My Last Post

Hello Everyone, This is my last post for my Public Affairs Reporting class. I just wanted to take a moment and reflect on the class and what I learned. To be honest, Public Affairs was more interesting that I thought it was going to be. I remember last semester when Prof. Dawers was trying to explain the class to us, he said the class would focus on policy. And I think anyone who hears policy automatic thinks a time to sleep. I think what turns people away from policy is that a lot of policies are written in a way that the average person does not understand. So if the average person does not understand policy, then they will not want to learn anything about. I really liked how the class broke down different policy issues and the many class discussions. The topic that really interested me the most was when we talked about education. Whether is was the HOPE Scholarship or No Child Left Behind or Chatham County School's low graduation rate. Until this class, I didn't realize education was such a passion of mine, but it is. Which is why I want to work in the University System under student services. Anyway, I really enjoyed this class and the journalism track. The journalism track allowed me to update myself about issues going on in the world around me. I have always paid attention to the news, but sometimes when school work and jobs take over your life, you tend to forget the issues that other Americans face based off the policies being put into place by our representatives. I also enjoyed informing my friend, Brittany, who is a Biology major and usually has no clue about the different issues taking place. So it was nice updating her about what was going on. Overall, it was a good class and a good four years, yes I do graduate next Saturday, and I am excited about what is in store for the future.

Deal Ok's drug test bill

On Monday, Gov. Nathan Deal signed legislation to require some people applying for for welfare in Georgia to pass a drug test before receiving the benefits.

Bill Details: "Under the bill, anyone who tests positive for drug use could not apply for welfare for one month and until they test clean. A third violation could prevent someone from applying for benefits for a year. They would also have to pass another drug test before reapplying," (My Fox Atlanta)

While I can understand they are trying to prevent anyone from using the system, I feel this could be problematic in that this will give welfare officials the right to target certain. The article did not go into parameters in how they would know if someone uses drugs. I am unsure of the welfare process, so do they background check you?

And I understand there are people who abuse the welfare system, but is it really that bad? Or is this just a preventative measure? I don't have enough information to decide, but if someone in the blog world knows more about this, please let me know.

Also, how much will drug testing cost? And where will the money come from? Will taxpayers pay the bill? I mean our money already goes to welfare recipients anyway? And I am okay with that, there are people out there who are in need. I just need more information.

So let me know your thoughts on this issue.

Savannah Food Ratings

Last semester, The Galley and the MCC Food Court received a food rating of an 82. And then this semester, it went from an 82 to a 77. Now most people would like at that drop and be disgusted, as they should be. But Armstrong is not the only place in Savannah with a low food rating.

Now I know, no city is perfect. But I can't help but notice, the low food ratings throughout the city of Savannah. A few weeks ago, I ate at American Deli in Oglethorpe Mall and right after I purchased my food, I saw that they had a rating of a 71. I told my friends I wouldn't have ate there, if I saw the rating beforehand.

I also notice the Subway at Savannah Mall had a rating of a C. It just amazes me the amount of low ratings at these food places. I think Jalapenos down the street, also was rated a C.

I did ask my friends why the ratings are so low here, and they told me that they are not use to having nice places, so is just expected. My thing is, when is enough, enough? It is gross. I just don't understand from a business standpoint, why you want to serve people in an environment people could possibly get sick from?

I understand that health inspections are picky, but they are suppose to be. We are talking about people's lives here.

I tried looking online, but I didn't see any articles addressing this issue, just articles promoting the city of Savannah.

I think the people of Savannah have the right to go to restaurants, even if they are chains, that are clean and have a high health rating. But I guess if no one complains, then no one will do anything.

If anyone has any answers, please let me know.

Savannah Crime

During class next week, we will discuss crime in Savannah. We are swinging around from national issues to discuss more local issues. But I have noticed something. Whenever I am reading Savannah Morning News, in this case I am referring to the website. I noticed that whenever the newspaper publishes a crime story, they like to put the mugshot of the person they arrest.

This happens in just about all crime stories and could be problematic for a number of reasons. In my Editing and Markup class, we talk about potentially libelous stories. And I think by continuously posting the mug shot of the suspect could cause more harm than good.

The reason being that most mugshots are printed so the suspect looks guilty for a trial. What happened to being innocent until proven guilty. Just because police have made an arrest, does not mean the people who are arrested are guilty. Police make arrest usually off of suspicion and sometimes they are wrong.

I understand that readers want to know who police arrest and that is fine. But if the public already suspects that your guilty, then it will take a long time before they recognize you as innocent.

Take the O.J. Simpson case for example. When a main news magazine posted his mugshot on the cover of the issue. Not only did they post his mugshot, they darkened his skin, which implies guilt. One can also look at the Trayvon Martin case and how the only picture that the public has of Zimmerman is his mugshot. All these instances imply guilt, which can be problematic if you are innocent.

Let me know your thoughts on the issue. Also, let me know if you have any solutions in the comment box below. Thanks!

Lottery

Earlier this semester, we talked about the Georgia Lottery and its impact on the HOPE scholarship. We talked about how the majority of people who buy the tickets are from lower income communities. Well a few days ago, Mega Millions swept the nation or at least Facebook. Everybody I knew was buying a lottery ticket. Even my mom told me to go to the gas station to purchase one. I did not, for a few reasons. One, because I knew there was a catch. 2, the taxes are to high. And boy was I right, instead of one winner there were I think six winners all out of St. Louis and each received 250, 000 each, probably before taxes. I knew the lottery was not going to allow more than one person to win. So all this talk about what people would do if they won millions, was completely insane. Anyway, I wanted to share this video with you. Let me know your thoughts about winning the lottery as a whole.

Trayvon Martin

I am sure most of you heard about the Trayvon Martin case. The young African-American male who was shot by George Zimmerman, a "neighborhood watch captain" who thought Trayvon looked suspicious. Zimmerman is hoping he can escape prosecution from this case because of Florida's Stand Your Ground law, where you can shoot someone if you feel threatened.

My thing is, if you feel threatened, then why follow that person and not wait for the police, who told you to back off. If you felt threatened, why did you even approach Trayvon? Why would to claim self defense, when the young boy was armed with skittles
and an ice tea?

The whole point of a neighbor hood watch person is to WATCH the neighborhood and report any activity to the police. Once reported, you let the police step in, because you have done your job. This story truly sickens me. And to add fuel to the fire, people are claiming that Zimmerman is Hispanic as if him being Hispanic no longer makes it racist.

Hispanic is not a race, because you have black and white Hispanics. And if you look at a lot of Hispanic countries, they have racial problems as well.

What I don't understand is when police came to the scene, and the dispatcher told Zimmerman not to shoot, the police took his side, saying he acted out of self-defense and that was that. Why did it take the protest of people, and the young man's upset parents for the police to look further into this case? This is just absolutely awful.

I found a video that explains the Stand Your Ground Law a bit further. Let me know what you think.

Plans to shutdown 13 schools

I am a huge education person and wanted to blog a little about this. Atlanta Public Schools plans to shut down 13 schools. That is huge. I screamed when my county of Dekalb had plans to shut down eight. And I am sure many of you know where these schools are located--in urban communities. After the cheating scandal in Atlanta, I am sure the close of schools does not help.

I found an article from The Atlanta Voice and want your opinion on this issue. Atlanta Public Schools stated the reason for the closing is due to budget. Anyway, read the article and let me know what you think.

Staff and Wire Report
ATLANTA – Public hearings are scheduled to start next week over recommendations to shut down 13 Atlanta public schools – most of them on the city’s south side – as part of a cost-cutting initiative proposed by school superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr.
Community hearings on the controversial proposals will take place March 12, March 13 next week and March 21 and March 22 at various high schools across the city. The district then will finalize its proposal and school board members will approve the final plan at their April 10 meeting. That plan will take effect next school year.
Davis introduced his redistricting plan to the Atlanta school board Monday, telling board members that closing 10 elementary schools and three middle schools would boost efficiency and save the cash-strapped district about $6.5 million in operational expenses – freeing up resources to support and teach students.
“Although APS traditional schools serve 47,000 students, we have seats for 60,000 students,” Davis said in a letter released this week. “Heating, cool and lighting 13,000 empty seats is expensive.”
“Our proposal will eliminate approximately 7,200 of the 13,000-seat excess and generate substantial savings,” he added. “As a result, we will be able to allocate more funds in direct support of students – that is, to provide more counselors, assistant principals, paraprofessionals and special education resources.”
The plan, which would displace about 2,500 students, is the most recent version of a redistricting plan that has been debated since late last year and generated heated public outcry in many circles – including at Monday night’s school board meeting.
Board members debated the plan for hours, including some who expressed concerns about closing schools – especially in communities where several vacant school buildings already exist. Many of the vacant seats are on the district’s south side, while many schools in north Atlanta are overcrowded.
“In doing closures, you decrease morale, you decrease parent involvement, which feeds into decreased student achievement,” said board member LaChandra Butler Burks. “We’re adding more distress onto already distressed communities. Is all that worth a couple hundred thousand dollars?”
Davis said the expected cost savings justify the closures.
“Our driving force is a commitment to children, not to buildings,” he said. “We are heating, cooling, lighting 13,000 empty seats. The money spent [there] can go to counselors, social workers, assistant principals, the kind of robust support the children in the needy communities are not getting.”
Davis said school redistricting, while uncomfortable for some, is needed to adjust for shifts in population throughout the city.
“Redistricting is never an easy or painless process, but it is something most urban school districts must periodically undertake to effectively manage educational resources and ensure continued student academic achievement,” he said in a recent column in The Atlanta Voice.
“Today, the district has critically overcrowded schools in some areas and severely under-enrolled schools in others. This situation wastes resources and adversely impacts efficient operations and potentially student academic achievement.”
The last time APS approved a full redistricting plan was in 2003, he said.
The plan released Monday also calls for schools to be reorganized into clusters, meaning students would stay together as they move to middle and high school. It also calls for renovations and expansions at many schools and support services to be added at others.
Elementary schools slated for closure include: Boyd, Capitol View, Cook, East Lake, Fain, Herndon, Humphries, F.L. Stanton, Thomasville, and White. The middle schools proposed for closure are
Coan, Kennedy and Park.
Buckhead is the only area that won’t be affected by the boundary changes.
Community meetings on the closures will be held March 12 at Douglass High School, March 13 at North Atlanta High School, March 21 at Maynard Jackson High School, and March 22 at Carver High School.

Restraining Students

I know my readers are use to me writing my opinion about certain pieces, but I wanted to do something a little different. I want to know your thoughts about this issue, plus it is Spring Break and I know most of you just want to relax. But please let me know your thoughts. This is article is from the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Push for action to curtail restraining students

By KIMBERLY HEFLING
The Associated Press

10:31 a.m. Saturday, March 10, 2012
WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of students, most of them disabled, are strapped down or physically restrained in school, and disability advocates hope that a new Education Department report detailing the practice of "seclusion and restraint" will spur federal action to end it.

The report, compiled and made public for the first time by the department's civil rights arm, shows that 70 percent of students subjected to the techniques have disabilities. There are no current federal standards on the use of the techniques in schools.

The American Association of School Administrators says they are a last resort in protecting students and faculty from physical harm and keeping some children with behavioral problems in schools who might otherwise go into residential institutions. Advocates for the disabled say the use of seclusion and restraint is too accepted in schools and has led to abuse. They want Congress or the department to help curtail the practice.

They point to news reports and a Government Accountability Office study in 2009 illustrating cases of children as young as preschool age who were duct-taped to chairs and locked alone for hours. That report by Congress' investigative and auditing arm did not determine whether these types of allegations were widespread, but investigators did find "hundreds of cases of alleged abuse and death related to the use of these methods on schoolchildren during the past two decades."

In one recent case, the mother of a Kentucky boy with autism said that when she went to her son's school, she found him stuffed in a canvas duffel bag in the hallway. Connecticut lawmakers are considering a bill that would require the state to report how often special education students are isolated because of emotional outbursts. That follows incidents in Middletown, Conn., where special education students were allegedly isolated in "scream rooms" during outbursts.

Sasha Pudelski, government affairs manager at the school administrators association, said except in rare cases, school workers use seclusion and restraint safely and only when necessary. She said federal action isn't appropriate because the issue should be addressed at the local and state level, which is happening.

"We would never defend the heinous practices that are sometimes highlighted," Pudelski said.

The department's data from the 2009-2010 school year showed tens of thousands of instances in which the techniques were reportedly used. It also showed that that while black students represent 21 percent of students with disabilities, they account for 44 percent of students with disabilities who are subjected to mechanical restraints. It's unclear the circumstances or exact methods used in the cases.

People on both sides of the debate said the new numbers don't show a complete picture.

Because they are based on a survey that relied on self-reporting in about 85 percent of schools, activists said there are likely many more cases. Pudelski said it was the first time that schools were asked to compile the statistics, so there was confusion about how to count some situations, and therefore probably over-reporting.

Reece L. Peterson, a special education professor at the University of Nebraska who has testified before Congress on the topic, said there's a consensus among special educators about using seclusion and restraint only in emergencies where there's a threat of someone getting hurt.

Based on the department's new numbers, Peterson said, "there is some evidence that these things are being used on a basis more widely than simply these kind of emergency situations."

Reports of such incidents should be "minuscule," said Maureen Fitzgerald, director of disability rights at the Arc, which advocates for people with disabilities. Fitzgerald said when abuses occur, it's usually because workers aren't properly trained.

"They are put in situations where they're not trained, they don't have the support they need and things get out of control because they don't know how to manage the kids, and they do whatever they can to keep everybody calm and safe ... and that's when people start getting hurt," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald's organization is among several disability organizations seeking passage of a bill by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, that would prohibit the use of seclusion and allow restraints only in emergency situations and until the danger of serious bodily injury has passed. Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., has a similar bill in the House. Legislation to address the issue sponsored by Miller passed in 2010 but failed to get out of the Senate.

Activists also say the Education Department should be doing more to highlight and end the practice. In a report this past week, Curt Decker, the executive director of the National Disability Rights Network, wrote that the department hasn't provided "meaningful" leadership on the issue and has failed to issue clear guidance on when seclusion and restraint might violate the law.

"The guidance at a minimum must also limit the use of physical restraint or seclusion to circumstances when necessary to protect a child or others from imminent physical danger and not weaken existing protections in the states," Decker said.

Daren Briscoe, an Education Department spokesman, said the new data will be an "invaluable tool to illuminate trouble spots, highlight best practices, and pinpoint areas where teacher and principal training may be appropriate."

___

Online:

Civil Rights Data Collection: http://ocrdata.ed.gov/

American Association of School Administrators: http://www.aasa.org/

The Arc: http://www.thearc.org

National Disability Rights Network: http://www.ndrn.org

___

March 10, 2012 10:31 AM EST

Copyright 2012, The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Policies limit student dining options

One of our class assignments, like semester, is to write an article for The Inkwell. The only difference is the topic needed to deal public affairs, whether on or off campus.

I contacted Jay, the news editor, and he told me about how Armstrong's Dining Services cut back hours regarding the food court, Starbucks, and the convenient store on campus.

Since I live on campus, I knew Dining Services changed the hours, because one weekend when I wanted to grab a bite to eat the food court, it was closed. And long story short, I was disappointed. Because last semester, students could use these services on the weekends, particularly those who lived on campus.

When I was reporting for The Inkwell my freshman year of college, I remember talking to Al Harris, director of Student Activities about the Student Union, which was not built at the time. He said one of the reasons why the Student Union is so special is because it will stay open late for the students to use.

And I have to admit, I was excited about that perk, no pun intended. But when the hours changed this semester, it left me a bit confused.

Both Louis Duran, general manager of Sodexo, and David Carson, vice president of Business and Finance said the reason for the change in hours is due to the lack of student participation. And since students were not participating, Armstrong lost money.

My thing is, in order to use those services besides the cafeteria, we (students who live on campus), are only allotted $150 a semester to use the food court, Starbucks, etc. Because those services are not part of the meal plan. And that is not a lot of money if you are charging $7 per meal, plus tax.

When I first came to Armstrong, I had a $400 meal plan, which means $400 was on my card and I could spend the money however I wanted to. And I would only pay for the for the food according to what I ordered/picked up.

But since the Student Union came, all that changed. And students are only given a set amount for their meal plan.

I don't like Armstrong telling me what I can and cannot eat. I do like the buffet style, but why can't I choose the food I want an pay accordingly? There are many times when my friend and I go into the cafeteria and there is nothing good and I feel like I wasted money because I have to pay at the door.

And then I can't go to the food court, because I will just have to pay again. Duran said he didn't want the food court to be like the cafeteria, so he won't add it as a meal plan.

Both Duran and Carson said they said if they see more students using the dining facilities, they will go back to later hours. My thing is, if you just add the food court as a meal plan, you will make the money back that you are losing and not have to worry about changing the hours.

To look at the full article, click here

How to Fix Hope

We have been talking about the Hope Scholarship a lot lately in class, offering suggestions from others, but I have not offered any of my own.

My dad and I were talking the other day about to fix Hope and he said creating more winners in the areas that buy them the most. That way they will win their money back. I thought that was interesting, because we came up with the same suggestion in class. I live in a urban community outside of Atlanta, and we see a lot of people at the gas station playing scratch offs constantly. Even scratching off old scratch offs to see if they are the lucky winners.

However, no one has ever won in my community, besides me. I won $50 from a scratch off I received at Christmas time and $25 another time. But no one has one any of the big tickets, and I think if someone did, it would boost my communities moral. Also, maybe Georgia needs to get off of its high horse and build casinos. The lottery is a form of gambling, so building a casino won't hurt.

Also, I think more money should be put in Hope. Only a small percentage goes into the scholarship, so it would be nice if more money went into its funding. Also, I am confused about how the scholarship is losing money if people who attend college lose the scholarship within the first year. I am one of the fortunate ones, I am def. not the norm.

I think fixing the scholarship is tricky, but I hope someone comes up with a solution fast. I am interested in seeing how this all plays out in the next few years.

Armstrong's new smoking policy

At the beginning of the semester, we were assigned to write three papers throughout the semester regarding local, state, and national issues. Before I settled http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwriting my first paper about Atlanta's transit system, I was trying to decide between that and the new smoking ban on campus, which will start in August.

Last year, I was sent an email with a survey regarding the current smoking policy at Armstrong. I believe that people are not allowed to smoke inside the buildings, but can smoke outside 20 feet away. Though, I am not a smoker and I am not passionate about this issue, I do feel bad for the people who smoke.

Before I talk about why, I would like to give some background information provided by my school's newspaper The Inkwell.

According to the article, around 2010, The Georgia Smoker Free Air Act prohibits smoking in any building--including private offices--owned, leased or operated by any department in the state of Georgia.

In 2010, Armstrong's faculty Senate passes resolution to form a committee of faculty. staff and students to explore adoption of a smoke-free campus. Also, the Student Government Association (SGA) passes resolution to support adoption of establishing smoking stations prohibiting smoking in all other areas around campus.

In 2011, the city of Savannah enacts smoking ordinance which prohibits smoking within 10 feet of all businesses. And shortly after, Armstrong's Tobacco Task Force sends out a survey: the majority of participants were in favor of designated favors for smokers.

In 2012, President Bleicken sends a campus-wide email, declaring Armstrong a smoke-free campus.

To be honest, though I took the survey, I did not know Armstrong would actually become a smoke-free campus. While I don't smoke, I have friends who do, and I feel as though I do not have the right, especially to an adult, to tell them how they should live their lives. I also don't believe Armstrong should medal in the health of others, because it is simply not their place. Armstrong is a learning institution, people come to this university to learn, not have someone scold them on their health.

Also, I don't see the point in the original survey, if the president already made her decision. Don't ask for others opinions and act like you will take their vote into consideration, and then you don't. The president always wanted a smoke-free campus and just should have made it one.

I hope this issue encourages students to take more of a stand on future issues. I have no problem with people who smoke, especially if they are smoking outside. As long as it is not indoors, smoke away.

Hope Scholarship

To continue our discussion about the Hope Scholarship, I wanted to post a video from My Fox Atlanta. The reason I stayed in Georgia was because I received Hope, and now students attending college after may have to find other means to attend school.

HOPE Scholarship Faces Uncertain Future: MyFoxATLANTA.com

Let me know what you think.

Covering Public Affairs

For the past few weeks, we've discussed local government coverage and the challenges covering local government may bring. But before diving into that topic, let's look at the role/goals of the government reporter.

Some roles include, but are limited to: present news (facts), events, be objective, dig up dirt, promote the city, and present solutions. Which are all valid goals/ roles and I believe there is a time and place for everything.

I think the main issue with covering local affairs here at the local level is that there are new many branches, too many identities. For example, the Savannah Chatham Public School System is its own separate entity. Why? If funding is coming from the same pot, why separate it? Savannah is too small of a city, for all these different branches.

I think reporting becomes confusing, because the reporter has to separate all of the information even if it is under the umbrella of local government. I remember, Scott, who is originally from Waycross, GA and mentioned how Waycross consolidated its government and the huge uproar it caused, especially racial uproar.

Maybe since the city of Savannah is mostly African American, but Chatham County is mostly Caucasian, there could be different branches not wanting to associate with other branches, which makes reporting difficult, but race is never easy to report about, then you are accused of only reporting about race.

Lastly, since there is not unity, there are different personalities of different branches and information maybe taking out of context or become misconstrued, because no one is on the same page, causing the the reporter to get the run around when covering a story and the story ending up being bigger than it actually is.

At the end of the day, there is no unity, which makes it hard to make decisions if every branch is doing their own thing.

Reporting Problems

A former city alderman (i.e., council member) once told me that he though it was pretty straightforward in municipal governance to deal with issues of highest priority -- he used the term A to C. But he lamented that local governments rarely adequately addressed important issues at the back of the line -- D to L. This could obviously be a problem in terms of news reporting. Thoughts?

My thoughts on this topic is that ideally, we would like to elect people who will deal with the issues of highest priority first. However, a lot of times promises are empty and people are left with a candidate who has nothing to show for his or her campaign.

I think this could be a problem for news reporting because people depend on journalist to report the important issues, because they feel politicians are not honest. I think if local governments are only focusing on less important issues, leaving news reporters hanging, and an angry public.

I believe politicians deal with the less important issues first, because they need to show the public that they are successful in office. For example, Obama and the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy. Or Obama wanting states to push the dropout age to 18 instead of 16, so more kids will graduate from high school.

I know these do not seem like super important issues, but election season is arriving and he needs to be able to argue points of success during his presidency, so he people will elect him another four years. Same with Edna Jackson of Savannah. City Council spent the majority of time talking about the African American festival. This is not by chance, but the city of Savannah is mostly African American, so it looks good to talk about topics regarding the city's majority.

This becomes an issue for reporters, because they end up only reporting the less important issues and the public ends of feeling cheated with both politicians and journalist.

Georgia's Hope Scholarship Diminishing

In Governor Deal's State of the State Speech on Jan. 11, Deal emphasized how important education was to the state of Georgia. However, in the recent Atlanta Journal Constitution article, "Hope's future may be more dire", the article states that the Hope Scholarship is likely to be an even bigger strain as more students stay in state and qualify.

When my brother graduated from high school in 2003, he received the scholarship in full plus book money. This was when the scholarship was booming, no one even mentioned the possibility of the scholarship dwindling for future students.

When I graduated in from high school in 2008, I also received the entire scholarship plus book money, but that has changed in the last few years. My dad said there was $10,000 difference from when my brother attended and graduated from college and when I attended and will graduate from college. And the dwindling Hope Scholarship is not helping.

I noticed signs of problems, which I am sure started sooner, during the summer before my sophomore year. I took classes at Georgia Perimeter College, a two year school around Atlanta, because it was cheaper. However, when I filled out a form to receive Hope for my class, the state would not allow it and I had to pay $450 for my summer class.

During my sophomore year of college, the University System of Georgia increased tuition at all Georgia colleges and universities; however, Hope did not increase with it. Since my scholarship did not increase, I had to come up with $400 out of pocket. Luckily, I was able to increase my student loan, but since my parents make a certain amount of money, I can only increase it so much. And I don't qualify for the Pell Grant.

My junior was okay, because I was awarded a scholarship which took care of the difference. However by my senior year, I capped my loan amount and since my GPA is not a 3.7 or above, I only received 90 percent of the scholarship and no book money. So I had to come up with $600 per semester ($1,200 for the year).

When I graduated from high school, I wanted to go to the school out-of-state. But my dad convinced me to stay in Georgia because of Hope; but now the scholarship is disappearing. I feel bad for the students who are coming behind me, because I am sure they are staying in Georgia for the same reason.

Listed below are the proposals from the article. I wish people/states prepared for rainy days. How can you emphasize education and do the opposite?

● Eliminate the SAT requirement of the Zell Miller program. Instead, graduating seniors in the top 3 percent of every high school in Georgia would automatically qualify. Democrats said the change would more evenly distribute the number of scholars throughout state, including at smaller, less expensive colleges.

● Change how technical college students receive grant money through the HOPE program. The technical grants are different from the scholarship and tend to benefit students who are older and likely supporting families of their own. Last year, changes meant technical students must for the first time maintain a 3.0 GPA. As a result, 4,200 technical college students lost HOPE.

● Reinstate a cap on family income for students to be eligible for HOPE. Such a cap existed when the program began, but was quickly lifted after the lottery proved financially successful.

● Add a student representative on the state Board of Regents, which oversees the University System of Georgia and sets tuition. Regents are appointed by the governor.

● Create legislative oversight of a new, $20 million student loan program. The program was started last year when lawmakers changed HOPE. The startup money was paid for with lottery revenue.

“As you go forward, there will be fewer and fewer people able to afford college,” Carter said. “You’ve got swaths of Georgia for whom HOPE vanishes and [the Zell Miller Scholarship] won’t help under the current system. That is a failure and an abandonment of the original principles that were sold to the state in order to tolerate the lottery.”

Merging Colleges

Hello Everyone!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with family and friends. If you didn't, I am sorry, maybe next year. This time around, my blogs with focus on public affair's issues: local, sate, and national. This semester, I am taking a public affairs reporting class and our assignment is to keep an ongoing blog, similar to the one I wrote last semester.

Our first blog assignment, if you want to call it that is to write about a issue happening locally. The issue I will write about is both a state and local issue, which is the merging of colleges. I find the article interesting, because though Savannah Colleges and Universities are not listed in the merging plans, there were talks a few years ago about merging Savannah State and Armstrong Atlantic, I think it was my freshman year (2008) when people were talking. Someone told me that every ten years or so, the discussion comes up and people debate and chat then it dies down after while.

But, I do wonder now that merging college and universities around the state of Georgia are becoming a reality, if merging Savannah State and Armstrong Atlantic could possibly be a reality as well.

According to the Savannah Morning News article, "Merging colleges makes some magic" the Board of Regents in Atlanta voted unanimously on Tuesday to combine eight colleges into four. The schools include: Waycross College and South Georgia College, Macon State College and Middle Georgia College, Gainesville State College and North Georgia College & State University, and Augusta State University and Georgia Health Sciences University.

No word when this is set to happen, or figures on how much money merging with save and how much money will be put out in order for these merges to happen. I will do a follow up blog when more info comes out, but I found it interesting when Chancellor Huckaby said he avoided targeting the three historically black schools even though they share the same zip codes as the white schools, because of past attempts have failed i.e. Armstrong Atlantic and Savannah State. And I wonder, because he makes it seem like more mergers will come, if race will become a factor of why schools do/will not merge. I know race is a tool used in everyday politics, so I will assume it will play a huge roll in the merging of colleges and universities.

More to come in future blogs, just wanted my readers to start thinking.