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Today's News for October 1, 2007System NewsState News National News Photo of the Day A World of Sounds: SCC International Festival offering a wide range of musical acts 9/29/2007 Somerset Commonwealth Journal An exciting lineup of Hip Hop, Reggae, Folk, Bluegrass and Indie musical entertainment for the 2007 Somerset Community College International Festival has been finalized. The event is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 18, from 9 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. on the SCC Somerset Campus. The event is free and open to the public. In addition to the music, the festival will include educational workshops about various cultures, cultural dance demonstrations, cultural displays from various countries, demonstrations, free ethic food samples, an international fashion show, crafts created by the local Sheltowee Artisans and world bazaar featuring global crafts for sale. The bazaar items come from an international development organization called "Ten Thousand Villages." One of the headliners for this year's festival is Reggae Artist Rob Dread. Dread is scheduled to perform on the outdoor stage located between Meece and Stoner Hall on the SCC Campus beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 18. Dread worked with, national recording artist, Ras Bonghi on a two-year tour of America as bassist, keyboard player, vocalist, sound tech and road manager. He has also worked with, international recording artist and former Master Drummer of the West African Ballet, Kaikpai and the Riddem Afrique as musical director. Dread founded and musically directed the Columbus sensation Dread Alert with Ciam Carr. His further musical contributions were as bassist and vocalist. Furthermore, he was a featured bassist for the international reggae band, Identity/Nu-Sonics (Island/Mango Records) in 1993. Dread also co-founded, with Dr. X, and was musical director/manager/lead vocalist of the Ohio based reggae music institution, The Dub Enforcement Agency (DEA) which received international prestige from a rave review in Reggae Report International magazine (April 1996). He has performed on various television stations which include Fox 56, WKYT-TV27, DATV and also hosted "The Reggae Show" on WRFL (88.1 FM) with DJ Spice, in Lexington, KY from 1999 to 2001. Dread has shared the stage with a variety of musical giants: King Yellowman, Burning Spear, Phil Collins, George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars, Inner Circle, Third World, Morris Day and the Time, Bobby "Blue" Bland, The Gap Band, The Itals, KRS-1, Gregory Issacs, The Ark Band, Dougie Simpson, The Flex Crew, Joseph Hill and Culture, and Men at Large. The festival's music schedule will begin at 11 a.m. when the Bluegrass group Mountain Connection will perform on the outdoor stage. Mountain Connection hails from Eastern Kentucky with roots deeply embedded in Bluegrass and Appalachian Music. The band incorporates progressive, driving Bluegrass music with tight harmonies and a high energy stage show. The members of the group have years of performing experience including at the Grand Ole Opry and New York's Carnegie Hall. Members of Mountain Connection are: Kelly Caldwell, vocals and mandolin; Greg Combs, vocals and banjo; Brian Davidson, upright bass; and Robin Barrett, vocals and guitar. Beginning at 11:30 p.m. in the Harold Rogers Student Commons Grill, the Indie, Experimental and Psychedelic group The Color of Space will perform. The Colour Out of Space includes: Josh Todd, drums; Jason Norfleet, guitar; Micah Wiles, guitar, synthesizer, and percussion; Jordan King, guitar; and James Gibson, bass, synthesizer. Todd describes the band's sound as epic, instrumental, rock music. Josh and Jason started the group in the summer of 2006 with a few friends. The friends decided they wanted to make a different kind of music and Colour Out of Space was born. They have played at Gypsy Hut in Cincinnati, OH; the Icehouse in Lexington, KY; and Freedom Fest in Somerset. The band will perform at Riverstone Art Gallery on Oct. 6, Victory Christian Fellowship on Oct. 13 and will perform two shows on Oct. 27 at Anvilfest in Liberty and later at the Pulaski County Fairgrounds. At 11:45 in the Harold Rogers Student Commons Community Room, James Claypool will be discussing the origins of Bluegrass music. Music will continue at 3:45 p.m. with a performance by a Hip Hop group Tha Senate. The group consists of three members: Ca$ino, King James and .38. They describe their music as blazin', lyrical, fresh to def, real hip-hop! That's how you would have to describe Senate Inc. aka Tha Senate. While other rappers of today seem to just want to talk about how much money they make or what kind of cars they drive, Tha Senate's goal is to be able to reach every listener on every level. "You can't party every day," said Ca$ino. The group was nominated for the rookies of the year award at the 1st annual KYMP Magazine Hip-Hop show May 6th, 2007 in Louisville Ky. Then the Folk music group The Charming Third will perform on the outdoor stage at 5:35 p.m. "The Charming Third's Will Simpson was born and raised in the Bluegrass state of Kentucky, and his sound certainly does a good job of proving that. His stark acoustic guitar and rustic voice blend for an authentic-feeling sound, and an extremely personal live show. Drawing inspiration from artists ranging from golden oldies, such as Bob Dylan, to more noisy contemporaries like Bright Eyes and Nickelcreek, Simpson does a masterful job of mixing the old and new to his own special folk sound. According to a review by Matt Keith, "When the lights go down, and the guitar comes out you can be sure you're in for a treat as Simpson strums his way through crooning soft ballads (Let's Kill Christian Music) to pumping dance-alongs (The Drive Home) that will make you feel like locking arms with a partner for a few two-steps. Simpson's lyrics draw an honest look at some of the finer and less talked-of sides of Christianity, and display a heart-felt love for the simple world around us. He reaches beyond his years to provide an earthy sound that's not only intelligent and passionate about the subjects his songs speak on, but also provides a strange and comforting sense of intimacy live." Other SCC facilities will be holding smaller lead-up events prior to the Somerset Campus event. The SCC McCreary Center will hold its International Festival events on Wednesday, Oct. 10, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The SCC Clinton Center in Albany will hold its event on Thursday, Oct. 11, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The SCC Casey Center in Liberty will also hold its event on Oct. 11 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The SCC Russell Center International Festival will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Laurel Campus of SCC will hold its International Festival events on Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The public is invited to all of these events and there is no charge for admission. For more information about the SCC 2nd Annual International Festival contact Natalie Gibson, the SCC Director for Cultural Diversity, at (606) 451-6697. Somerset Community College is a comprehensive two-year institution of higher education. SCC has campuses in Somerset and London, centers in Clinton, McCreary, Russell and Casey Counties. The website is www.somerset.kctcs.edu. Call for admission and registration information toll free at 1-877-629-9722. KCTCS serves the Commonwealth through 16 community and technical college districts that form a seamless system of 62 campuses open or under construction. KCTCS colleges change lives by providing accessible and affordable education and training through academic and technical associate degrees; diploma and certificate programs in occupational fields; pre-baccalaureate education; adult, continuing and developmental education; customized training for business and industry; and distance learning. For more information, visit www.kctcs.edu. BCTC Schedules Events in Celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month 10/1/2007 Kentucky Commission on Women LEXINGTON, KY (October 1, 2007) - The traditions and customs of the Hispanic culture will be the focus of several events planned to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at Bluegrass Community & Technical College. The events are free and open to the public. Hispanic Heritage Month Events: Latino Film Series October 3, "Cronos" by Guillermo del Toro: Mexico, 1993. October 16, " The Undocumented Documentary" by Arturo Perez Torres: US, 2005. October 17, "Volver" by Pedro Almodovar: Spain, 2006. October 30, "The First Night of My Life" by Miguel Albaladejo: Spain, 1998. November 6, "El Segundo Aire" by Fernando Sariñana: Columbia, 2001. All films will begin at 7:30 p.m., in room 230, of the Oswald Building, Cooper Campus, 470 Cooper Drive, Lexington. The film series is sponsored by the Bluegrass Film Society and Enlace, the Latino Student Association. Speaker Series October 24, "Walkout" An evening with Sal Castro, a popular and progressive teacher who along with his students staged a walkout of 10,000 students at five East Los Angles high schools in 1968. The walkout was staged to protest educational conditions and complain of anti -Hispanic anti-Mexican educational bias. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m., in room 230, of the Oswald Building, Cooper Campus, 470 Cooper Drive, Lexington. October 25, "LaCausa" Living Voices presents a chapter in American History as a young woman balances the demands of her family culture and fights to see her people free from poverty. Set in the late 1960's during Cesar Chavez's work to change the lives of Latin American farm workers, battling for civil rights against racism and indecent work conditions. The event will begin at 7:00 p.m., in room 230, of the Oswald Building, Cooper Campus, 470 Cooper Drive, Lexington. For more information, contact Erin Howard, BCTC Hispanic Outreach Coordinator, (859) 246-6436 or via email erin.howard@kctcs.edu. ### Bluegrass Community & Technical College offers accredited certificate, diploma, and degree opportunities designed to improve employment opportunities and maximize success in education and training. BGTC receives state grant 9/29/2007 Russellville News-Democrat and Leader Bowling Green Technical College's Adult Education Division has received a $54,000 state grant to provide Job Readiness Activity (JRA) Training classes. BGTC through Kentucky Adult Education (KYAE) will provide training to improve the employability, work readiness, and educational skills of Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (K-TAP) clients who are referred to the college by the Department of Community Based Services. Clients who qualify or are eligible for the training will participate in classes 30 hours per week for four consecutive weeks. Job readiness activities include workplace expectations, including work behavior and attitudes; building skills in interviewing and resume writing; life skills decision-making and time management; succeeding on the job and preparing for long-term personal development; and upgrading skills based on the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE). For more information or to find out if you qualify, please call 270-901-1017. Boy, 13, hit by truck 9/30/2007 Henderson Gleaner A 13-year-old boy was listed in satisfactory condition at Methodist Hospital Saturday after he was hit by a truck while walking along U.S. 60-West near Henderson Community College around 3:45 p.m.. According to the Henderson County Sheriff's Office, Joshua Davis of William and Mary Court in Henderson was hit by a Chevrolet S-10 driven by 17-year-old Waverly resident Charles M. Cowan. The accident occurred after Cowan's vehicle spun while trying to avoid another vehicle that had slowed nearly to a stop, a press release said. Davis and a friend had been walking about a half mile east of Henderson Community College when they heard the noise of the truck skidding. Davis told police that he tried to run but the truck struck him on the right side. Davis was transported to Methodist Hospital for non-life threatening injuries. Chao to address chamber 9/29/2007 Paducah Sun U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao will speak at the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce breakfast at 7:30 a.m. Thursday in International Ballroom A of the Executive Inn. The breakfast will feature an annual "Salute to Business Education Partnership." Cost is $12 for members and $20 for non-members. The reservation deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday. E-mail: info@paducahchamber.org. Web: www.paducahchamber.org. Tuesday also is the deadline for people to submit written requests to speak at an Oct. 23 forum to identify community priority projects for 2008 state and federal legislative funding. The forum will start at 4 p.m. in Room 101 of West Kentucky Community and Technical College's Crounse Hall. Requests should be mailed to the Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce, P. O. Box 810, Paducah, Kentucky 42002-0810. The forum starts a boiling-down process that allows the community to "speak in one strong voice when visiting our state and federal officials," chamber Governmental Affairs Chairwoman Helen Sims said. Each presenter will have 10 minutes, followed by five minutes of questions and answers involving the chamber and audience. Sims' group will later review the information and make recommendations to the chamber board. The board will make the final selections in consultation with community partners. College officials: Tuition freeze good idea Writer: MIKE JAMES 9/29/2007 Ashland Daily Independent ASHLAND -- Ashland Community and Technical College officials believe a two-year tuition freeze, under consideration by the Council on Postsecondary Education, would help boost enrollment by keeping ACTC affordable. The proposal would affect only the 16 colleges in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and not the state's eight public universities. "We think it's a proposal worth considering," ACTC President Greg Adkins said. The system would need additional state funding to make the freeze work, ACTC spokesman John McGlone said. Costs, particularly for energy and benefits, continue to rise sharply, he said. Overall enrollment has grown since 2000 but only because of an increase in part-time students. The system has seen a drop in full-time students since 2002. Although the system has shown record enrollment this fall, the council fears further tuition increases could reverse the trend. "We feel the same way," McGlone said. "Affordability is a key issue for students who go to a community and technical college." Over the past decade, more of the financial burden has been shifted to students, he said. With higher enrollment comes increased financial pressure, McGlone said. The number of students has risen 40 percent in five years while state funding has leveled off, so the amount of state funding per pupil has dropped, he said. The proposal follows a number of prefiled bills for the 2008 General Assembly, one of them filed by Tanya Pullin, D-South Shore. The bill calls for a two-year tuition freeze at all of Kentucky's public colleges and universities, including KCTCS. "Tuition increases have been really high for the last three or four years and it's getting to the point that they're out of reach for average middle-class Kentuckians," Pullin said. Pullin said she hadn't been aware that the council was considering the freeze. "I'm pleased the council is seeing the burden that double-digit tuition increases have put on Kentucky students," she said. The KCTCS freeze would affect some students at Morehead State and other public universities. Students who transfer from KCTCS colleges to Morehead State with associate degrees continue to pay the KCTCS rate while at MSU, said Joel Pace, director of the MSU Ashland campus. A two-year freeze could help achieve the state's goal of doubling the number of Kentuckians with bachelor's degrees by 2020, Brad Cowgill, interim president of the council, said. Column: Future Stronger Henderson in hands of its citizens, leaders Writer: Ron Jenkins 9/30/2007 Henderson Gleaner Label this Part Two of a snapshot of challenges/opportunities facing our community in the short- and long-term. - Education. The quality of education here is a vitally important underpinning to all other key components of our community. If Henderson County is perceived as having an ordinary public school system, our future may be destined for ordinary success. If, on the other hand, it demonstrates tangible excellence in classroom achievement, that can be an accelerant for prosperity, particularly in the area of economic development. Most prospective business/industrial clients scouting for a site put the quality and range of education available at or near the top of their community checklist. Workforce training and retraining programs are critical, too, and on that score Henderson Community College has a proven record -- with more to come in the form of the William L. Sullivan Technology Center that is nearing completion. - City-county partnerships. If city and county decision-makers seriously assess the value of a cooperative spirit free of territorial protectionism, the fruits will accrue to all local citizens. With so many changes in the landscape looming on the horizon, city-county cooperation will take on even greater meaning. - Canoe Creek flooding. The commitment to alleviate flooding along Canoe Creek is jointly shared by the two local governments, which will also need cooperation from Canoe Creek neighbors as well as state and federal assistance in order to make serious inroads against flooding. Yet, even with substantial clearing and ongoing creek maintenance, certain flood-prone areas aren't likely to be spared in the case of a major rain event, something that has been painfully demonstrated in the history of huge rainstorms. Ultimately, relocation out of the floodplain may be the only reasonable alternative for certain Canoe Creek neighbors, and that is likely to require the assistance of Uncle Sam. - Recreation. Henderson has not reached its potential in recreation, but there are signs that it intends to ramp up in both traditional and non-traditional activities. County government is bent on being a key player, thanks to a 503-acre reclaimed mining site off Kentucky 351 near Hebbardsville that will soon be in its possession. County Judge-executive Sandy Watkins and fellow fiscal court members plan to solicit input -- from elementary schoolchildren to seasoned recreationists -- on how to make best use of that property. With proper planning and maintenance, the area (with three lakes) affords a golden opportunity for a range of recreation, but its development will not occur overnight. Meanwhile, the planned improvements to the Doc Hosbach tennis courts on Water Street, coupled with the first-class facilities at the high school, will strengthen Henderson's brand as a tennis showplace for young and older players -- and as an attraction for more statewide tournaments. An indoor archery facility befitting a national championship local team and serving as a magnet to dozens of local kids may soon be on the drawing board -- not to mention the possibility of an outdoor range. Major catfishing tournaments and street pole vault competition give variety to a growing local recreation scene that also is expected to build on its traditional summer recreation offerings. - Public sector pension costs. Hovering overhead of local governments here and elsewhere across the state are the exploding fiscal demands of public pensions and health care benefits. Insufficient funding from the state, coupled with escalating health care costs and longer lifespans, has created a massive underfunded liability in the billions for local governments and school districts, effectively siphoning off funds that might otherwise prop up government services and classrooms. Protecting those public employees who are rightfully -- and legally -- vested in pension programs will require an enormous infusion of funding sooner than later. In the years immediately ahead, local government decision-makers will almost certainly have to seek greater cost-sharing by public employee newcomers and/or scaled-down benefits. With so many opportunities ahead, resolution of the public sector pension issue -- largely in the hands of the state -- will allow local governments to play a greater role in moving our community forward. This column and last week's do not pretend to cover all the challenges/opportunities ahead for our community. As always, feel free to tell us about others. Concert Raising Money For Education 9/29/2007 WYMT, Hazard More than a hundred people spent Saturday evening at the Mountain Arts Center to support education and enjoy some bluegrass music. Proceeds for the concert go towards a Big Sandy Community and Technical College Scholarship Fund to help students who want to get an education and otherwise do not have money to enroll. The headline act for the fundraiser is Charlie Sizemore, a Big Sandy alum. "Its turned into something good and its turned into something special that I look forward to every year," Sizemore. The Big Sandy Singers and Five Miles From Nowhere also performed to raise money for education. Focus: Career Moves 10/1/2007 Cincinnati Post Former Florence Police officer Tim Chesser has joined the faculty of Gateway Community and Technical College as a full-time criminal justice instructor. Chesser, who retired from the force last year, remains a special deputy with the Kenton County Sheriff's Department and a homeland security specialist with the Northern Kentucky Area Development District. KCTCS approves new programs 10/1/2007 Kentucky.blog MSN MoneyCentral - technology from Owensboro Community and Technical College; Associates degree in advanced practice respiratory therapy for Elizabethtown Community and Technical College. Kentucky Community and Technical College System operates 16 colleges with Source: news.moneycentral.msn.com Kentucky Colleges Improve Communications and Save U.S.$400,000 With New e-Mail System 10/1/2007 ZDNet Topics: Application Servers, Security Management Tags: Application, Online Communications, Microsoft Windows Active Directory, Microsoft Corp., Enterprise Software, E-mail Servers, E-mail, Directory Services, College, Software Source: Microsoft Overview: The 16 colleges of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) - on more than 65 campuses - needed to reduce the rising costs of student mailings and improve communications among college faculty, staff, and students. With the help of IT consultant KiZAN and the state's technology office, KCTCS used Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 and Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access to set up a centralized e-mail system with more than 100,000 mailboxes. KCTCS also deployed an application that integrated the colleges' PeopleSoft human resources database and the Active Directory service. The application creates automated processes for activating and deactivating e-mail addresses and computer access privileges. Lunch With...Kenny Boyd - Kenny Boyd, who spends his days on the streets, trying to connect with troubled kids 9/28/2007 Louisville Courier-Journal NOTE: Jefferson graduate and the college's newest board member, Kenny Boyd, was interviewed by The Courier-Journal for a profile on today's editorial page. Something happened yesterday that's amazing to me. The Governor's office called. Yesterday they appointed me a board member of the Jefferson Community College. The reason why that is so profound to me is that when I came here, in 1989, I came here homeless. I jumped out of a truck from Nashville, Tenn. I had jumped in the truck in Nashville, coming from under the viaduct. I had nowhere to go -- hopeless, based on the lifestyle I chose to live as a kid growing up. And I used to stay at the Salvation Army over on Brook Street, and every morning -- when you live in a homeless shelter, you have to leave about 6 o'clock -- every morning I used to walk straight down Brook Street across Broadway, and I used to walk across the campus of JCC, not knowing that it was a campus or college place. I used to walk across there all the time, and I used to say to myself, "What is this?" And at that time I didn't have my high school diploma. At that time I was still suffering from my addiction. And what happened in that process, I went in and got clean, I went to the Healing Place, and my life got better. I went back to school and got my high school diploma, and I ended up graduating from JCC. I ended up going back there. Not only that, but about a year and a half ago, I was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award at JCC. And then to turn around and be appointed to be on the board of JCC, it just blew me away. And the only reason why it brings such joy and excitement to me is that you have to understand where I come from. That's why it's so easy for me to do what I do in this community to reach kids. What was your addiction? Whatever. Drugs. I was addicted to drugs. Where did you come from? Nashville, Tenn. I grew up in Nashville, Tenn., with six brothers and two sisters and one mama. I lived in poverty. I was poor. We were poor. We didn't have a lot of things other people had in the neighborhood. We didn't have a father figure. My mother was my role model. She was my everything. So what happened in that process, I made a conscious decision at the age of 12 years old to go to the streets. I was suffering from low self esteem. I was suffering from what so many kids today are suffering from. They want to know why? Who is my father? Why this, why that? The streets became my escape. The streets made me what I wanted to be. I wanted to be that person that everyone looked up to. So I went to the streets and started selling drugs. From that point on, I got caught up into the drug world, at age 12 years old. The next thing you know, at the age of 14½ , I got shot down in the streets. I got put out of school at the age of 15 going on 16, still in the ninth grade. I got put out of all Davidson County public schools. Next thing you know, at the age of 16 years old, I'm on my way to the penitentiary -- back and forth from jail and institutions. At the age of 18, 19, I got hit by a car and broke both my legs, broke my shoulder and was in a coma from November 28 to December 3. So you can tell my life was a darkness. At first it was excitement, because I had the attention; I had all the things that you see so many people looking for today. I was trying to cover up the feeling of the pain I was suffering as a little boy, not because of what my mama did, but because of the reality of the world I came out of: no father, no role model, no one to look up to, so I looked up to the streets. The streets were my idol; the streets were where I wanted to be. I wanted to be the guy to drive the big car and have lots of money and all the women. So that became a reality. The mission of Youth Alive is? To reclaim those most precious, to break the cycle -- the cycle so many of our teenagers and our youth and our adolescents get trapped into. Youth Alive came about, like I said: I was at JCC, and someone walked up to me and asked me if I ever thought about running my own program. This program is based on my own, personal life story. I grew up in a world with no values, no principles, no integrity, no self-respect, no leadership, no empathies, no discipline, no academic performance, no community involvement. None of those things were what I grew up on. I lived the awfulness of everything I just told you. I didn't know how to make tough decisions. Academic performance: I got put out of school because education wasn't important to me. It wasn't about building a community; it was about tearing a community down. I didn't have any self respect. I didn't have any discipline. The only time I had discipline was when I got locked up. I wasn't a leader; I was a follower. No empathy -- I didn't have feeling for you or anybody else or even myself. So what I did was take seven principles and incorporate them in the cornerstone of Youth Alive, to teach our kids who come through our doors on a day-to-day basis. Who comes through your doors? We work with kids ages 10 to 17 years old. A lot of our kids come from single-parent homes, foster care, broken homes, dysfunctional families. They're hurting, angry, looking for that same direction, looking the same way I was. They walk up in here, and if they stay involved here, we give them that attention. We love them. We encourage them. We help impress on them the importance of education. Youth Alive's program is based around the seven principles. We have an after-school, year-round program, a tutoring program from 4:30 to 5:30, we deal with black history, we teach them about healthy choices, we do college tours, we have guest speakers come in. Each year we celebrate our kids, recognize them for their accomplishments throughout the year. Over the years Youth Alive has existed -- this will be our ninth year -- we have watched kids come through our doors. Some stay involved, some go back out there to the streets. You know, one of the things I also recognized is that the same tearing, the same toss-and-turning my mother went through, I deal with it today. Because so many kids I have reached out to choose to go out to the streets, to stay out there in the streets -- the same choice I made when I was a little boy. My mother was waiting on that phone call, someone to say, "Come please and identify his body." I have gotten that phone call since I've been around Youth Alive. I have seen so many young brothers I have reached out to end up dying in the streets, or going to the penitentiary, or are still out there in the streets. You have to understand the world I deal with. I deal with both sides, the good side and the bad side. Also, the good news is that a lot of them have ended up going to college. A lot of them can become productive members of society. One young man who came to our program lived off of 43rd and Market St., Jonathan Frazier, now is a sophomore at MIT. His sister is a student at University of Louisville. You see the good and the bad. Some end up going to college. This year we gave 14 scholarships away to some of our kids who graduated this year and some of our kids who were in college this year, to help them stay in college. So I see it all. I have the ability to have one-on-one conversations with them, I do workshops with them, I talk to them about education and important things in life. So Youth Alive has been a great blessing to my spirit, something that I never dreamed about doing. This wasn't my plan when I was a little boy growing up. This wasn't the world that I said I wanted to be in. I didn't want to know I'd be sitting at the table with you. I didn't know I'd be having the opportunity to share with you who I am. The reality is I didn't know if I was going to make it. I was like that other little boy you see out there in the community saying, "I'm going to die before I'm 18 years old." I knew I was going to die before I turned 18 years old. That's the way my mind was set, because of the life that I lived. How did you make the decision to leave the streets of Nashville and come to Louisville? It wasn't a decision I made to come to Louisville, Kentucky, it was a decision when I woke up under a viaduct in June of 1989, when I crawled down that concrete wall and I said to myself, "God, help me, I'm tired." I didn't have any idea where I was going when I walked around and sat on the curb in Nashville at the truck stop. I waited on the first truck to come up the hill and I waved him down. And I said, "What way are you going?" and he said "North," and I said, "Can I ride?" I didn't have any idea where I was headed. I was in a Dope Fein nod. A Dope Fein nod is where an individual who uses drugs day in and day out goes five, six, seven, eight days without sleeping or eating. I was tired. And I woke up out of that nod and I saw a sign that said "Downtown Louisville," and I patted him on the shoulder and said, "You can let me out right here." I got out at First and Jefferson. Right across the street from the Haymarket. That's where I was for five years. I was 24 years old. So you lived on the streets of Louisville for five years? Five years. I slept in abandoned buildings, slept in abandoned cars, slept in homeless shelters. I slept anywhere I could lay my head. I slept in bushes. Anywhere. Because I didn't have any idea. I didn't come here to change. I came here to escape the desperation and dereliction I was suffering in Tennessee. Somehow, it was July 18, 1994, when in the desperation and pain I was suffering on the inside, I cried, "God help me." And what happened? My whole life changed. A transformation. I went into treatment. I stayed at the Healing Place for a whole year, working on me, looking at why it was so hard to put the drugs down. I had to take a look at my childhood. I had to go back and look at how all this started, why I was so trapped. So from that point on, my life began to change. I went back to school at the age of 30, received my high school diploma, went on to college, got my associate degree at JCC. Now I'm working on my bachelor's degree at Spalding University. That's when all this came together. That's when the program came about. My first vision was, before Youth Alive became a co-ed program, it was all about reaching out to young men. I wanted to work only with young men. One of the things I recently did was a male retreat. These were young men who don't go to the program. These were young men that I went to foster care, to the school system -- Valley, Shawnee, Frost Middle School -- different places where they've got "at risk" kids. Young men I had never seen in my life came here about three weeks ago. The 26 young men who came here were ready to do something with their lives. We took them to Tim Horton campsite. And a lot of those little boys talked about the pain that they suffered, what they're dealing with. I watched little boys cry. I watched little boys look in my eye and say, "Mr. Kenny, you're not going to walk out on me, are you? Are you going to abandon me like everybody else abandoned me?" So that's the passion that I have for doing what I do. I know there's a little boy somewhere, a little girl somewhere, sitting on a curb waiting on someone to reach out and tell them it's going to be O.K. I know this because my mentor, Bill Stone, the black Bill Stone who works at MSD, met me at the homeless Christmas party that the Urban League had in 1994. And I shared my story with him. And he looked at me like, "Oh, my goodness." But the good news is that he didn't walk away from me. He's been my mentor ever since. He's on my board of directors. He's been a man like my father, like my brother, like everything I never had when I was growing up. He has supported me in everything I have done. So how long did it take you to finish high school and go through the JCC program? I was six credits away, so it didn't take me but about six months to get my high school diploma. I went to JCC in 1996 and I graduated in '98. I was getting ready to go to Spaulding, but that's when, on December 15, 1999, an anonymous donor gave me $10,000 and said, "Kenny, start your own program." Someone I didn't even know, that had just heard about me gave me $10,000. You just heard my story -- and someone trusted me. Just imagine what was going on in my mind. He told me, "Go get a 501(c)(3), a business card, and get some brochures and start your own program." How did you do it? I got a business card, I got a 501(c)(3) and brochures. I was first at 10th and Chestnut, and then I ended up growing and I ended up here. And over the years I've had over 2,500 kids come through these doors. I just used my own life story and created Youth Alive. You opened your doors when? I was working at the YMCA in 1998 on a program called Sons of Responsibility, working with young men. So their process there was how I created and took the idea of the seven principles. And I just used my own life story in creating Youth Alive. When we opened our doors, it was just me and seven young boys. We grew and grew, and now we have a complete staff: 10. Our annual budget is $450,000. Isn't that something? Is your mother still around to see your success? Yes. I'll never forget as a little boy that I used to lie on my mama's couch and I remember her patting me on my shoulders, saying, "Kenny, you've got to get out. You've got to get up." You see, at the end of my road, I started taking from my mama -- started lying, cheating, doing all the things that we do in our addictions. When I got clean and my life changed, I called Mama and said, "I'm on my way." She said, "Baby, the keys will be in the flower pot," or "The keys are in the mailbox." My mama was so excited, for all the tears she shed, through all the pain she suffered, through all she when through -- those sleepless nights in the toss-and-turning days-- to see that her son had made a transition in this life. She's excited for me. What about your brothers and sisters? I've got six brothers, two sisters, and they're all excited and know they have a brother named Kenny Boyd. I was the black sheep of the family. You know you've always got a black sheep of the family. My family supported me even when I didn't know they were supporting me. They did all they could. I remember one of my brothers, Jeffery, he lived in Hawaii. Before I hit rock bottom in Tennessee, he sent for me and tried to change my life in Hawaii. I kept doing the same thing, and he sent me back, because I wasn't ready to stop. I hadn't hit my real bottom. But I don't regret my past. My past has helped me get to my future. I know what's back there if I choose to go back there. That's why it's so easy for me to connect to this generation of kids. I have experienced what they're going to go through. I have experienced what they're going through. I know what it's like to be in the gym at the free-throw line looking around for my father, and he wasn't there. I know what it's like for them to be on the free-throw line looking in the crowd for their father and he's not there. I know what it's like. I know what it's like when someone says, "I promise I'll be there," and they don't show up. I know what abandonment is. I know what rejection is. I know all of that. I have experienced it all. You must have a lot of great stories. Can you share one or two? I've got many, but one of the most profound moments that I have had: I remember it was a hot day and I was wondering what I was going to do -- was I going to get funds, money was tight, whether I needed to start something or do something else -- and this young man named Lonnell Middleton walked in my office and he had an envelope and he said, "Here, this is for you." Lonnell was a little boy who grew up in Clarksdale with a single parent, a little boy who went through life challenges, couldn't stay in school, got put out of school and so on, but he was in my program. I kept encouraging him (Don't give up five minutes before the miracle). He went to the GED program. Anyway, he slid the envelope to me, and said, "Look at that, Mr. Kenny." That's where he had completed his high school diploma. So that right there gave me another five years. That's powerful. A woman named Ms. Irvin called me. She had a son, Cedric Irvin, a young man that lived down in California Park, who was running wild. He was 13 years old and was running wild: He was doing everything: He was put out of school, a behavior problem, everything. He got involved in Youth Alive. He stayed in Youth Alive for, oh, four and a half years. Today, now, Cedric is getting ready to graduate from Western Kentucky in December with a criminal justice degree. Stories like that allow me to continue to do what I do. We hear them seven days a week almost. Our program is open Monday through Fridays, in the fall from 2:30 to 7:30. We do homework hours, we have volunteer tutors come in, we have guest speakers come in, we talk about black history, we have the healthy choice program come in. Kids come here and we help them on their assignment with computers. There are so many different things we do here. We have been supported by so many numerous foundations and donors who have come and reached out and helped us get where we are. You have to understand Youth Alive wasn't blessed to be adopted by an organization. I didn't come in here with a million dollars and say, "I want to build this organization." I came in here with scratches, with nothing. What has become of the seven young men who were here when you first opened your doors? Two of them are dead -- killed, shot, at 15, 16 years old. Two of them are in the penitentiary. One of them is a junior at Spalding University. One of them is getting ready to graduate from St. Francis High School. And the other one is just running around. (St. Francis contacted me. They wanted to find a way to do a diverse in the community, so they used Youth Alive. Right now we have about seven kids that go to St. Francis.) You have to understand the world that I deal with. You have the good and the bad. Some won't be successful. Some will choose the streets, just like I did. My transformation did not come until I was 30 years old. No matter what my mama said, no matter what you would have said, I chose the streets as a kid growing up. I chose the lifestyle. It wasn't that I came out of a dysfunctional family. It was a choice that I made. I had a great mama who did all that she could. But I was seeking something that was missing in my life, and the something was the fame and the fortune. I didn't want to be poor. I didn't want to wear the same clothes everyday. I didn't want to be the one to have a buck tooth everyone was laughing at. I was suffering from low self-esteem. I was suffering from something that my mama didn't have anything to do with. One day I chose the streets, like many kids do today. I, through, the streets, created this monster in my world. A monster. But today, I'm a productive member of society. And today I'm able to give back to society what I took away from society. Today I'm able to reach out to that little boy and tell him, "Little boy, I understand where you're at." Instead of beating him down, I may have lifted him up. I may have given him some courage to be able to know you can get your high school diploma. You don't have to sell drugs. You don't have to go to the penitentiary. You don't have to use drugs. It's truly been a blessing in my life to see what has happened. Young kids come through these doors crying and in despair. When they stay here, they develop and they blossom into a flower, into a butterfly. Some of them are flying. They open up. How does your heart deal with those whose lives don't open up into a butterfly? I still see them in the streets and I still hug them. I let them know that I'm here for them. I don't look down on them. I'm a community guy. Sitting behind a desk all day is not my world. My world is out there where they're at. I like to go in the trenches. How do you find these kids? At McDonald's at 26th and Broadway. Just going into the school system. Just being me, being out in the community. I'll just be riding and I talk to them. I connect with them. There are so many different ways of reaching kids. I get so many phone calls from parents who know about Youth Alive or heard my story or have seen me on TV. Or they see my van. Or sometimes I meet them in the Jefferson Mall. Do you see the problem escalating, diminishing, or is it about the same? I see it being worse. I think TV has created a bad picture, and if you hear a negative concept all the time, you're going to start living it. I think TV has destroyed our teenagers -- this generation. We've got to stop saying what we're going to do -- we've got to do it. It can change. We had 26 young men that I'd never seen in my life show up here on Sept. 7. They didn't have to come up here. They made a decision to. Somebody reached out to them, and they reached back. We took them way out to the Tim Horton campsite in Campbellsville. And when we left there, they didn't have any TVs stolen, they didn't have any windows broken out, nothing was damaged. These are kids society calls "at risk." These are the kids you probably wouldn't want to walk in your door. How many kids are in your program at this time? 25-30 kids. Youth Alive is a program, not a recreation center. We aim to keep them connected, one-on-one. It's like a family-oriented thing. We can see their pain, we can see their suffering, we can see their joy, we can see their excitement. We want to find out who you are. And do they bring their report cards to you? Bi-weekly they've got to bring in progress reports. They've got to. We want to know how you're doing in school, what your grades are like. I did a workshop yesterday and I said, "Let's talk about your grades. How are you doing in school? Why, during homework hours, are you thinking you want to play pool? You got a `U' on your report card? No, that's not what we do." Do you provide dinner at night? We don't have a kitchen up here, but we try to go to Kroger's and buy TV dinners every now and then. A lot of these kids, probably the only meal they get is from us. It's just reality. Every kid doesn't have a mother and father at home. Some of these kids don't see their mother sometimes for two or three days. And we ask ourselves, "Why are our kids struggling in education, when they've got to get up at 6 o'clock? Some of these kids have got to be up at 5 o'clock to be on that bus stop at 5:30 and ride all the way across, with no breakfast, no one to say "I love you" and hug you and say "Have a good day in school." They're hungry, wearing the same clothes, and you wonder why there's so much truancy. I wouldn't want to go to school in the same clothes for three days either. The odds are against a lot of this generation of kids that live in this community here. We don't want to look at it -- we want to look past it. Do you connect with any other organizations? I do a lot of collaboration with organizations: St. George's, Office of Youth Development, Urban League, YMCA. We're always trying to find ways to connect. Some of these programs have recreation centers, and we don't. In a year's time, we probably reach over 120-some kids. We have a summer program at the end of school. There are about 70-75 kids in the summertime. It must be difficult to walk away from this job at night. It's very hard. The only way I separate myself is when I get on the road and leave town. When I have to take a break, when I get burned out, I have to leave to get reenergized. I wake up with this on my mind. When I go to sleep this is on my mind. I deal with so many people. I deal with so many innocent souls -- kids who are hurting. So many people say, "What can I do?" but they don't understand the anger, the pain and suffering some of the kids deal with. I understand what rejection is. I understand abandonment. But people in the professional world, in the corporate world don't understand what this world is. We're getting ready to move out of here in November. We're moving to the Old Simmons building at 18th St. and Dumesnil. I used to go to funerals. I don't go to too many anymore. It's too painful for me. Little boys, when I walked in there, used to run up to me and they'd say, "Oh Mr. Kenny, you told us, you told us." I told them what was going to happen: the same story that my mama told me -- "If you don't change your life, Kenny, you're going to die." Being shot down in the street at the age of 14 or 15 years old, being stabbed in my heart at age 17, hit by a car at the age of 18 or 19. I've seen death. When were you in the penitentiary? I started going back and forth to the penitentiary at the age 16 years old. Probably in my whole life I've done five years. In and out, in and out, in and out, in and out. New Web site combines Kentucky's education, employment, economic development information 9/27/2007 e3.ky.com For the first time, Internet users can search Kentucky's education, employment and economic development information and resources from the convenience of their home or office at one easy-to-use site. Now in its second phase, e3.ky.gov recently unveiled a menu of new services that can benefit all Kentuckians. By combining the state's education, employment and economic development information into one interactive site, e3.ky.gov puts users of this frequently requested data in the driver's seat. The e3.ky.gov site offers a broad array of government resources including a new employer self-service job portal, labor market information, GED and postsecondary education information. "This resource brings together valuable information about education, employment and economic development," said Kentucky Education Cabinet Secretary Laura E. Owens. "Students, job seekers, economic developers, employers, labor market analysts and others may find what they need - all at their fingertips." Economic Development Cabinet Secretary John Hindman said, "This innovative and resourceful new site is a perfect example of how economic development and education partners can collaborate to achieve a common goal. I commend all those who worked so hard to implement the e3.ky.gov site. I am confident it will prove to be an effective tool for all Kentuckians." The site offers a new, no-fee job-post service where employers can post and match their jobs with qualified seekers. Employers can search Kentucky's largest database (Employ Kentucky Operating System or EKOS) of job seekers, view and collect identity-protected resumes, and connect with prospective candidates through confidential e-mail or interactive voice response messages without staff assistance. Employers can search resumes geographically from areas ranging from zip code to statewide from the convenience of their desktop. Job seekers can post resumes free-of-charge, view job openings, and research companies and communities before an interview. The e3.ky.gov resume process ensures confidentiality and protects job seekers from growing concerns of employment scams and identity theft. Job seekers also are assured that employer contacts received from e3.ky.gov will be for legitimate job posts. The site requires employers to register using their Federal Employer Identification Numbers (FEINs). This one-time registration takes less than five minutes and state workforce professionals approve in-state registrations within 24 hours. The e3 admin e-mail system updates employers throughout each process. "In today's global economy, an increasing number of careers require a college degree," said Brad Cowgill, interim president of the Council on Postsecondary Education. "This site advances that important objective by outlining the education needed to enter various careers." Also showcased on e3.ky.gov is completer data for General Educational Development (GED) diplomas, Kentucky Employability Certificates, Kentucky Manufacturing Skill Standards, and all degrees issued by Kentucky's postsecondary institutions. In addition, users can find detailed descriptions of curricula, certifications and degrees at postsecondary institutions and links to colleges and universities. Sarah Hindman Hawker, Kentucky Adult Education vice president, said, "The education section provides a wide selection of searchable workforce and educational data, which are valuable for researchers, program planners, economic developers and high school counselors interested in Kentucky's education and economic landscape. "In addition, e3 is a great starting point for adults who want to find resources to continue their education. There's something for everyone - from GED to Ph.D.," she said. One of the strengths of e3.ky.gov is that data can be compared on a local, regional or state level and presented with graphs chosen by the user. The site is frequently updated so that the information is current and it is continually growing. As an economic development tool, e3.ky.gov allows an employer to profile a community's workforce. The site has resources for facilities, tax incentives and business licensing with links to the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet, Bluegrass State Skills Corporation and the Secretary of State's Business Services initiative. The site provides labor market data from the U.S. Census Bureau and information on Kentucky payrolls, earnings, turnover rates, new hires and other indicators by geographic areas. In addition, the county-to-county commuting patterns of workers are included. The e3.ky.gov site is co-sponsored by Kentucky Adult Education and the Office of Employment and Training. It was developed by the Kentucky Education Cabinet's Division of Technology Services. Opinion: To maintain momentum, ECTC will need money Writer: Dr. THELMA J. WHITE 9/30/2007 Elizabethtown News-Enterprise In today's global economy that's driven by knowledge and technology, Elizabethtown Community and Technical College is positioned uniquely to help central Kentuckians improve their employability and the quality of their lives. For more than four decades, ECTC has been the region's most reliable educational partner, assisting communities to address literacy and expand educational attainment, to retrain aging workers for emerging technologies in the workplace, to expand a skilled work force that will attract new business and industry, and to increase the earning power of individuals and families. This remarkable heritage of educational excellence and service is testament to the leadership and commitment of those who worked diligently in the early 1960s to bring postsecondary education to our community. Some 30 years later, many of these same community leaders supported an initiative to merge two very distinctive postsecondary institutions into a comprehensive community and technical college with an enhanced mission, new programs and expanded services. ECTC now offers 33 associate degree programs, 74 certificate programs, 32 diploma programs and numerous transfer programs to four-year universities. The college has the legislative direction to provide the first two years of a baccalaureate degree. For many of our residents, higher education began at ECTC. Thousands of our graduates and former students now serve this community and others throughout the region, and many hold leadership positions. Last year we recognized 16 of these distinguished alumni, including 12 from Hardin County: Terri Bennett, Aimee Boyd, Dr. M.K. Brown, Charlotte Davis, Bill Dennison, Dr. John J. DuPlessis Jr., Charlie Fraley, Nannette Johnston, Diane Logsdon, Rachel Scott Marshall, Ron Ortiz and Terry Reams. ECTC has supported local and regional economic development initiatives by providing hundreds of customized training programs for business and industry, and the college has partnered with communities to recruit new companies to the region. This fall, we expect a record 5,300-plus students to take classes on the Elizabethtown campus, at extended campus sites throughout central Kentucky and through online instruction. Our classrooms are filled with students of all ages seeking to improve the quality of life for themselves and their families. As increasing numbers of students realize their full potential, and as the skills and education levels of local residents increase, so, too, rise our standard of living, level of civic engagement and prospects for the future. If ECTC is to maintain the momentum that has been created and continue to meet the needs of students, business and industry, we must secure considerable resources beyond state dollars that provide only for basic programs and services. Nothing that offers as many benefits as a college education can be achieved without effort. Therefore, to meet this challenge, we are preparing to launch an ambitious private fundraising effort for the college. To be successful, we will need your support. The Fulfilling the Promise Campaign primarily will be focused on generating funds for three target projects -- an endowment to provide scholarships and services to students, a special fund to enhance and expand allied health and nursing programs and state-of-the-art technology equipment for classrooms and laboratories in the new Regional Postsecondary Education Center Building. Providing access to quality postsecondary education for citizens in a region that is preparing for tremendous population growth is one of our highest priorities. ECTC offers the lowest tuition in the region, but many citizens still are unable to meet the costs of a quality college education. Expansion of our scholarship and student services programs will help deserving students pay for their college education and help ensure their success. ECTC contributes to the health care needs of central Kentucky's aging population through career pathway programs in nursing, radiography, respiratory therapy, medical information technology and dental hygiene. Our graduates fill critical jobs in hospitals, physicians' offices and other health-care facilities. However, we know that we must expand existing programs and develop new ones if we are to continue to address the region's critical shortage of allied health practitioners. This will require new funds for classrooms and laboratories, instructional equipment and materials, and additional faculty. As our enrollment continues to increase, and we develop new academic and training programs, additional classrooms and laboratories will be needed. The 2006 Kentucky General Assembly endorsed and funded our request for Phase II of the Central Regional Postsecondary Education Center to meet this need. Private sector funding is necessary to provide state-of-the-art equipment for learning areas in this new 80,000-square-foot facility prior to its anticipated opening in late 2009. We know there is much work to be done. Our fundraising effort will include an intensive 18-month campaign with the donor pledge period spread across five years. Individuals, corporations and foundations can make their gifts directly to ECTC during the campaign. We have planned very carefully for this important initiative, beginning with a feasibility study in the summer of 2006. During the study, nearly 100 individuals were interviewed, including business and community leaders from Elizabethtown, Hardin County and the college's 12-county service region, as well as ECTC employees. Results of the feasibility study showed overwhelming community support for the college and recommended that we proceed with a major gifts campaign. Key projects to address local and regional needs, which were identified during our strategic planning process, were tested during this study and narrowed down to the three target projects of the campaign. Solicitation of funds began in the spring of 2007 with a "family campaign" involving ECTC employees and board members. Awareness activities and solicitation of leadership gifts now are under way throughout ECTC's service area. Campaign leadership and the monetary goal for the campaign will be announced in the near future. I've always believed that good things happen by choice, not by chance. That's why we're clearly focused on improving access for students of all ages who seek the benefits of postsecondary education and working with communities to address the needs of under-represented student populations and improve college readiness of high school students. That's why we're expanding academic programs and creating new ones that are responsive to the needs of our communities. That's why we're developing new and innovative outreach programs that help recruit new business and industry to our region, prepare workers for the job market and position existing companies to grow and prosper. And that's why we've embarked on this exciting journey to build on the great tradition of excellence at this very special place we know as ECTC. With the continuing support of all who share this vision, Elizabethtown Community and Technical College will remain "the people's college" -- true to its mission of improving the quality of life for all we serve and with a future that will be as bright as its past. Dr. Thelma J. White is president and chief executive officer of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College. A Texan by birth and Kentuckian by choice, she has served ECTC since 1998. Proposal would freeze tuition at 2-year colleges Writer: Associated Press 9/28/2007 Lexington Herald-Leader FRANKFORT, Ky. --The Council on Postsecondary Education is considering a proposal that would freeze tuition at the state's community and technical colleges for the next two years. The move would be a response to the drop in enrollment of full-time students at the state's 16 colleges since 2002. "We are putting this on the table as a product of a genuine concern over whether the rising tuition of recent years is having a negative effect on enrollment at what is supposed to be our low-cost provider," said Brad Cowgill, interim president of the Council on Postsecondary Education. Tuition costs at those schools, which make up the Kentucky Community and Technical College System, has more than doubled since 2000 to $3,450 for 30 credit hours over two semesters. Overall enrollment has grown since 2000, but only because of a big increase in part-time students. Currently, 86,475 students are enrolled at the 16 community and technical colleges, but 53,615 are part-timers. "The number of students attending KCTCS full-time leveled off and then decreased since 2002 as tuition rose steeply," a draft of the tuition freeze proposal says. "This suggests some price sensitivity developing among KCTCS students." KCTCS President Mike McCall said if the proposal is adopted, the General Assembly would need to add funding to make up for lost revenue. Cowgill said a two-year freeze could help achieve the state's goal of doubling the number of Kentuckians who hold bachelor's degrees by 2020. Rep. Harry Moberly, a Richmond Democrat who serves as the chairman of the House budget committee, commended council staff for putting the matter on the table. "It's a good idea," he said. "But I think, perhaps, it needs to be broadened and refined." He said the freeze should perhaps include the extended campuses of Kentucky's state universities, which he said "have much the same mission" as the technical and community colleges. ARH nurses on picket line after rejecting contract offer Writer: DEANNA LEE-SHERMAN 10/1/2007 Harlan Daily Enterprise With an expired contract and negotiations that concluded last week, registered nurses at Appalachian Regional Healthcare's nine hospitals in Kentucky and West Virginia hit the picket lines early Monday. Just before midnight, union members in Harlan attempted to walk into the Harlan ARH Hospital to escort registered nurses on duty to the picket line formed along U.S. 119, where several vehicles were parked and at least two tents were erected. At least 10 nurses walked off the job, and only one stayed, said Pat Tanner, chief negotiator for the Kentucky and West Virginia Nurses Association Union, which represents about 800 of ARH's registered nurses. Tanner said union leaders were denied access to the hospital but called the nurses to join others along the picket line. Tanner said union members systemwide will remain on strike as long as necessary to get what they feel is a fair contract with ARH, the largest provider of health care in the region. "Negotiations ... is the art of mutually agreeing, with giving and taking on both sides," Tanner said. "It's a non-economic strike," said Lisa Napier, a registered nurse at the local hospital. "It doesn't have anything to do with money. It's about safe work practices and having enough staff for patient safety." "We're out here for as long as it takes," added Scott Huff, vice president of Harlan's Local 114 of the Kentucky Nurses Association, which represents about 85 registered nurses. Shortly after the strike commenced, ARH released a statement emphasizing that the system's "hospitals will remain safe and secure for patients, their families and visitors." Jerry W. Haynes, president and CEO of the company, said ARH's hospitals will be well staffed with registered nurses, whether they are current nursing employees, new hires or highly qualified nurses provided by nurse agencies. Haynes said a large number of the company's registered nurses have decided to continue to work, and that additional security measures have been taken to ensure that safe access to hospital campuses and offices are maintained. "Our nurses who have decided to continue working indicates they are fully committed to caring for our patients and the communities we serve and we thank them for the courage and commitment they are displaying," Haynes said. Paul V. Miles, CEO of the Harlan ARH Hospital, said the local facility currently has nine replacement nurses and is anticipating more "over the course of the days ahead." He said conditions at the hospital, specifically the patient load, are what ARH officials anticipated and that all was "going well" inside the facility when the strike commenced. "Our hospital will be fully prepared and ready to take all the health care needs we would take on a routine basis," Miles said. He said local health care officials will provide "safe and appropriate patient care" until a resolution to the work stoppage is reached. Haynes called the strike "unfortunate for all parties involved." "We regret that this strike has happened and that our nurses rejected a contract that offered them approximately $10 million in raises, free health care at our facilities, and a $500 bonus for ratifying the contract," he said. In a 408-228 vote, the nurses rejected the company's "last, best and final offer" last Thursday, causing hundreds to strike for the first time in their careers. Tanner said ARH's proposed contract reduced holiday pay and increased insurance premiums. Among the provisions nurses are pushing for include additional staffing to offset mandatory overtime, better retirement and medical benefits and reinstatement of the modified work week (working 36 hours for 40 hours' pay). Tanner said union officials attempted to reopen negotiations throughout the weekend, but ARH communicated that contract talks concluded with its final offer, presented last Wednesday. According to ARH, key points included in its proposal were an initial 2 percent pay raise, which would increase to 3 percent over four years, and flexible schedules that would allow nurses to choose either 10- or 12-hour shifts. Sarah Hunley, president of Local 114, said the majority of Harlan's union-represented nurses are participating in the strike. Hunley, a nurse at the Harlan ARH Hospital for 30 years, said local nurses - and many systemwide - were "shocked and stunned and appalled" that negotiations ceased before the Sept. 30 deadline. "We were more than willing to go back to the negotiating table. I've never heard of this." Hunley also emphasized that nurses across the ARH system did not want to strike, and that many have concerns about the quality of care patients will be receiving. "These are our families. Our children go to school here. These are our neighbors that we're taking care of," she said. "We're local people. ... But these agency nurses have no ties, no nothing to the community. ... Nobody wants a strike. We want to go to work and take care of our patients, but we have to stand up for ourselves and our patients." Tanner, who has been negotiating contracts for nurses for 30 years, said nurses remain unified in that belief. "We believe, because we are standing up for safe patient care and the nurses' rights, that we will ultimately prevail," she said. Earlier this year, ARH saw about 60 percent of its employees walk off the job for nearly a month following contract disputes with the United Steelworkers. More than 80 percent of union members later approved a new three-year contract, which guaranteed better wages and health care costs, but cuts to disability benefits. This is the first strike in the history of the Kentucky Nurses Association, which has been representing registered nurses since the mid 1960s, Tanner said. ARH is a not-for-profit health system serving 350,000 residents across eastern Kentucky and southern West Virginia. It is the single largest employer in southeastern Kentucky and the third largest private employer in southern West Virginia. In Kentucky, ARH has hospitals in Harlan, Middlesboro, Whitesburg, Hazard, West Liberty, South Williamson and McDowell. In West Virginia, its hospitals are in Beckley and Hinton. Column: Early black settlement to be recognized Writer: Merlene Davis 10/1/2007 Lexington Herald-Leader We have all heard of the little freetowns encircling Lexington, established in the post-Civil War era when landowners sold nearby parcels to former slaves who worked on their horse farms. The residents then built homes, churches and schools and made vital communities, some of which still exist today. Others have disappeared, leaving behind little to acknowledge their existence. Many historians, sociologists and descendants of the founders of those settlements believe that is a tragedy. Carridder M. Jones, a Louisville writer and playwright who first heard of the hamlets through a dissertation several years ago, is one of those people. Jones has helped produce a film about three of the hamlets, conducted a historical reading which featured descendants telling their own stories, and has written a play about them, which was performed in Louisville. She also talked about the communities at meetings for Women Who Write, a non-profit group she started more than 15 years ago in Louisville. The members sent petitions and a request for historic markers at the hamlets to then-Gov. Paul Patton, but heard nothing. They asked Louisville organizations to help pay for markers, but couldn't generate much interest. About a year ago, Jones turned to Barbara A. Fischer, the grants officer for Bluegrass Community Foundation in Lexington, and got a positive response. "It sounded like such a good project," Fischer said. "We were real happy to help. We told her to focus on one." Jones chose Maddoxtown, a community officially established when Samuel Maddox subdivided part of his farm on Huffman Hill Road in 1871. In 1879, he sold off tracts of about 10 acres for an average of $80 an acre. Former slaves had already organized the Maddoxtown Baptist Church there in 1867. By 1877, seven families lived there. Mattie and George Clay, Ma Harbut and Henry Rankin were the first homeowners in Maddoxtown. By the early 1900s, after larger parcels had been bought, nearly 100 people lived in the community. Most worked on Mount Brilliant Farm, across Huffman Mill Pike, or on Spendthrift Farm. Will Harbut, legendary Man o' War's groom for 26 years, lived there. Jones, the daughter of South Carolina sharecroppers, was drawn to the stories of discrimination and under-appreciation the descendants told. But, she said, black sharecroppers never owned their land, while hamlet residents did. That history needed to be saved, she said. After securing the $3,000 grant from The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation through Fischer, Jones gathered historical information for the Kentucky Historical Society and tried to find a place for the marker to rest. "It had to be a place where people could pull off the road and read it," Jones said. She contacted retired horseman Tom Harbut, son of Will Harbut, and told him of her plight. "I've been trying to acquire something to represent this town for some time," Tom Harbut said. "I've been turned down before." Harbut contacted Joseph Alexander, farm manager of Mount Brilliant Farm and an old friend. Alexander recalled time spent on Harbut's front porch listening to stories about the area and famous horses, and wanted to help preserve that history. He contacted the owner of Mount Brilliant and Faraway Farm, Greg Goodman, who agreed to put the marker on Mount Brilliant property. Brenda Crenshaw, Harbut's niece, gathered signatures from residents indicating their approval of the marker, and Jones asked community leaders in Lexington to write letters endorsing the move. "Some people didn't realize there wasn't a historic marker there," Jones said. She then got permission from the church to allow parking during the upcoming ceremonies and for a reception afterward. "I am very, very excited," Jones said. "I think one person can make a difference, but with the help of others. A lot of people did help." The Kentucky Historical Society highway marker will be dedicated at 11 a.m. Oct. 6. Parking is available at the church, 3439 Huffman Mill Road. There will be a short walk from the church to the marker. Yvonne Giles, chairman of the Isaac Scott Hathaway Museum, will be the guest speaker. Giles also has painstakingly researched the histories of some of the people buried in the previously neglected African Cemetery No. 2 on Seventh Street. Jones, who has been researching the histories of hamlets in Fayette County since the late 1990s, thinks she might take time to exhale now. "Once this is done, maybe I can let the hamlets go," she said, pausing. "But to tell you the truth, I don't think the hamlets will let me leave them alone. "I want to thank everyone who helped me with this project," she continued. "And that is not to say I won't be back asking for more help." There are, after all, many more hamlets to be remembered. The front of the marker reads: "Maddoxtown. One of many freetowns in central Kentucky, settled by former slaves during the post-Civil War period. "So named after white landowner Samuel Maddox who first sold small lots to African Americans in 1871. "By 1877, seven families lived in Maddoxtown and worked on Mount Brilliant and other area farms. "Presented by Women Who Write." The back of the marker reads: "Maddoxtown. The first Maddoxtown church was erected in 1875 and served for a time as a community school. Land for present First Baptist Church was purchased in 1877. Will Harbut, famous groom for Man o' War, lived in Maddoxtown from the early 1920s until his death, October 3, 1947. "Presented by Women Who Write." India firm to bring 1,000 jobs to tri-state Writer: Joseph Szydlowski 9/29/2007 Kentucky Post, Covington One of the largest companies in India plans to set up shop in Greater Cincinnati, bringing 1,000 high-paying jobs with it. Tata Consultancy Services, a division of the Tata Group, one of India's largest conglomerates, intends to establish a large office to be called its North American Delivery Center, the company announced Friday. Tata will occupy more than 150,000 square feet at the James River Corp.'s former building at the 222-acre Ridgewood Corporate Center in Miami Township, Ohio. Tata Consultancy Services division is India's largest software exporter, with more than 94,000 consultants in 47 countries. The Clermont County site will employ software engineers, pre-sales professionals and administrative support staff. Company officials have been working with area business and government leaders since February to review potential sites across the region. Clermont Commission President Bob Proud said the company had been looking at Southwest Ohio, guided by Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber. The company narrowed its search to Brown and Clermont counties, Ohio. A delegation from Clermont county, including U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt, convinced the company to settle at the Ridgewood site. According to Proud, Tata was sold on the location because of its growth potential, a pool of skilled workers and access to major interstates and the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. Earlier this month, the Ohio Department of Development approved an incentive package worth $19 million for Tata. Part of that is a 90 percent tax credit for eight years worth up to $15.5 million, but will have to maintain its operation in Ohio for at least 16 years. Proud said that Tata has also committed to creating 1,000 jobs within three years. The average salary for those positions will be $60,000, Proud said. He was unsure if the company would provide benefits to those new hires. Tata officials could not be reached for comment. Proud didn't know if the company would expand further in the area, but he is optimistic. "Our hope and desire for them is to not only stay here, but grow here," he said. Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland said Tata decided to locate here because it found the situation it wanted. "Tata Consultancy Services' investment in Southwestern Ohio shows that we have the workforce, infrastructure and expertise that high-tech companies need to thrive in a global marketplace," Strickland said in a prepared statement. Parent Tata Group has 96 companies and annual revenue of $22 billion. Tata Consultancy Services contributed $4.3 million of that in 2006-2007. No Child Left Behind falls short for many - Goals for special-needs kids unrealistic, some say Writer: Antoinette Konz 10/1/2007 Louisville Courier-Journal As a special-education teacher at Atherton High School, Renee Hollinger knows all too well the challenges the federal No Child Left Behind Act has placed on her classroom. Her students -- all of whom have moderate to severe functional and mental disabilities -- are supposed to pass grade-level tests to prove they are proficient in reading and math. But for some students, those goals seem far beyond their reach, she says. "If they can't do some of these very basic skills -- such as identifying numbers and letters -- how can they be proficient?" asked Hollinger, who is in her fourth year of teaching. Educators and experts say the passage of No Child Left Behind has helped special-education students by raising academic expectations. But they also say that the law has made it increasingly difficult for schools to meet those expectations. They point to this year's No Child Left Behind results as proof. The law, which requires schools to test their students annually to make sure they are making adequate progress in reading and math, also measures schools on how well they are educating individual student groups, including minority, low-income, limited-English and special-education students. Which group struggles most to meet the federal goals? Special-education students, by a wide margin. Of the 283 Kentucky schools that failed to make adequate yearly progress this year, nearly 80 percent counted special education among the categories in which they fell short. For 158 schools, special education was the only area they missed. "Assuming that all students are going to reach proficiency with the different kinds of disabilities they have is unrealistic," said Sheldon Berman, superintendent of Jefferson County Public Schools and a leading authority on special education. Special-ed woes common Jefferson County's results mirror Kentucky's. Fifty of the 62 schools that failed to make adequate yearly progress this year fell short in the area of special education. For 23 schools, special education was the only area they missed. "We have to set high expectations, but they must be realistic and not put our schools in a position of failing because the goals are not obtainable," Berman said. Berman said he hopes the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act, which is under way in Washington, will loosen the rules for testing special-education students. "I don't want to diminish the importance of raising expectations for students with disabilities," he said. "But there is no way, even with all the funding in the world, to get all special-needs students to proficiency." Tom Hehir, a Harvard University professor and expert who was director of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs from 1993-99, said he believes No Child Left Behind is trying to do the right thing by holding schools accountable for academic performance of special-needs students. "Fifteen years ago, kids with disabilities were not even tested in some states," Hehir said. "There was this idea that, just because a child had a disability, meant that they couldn't learn, and that's not true." Hehir said the problem lies in the way No Child Left Behind is regulated. "I think there is too much emphasis placed on the school site and not enough emphasis placed on the district," he said. "One or two kids can throw off the test scores." Revised assessments More than 100,000 Kentucky public-school children are classified with special-education needs. Those conditions range from being deaf, blind or dyslexic to having mental and emotional disabilities, said Johnnie Grissom, associate commissioner of special instructional services for the Kentucky Department of Education. But 98 percent of the state's special-education students have average to above average intelligence and can take the state's regular tests, with minor adjustments, she said. The remaining 2 percent (4,000-5,000 students) have moderate to severe disabilities. They receive an alternate assessment, Grissom said. Until the 2005-06 school year, the alternative assessment consisted of examining a portfolio of academic and functional skills once in elementary, middle and high school. The state revised those assessments during the 2006-07 school year, expanding the frequency of testing to mirror other students -- with at least some subjects tested every year. The changes were required by No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Grissom said the changes may have been why some schools missed their goals in special education last year. "But in many cases, this is not the first time those schools didn't make it in the area of special education," she said. It's not always students Jim Sexton, the principal of Eastern High School, said while the alternate assessment is tougher, he doesn't believe it is the reason why his school missed meeting its special education goal in math -- the only goal the school missed this year under No Child Left Behind. "I assigned the wrong people to work with our special-education students in the area of math," he said. "You have to have the right personalities working with those children. I have already made the adjustments this year." Grissom remains convinced that the new assessment isn't asking too much of the state's moderate to severely disabled students. 'Working together' In Hollinger's special-education class at Atherton, 19-year-old Elizabeth McConnell sits in her wheelchair, listening to the things Hollinger asks her to do. For part of the day, McConnell is in a regular classroom. She also goes to art class and choir. The rest of the day, she is with Hollinger. "We want our kids in the classroom as much as possible and have the special-education and regular teachers working together," said Sharon Davis, the executive director of exceptional child education for JCPS. As a twelfth-grader last year, McConnell was expected to complete an on-demand writing assignment as part of the alternate assessment. Although she is unable to speak, write or use her hand to point to the answers, she can communicate by using her eyes. "I helped her with the assessment by using pictures and using her eye-gazing to determine what it was that she wanted to say," Hollinger said. Hollinger said her goal is for her students to be as independent as possible, both in the community and in daily life. But she doesn't believe it's possible for all of her students to be proficient under No Child Left Behind. "I have high expectations for all of my kids, but for some, it just might not be possible," she said. Berman agrees -- and he speaks from personal experience. His oldest son has Down syndrome. "I doubt my son will ever reach the standards of proficiency, yet he is getting a very good education and will be a functional adult," he said. Shakertown Roundtable hears from Bill Bradley - PUSHES FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION Writer: Art Jester 9/29/2007 Lexington Herald-Leader SHAKERTOWN AT PLEASANT HILL --Former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley encouraged a group of Kentucky leaders last night to press forward with their study of early childhood education. Bradley, a three-term senator from New Jersey and a former pro-basketball standout, told a reinvigorated Shakertown Roundtable, that "you can be the catalyst for Kentucky." Bradley spoke to the Roundtable, drawing on themes from his new book, The New American Story. In the book and in his remarks last night, Bradley said Americans need to speak the truth to each other about major public issues and then push for action despite the pervasive skepticism that the nation can solve its most troubling problems. The Shakertown Roundtable began in 1977 with an address by former Gov. Averell Harriman of New York. The group continued and issued several reports before it became dormant nine years ago, said Robert Clay, the Roundtable's chairman and a member of the original group. Clay, a thoroughbred horse breeder and the owner of Three Chimneys Farm, said the Roundtable was being revived so that prominent private sector leaders could come together to discuss issues important to Kentucky. Clay said the newly reformed Roundtable, which has about 55 participants, decided to focus on the topic of early childhood education as it affects economic development in Kentucky. That choice was influenced by a Herald-Leader opinion piece written by Kenneth Troske, director of the University of Kentucky's Center for Business and Economic Research, who said Kentucky was underperforming economically because it did not have universal early childhood education. The Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence has endorsed universal early childhood education "as one of the best investments that could be made by the state and federal governments," said Robert F. Sexton, the Prichard Committee's executive director. Currently, early childhood education is available to only 37 percent of Kentucky's 3- and 4-year-olds. The existing programs are limited to those who are either impoverished or disabled. Former Lexington Mayor Pam Miller, a member of the original Prichard Committee, is taking part in the Roundtable and said that its interest in early childhood education is a huge step up for Kentucky. Miller said she thinks the Roundtable's discussions mark the "beginning of the next era of the third leg of education reform in Kentucky." She was referring to the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990 and the higher education reforms of 1997. Bradley said he thinks universal early childhood education should be offered nationwide and said he thinks the costs should be shared by the states and federal government. Gov. Ernie Fletcher had an extra $25 million put into the 2006 state budget and has spoken of the importance of the program. His Democratic opponent Steve Beshear has a plank in his platform calling for universal early childhood education in Kentucky. Statue gets a place at Downs - Virgin of Guadalupe will stand in grotto Writer: Brandy Warren 10/1/2007 Louisville Courier-Journal The statue, a nearly 4-foot-tall depiction of the Virgin of Guadalupe, was hoisted high in the air by employees who work on the backside at Churchill Downs. Carrying flowers and candles, nearly 300 people walked with the statue from Holy Name Catholic Church on Third Street through Gate 4 at the track, where the statue would be placed in a grotto. As they walked they sang and offered prayers. The statue not only is a sign of their Catholic faith, but it represents the hopes and dreams of Hispanics, said the Rev. David Sanchez, who led the procession. "It represents the soul of the Mexican," Sanchez said of the statue. Employees and their families held the dedication ceremony last night for the statue, which was a final gift from Tom Meeker, the former president of Churchill Downs, said Frank Agrinsoni, activities director for the Churchill Downs Racing Committee. Agrinsoni, who organized the event, said Meeker purchased the statue before he left as a tribute for the many Hispanic workers at Churchill Downs. He estimated that of the 900 workers on the track's backside, 80 percent are Hispanic. Most of those workers are Catholic, he said. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a depiction of the Virgin Mary, who reportedly appeared to a Catholic convert named Juan Diego in Mexico in 1531. "She is considered the mother of the Americas," Agrinsoni said. "This is a really big deal." He said the statue would be available so that people could pray at it whenever they wanted to. "Most of these people are so far from home," he said. "Their faith is such an important part of life." The event began with a Mass at Holy Name Church, followed by the processional. The maintenance staff at Churchill Downs constructed a grotto next to a nondenominational chapel on the backside. Once the statue was placed in a glass case in the grotto, the 300 participants slowly descended a pathway next to the chapel. Many people said prayers and placed bouquets of flowers at the statue's feet. Luis Figueroa, 31, a horse groomer at Churchill Downs, described the Virgin of Guadalupe as the one who cares for people and "the boss." Figueroa, who has worked at the track for five years, said he plans to bring flowers and candles to the statue on a regular basis. "I'll be going to come here more often than not," he said through an interpreter. Armando Pardo, 69, said he was pleased with the ceremony. Pardo, who's an exercise rider, said he's originally from Peru. He said the statue will be significant for many of the Catholic workers on the backside. "If we're having a bad day, we can go to her," he said. The Pointer Sisters make excitement in Maysville Writer: MISTY MAYNARD 9/30/2007 Maysville Ledger Independent On the corner of Market and Third streets, a location where Rosemary Clooney is said to have gotten her start singing with her sister and a friend, another set of singing sister sensations took the stage Saturday night. With powerhouse vocals, and an engaging and high-energy performance, The Pointer Sisters pulled many from the crowd up from their seats and onto their feet to dance and sing along to popular favorites like "Jump (For My Love)" and "I'm So Excited." "I want people to move," said Ruth Pointer during part of the show. "I want to feel you ... You all boogie and have fun!" "It was a blast, we had such a good time," said Mica Darley, part of the "Clooney clan" assembled for the ninth annual Rosemary Clooney Concert. Darley has attended the concert a number of times previously, and said the concert is always good. However, this year The Pointer Sisters presented what Darley termed a "cross generational" performance, entertainment for everyone. "(We're) just having the time of our lives," she said. Kimberly Davenport attended the concert for the first time this year after Steve and Heath French Henry invited her. The Frankfort resident said she enjoyed the music, and commended Maysville for putting on an event like the Rosemary Clooney Concert. "I thought it was fantastic," she said. Heather French Henry was equally as enthusiastic. "I was dancing ... especially when they started singing 'Jump,'" she said. "Any time the crowd ends the show on their feet, that's a good sign." Early in the evening as dinner was served, emcees for the event, Denny Keller and daughter, Caroline Keller Reece interacted with the audience a bit, introducing certain guests and searching for the guests who had travelled the farthest to attend the event. While some guests travelled from several states away to attend, there were a few in the crowd who made the trip from overseas, including a couple from England and a guest from the Netherlands. Other guests recognized included Nick and Nina Clooney, the Henrys, Miss America 1971 and former first lady of Kentucky Phyllis George Brown, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson and Kentucky Attorney General Greg Stumbo. Opening the night's entertainment was the Louisville Male High School Choir with songs from the 1980s, with the nearly 250 students dancing and singing their way through such hits as "Footloose" and "I Need a Hero." The night featured a surprise performance by the Pangaea Tribe, with their drums and contagious beat filling the downtown area. But it was The Pointer Sisters that drew the most enthusiastic welcome, with screams and applause greeting their entrance onto the stage. The three women, Ruth, Anita and Issa interacted with the crowd, Ruth at one point coming down into the crowd. During "Jump (For My Love)," the women held out their microphones to get the crowd to sing with them. Nick Clooney said each year the concert is unique and entertaining, but The Pointer Sisters were a fitting act to pay tribute to his sister, Rosemary. He pointed out the parallels between where Rosemary Clooney used to perform with her sister, Betty, and friend, Blanche Chambers, and where The Pointer Sisters performed that evening. "That's where it all started," he said of the location and Rosemary Clooney's career. Proceeds from the event will be split between the Downing Performing Arts Academy and the Maysville Players. From the partnership, the Rosemary Clooney Cultural Enrichment Endowment was created to provide "artistic instruction" and to ensure the "Ohio Valley's tradition of cultural excellence continues for many years to come." The dinner and concert were not the only activities to draw crowds during the weekend. Friday night Phil Dirt and the Dozers performed a free concert, and Saturday the Mason County Orchestra performed with soloists from the Downing Performing Arts Academy at the downtown high school auditorium, while the Limestone Chorale performed at the Washington Opera House and Woody Wood's Big Band performed at the Second Street Mall. Also Saturday was the Maysville Player's annual Picnic in the Parking lot and the unveiling of the Rosemary Clooney mural near Limestone Landing. Sunday, there was a musical event at Trinity United Methodist Church. The unveiling of the mural attracted a crowd Saturday afternoon. It was the 10th mural and culminated 10 years of efforts by the Maysville-Mason County Floodwall Mural Committee. The two-panel tribute was painted by artist Robert Dafford of Dafford Murals and his staff. Dafford said just before the ribbon was cut that he had always admired Rosemary Clooney, but never dreamed he would be able to paint her portrait. When Nick Clooney spoke he shared stories of his grandfather's tenure as mayor and the dedication of the Simon Kenton Bridge, and the part of the mural depicting Rosemary Clooney riding in a car during a parade. Nick Clooney said his grandmother was in the car because Rosemary Clooney decided she could not miss the parade, and crossed the bridge from Aberdeen, Ohio into Maysville to pick up her grandmother and put her in the car. She then drove back into Aberdeen, and recrossed the bridge to begin the parade. Nick Clooney said he was grateful of the effort that went into the mural. "The Clooneys thank you for the generosity to our entire family for all of our lives," he said. Jerry Lundergan of The Lundergan Group, which organizes the Rosemary Clooney Concert, said he was very pleased with the concert. "It brought out the best of Maysville tonight," he said. For next year, the 10th anniversary of the concert, Lundergan only promises it will be "bigger and better." He even recommended people who know they want to attend next year reserve their tickets now as it will definitely be a "sell out" event. Warm welcome home - NEARLY 600 KENTUCKY SOLDIERS RETURN FROM IRAQ WRiter: Jennifer Hewlett 10/1/2007 Lexington Herald-Leader Nearly 600 Kentucky soldiers just back from Iraq were greeted with homemade signs, American flags and deafening cheers and applause from thousands of family members and friends yesterday at Lexington Center. The celebration was part of the Kentucky Army National Guard's largest homecoming weekend ever. Most of the returning soldiers looked tired, but more than a few wore big smiles as they got off buses and walked through a human tunnel of well-wishers, many of them veterans themselves, and into the arms of family members inside the center's Heritage Hall. "We'll probably just all dog-pile on him," said Tina Wynn of Harlan County while waiting inside Heritage Hall for her husband, Spec. Walter Michael Wynn Jr. She held two small American flags while her daughter Abigail, 8, and son Devan, 5, held signs they made to welcome their daddy home. David Jackson of Vine Grove said he planned to get some sleep when he got back home, just moments after he was greeted by his wife, Jennifer, daughter Alyssa, 17 months, and stepson Jordan, 8. "I'm definitely going to sleep," he said. The soldiers, about 510 members of First Battalion, 149th Infantry, also known as the "Mountain Warriors," and about 70 members of the Heavy Equipment Transport Platoon, 2123rd Transportation Co., were driven to Lexington after being debriefed at Camp Shelby in Mississippi. After the initial hugs, kisses and tears of happiness, the homecoming moved into Rupp Arena. About 5,000 people were in the stands to express their thanks for the soldiers' service to their country. More banners, including several made by schoolchildren in Pulaski County, hung from railings. Many of the soldiers are from Pulaski County. Among those on hand were Gov. Ernie Fletcher, U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, and Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry. Bags, each containing a fancy wood-and-metal plaque, a souvenir hat and a drawing or painting done by a Kentucky school student, sat in front of each soldier's chair on the arena floor. "I want them to feel the love," Maj. Gen. Donald Storm, Kentucky's adjutant general, said after the soldiers marched into the arena and took their seats. Storm said military send-offs are not as pleasant as homecomings. "We've had some gatherings that represented total sacrifice," he said. He listed some of the returning soldiers' accomplishments while they were stationed in Iraq, including working with Iraqi schools and protecting of non-military visitors to the Iraq theater. "Since 9/11," Fletcher said, "the Kentucky National Guard has answered the call like never before." He quoted a psalm about help that comes from the hills. In this case, he said, help came from the hills of Kentucky. The governor told the returning veterans that "in many ways we cannot repay what you have done," but said there were mechanisms in place for those who might need special assistance. "Now it is our turn to serve you," he said. Rogers told the soldiers that they had made the hills of Eastern Kentucky look "so doggone good." Lt. Col. John Luttrell, commander of the 1-149th, said his soldiers had two goals while in Iraq -- to bring one another back alive, and to be able to say they'd made a difference in the lives of the Iraqi people. The audience was shown a video montage of photographs taken by some of the soldiers. Included were photos of smiling Iraqi children, soldiers at work or posing in groups, and pictures of confiscated enemy weapons. The soldiers were deployed to Iraq in October 2006. No one in the two units was killed, although several were injured, said Guard spokesman Col. Phil Miller. On Saturday, about 30 members of 2nd Battalion, 123rd Armor were welcomed home at the National Guard Armory in Bowling Green after a yearlong deployment to Iraq. Community-College Leaders Are Urged to Step Up Outreach Efforts to Hispanic-Americans Writer: ELYSE ASHBURN 10/1/2007 The Chronicle of Higher Education College leaders are mistaken if they believe that cultural differences make Hispanic high-school students, especially recent immigrants, less likely to attend college than their white counterparts, the president of the Tomás Rivera Policy Institute told community-college trustees and presidents on Friday. "It is not culture but cognition -- a lack of understanding of the American education system on the part of parents that are foreign born," said Harry P. Pachon, who is both a professor of public policy at the University of Southern California and head of the institute, a nonprofit research group that focuses on issues affecting Hispanic communities. Mr. Pachon said financial-aid programs in the United States were particularly difficult for Hispanic families to understand. For example, there is no Spanish word for "grant." To bridge that linguistic gap, Mr. Pachon said many colleges refer to grants as "dinero gratis," or free money. While that sounds like an appealing offer, the term doesn't quite capture the American concept of a financial-aid grant. Mr. Pachon was the day's keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the Association of Community College Trustees here. Several hundred college leaders gathered to hear him speak. He cautioned them that many myths about Hispanic people in the United States -- including the notion that they are largely undocumented, prefer to speak only Spanish, and are almost entirely low-income -- persist in the popular imagination. Those stereotypes are not supported by research, he said. The Hispanic population is growing rapidly in the United States, in large part because of legal immigration and because the Hispanic birth rate in the country outstrips that of white Americans. To reach this growing pool of potential students, Mr. Pachon said, colleges must produce marketing materials in Spanish, employ bilingual staff and faculty members, and market aggressively to Hispanic-Americans through the Internet, Spanish- and English-language television, and other outreach efforts. The overall college-going rate in the United States -- and the country's economic health -- is at stake, Mr. Pachon said. "Latino education is not a Latino issue," he said. "It's an American issue." Earlier in the day, at another session, several trustees outlined ways that Palomar Community College District and Mira Costa College, both in northern San Diego County, were working to improve the educational outlook for Hispanic boys. Trustees at those colleges said they became alarmed four years ago when they realized that, at some high schools, 50 percent or more of Hispanic boys were dropping out. "We can't afford to let that continue," said Mark R. Evilsizer, a member of the Palomar district's Governing Board. The colleges started a nonprofit group called Encuentros: Hombre a Hombre, which is Spanish for "coming together, man to man," to deal with the dropout problem. The group puts on a career and education conference for about 500 Hispanic boys each year, and holds a smaller leadership academy through a partnership with California State University at San Marcos. But the most potentially wide-reaching project is a high-school and middle-school curriculum that the colleges developed in conjunction with a local school district. The courses, based on a book that is also called Encuentros: Hombre a Hombre, will be geared toward boys and will teach Hispanic culture and history. The high-school course is expected to satisfy a language-arts requirement needed to matriculate at public universities in the state. The curriculum is awaiting final state approval, but one middle-school teacher already incorporated parts of it into one of his courses. The results were promising. The boys' grade-point averages climbed from an average of 2.19 to 2.61 after taking the course, and their disciplinary referrals dropped markedly. Mr. Evilsizer, of Palomar, said the curriculum would allow Encuentros to reach many more Hispanic boys than the group can through the conference and the summer institute. "I think our impact is going to be greatest here," he said. "As trustees, this is something we can do. We can broker partnerships within our community." Last Week's Campus Lock Writer: Andy Guessdowns 10/1/2007 Inside Higher Education Delaware State University made all the headlines on September 21 when a freshman shot and wounded two students on campus, one seriously. An arrest and an apology later, the 18-year-old charged with the crime sits behind bars. But months after Virginia Tech, the incident sparked comparisons in both the nature of the shootings and the effectiveness of the response. The following week was eventful by almost any standard, too. A masked man with a black-powder rifle set off an immediate response on Wednesday on the campus of St. John's University, in New York City. On the same day, officials at Middle Tennessee State University announced that a freshman had attacked a female student in his dorm room and was charged with attempted first-degree murder. Other incidents of violence or threatened violence cropped up on campuses across the country within the same few days: authorities at the University of Wisconsin at Madison locked down several buildings on Tuesday after a man threatened to kill himself or be killed by police; officials at the University of Winnipeg, in Manitoba, responded to an anonymous threat citing a specific date; a graduate student at Ohio University was charged with murder in the stabbing death of his father, a retired professor there; an 18-year-old freshman at the University of Arizona was arrested for allegedly stabbing her roommate to death over accusations of stealing. The only commonality among the incidents -- which varied in severity, scale and outcome -- would appear to be the timing. They occurred some five months after Seung-Hui Cho, 23, killed 32 students at Virginia Tech and then himself, sparking a national debate over campus security, a wave of task forces investigating campuses' incident response plans, and reassessments of colleges' safety protocols. If nothing else, the most recent acts of violence represent a test of the institutions' revised mobilization plans and an opportunity to ask: Are colleges more prepared than they were before the April 16 shootings? Have their responses been more effective, or have campus safety officials overreacted, fearing the next Virginia Tech? "I think thereýs a heightened awareness since Virginia Tech of what could happen," said Christopher G. Blake, the campus preparedness project director at the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators. "To the extent that thatýs driving people to respond more quickly in terms of notifications, we may be seeing that." St. John's came to embody the quick response last week. When officials first heard that police had captured an armed man on campus, at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, they responded immediately: A text message went out precisely eight minutes later. For Dominic Scianna, the director of media relations, the messaging protocol was a success. Just before the incident, about 2,100 students had signed up for the text service; within 24 hours, that number had more than tripled to over 6,500 (out of a student population of just under 15,000 at the Queens campus), Scianna said. The New York Police Department converged on the campus, and officials issued an order to "stay in place" -- essentially a lockdown order that lasted some three hours. "Certainly weýre sensitive to the Virginia Tech situation," Scianna said, but besides upgrading communication technology, he explained that the university's current security plan dates to reassessments that occurred after the September 11 attacks, which altered behavior at many New York City campuses, given their proximity. Text messaging was crucial, Scianna added, but it was not the only means with which the university kept students updated on the situation. Officials used e-mail, voice messages to students' campus telephones, the university Web site and even the plasma TV screens posted across campus. Using the Internet to keep students informed made sense at St. John's, especially, since freshmen receive wireless laptops for their entire stay at the university. Texting has emerged as the communication method of choice ever since Virginia Tech was roundly criticized for not keeping students informed of the shootings in a timely enough manner, and for relying on phones and e-mail when many students were not in their dorm rooms during Cho's spree. St. John's adopted the technology only this semester. But the latest technology isn't always the best or the only solution. Mixing high and low tech (giving rise to phrases like "multiple channels") was a theme during last week's incident at Wisconsin, which took the novel step of posting a much-viewed flyer about the suicide threat on Facebook, but also relied on more traditional methods. At Delaware State, resident advisers went door to door to inform students, who might not otherwise have been reachable at night, said S. Daniel Carter, senior vice president of the nonprofit advocacy group Security on Campus. But keeping in constant contact with local media was also an important part of the universities' strategies, as it was at Virginia Tech. For the University of Winnipeg spokesman Shawn Coates, the response was partially about the "greater media world out there" that keeps people up to date. The university discovered a threat scrawled in a bathroom on September 19, giving it a week to prepare for the stated date of September 26 on which a violent act was supposed to occur. "We decided that the prudent thing to do was to be proactive ... as opposed to hiding our head in the sand," Coates said. Officials boosted security on campus, kept students up to speed through the Web and other outlets and worked with Winnipeg police. Despite that initial response, the university opted to remain open on the 26th but give students the option to not attend classes. About 20 percent of course meetings were canceled, and about a quarter of students did not come to campus that day, according to Coates. "Certainly, the incidents at Virginia Tech ... were well within our mind. Those incidents have ... given people on all campuses a heightened sense for a need of adequate security responses," Coates said. But still, "we had a unique situation that had to be dealt with uniquely." Despite the heightened awareness, he said, Virginia Tech didn't "factor that greatly into our decision to respond to this threat." Carter, of Security on Campus, said the increased awareness probably led to a "stronger response" in some cases. "Generally, yes, itýs a good thing," he said, but colleges should "make sure that itýs a reasonable response even based on what you know, or what you donýt know." "Now for certain other situations, [universities' immediate actions] may or may not be a measured response," he added. While it would be hard to argue that St. John's and Delaware State were not justified in their strong, quick responses, it's clear that their approaches would be more appropriate in some cases than others. Either way, under the shadow of Virginia Tech, security officials are continuing to abide by the dictums "be prepared," "assume the worst" and now, perhaps, "don't forget text messages." Student loan burden is ballooning - Explosion may haunt economy for years Writer: Marcy Gordon, Associated Press 10/1/2007 Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer The near doubling in the cost of a college degree the past decade has produced an explosion in high-priced student loans that could haunt the U.S. economy for years. While scholarship, grant money and government-backed student loans -- whose interest rates are capped -- have taken up some of the slack, many families and individual students have turned to private loans, which carry fees and interest rates that are often variable and up to 20 percent. Many in the next generation of workers will be so debt-burdened they will have to delay home purchases, limit vacations and even eat out less to pay loans off on time. Kristin Cole, 30, who graduated from Michigan State University's law school and lives in Grand Rapids, Mich., owes $150,000 in private and government-backed student loans. Her monthly payment of $660, which consumes a quarter of her take-home pay, is scheduled to jump to $800 in a year or so, confronting her with stark financial choices. "I could never buy a house. I can't travel; I can't do anything," she said. "I feel like a prisoner." A legal aid worker, Cole said she may need to get a job at a law firm, "doing something that I'm not real dedicated to, just for the sake of being able to live." Parents are still the primary source of funds for many students, but the dynamics were radically altered in recent years as tuition costs soared and sources of readily available and more costly private financing made higher education seemingly available to anyone willing to sign a loan application. Students with no credit history and no relatives to co-sign loans (or co-signing parents with tarnished credit) were willing to bet that high-priced loans were a trade-off for a shot at the American dream. But high-paying jobs are proving elusive for many graduates. "This is literally a new form of indenture ... something that every American parent should be scared of," said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. More than $17 billion in private student loans were issued last year, up from $4 billion a year in 2001. Outstanding student borrowing jumped from $38 billion in 1995 to $85 billion last year, according to experts and lawmakers. Rocketing tuition fees made borrowing that much more appealing. Consumer prices on average rose less than 29 percent over the past 10 years while tuition, fees, and room and board at four-year public colleges and universities soared 79 percent to $12,796 a year and 65 percent to $30,367 a year at private institutions, according to the College Board. Scholarship and grant money have increased, yet for almost 15 years, the maximum available per person in government-guaranteed student loans, which by law can't charge rates above 6.8 percent, has remained at $23,000 total for four years. That's less than half the average four-year tuition, room and board of $51,000 at public colleges and $121,000 at private institutions. Sallie Mae, formally known as SLM Corp., has been on the winning side of the loan bonanza. Its portfolio of 10 million customers includes $25 billion in private and $128 billion in government-backed education loans. However, private-equity investors who had offered $25 billion to buy the company backed out last week, citing credit market weakness and a new law cutting billions of dollars in subsidies to student lenders. Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co., Wachovia Corp. and Regions Financial Corp. are also big players in the private student loan business. And there has been an explosion in specialized student loan lenders, such as EduCap, Nelnet Inc., NextStudent Inc., Student Loan Corp., College Loan Corp., CIT Group Inc. and Education Finance Partners Inc. The question is whether everyone who borrowed will be able to repay. Experts don't track default rates on private student loans, but many predict sharp increases in years to come. Dr. Paul-Henry Zottola, a 35-year-old periodontist in Rocky Hill, Conn., faces paying $1,600 a month on his student loan on top of a $2,300 mortgage payment and $1,500 on the loan he took out to start his practice. His credit record remains solid but he owes more than $300,000 in student loans as he and his wife, Heather, an elementary school administrator, raise two young children. "It would be very easy to feel crushed by it," Zottola said in an interview. "All my income for the next 10 years is spoken for." Meanwhile, complaints about marketing of private loans -- like ads promising to approve loans worth $50,000 in just minutes -- are on the rise. The complaints have made their way to lawmakers, who see a need to regulate the highly profitable and diverse group of companies and the loans they make to college students. In August, the Senate Banking Committee approved a bill that would mandate clearer disclosure of rates and terms on private student loans. The bill also would require a 30-day comparison shopping period after loan approval, during which time the offer terms could not be altered. New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said many graduates who borrowed owe as much if not more than most homeowners owe on mortgages. Unlike mortgages with clear consumer disclosure requirements -- even from nonbank lenders, private lending is "the Wild West of the student loan industry," he said in a telephone interview. Critics say what happened in the mortgage market could happen in the student loan market. Cuomo, who conducted a nationwide investigation, said the parallels between the two markets are "provocative." Demand for bundled student loans sold to institutional investors worldwide fueled lending to students. The market for private student loan-backed securities leapt 76 percent last year, to $16.6 billion, from $9.4 billion in 2005, according to Moody's Investors Service. The student loan-backed securities market has yet to suffer noticeable effects of a global credit squeeze that was triggered this summer by a mortgage meltdown of borrowers with risky credit. "Once the economy starts to slow, you're going to see a large increase of these people in bankruptcy court," said Robert Manning, a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology who has written about college students and credit cards. A 2005 change to bankruptcy law puts private student loans on par with child support and alimony payments: Lenders can garnish wages if someone doesn't pay. Cuomo's probe revealed what he calls an "appalling pattern of favoritism" for student lenders that provided kickbacks, revenue-sharing plans and trips to college administrators in exchange for recommended lender status. Other critics allege widespread corrupt arrangements propelled a student loan boom. Lenders deny such charges, arguing that industry growth resulted from surging education costs and that higher interest rates are justified for unsecured loans to borrowers with blemished or insufficient credit records. "Lenders take 100 percent of the repayment risk on flexible private-education loans made to people with limited credit histories, on which they will not get repaid for several years," Barry Goulding, a Sallie Mae official, told Congress last spring. New regulations could dry up access to education financing, he and other industry executives argue. Some experts are skeptical, predicting waves of student loan delinquencies and defaults on what is outstanding. "Should private student loans suffer the same sort of failure as (subprime) mortgages, as students graduate or drop out and find themselves unable to pay, we will do serious damage not only to the lives of many students but also to the economic and social fabric of our country that depends on college graduates for its strength," said Luke Swarthout at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. Texting is spilling over into schoolwork - Teachers see decline in spelling, writing Writer: Tracey Wong Briggs, USA Today 9/30/2007 Louisville Courier-Journal OMG! TXT MSG turns 15! Cell phone-accessorized teens may think that's just GR8. But as the lexicon spawned by a 160-character message limit starts to spill off the cell phone screen into written work, some of their English teachers aren't exactly ROFL. Nor does seeing text abbreviations crop up in essays bring a smiley face to college admission officers. The British-based Mobile Data Association dates text messaging to December 1992, when a British engineer sent the message "Merry Christmas" to a colleague from a computer to a mobile handset. And information from CTIA, the Wireless Association, shows that texting is still in a growth spurt: 158.6 billion text messages were sent in the United States in 2006, up from 81 billion the year before. No large academic studies have confirmed it, but anecdotally, you can see text-speak creeping into students' writing, says Kathleen Blake Yancey, Florida State University English professor and president-elect of the National Council of Teachers of English. "There are some teachers who are not happy to see LOL in the middle of a paper," she said. Last year, veteran high school English teacher Ruth Maenpaa started noticing how much text messaging was affecting her students, in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. The first time Maenpaa flagged the use of "4" for "for" in an essay, the student said she was so used to text-messaging that she didn't even think about it. "As I watch students texting, I see them routinely using abbreviations to the point that they do not know how to spell the word correctly," she wrote in an e-mail. Maenpaa, who retired in the spring after spending the last half of her 34-year teaching career at her alma mater, Skyview Senior High in Thornton, Colo., also saw the brevity demanded by text messaging affecting students' syntax, organization and other technical-writing skills. She adjusted her lessons to do more review of punctuation and paragraphing. She also used texting as an opening to discuss audience, purpose and genre to get students to see that texting is a different language, one not appropriate for formal writing. The walls between the school and the cell phone or computer screen are permeable, and the key is to get students thinking about language so it's used intentionally and effectively in context, said Florida State's Yancey. "Language users will take a practice from one setting and take it to another. That's the nature of language. What I really hope is that people will translate appropriately." Young people don't always know what is appropriate, but there are still standards, Yancey said. On college applications, standards are enforced by those who admit students, for example. And texting jargon isn't appropriate in application essays unless it's relevant to the topic, said Douglas Christiansen, associate provost for enrollment at Vanderbilt University. "We've seen it increase, but not too much." Still, Maenpaa worries more about some of the subtle but deeper aspects of text-speak. Texting relies on brevity, simple word choice and sentence fragments, and she sees more teenagers struggle to compose essays of any length with cohesive logic. She sees texting, and the ubiquitous screen-based communication it embodies, as ultimately affecting students' intellectual endurance. "Texting offers immediate gratification, but learning is hard work," she wrote. "A generation of students who are content with five-minute research sessions on the Internet and communication based on sound bites will definitely struggle with abstract concepts and commitment as they encounter more rigorous educational environments and the expectations of demanding employers." HCTC Welding scholarship winners 9/27/2007 Jackson Times The American Welding Society Foundation has awarded four scholarships to Hazard Community & Technical College students. Shown above, from left, are Craig Herald, welding faculty member and his students, Jonathan Dunn, a Breathitt County High School grad and Mt. Sterling resident, who was awarded $1,000; and three $500 scholarship winners Jonathan Sexton, Cordia High School grad and resident of Hazard; Justin Puffer, Breathitt High School grad; and Lisa Colwell of Hazard. The students were the only four in the state awarded scholarships from the Foundation.  The American Welding Society Foundation has awarded four scholarships to Hazard Community & Technical College students. Shown above, from left, are Craig Herald, welding faculty member and his students, Jonathan Dunn, a Breathitt County High School grad and Mt. Sterling resident, who was awarded $1,000; and three $500 scholarship winners Jonathan Sexton, Cordia High School grad and resident of Hazard; Justin Puffer, Breathitt High School grad; and Lisa Colwell of Hazard. The students were the only four in the state awarded scholarships from the Foundation. Photo of the Day Gallery |