Tag: Government

Us & Them: In Dixieland I'll Take My Stand

In this episode, my friend Alice Moore and I visit a Confederate cemetery in Corinth, Mississippi.  Alice tells me about her love for the battle flag.

In our conversation, we soon learn that you can’t talk about the flag without also talking about people’s ideas about the War and slavery and racism … and whether our ancestors were on the right side of history. This program features Cornell University history professor Ed Baptist, who has a view of the South’s history that differs from that of Alice.  

And we dig into another beloved southern icon – the song Dixie.

You can subscribe to Us & Them on iTunes and Stitcher, and listen on the podcast’s website.

In recognition of the sesquicentennial of the ending of the American Civil War, Us & Them had been preparing a program about the emotionally charged icons of the Confederacy.

We decided to move up this release of the program because we felt that our program could be a part of the conversation sparked by South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley calling for the Confederate battle flag to be taken down from that state’s capitol grounds.    

Haley’s action came days after pictures had been circulating of the man who confessed to shooting nine African American people in a South Carolina church; he’s posing with Confederate flags. This led many people to call on South Carolina to stop flying the battle flag over its statehouse.  Subsequently, lawmakers in other states are debating whether to remove the flag and other symbols of the Confederacy from public display and from license plates. And some big retailers say they’ll stop stocking it.

But experience has led me to believe that some people won’t let the Confederate flag go without a fight.  For years, I’ve wondered why some people have such a deep affection for the flag and other symbols of the Old South.  This program tries to examine this.

Officials Discuss Juvenile Justice Reform

State officials joined with members of the juvenile justice community in Huntington Thursday to examine Senate Bill 393.

Senate Bill 393 which reforms the state’s Juvenile Justice system was signed into law on April 2nd. One of the many objectives is to reduce the number of status offenders, those who are charged with an offense that would not be a crime if committed by an adult. Much those offenses have to do with running away from home or what occurs often in West Virginia, being truant from school.

The reforms are expected to reduce the costs to the state that are incurred when kids are housed in residential homes or juvenile facilities – sometimes out of region, sometimes out of state.. The goal is to keep juveniles at home – and treated locally. It’s estimated this could save as much as $20 million that could be reinvested into community services. It’s those services, said Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and others, that can better help the kids.

“So basically we’ll have interveners in each of the counties now, because of the law passed that basically says when a student starts to be tardy or truant we can get to that child and work with them and their family and give them the kind of help they need in their communities and keep them out of the custody of the state,” Tomblin said.

Those interveners or counselors that Tomblin speaks of in each county will serve much in the same way as Cabell County School based probation officer Nikita Jackson. Jackson is a member of the West Virginia Intergovernmental Task Force that worked on Senate Bill 393. She’s there for students that need that extra guidance. When kids are repeatedly truant, Jackson gets involved with the entire family.  

“Our main concern is to get them through school and graduate and if you’re not in school and missing school then you’re not going to get an education so that’s my job, to make sure they’re getting to school and getting the education they need to be able to advance in life,” Jackson said.

The state hopes to have the program up and running this fall.

Marshall University to Raise Tuition

Marshall University’s Board of Governors was presented with a $116 million balanced budget Wednesday that included a tuition increase.

A tuition increase isn’t uncommon in the state’s higher education system today. Many of the states four year institutions are looking to tuition increases, at least in part, to make up for state budget cuts. Marshall University’s Board of Governors approved an increase of between 3 to 4% for students Wednesday. The increase is less than the 5% threshold that requires the approval from the Higher Education Policy Commission.

Beginning in the fall, tuition and fees for full-time resident undergraduate students will increase $144 per semester. Undergraduate students who live in the metro counties of Kentucky and Ohio will pay $226 more, while non-resident undergraduate students will pay $288 more. Tuition for most resident graduate students will go up $101 per semester, with metro graduate students paying $177 more and non-resident graduate students paying $250 more.

Marshall Interim President Gary White said they had to come up with new ideas.

“We started a zero-based budget process and that implies that you look at everything you do and you quantify not only the important functions, but what those important functions cost, you don’t look at the revenue side, you simply look at the expense side and once those are identified, then you have a target,” White said.

It’s the third year that not just Marshall, but all higher education institutions in the state have faced budget cuts from the state Legislature. How did Marshall deal with that cut and still find a way to get the budget balanced? And find money for employee raises? By using new ideas like White said. Among those was changing the student tuition structure, no longer are there individual lab and course fees. Students pay college fees along with their tuition and the extra money needed for labs comes from that group.

But White said they came up with other ideas like the implementation of a faculty group to examine the budget. The Marshall 20/20 group was created in the fall of 2013 by former President Stephen J. Kopp and has played a large role in identifying areas that can be cut. The group of employees and faculty is compromised from different University departments that are always studying the budget. 

BridgeValley CTC and WVU Tech to Sign Agreement

BridgeValley Community and Technical College and WVU Tech will sign an agreement this week establishing multiple associate-to-bachelor degree educational pathways.

Under the agreement, officials say students who complete an eligible associate degree program at BridgeValley in South Charleston will be able to seamlessly transition into a bachelor’s program at WVU Tech.  

The pathway programs outlined in the agreement will include Accounting, Finance, Management, Business,  Marketing, Criminal Justice, Healthcare Management, Health Services Administration, Paralegal Studies and Public Service Administration.  The agreement will be signed at a ceremony at WVU Tech in Montgomery on Thursday.

Beckley Considers Ban on Playing Basketball on Streets

Beckley officials are considering banning playing basketball on city streets following residents' complaints.Residents have complained that players refuse…

Beckley officials are considering banning playing basketball on city streets following residents’ complaints.

Residents have complained that players refuse to yield to traffic.

The Register-Herald reports that Common Council revised a proposed ordinance banning street basketball on Tuesday. A public hearing and a second reading of the ordinance is set for July 14.

Basketball goals on city streets also would be banned. City attorney Bill File says the ordinance doesn’t apply to goals on private property.

Violators would face a $25 fine. Council reduced the fine from the original proposal’s $50.

Resident Judy Patterson says the council shouldn’t restrict basketball until the city maintains its parks. She says many city basketball courts aren’t properly lighting and fences are in disrepair.

Education Dept. Extends No Child Left Behind Waivers

The Obama administration is giving seven more states and the District of Columbia more flexibility from the requirements of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind education law.

In addition to the nation’s capital, Education Secretary Arne Duncan has renewed waivers for Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New York, and West Virginia. Current law requires standardized tests in reading and math to measure student progress. With the waivers, schools in those states will be able come up with different ways to demonstrate improvement.

The 2002 landmark law required annual testing and put into place consequences for schools that didn’t show progress. It led to complaints that teachers were forced to teach to the tests, and that some of the mandates weren’t realistic.

Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have waivers.

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