Morning News – 01/21/15

KENTUCKY

Maysville Community and Technical College’s new president, Dr. Stephen Vacik, spoke of the future for the college in his first public speaking engagement. Vaick officially assumed the position on Jan. 1, following the retirement of Dr. Ed. Story; Vacik was one of three finalists for the position. Vacik announced that his immediate concerns include enrollment management; default rates of student financial aid/loans; and the fund-raising aspect of the college. Vacik also said what he needs from the community also is patience with him as he learns who people are; develops a plan of action; support from the regional communities served by MCTC campuses in Harrison, Bourbon, Montgomery and Rowan counties; an openness to change with how things are done at the college; and transparency to let him know about problems.

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Legislation filed by a Kentucky senator that would require transgender students to use restrooms labeled with their assigned sex at birth has attracted national media coverage. Critics of Senate Bill 76, or the Kentucky Student Privacy Act, argue that it creates a separate-but-equal standard that will further alienate a group already at risk for bullying and intimidation. Under the bill, students who encounter a transgender student in the wrong bathroom could sue the school for $2,500. The legislation grew out of a controversy involving a Louisville high school’s policy permitting a transgendered student who was born male but identifies as a female to utilize the girls’ restrooms.

http://wuky.org/post/ky-transgender-restroom-proposal-draws-national-attention

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High levels of out-of-school suspensions can hamper learning among all of a school’s students, according to University of Kentucky associate professor Edward Morris and Indiana University associate professor Brea Perry. Perry and Morris based their finding on the study of an unnamed large urban Kentucky school district. Two possible reasons listed in their report include that frequent suspensions can increase students’ anxiety, and that “turnover of suspended students in and out of classrooms creates unstable, socially fragmented environments.”

https://web.archive.org/web/20150125070519/http://www.kentucky.com:80/2015/01/20/3651405_new-study-shows-that-out-of-school.html?

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Kentucky has been listed among the leaders in graduation rates, according to the latest numbers released by the U.S. Department of Education. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, Kentucky’s 86 percent graduation rate in the 2012-13 school year is fourth highest in the United States; nine states have a higher rate–six are tied with Kentucky. The national graduation rate is 81 percent. Recent data from Kentucky’s 2013-14 school year shows more improvement with a graduation rate of 87.5 percent.  The latest Kentucky public school data can be found online in the Kentucky School Report Card and the Open House public school data and information portal.

https://web.archive.org/web/20150203021820/http://www.kyforward.com:80/kentucky-among-leaders-nationwide-in-graduation-rates-latest-numbers-show/

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NATION

The “shadow of crisis” has passed, President Barack Obama declared Tuesday night during his State of the Union address; the president also urged Congress to build on economic gains through raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans in order to pay for reductions for the middle class.

“Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well?” Obama asked. “Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?”

The central goal of the president’s economic proposal was an increase to 28% for the capital gains rate on couples making more than $500,000 annually. Much of the estimated $320 billion in new taxes would be used to help the middle class–including a $500 tax credit for qualified two income families, expansion of the child care tax credit and a $60 billion program to make community college free.

https://web.archive.org/web/20150617135013/http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/289238571.html

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Dalton Hayes–the eighteen year-old male half of the “Bonnie & Clyde” “sweethearts” from Grayson County, KY that gained national attention for their multi-state crime spree–has claimed that he and his girlfriend, Cheyenne Phillips (13) were attempting to escape her abusive family, and to find a life together in Miami, Florida. Hayes has also stated that when he intially began to have relations with Phillips, he believed her to be eighteen years old; it wasn’t until shortly before the couple left Grayson that Phillips revealed her true age, according to Hayes. Hayes is awaiting transport to be brought back to Kentucky to face charges associated with the crimes–including custodial interference of a minor.

https://web.archive.org/web/20151004052926/http://www.wkyt.com/home/headlines/Teen-in-crime-spree-Abusive-family-was-motive-for-running-289164581.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20170514125815/http://www.wkyt.com:80/home/headlines/Teen-accused-in-crime-spree-289226381.html

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THIS DAY IN HISTORY

• 1720 – Sweden and Prussia sign the Treaty of Stockholm.
• 1789 – The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy or the Triumph of Nature Founded in Truth, is printed in Boston.
• 1793 – After being found guilty of treason by the French National Convention, Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine.
• 1840 – Jules Dumont d’Urville discovers Adélie Land, Antarctica.
• 1899 – Opel manufactures its first automobile.
• 1908 – New York City passes the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public, only to have the measure vetoed by the mayor.
• 1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
• 1915 – Kiwanis International is founded in Detroit.
• 1950 – American lawyer and government official Alger Hiss is convicted of perjury.
• 1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, the First Lady of the United States.
• 1958 – The last Fokker C.X in military service, the Finnish Air Force FK-111 target tower, crashes, killing the pilot and winch-operator.
• 1960 – Little Joe 1B, a Mercury spacecraft, lifts off from Wallops Island, Virginia with Miss Sam, a female rhesus monkey on board.
• 1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
• 1968 – A B-52 bomber crashes near Thule Air Base, contaminating the area after its nuclear payload ruptures. One of the four bombs remains unaccounted for after the cleanup operation is complete.
• 1971 – The current Emley Moor transmitting station, the tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, begins transmitting UHF broadcasts.
• 1976 – Commercial service of Concorde begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes.
• 1977 – United States President Jimmy Carter pardons nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada.
• 1981 – Production of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
• 1997 – The U.S. House of Representatives votes 395–28 to reprimand Newt Gingrich for ethics violations, making him the first Speaker of the House to be so disciplined.
• 1999 – War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kilograms (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
• 2004 – NASA’s MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies in the management of its flash memory and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.