smart Home and that will make them much more marketable," Adams said. "We know if people see all the advantages of a Smart House, they will want one," Ingram said. "When completed, we plan to have Open House viewing of this new technology." The house, presently situated to the left as entering the campus, is already for work to begin. Not only are Smart Houses geared for convenience, but for security and energy efficiency as well. Dr. Jay K. Box, HCTC president/CEO, noted with a Smart House, the temperature could be 72 degrees in a child's room and 68 degrees in the bedroom right next door. "We have the faculty on board ready to teach others how to create a Smart House. We hope to see more students enroll in our programs so they can learn this trade," Dr. Box said. Meanwhile, the carpentry program at Hazard Community & Technical College offers another chance for those interested in the building portion of this project. Faculty member Mark Fields and his students are also learning their trade by creating House No. 12 on Annis Way in the Walkertown section of Hazard. The three-bedroom, two and a half bathroom home has 1,352 square feet plus a 210 square-foot bonus room. The house will provide a good home for a family upon completion. World premiere honors benefactor, tireless volunteer Writer: ROGER MCBAIN 12/2/2005 Henderson Gleaner After years of giving her time, talent and money to the arts in and around Madisonville, Ky., Glema Mahr will do some receiving Saturday in the arts center named for her. Singers, instrumentalists and the composer will all be there to present to Mahr "Earthsong," a new choral work commissioned in her honor by the Glema Mahr Center for the Arts in Madisonville. The world premiere of the song, composed by New Zealander Christopher Marshall, will be part of this year's "A Community Christmas" concert in the arts center. The Madisonville Community College Singers, the Murray State University Orchestra, the Children's Chorus of Madisonville, the Hopkins County Central High School Chorus and the Madi-sonville North Hopkins High School Chamber Singers will join in on the premiere, and the composer will attend the 7:30 p.m. concert. Mahr, of course, will be there, as she is for nearly every performance in the former Madi-sonville Community College Fine Arts Center, renamed in 2000 in recognition of Mahr's contributions to the arts center, college and community. Part of her contribution has been financial, of course. She began volunteering her time a dozen years ago, after the death of her husband, Merle Mahr, a physician and philanthropist for whom the Merle Mahr Cancer Center was named. A decade ago Glema Mahr began giving $10,000 per year for a chamber music series named after her. Later she set up a $1.2 million charitable remainder trust gift to Madisonville Community College's arts endowment. Throughout, she's remained an active volunteer as well. At 88 (she'll turn 89 in January), Mahr logs more than 200 hours each season at the center, managing mailings, working as a docent and ushering visitors into performances. She was there greeting students for a school performance, just hours before an F4 tornado struck nearby last month. Mahr, a former teacher, has won numerous community, state and national awards over the years for work in the arts, commerce and even agriculture - she was named Hopkins County Farmer of the Year as owner and manager of the Hidden Hills Farm, raising registered Black Angus cattle. If you go to Saturday's concert, she may be there to greet you at the door. If so, be sure to thank her for all she's given to the arts center and the community. Tickets for Saturday's performance are $13 and $18. For more information, call (270) 821-2787. An Evansville artist who spent decades living a transient life is the driving force behind a fundraising art event Saturday at Synchronicity Gallery, 56-58 Adams Ave. James Davis says he lived nearly 30 years as a transient, selling jewelry he made from antique silverware for the last two decades. He has recently begun working with photography, focusing on the homeless. Davis also is a poet and musician who has performed in the monthly Tuesday Night Reading Series at Synchronicity. He initiated Saturday's event, coordinated with the Evansville Coalition for the Homeless and Synchronicity Gallery. Just a few years ago Davis could be found at the corner of Division and Main streets, holding up a sign that read: "NEED HELP. WILL WORK." The generosity of passers-by, from children who gave him stuffed animals to someone who gave him $160, moved him to use his own art to raise money for others in need, he says. Saturday's fundraiser will run from 4:30 p.m. to midnight, featuring a silent art auction, an art raffle and musical performances by Troy Miller and Steve Miles. Davis and several other artists, including Vincent Boren, Julie Byczynski, Timothy Fitzgerald, Kelly Gil-bert, Kendrick Holder, David Jones, Heidi Krause and Cynthia Watson, have donated work for sale. Admission is $10. Organizers will also collect nonperishable food items for the Tri-State Food Bank. For more information, call Davis at 425-3224 or Luzada Hayes at the Evansville Coalition for the Homeless, at 428-3246. HHH Decker payments could take years - Lawsuit against accreditor key obstacle, trustee says Writer: Mark Pitsch 12/2/2005 Louisville Courier-Journal More than 500 former employees and other creditors of closed Decker College may not get paid for years because of as many as 24 legal actions filed by the school, students, employees, landlords and government agencies. Robert Keats, the court-appointed trustee of Decker's bankruptcy, said the key obstacle is the federal lawsuit that the private, for-profit vocational school has filed against its accreditor. Decker entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy after it closed amid investigations by the FBI, the U.S. Department of Education's Inspector General and Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo. Under Chapter 7, a company's assets are sold to pay creditors. Decker said in court documents it owes 533 employees $1.4 million. Keats said the bankruptcy may provide money to help students to pay loans they took out for their education in construction trades, business or medical office work. Tiffany Cooke, a former admissions manager at Decker who had filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against the school, said she's willing to wait for the $1,854 the school owes her. "If that's the only thing we can do, that's what we'll have to do," Cooke said. Keats said the case is among the most complex to appear before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Louisville. "This is a case that's going to require patience, and maybe a little bit of humor," Keats said. "It is a particularly unusual case because it involves an enormous amount of litigation, an enormous amount of money and affects an enormous number of people." Airplanes lost Decker's parent company, Compass Educational Holdings, also has agreed to Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Compass says in a court filing that it has $3.9 million in assets and $6.6 million in liabilities. At a hearing yesterday, Judge Thomas H. Fulton declined to consolidate the two bankruptcies. According to a statement filed with bankruptcy court, Decker has $22.7 million in cash, other assets, and money owed to it, including the $14.9 million it says it's owed by the federal education department. The assets include $3.4 million in bank or other financial accounts and $2.8 million owed to it by Jeffrey Woodcox and Gerald Woodcox, brothers who are primary school owners, jointly, according to the statement. Jeffrey Woodcox also owes the school nearly $116,000, the statement said. Jeffrey Woodcox said he didn't know why the statement said he and his brother owe Decker $2.8 million and why he owed the additional amount. Gerald Woodcox couldn't be reached for comment. Decker said it is also owed $475,000 from another business owned by the Woodcoxes, Franklin Career Services. Keats said at the hearing that Decker owns three airplanes that can't be located. Between Jan. 1, 2003, and Aug. 31, Decker had $71.5 million in income, including nearly $47 million between July 2004 and June, according to a statement the school filed with the court. At a bankruptcy hearing yesterday, Keats said Decker has more than $3 million in financial accounts but that the money may be reserved to pay off loans taken out by students to pay for school. Disputed accreditation In its lawsuit, Decker claims the Council on Occupational Education made a false statement to the U.S. Department of Education, which led the department in September to cut off the private, for-profit trade school's access to federal financial aid. Decker closed the next month. The federal department says Decker owes taxpayers and lenders $7.2 million. But in a court filing in the federal bankruptcy case, Decker claims the federal department owes it $14.9 million. At the hearing, Keats told Fulton that resolving the bankruptcy and paying creditors hinges on Decker's and the federal government's dispute over the money. Federal officials didn't respond this week to e-mailed questions about the dispute. Record-keeping 'horrible' The school this week filed with the court nearly 3,700 pages listing the names of thousands of creditors other than employees, including students and The Courier-Journal, which is listed as a "trade vendor" and did not specify the amount owed. Court records filed by the school say the school owes state and local governments unknown amounts, has numerous leases on property and equipment, and owes $2 million on secured property. James Carmichael, a former instructor, said he hopes there's an accurate accounting of how much each employee is owed. The bankruptcy filing says he's owed $5,750, but Carmichael said this week that Decker owes him $12,750, including contracts he signed to teach. "Their record-keeping was horrible," Carmichael said. Online courses In an August letter to the federal Education Department, Gary Puckett, the occupational council's president, said the construction programs were not accredited to be offered primarily online. But Jeffrey Woodcox, who acknowledged being interviewed by the FBI about the school's admissions and financial-aid practices, said in an interview that the occupational council knew the school offered the programs mostly online. William Weld, the former Massachusetts governor who until October was the school's chief executive officer, also said in an interview that the accreditor knew how the education would be delivered. "They're lying through their teeth," Jeffrey Woodcox said. "It's not going to stand up with this bankruptcy trustee. It's not going to stand up with a federal judge." Weld said that in a meeting with occupational council officials before the programs were accredited "we damn well went through how this was going to work." Puckett declined to comment because of the lawsuit. In an Aug. 26 letter to the Education Department, Puckett acknowledged that Decker officials had described the online program in an August 2004 document given to the council. But he also said in the letter that Decker failed to get approval from the occupational council to offer associate's degrees in construction crafts primarily online. Investigations Decker is under investigation by the FBI for possible violations of federal law, including wire fraud, student financial-aid fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and giving false statements to the federal government. Stumbo also is investigating possible consumer fraud. School officials have denied wrongdoing. The school closed in October, with about 3,700 students enrolled in business, medical and construction crafts programs. Decker was based in Louisville but had satellite campuses in Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Jacksonville. It offered 66-week associate degree programs in construction crafts, with 58 weeks online and eight weeks on site. Editorial: Broken promises 12/2/2005 Lexington Herald-Leader If Kentucky schools recruited foreign language and math teachers as aggressively as they go after athletes, students across the state would soon enjoy the many advantages of learning another language as well as stronger math skills. Alas, the dearth of teachers makes it impractical to require public schools to provide foreign language instruction to every student at this time. So, the state Department of Education has watered down its new high school graduation standards before the proposal even gets to the state board next week. That's too bad, although we do appreciate the dilemma. A requirement on paper, without the resources to back it up, is a broken promise. Kentucky is already breaking too many education promises -- from the young children who have no pre-school programs to college students who can't graduate on time because the classes they need are full. When 18-year-olds leave high school unprepared for college or work, that's a broken promise too. And it happens far too often, as evidenced by packed remedial classes on college campuses and the state's shortage of skilled workers. Kentucky must raise the sights of high school students and their teachers. There's no way to do that without requiring a more rigorous curriculum. The proposal that comes before the state board next week is modest. The biggest change is that all students would be required for the first time to complete Algebra II. The economy into which today's youngsters will graduate will require, as a minimum for success, the kinds of reasoning skills honed in Algebra II. Yet some Kentucky educators are warning that their students won't be able to meet this requirement. The state board must not succumb to such defeatism. Kentucky's kids can learn as well as any in the world -- if they're taught. The legislature must provide the resources, and the Department of Education must provide the assistance to ensure that high schools can provide a more rigorous and challenging education, and that students will succeed. High schools have been the slowest to change and improve. These tougher standards will nudge them in the right direction. EKU expands planned arts center Writer: Peter Mathews 12/2/2005 Lexington Herald-Leader RICHMOND - Eastern Kentucky University's new performing arts center is growing, even before it gets off the ground. Plans now call for a theater with 2,000 seats, 500 more than previously planned. It would be bigger than the Singletary Center at the University of Kentucky, the Norton Center for the Arts in Danville and existing facilities on EKU's campus. The possible uses are vast, so Eastern officials have held a series of forums this week to ask members of the campus and surrounding community -- educators, artists, government leaders and others -- what they'd like to see there. Members of Madison County arts groups lobbied for space for community theater. Among other ideas: Broadway and off-Broadway shows, Aerosmith concerts, nationally known speakers, film festivals, art exhibits, even political conventions. The performing arts center is part of a larger Business & Technology Complex. Space for trade shows would be cut back to make room to expand the theater. The complex will consist of two buildings joined at the center. The first building, which is 91 percent complete, will house the College of Business & Technology and small-business services, including an incubator in which to nurture start-ups. It will open next summer. The incubator will concentrate on developing products for the safety and security industry, said Cheryl Stone, executive director of EKU's Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology. It's a natural tie-in, given that EKU's College of Justice and Safety received $65 million in Homeland Security and other federal funding this past year. Stone used the development of a surveillance device as an example. The college gets federal money to develop and test the device. The process used to end there, but the incubator will enable EKU to work with private-sector entrepreneurs to develop new businesses around the product. The other half of the complex will be devoted to the performing arts and conference center. EKU expects to break ground for that in summer 2006. Construction will take 18 months to two years. The state budget passed this past spring included $32.8 million for the work. EKU got less feedback at a forum for government leaders. No one from the Madison County or Richmond city governments attended. Berea's main interest is in bringing people downtown, Mayor Steven Connelly said, and a center 10 miles up Interstate 75 wouldn't be useful for many city functions. "We want very much to support this project," he said. "But it's a little hard to see what our role is." Henley to donate lawmaker's salary 12/2/2005 Paducah Sun MURRAY, Ky. -- State Rep. Melvin Henley is donating his legislative salary to the Murray State University Foundation to bolster scholarship funds. Holder of two degrees from Murray, a 32-year faculty member and former faculty regent, Henley said Murray State has always been close to his heart. "I have never kept pay taken for public service, always donating any salary received to a scholarship account with the Murray State University Foundation," he said. Henley, R-5th District, was mayor of Murray from 1978-82. More Kentuckians getting exercise - REPORT SAYS STATE STILL LANGUISHES BELOW U.S. AVERAGE FOR 30 MINUTES, 5 DAYS A WEEK Writer: Barbara Isaacs 12/2/2005 Lexington Herald-Leader More Kentuckians are exercising than in 2001, but we're still the most inactive people in the nation, according to a new federal report released yesterday. In 2003, 33.7 percent of Kentucky adults reported getting at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity at least five times week, according to research published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Kentucky was one of nine states that improved significantly. Montana was ranked the most active state with 58.6 percent of adults in 2003 getting at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week. In 2001, 28.9 percent of Kentuckians got at least moderate levels of exercise. The information is gathered by a nationwide telephone survey every two years. Federal health authorities promote regular exercise because inactivity increases the risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancer. Kentucky's level of activity is still well below the national average. Nationally, 45.9 percent of adult Americans get at least 30 minutes of exercise five days a week. More than half aren't exercising at all, or do so little that it won't improve their health. "I think we still do have a long way to go," said Camille Powell, physical activity specialist for the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. "But I think there's been actual improvement." Wendy Carlin, program coordinator of Kentucky's federal obesity prevention grant, said she also believes attitudes are changing. "It's going to be slow, but I really feel the momentum for change is there," she said. "The consciousness has definitely been raised." Carlin said a key is to make physical activity seem do-able. "Any movement is good," she said. "But the more, the better." Powell said that moderate activity can be broken into 10-minute increments -- even household chores and walking count if they're strenuous enough to increase breathing and heart rate a little. But she said that some may believe they are more active than they actually are: "The average person does barely anything if they have a desk job," if they don't add physical activity to that, Powell said. Carlin said that Kentucky's lack of physical activity likely has to do with many factors, including development that doesn't include sidewalks, or neighborhood destinations to walk to, such as stores and parks. "Suburbia just didn't get built that way," she said. And a large portion of Kentuckians live in rural areas where there may be more limited options for exercise. Nurses planning strike at ARH Writer: DANIEL BRUCE 12/1/2005 Middlesboro Daily News The Kentucky Nurses Association has announced it will conduct a strike beginning Dec. 12 that will affect Middlesboro Appalachian Regional Hospital and the other eight hospitals in the ARH chain. According to a letter addressed to Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH) leaders, the union has accused the company of violating the collective bargaining agreement the two organizations signed in 2001. "... Dec. 12 is the date that ARH has announced that it will unilaterally abolish modified workweek schedules for a large number of registered nurses at ARH hospitals. ARH's threatened action will impose a terrible hardship on RN's and their families, constitutes a clear breach of the parties' collective bargaining agreement and seriously undermines the parties' collective bargaining relationship." According to the letter, the strike will involved registered nurses who are members of the union. A company statement announcing the rescheduling move stated that registered nurses in ARH hospitals only work 36 hours, but are actually paid for 40 hours worth of work. "ARH management has been analyzing staffing needs for some time and has found that a substantial amount of non-productive time provided by the modified schedule drains financial resources that could be utilized to provide system improvements in patient care." The statement said ARH was willing to work with the union to "explore other scheduling options, including some limited use of 36 for 40, where it determines that the practice is feasible and appropriate for individual nursing units." The hospital did decline the union's request to have the matter submitted for arbitration. In a separate statement, ARH spokeswoman Candace Elkins said the company was currently, "...Evaluating the notice and how it relates to the contract, what it actually means, and how ARH will respond." "The company feels that it was their option that they could just take away," said Bruce Saylor, vice president of the Local 106 of the Kentucky Nurses Association. "There are 840 nurses in the ARH system and 80 percent of them are working the modified workweek schedule," said Saylor. Middlesboro ARH employs approximately 65 nurses. Saylor said the change will impose hardships on the nurses who have scheduled their lives around their three, weekly 12-hour workdays. E-Mails Kill a Course Writer: Scott Jaschik 12/2/2005 Inside Higher Education Facing a flood of criticism over his comments on religion, a University of Kansas professor announced Thursday that he was withdrawing a new course for the spring semester on intelligent design. The course -- announced last month -- was originally seen by many as a responsible way for the university to examine the controversies over intelligent design, which have been particularly intense in Kansas. But newspapers obtained a series of comments posted by Paul Mirecki, the chair of the religious studies department at Kansas and the creator of the new course, about the class and his feelings about religion. In a statement released by the university, Mirecki apologized for the latest comments that have surfaced and said that they made it impossible for the course to proceed as planned. "My concern is that students with a serious interest in this important subject matter would not be well served by the learning environment my e-mails and the public distribution of them have created. It would not be fair to the students," Mirecki said. "It was not my intent when I wrote the e-mails, but I understand now that these words have offended many on this campus and beyond, and for that I take full responsibility. I made a mistake in not leading by example, in this student organization e-mail forum, the importance of discussing differing viewpoints in a civil and respectful manner." The most recent of Mirecki's e-mail comments to become public mocked beliefs and traditions of Roman Catholics. In one of the comments -- first published in The Topeka Capital-Journal (free registration required) -- Mirecki described his views on Catholicism as a reflection of his experience growing up in the church: "I had my first Catholic 'holy communion' when I was a kid in Chicago, and when I took the bread-wafer the first time, it stuck to the roof of my mouth, and as I was secretly trying to pry it off with my tongue as I was walking back to my pew with white clothes and with my hands folded, all I could think was that it was Jesus' skin, and I started to puke, but I sucked it in and drank my own puke. That's a big part of the Catholic experience. I don't think most Catholics really know what they are supposed to believe, they just go home and use condoms, and some of them beat their wives and husbands." Mirecki made that and other comments in a listserv of a student group, the Society of Open-Minded Atheists and Agnostics at the University of Kansas. In the last week, Mirecki had already apologized for comments on the listserv in which he described his new course as something "fundies" would see as "a nice slap in their big fat face." As the comments have leaked out, some religious leaders in Kansas have been calling for legislative investigations of the university, for firings, and for courses on intelligent design to be blocked. Robert Hemenway, chancellor at Kansas, issued a statement Thursday in which he said that the course should still be taught -- but that Mirecki had been correct to call it off for now. "I personally find Professor Mirecki's e-mail comments repugnant and vile. They do not represent my views nor the views of this university. People of all faiths are valued at KU, and campus ministries are an important part of life at the university," he said. Mirecki, he added, "insulted both our students and the university's public." But Hemenway went on to say of the course: "This unfortunate episode does not in any way diminish our belief that the course should be taught. It is the role of the university to take on such topics and to provide the civil, academic environment in which they can be honestly examined and discussed." The Faculty Senate at Kansas on Thursday afternoon adopted a resolution affirming the right of professors to teach and do research on controversial subjects, but also noting their responsibility to speak in respectful, civil ways. "Our values are that we're not going to flinch from examining controversial issues. That's part of what you do," said Joe Heppert, a chemistry professor who is chair of the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. "But we also wanted to recognize that along with freedom comes responsibility to recognize that the way we speak, the attitudes we express, can result in the public reaching certain conclusions about ourselves as scholars and as an institution," Heppert said. "We have the responsibility, even when we speak privately, to do so with respect for the attitudes of others." Heppert rejected criticism that some have leveled on the university this week as an institution intolerant of religion. "There are many people of faith on the faculty," he said, and discussions of issues of faith -- and issues such as intelligent design -- "have been entirely respectful," even when people disagree or don't share all of the same values. Several professors said privately that they feared that the controversy would damage the university's support in the state, and that the comments would end up giving a boost to supporters of intelligent design, who can portray themselves as victims of elite intellectuals. On the Kansas campus, students have expressed a range of views in comments in The Daily Kansan. Amy Leochner, a graduate student in religious studies, said that the controversy has "made me as a Christian feel very unwelcome here." "What religion is the department going to attack next? Will there be a class next semester titled 'Why Hitler Was Right: Anti-Semitism for All' or 'Resurrecting the Crusades: Ridding the Middle East of Islam,' " she wrote in a letter to the editor. One defender of Mirecki was Andrew Stangl, a junior who is president of the atheist group on whose listserv Mirecki made the controversial remarks. In a column, Stangl wrote of the criticism of Mirecki: "It's hypocritical, it's wrong and it's horribly unethical to focus on Mirecki's statements and then call him a bigot. How many preachers will claim on Sunday that all secularists are immoral, terrible people? How many qualified, aspiring politicians will lose elections because they are secularists?" Gates Foundation Gives $33-Million to U. of Washington to Graduate More Public-Interest Lawyers Writer: PETER MONAGHAN 12/2/2005 The Chronicle of Higher Education The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $33.3-million gift on Thursday that will provide a free ride for five new students a year at the University of Washington School of Law who commit to working in public-service law after they graduate. The donation from the $28.8-billion foundation will create an endowment that will pay for the students' tuition, books, room, and board. It will also finance seminars, internships, and other opportunities for all students at the law school to study and work on public-service issues. The gift marks the 80th birthday of the father of Bill Gates, the co-founder and president of the Microsoft Corporation. William H. Gates Sr., a co-chairman of the foundation, is a member of the university's Board of Regents who has long been active in public-service legal and community causes. The Microsoft president said in written statement: "We knew that the best possible gift for him would be one that supports and continues his long tradition of service by opening the door of opportunity to others." The endowment, which is intended to have a life of 80 years, matching the longevity of the senior Mr. Gates, will benefit its first recipients starting next fall. The students will receive support throughout their law-school attendance, and a new set of five students will be selected each year. Students who accept the scholarships will pledge to work in nonprofit, public-interest law settings for at least seven years after graduation, or repay the money. They will also promise to repay if they earn salaries higher than those prevailing in public-service law. University officials and representatives of the campus's Public Interest Law Association said that such donations were essential at a time when many law students graduate with more than $70,000 in educational debt. The median starting salary for public-interest lawyers in Washington State is $37,500, compared with $90,000 at private firms. As a result, the proportion of University of Washington law graduates who enter public-interest fields has declined over the last quarter-century, from 5.4 percent to 2.9 percent. Greenspan warns on federal budget deficits Writer: Martin Crutsinger 12/2/2005 USA TODAY WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned again Friday of severe consequences to the economy if policymakers do not attack federal budget deficits projected to soar as baby boomers retire. Greenspan said it is likely that Congress will have to make "significant adjustments" in reducing benefits to future retirees. He said it appears the country has promised more than it can afford to deliver in Social Security and especially Medicare payments, given that health care costs have been exploding. "So long as health care costs continue to grow faster than the economy as a whole, they will exert budget pressures that seem increasingly likely to make current fiscal policy unsustainable," Greenspan said in remarks taped for a conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Greenspan used one of his final speeches of his long tenure as Fed chairman to return to themes he has been emphasizing with increased urgency the past two years -- that the looming retirement of 78 million baby boomers will put severe strains on the country's finances and without changes could disrupt the economy by driving up interest rates because of increased government borrowing. Greenspan urged Congress to act quickly so baby boomers will have time to adjust to potential benefit cuts. Greenspan did not outline in Friday's speech what benefit cuts should be considered but in the past he has endorsed proposals such as raising the age at which retirees can draw full Social Security benefits. "The likelihood of growing deficits in the unified budget is of especially great concern because the deficits would drain a correspondingly growing volume of real resources from private capital formation and cast an ever-larger shadow over the growth of living standards," Greenspan said. "In the end," he warned, "the consequences for the U.S. economy of doing nothing could be severe." Greenspan made no mention in his prepared remarks of President Bush's stalled effort to overhaul Social Security by creating private accounts for younger workers. Greenspan has, in the past, endorsed the proposal but has said that Congress will need to do much more to put the government's huge retirement programs on sound financial footing. In a brief mention of current economic conditions, Greenspan said the economy has delivered a "solid performance" so far in 2005. "And despite the disruptions of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, economic activity appears to be expanding at a reasonably good pace as we head into 2006." (Related: Employment recovers.) However, he said the positive short-term outlook for the economy is occurring against a backdrop of concern about the government's long-term fiscal health. "Our budget deficit will substantially worsen in the coming years unless major deficit-reduction actions are taken," Greenspan said, echoing comments he made most recently in an appearance Nov. 3 before Congress' Joint Economic Committee. He again called for Congress to reinstate budget rules that expired in 2002 that require any future increases in benefit payments or cuts in taxes to be paid for by cutting spending in other areas or increasing taxes. The Bush administration, which is trying to make the tax cuts of Bush's first term permanent, opposes covering those tax reductions by using the so-called pay-go rules. Greenspan said while both tax increases and spending cuts could be needed to deal with future budget deficits, he favored the use of spending reductions, especially in the area of the government's retirement programs because the current benefits did not seem to be sustainable. He said the size of the tax increases that would be needed to cover the shortfall in the retirement programs would pose "significant risks" to future economic growth. Lenders Speak Out Against Cuts Writer: Doug Lederman 12/2/2005 Inside Higher Education A coalition of bankers and other parties in the student loan industry wrote Republican Congressional leaders Wednesday to "strenuously oppose" proposed cuts to the federal student loan programs, which they said "threaten our ability to fulfill the critical national need of providing affordable access to postsecondary education." The letter adds: "Cuts this deep will hurt borrowers and lenders alike. Lenders will be forced to curtail borrower benefits, will have trouble maintaining high-level service, and will have more difficulty financing student lending." Congress has been working for months on legislation, part of the "budget reconciliation" process, to squeeze savings from mandatory federal programs to reduce the budget deficit, offset the cost of tax cuts, and, as of this fall, raise money to help rebuild the Gulf Coast from hurricane damage. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives began with the goal (as set out in the budget blueprint Congress passed in February) of producing $35 billion in savings from mandatory programs, and both chambers tried to wring between a quarter and a third of that money from the government's two student loan programs. They have proposed doing that through a mix of cuts in subsidies to lenders and increases in interest rates and other costs to students and families, though exactly which group is paying more has been a subject of intense debate and dueling reports. This fall, House leaders upped the ante, raising the target for their overall budget savings to $50 billion and ratcheting up to $14.3 billion the amount they sought to squeeze from the loan programs. The House passed legislation (HR 4241) to make those cuts this month by one vote. Groups that represent students and colleges and universities have lobbied loud and hard against the proposed cuts (with the slogan "Stop the Raid on Student Aid"), arguing (1) that the federal government should not do anything to increase costs to students at a time of rising tuitions and (2) that any savings produced from the student loan programs should be used to bolster access to higher education, not pay for tax cuts or hurricane relief. The banks, guarantee agencies and other financial institutions that participate in and profit from the guaranteed student loan program have appeared to remain largely silent throughout the process, even though Republican leaders have insisted that lenders (rather than students) are bearing the brunt of the cuts. Why would the lenders be so compliant if their ox is being so badly gored? The conventional wisdom is that they knew some cuts were likely no matter what, and that Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who heads the House Education and the Workforce Committee and is a friend to the lenders, had urged them not to lobby against the first layer of cuts approved as part of legislation to extend the Higher Education Act (which would have cut about $9 billion from the loan programs) by vowing to protect them from worse ones. But when House Republicans decided to raise their budget target to $50 billion and slice another $5 billion or so from the loan programs, some lenders began pushing industry leaders to speak out against the cuts. They quietly sent one letter to all House Republicans in mid-October, and another to the same group in early November. But still, the impression was that the lenders were staying on the sidelines. The letter released Wednesday "was prompted by concern that cuts are excessive in the House and Senate bills, and that if lenders do not speak up, then the mistaken impression could be left that these cuts are OK" with us, said John Dean, president of the Consumer Bankers Association, which co-signed the letter. The letter -- which was also sent by the Education Finance Council, National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs, Nelnet, Sallie Mae, and the Student Loan Servicing Alliance -- echoes the themes of the earlier ones. Although it vaguely repeats threats that changes that make student loans less profitable could drive lenders from the guaranteed loan program, the letter mostly focuses on the extent to which disinvestment in student aid will hurt higher education and American competitiveness. "We understand that the federal budget deficit must be reduced," the groups wrote. "However, our country's future depends on an educated workforce, which in turn must be able to finance higher education. Cutting federal support for student loans, the most efficient way to finance higher education for the federal taxpayer, would reduce our ability to compete in the global marketplace." The letter urges lawmakers to keep cuts to the loan programs "to an absolute minimum." What that might mean in practical terms is unclear. With the Senate having passed a bill that would cut $35 billion (but direct nearly $8 billion in savings from loan programs to create two new financial aid programs for needy students and those who specialize in math and science), and the House having narrowly passed a bill that would cut $50 billion and shift all savings from the loan programs to deficit reduction and other purposes, lawmakers trying to draft a compromise between the two versions have their hands full. Tech Careers Need Makeover -- U.S. Chamber of Commerce launches effort to make science and technolog... Writer: Latima Johnson 11/28/2005 MarketingPower.com In the fight to recruit more young Americans into the sciences, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has partnered with other industry groups in an effort to double the number of science graduates in the next 10 years. "We want more homegrown professionals so we can keep our technological edge," says Arthur Rothkopf, education director at the Chamber of Commerce. The Education for Innovation Initiative is working with the federal Department of Education to encourage colleges to produce more science and math teachers and will provide technology and other support to those teachers. "We want students to focus on science and math at an early age," Rothkopf says. The initiative recommends building public support for science, math, and technology; upgrading K-12 science and math curricula; and increasing funding for research and development. The group wants the federal government to offer incentives to teachers and students that would make studying and teaching science and math more attractive. These include loan-forgiveness programs, improved teacher salaries, and supplements to Pell Grants. According to the National Science Foundation, the number of U.S. college students graduating with science, technology, engineering, and math degrees has decreased by 20% in the past 20 years. http://informationweek.com |