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Separation of Church and State applies to the spending of our tax dollars

By Rev. Charles Moreland | August 13, 2008 |

It’s common knowledge that the taxes we pay are necessary to support our military, social services, social security, education, police and fire services, legislative salaries, teacher salaries, and myriad other programs. Our infrastructure, the basic facilities and installations on the continuance and growth of a community depends on and is driven by the taxes we pay. Taxes are essential, and on that, everyone agrees.

Periodically we need to investigate how our taxes are being spent and the organizations that are being supported by our taxes. It is our duty and responsibility to pay our taxes but also our obligation to not just request but demand and expect accountability. It is our duty to demand publication of who receives our taxes, and those religious organizations receiving tax dollars for their ministries must be expected to keep within the laws that guide how tax dollars are expended. «Read the rest of this article»

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Local citizens attend Oak Ridge Veterans Business Conference

By Turner McCullough Jr. | August 11, 2008 |

East Tennessee conference focuses on service-disabled and veteran small business opportunities and assistance.

“Support the troops!” has some meat behind it in Oak Ridge. “We’re here for the veterans!” is the rally cry of East Tennessee’s veterans business outreach programs. That is the consensus of three Clarksville citizens who, along with over 250 others, attended the all-day Oak Ridge Veterans Business Conference. Dr. James H. Cossingham, President, Gold Eagle Corp. and his associate, Turner McCullough Jr.- contributing writer for this publication, attended the conference at the invitation of Herstle Cross, CEO, Cornerstone Equipment, Supplies & Consulting. Cornerstone is an SBA-8A Native American company at the Oak Ridge National Nuclear Security Agency.

Ms Felicia Johnson, newly named director of the Clarksville Small Business Development Center at Austin Peay State University also attended. She was seeking to establish contacts with her counterparts in East Tennessee and especially Oak Ridge, which could enhance opportunities for her future clients in Clarksville and Montgomery County. The conference was held at the Y-12 National Nuclear Security Agency Complex’s New Hope Center, 602 Scarboro Road, the new visitors and conference center at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Complex.

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“Just say no” to domestic spying

By Chris Lugo | June 28, 2008 |

Big brother is watching you and his name is AT&T. Sometimes he goes by the name of BellSouth and at other times he is known as AOL-Time-Warner. Big brother goes by a lot of names. He is listening to you while you talk and watching you while you type and everything you say could be recorded so he can look at it somewhere down the line.

Now everyone knows that it is not polite to intrude on people in their private moments. The problem is that big brother doesn’t seem to know that peeking into people’s private communication is wrong and it should be illegal. Unfortunately President Bush wants to continue to grant immunity to telecommunications companies in the name of the so called ‘war on terror’ which in actuality is a war on the American people and the telecommunications infrastructure is the front line in the gradual diminishment of civil rights that Congress has permitted in recent years. «Read the rest of this article»

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It’s time to extend unemployment benefits

By Chris Lugo | June 24, 2008 |

America is in the midst of a recession largely attributable to the economic policies of the Bush administration and the Republican party. As a result of this recession, millions of hard working Americans have been put out of work. Almost every family in this country has been touched by the current recession. On top of this, consumers are being forced to pay record high gas prices and hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes due to foreclosure. Now is not the time to cut tax paying American citizens off of their unemployment benefits.

Since the beginning of this year nearly 325,000 people have lost their jobs and the unemployment rate is rising. As of May the unemployment rate stands at 5.5%, up nine percent just since April. With the cost of gas, food and medicine many families are suffering.

As a candidate for federal office I support House Resolution 5749, the Emergency Extended Unemployment Compensation Act, which will provide an additional thirteen weeks of extended unemployment benefits in most states. This means that 3.8 million citizens will continue to receive benefits through March of 2009. «Read the rest of this article»

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‘Promote Green’ offers eco-friendly marketing merchandise

June 23, 2008 |

Amanda Davis Weiss, owner and promotional marketing consultant, launched Promote Green this month in the Clarksville and the Fort Campbell/Hopkinsville, Kentucky areas.

Promote Green, a promotional marketing and logo merchandising firm, launches this month offering a full line of eco-friendly custom imprinted advertising specialties. Promote Green aims to give businesses an environmentally responsible alternative to the traditional promotional product.

While attending a local Earth Day celebration this April, Weiss remembers, “I heard the conservation message many times but saw little evidence of the message in the promotional products and giveaways handed out.” According to Weiss, reflection on the issue led to her realizing the need of a local entity enabling all businesses to easily purchase environmentally sound marketing products for everyday use. «Read the rest of this article»

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Florim USA donation to fund scholarships

June 19, 2008 |

Austin Peay State University recently received a financial gift from Florim USA to be used for scholarships. Florim USA has committed to fund annual scholarships in memory of its founder, Ing Giovanni Lucchese. The scholarships are for students majoring in marketing, computer science and chemistry.

Pictured (from left) are Aaron Taylor, APSU computer science student; Tim Swaw, Florim USA human resources manager; Dr. Bruce Myers, APSU computer science chair; APSU President Tim Hall; Dr. William Rayburn, director of the APSU School of Business; Giancarlo Adani, Florim USA vice president of operations; and Alex Silkowski, APSU marketing student. Not photographed is Kimberly Anderson, APSU chemistry student.

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Caleb Wherry begins NASA internship

June 16, 2008 |

An Austin Peay State University computer science student will spend the summer and Fall 2008 semester as an intern in a highly competitive National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) program. Caleb Wherry recently accepted a position in NASA’s Undergraduate Student Research Program. He will receive a total stipend of $15,000 as an intern.

Wherry began June 3 at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif. On Sept. 2, he will begin the fall semester at NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., and remain there until Dec. 12. During the Langley internship, Wherry will work with atmospheric scientist Mike Pitts, whose research focuses on the formation and evolution of polar stratospheric clouds using data known as CALIPSO.

Langley Research Center has a new atmospheric trajectory model that staff would like to use to study how the clouds form and evolve with time. Wherry will help the center run the computer models for a number of different scenarios and possibly interface the model with the CALIPSO measurements. Wherry will return to APSU for the Spring 2009 semester.

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Dr. Anne Wall honored for excellence in teaching, learning and technology

June 16, 2008 |

Dr. Anne Wall, assistant professor in the School of Education at Austin Peay State University, recently received the Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology from the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning.

Wall accepted the award during a special ceremony held at the 19th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning, April 16 in Jacksonville, Fla. A total of 42 colleges and universities from around the world nominated faculty to receive awards.

Wall came to APSU in 2004. She earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Kansas, a Master of Arts and Education Specialist degrees from Austin Peay and a Doctor of Education from Tennessee State University.

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