The Owls Head Garden Club is offering a scholarship to eligible residents in RSU 13. The purpose of the program is to assist residents in obtaining education beyond high school in the field of environmental science or related studies. Applicants receiving a scholarship must be residents of Cushing, Owls Head, Rockland, St. George, South Thomaston and Thomaston. They must be pursuing or planning to pursue an environmentally related course of study at the postsecondary level at public or private colleges, universities, vocational or professional schools in horticulture, floriculture, landscape design, conservation, wildlife science, forestry, botany, plant or marine biology, agronomy, plant pathology, environmental control, city planning, landscape architecture, engineering, land management or allied subjects. The education may be part time or full time. Applications may be picked up at Ocean Side East guidance office, University of Maine in Rockland, Bowdoin College and the Owls Head Town Office. Application deadline is May 1. Mail applications to Cindy Lucas, 42 Snow Hill Lane, South Thomaston 04858.

In February, University of Maine at Fort Kent Alumni Association President Meranda Hafford-Castonguay presented Leslie Kelly, board member of the Greater Fort Kent Ecumenical Food Pantry, a donation of $360. The UMFK Alumni Association board of directors recently held a talent show featuring a variety of local talent to raise the funds. Proceeds from the event benefited the food pantry and the UMFK Alumni Association Scholarship Fund. Taking part in the presentation ceremony wereKelly, Roger Damboise, Raymond Phinney, Michelle Dubois, Beurmond Banville, Hafford-Castonguay, Bruce Nadeau and Robby Desjardin.

Dunkin Donuts of Orono and Old Town recently donated $4,000 to benefit the University of Maine Alumni Association, Black Bear Athletic Fund and Presidential Priorities to support scholarships as part of its community outreach and corporate responsibility program. The university provided each location jerseys from all of the male and female sports teams to display at the local outlets. Taking part in the ceremony to present the donation were Todd Saucier, president and executive director, UMaine Alumni Association; Ullysses Tucker Jr., director of annual giving, Office of University Development; Eric Rolfson, vice president for development and alumni relations; Michelle Wise, director of guest relations, Dunkin Donuts; Dina Pereira, director of operations, Dunkin Donuts; and Mike Hodgson, assistant athletic director for development.

Bar Harbor Bank and Trust president and CEO Joseph Murphy recently announced the donation of a gift of $22,500 in support of the Maine Coast Memorial Hospital Mary Dow Center for Cancer Care expansion project in Ellsworth. The center was established in 1997 as a medical partnership with Eastern Maine Medical Center CancerCare of Maine.

Curves International kicked off its 2012 Curves Food Drive on March 1. Each club is asking its members to donate bags of nonperishable food or cash throughout March to support area community food banks. In addition, Curves clubs will waive the joining fee for new members who bring in a bag of nonperishable food or donate $30 to a local food bank from March 12 through 25. For information, visit curves.com.

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Noteworthy News for Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor sit behind Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy at the State of the Union in 2010.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor's note: Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a CNN.com contributor and a nationally syndicated columnist.

San Diego (CNN) -- Now that we have Sonia Sotomayor, a Latina, on the Supreme Court, the esteemed body will soon find itself in the middle of a telenovela.

The storyline involves the contentious issue of affirmative action, which is central to Fisher vs. University of Texas, a case that is scheduled to come before the court this fall. It will cast a spotlight on two of the court's justices: Sonia Sotomayor and Samuel Alito. Affirmative action seems to be intensely personal to both of them, though for very different reasons.

First, let's take a minute to note just how similar Alito and Sotomayor are in terms of their background. Both are baby boomers, born just a few years apart. Alito is 61 years old and Sotomayor is 57. They grew up in neighboring states. Alito is from New Jersey and Sotomayor is from New York. Both came from ethnic, working-class families. Alito's parents were teachers, Sotomayor's father was a tool-and-die worker and her mother was a telephone operator. Finally, both went to Princeton University and Yale Law School, where both served as editors of the Yale Law Journal.

Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Given all those similarities, what could these two Supreme Court justices possibly have to argue about? Affirmative action. That's what.

Will the Supreme Court strike down affirmative action?

Alito has highlighted in a 1985 job application for promotion to officials in the Justice Department of the Reagan administration that he belonged to a group called Concerned Alumni of Princeton. And what were the Princeton alumni so concerned about? Why, that there were supposedly too many women and minorities being admitted to the prestigious but predominantly white institution.

Original post:
Opinion: Payoff from affirmative action?

Justices Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor sit behind Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy at the State of the Union in 2010.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor's note: Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a CNN.com contributor and a nationally syndicated columnist.

San Diego (CNN) -- Now that we have Sonia Sotomayor, a Latina, on the Supreme Court, the esteemed body will soon find itself in the middle of a telenovela.

The storyline involves the contentious issue of affirmative action, which is central to Fisher vs. University of Texas, a case that is scheduled to come before the court this fall. It will cast a spotlight on two of the court's justices: Sonia Sotomayor and Samuel Alito. Affirmative action seems to be intensely personal to both of them, though for very different reasons.

First, let's take a minute to note just how similar Alito and Sotomayor are in terms of their background. Both are baby boomers, born just a few years apart. Alito is 61 years old and Sotomayor is 57. They grew up in neighboring states. Alito is from New Jersey and Sotomayor is from New York. Both came from ethnic, working-class families. Alito's parents were teachers, Sotomayor's father was a tool-and-die worker and her mother was a telephone operator. Finally, both went to Princeton University and Yale Law School, where both served as editors of the Yale Law Journal.

Ruben Navarrette Jr.

Given all those similarities, what could these two Supreme Court justices possibly have to argue about? Affirmative action. That's what.

Will the Supreme Court strike down affirmative action?

Alito has highlighted in a 1985 job application for promotion to officials in the Justice Department of the Reagan administration that he belonged to a group called Concerned Alumni of Princeton. And what were the Princeton alumni so concerned about? Why, that there were supposedly too many women and minorities being admitted to the prestigious but predominantly white institution.

Read the original post:
Taking affirmative action personally

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

THE Commission on Higher Education (Ched) in Davao region announced Tuesday that all major colleges and universities in Davao City have petitioned to increase their tuition for school year 2012-2013.

Based on the list of all Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that applied for tuition hike 24 HEIs from Davao City have filed their petition as of February 27, except for the Davao Medical School Foundation (DMSF) that only offers medical and allied medical courses.

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Among these major HEIs are Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU); Brokenshire College (BC); Davao Doctor's College (DDC); Holy Cross Davao College (HCDC); MATS College of Technology; Joji Ilagan Career Center Foundation (JIB); Mindanao Medical Foundation College (MMFC); Philippine Women's College (PWC); STI-Mindanao College; University of Mindanao (UM); and University of Immaculate Conception (UIC); among others.

Cesar A. Adegue IV, education supervisor of Ched-Davao Region, in an interview last week told Sun.Star Davao, said Ched cannot yet disclose the specific rates that these schools have asked to implement.

Adegue said one of the core prerequisite before any school can hike their school fees is to hold a consultation among their stakeholders which would include representatives of the student council, alumni, and faculty.

"Katong mga wala nakahimo ug consultation, dili jud 'to sila pwede makapa-increase sa ilang tuition (Those schools that have not conducted a consultation cannot increase their tuition)," Adegue said.

The list of the remaining schools from Davao City that have petitioned to hike their school fees are the following: ACLC College; Agro Industrial Foundation College; Davao Central College; DMMA College of Southern Philippines; Ford Academy of the Arts; General Baptist Bible College; Holy Cross College of Calinan; Holy Cross of Sasa College; Philippine College of Technology; Samson Polytechnic College of Davao; St. Peter's College of Toril; and St. Francis Xavier College Seminary.

Ched also announced that of the 93 HEIs across Davao Region, 41 HEIs have applied for tuition increase which translates to a total of 44 percent: two from Island Garden City of Samal; three from the province of Davao del Sur; three from Digos City; one from Panabo City; four from Tagum City; two from Davao Oriental; and two from Compostela Valley Province.

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Ched-Davao Region: All major colleges, universities to hike tuition

VERNON

UConn student Lukasz Gilewski stood in a crowded courtoom Monday and spoke admiringly of the fellow student whose life he took when he was distracted while driving a university shuttle bus.

"I will do my best to live my life in a way that best honors him," he said of David Plamondon, 20.

A short time later, a judge spared Gilewski jail time and sentenced him to two years of probation.

Gilewski, 22, of Newington had earlier pleaded no contest to negligent homicide with a motor vehicle and failure to yield the right of way to a pedestrian. The sentencing was in Superior Court in Rockville before Judge Elliot N. Solomon.

The full sentence is six months in jail, suspended, followed by the probation. There also are a series of conditions that include giving up his commercial driver's license which Gilewski already has done and speaking to new drivers about the importance of attentive driving. Negligent homicide with a motor vehicle is a misdemeanor.

Plamondon's family criticized the sentence as being too light. About 20 family members and friends watched the proceeding; each wore a pin with Plamondon's picture and the words, "In our hearts you will stay."

"Today, I grieve for my son knowing that justice was not served in court," Plamondon's mother, Linda Plamondon, said outside the courthouse after the sentencing. "I am disappointed with this plea agreement. This was an act of manslaughter."

About 8:10 p.m. on March 22, 2011, Gilewski was headed north on Hillside Road when he stopped at a stop sign, turned his signal on and started to turn left onto Alumni Drive, the police report states. As he started turning, he made eye contact with a southbound bus driver stopped at a stop sign. He waved, he told police.

"I then looked up Alumni Drive and saw a pedestrian right in front of my bus just to the right of the middle" Gilewski told investigators. "I then lost sight of the pedestrian; I heard a tumbling noise and realized I had run over the pedestrian."

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UConn Student Bus Driver Spared Jail Time In Death Of Fellow Student

Published: Monday, March 5, 2012 at 8:25 p.m. Last Modified: Monday, March 5, 2012 at 8:25 p.m.

MALL WALKERS PRIZE PARTY, 9-10 a.m., Eagle Ridge Mall food court. Sponsored by the mall and Lake Wales Medical Center.

EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONING SKILLS, what they are and how to acquire them, 7 p.m. meeting of Winter Haven-Bartow area attention deficit support group, Polk School Board exceptional student education building No. 270 at Bartow Airbase. Dr. Kevin Kindelan will give the program.

WEDNESDAY

QUIT SMOKING NOW, start of free six-week program to become tobacco-free, will meet weekly Wednesday-April 11, 5:30-6:30 p.m., Florida Southern College, Thrift Alumni Building, next to Wellness Center. Program includes nicotine replacement therapy patches at no cost to participants. Call 877-252-6094 for more information or to register.

THURSDAY

ADULT/CHILD CPR AND AED, $28, 6-9 p.m., Regency Center for Women and Infants, Winter Haven. Register with Citizen CPR at 863-291-5977.

MARCH 13

GRAND IS GRAND, $10, class for new or expectant grandparents, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Regency Center for Women and Infants, Winter Haven. Call Regency Library, 863-294-7020.

MARCH 14

Link:
Medical Event Calendar

In the 1980s, Penn State was brimming with ambition.

Joe Paterno was in the process of winning two national titles. The campus and the nation were convinced his grand experiment had worked. Interest in the school was up. Those who ran the university decided Penn State could no longer just be another good state school.

Everything had to be bigger. And better.

Penn State wanted to become a world leader in research. It needed to hire the best professors, teach more students, erect buildings and, for the first time, establish a serious endowment.

That transformation required two things: money and contacts.

The people most able to proved those two crucial ingredients just happened to be members of the board of trustees representing business and industry.

As Penn State moved up the national rankings, and a Penn State degree grew more prestigious, those trustees and their allies acquired the dominant voice on the 32-member board.

By the nature of their positions, they have the contacts, the wealth and the connections so that when its necessary to do things they have leverage in many ways, said Ben Novak, a former alumni trustee now attempting to return to the board.

Before Jerry Sandusky, Tim Curley and Gary Schultz were arrested in November, few questioned the trustees stewardship, either inside or outside the board room.

Since then, alumni factions have demanded broad-based reform and more influence in decision-making. Eighty-six alumni are campaigning for the three alumni seats up for election this spring, promising to reclaim control of the university.

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Penn State board of trustees has long been led by businesspeople

Even for a laconic personality like George Norcross, the message was cryptic. Simply the letters "FYI" attached to an e-mail statement written by someone else. Norcross has declined to elaborate, but it was clear the South Jersey political boss was endorsing some or all of the message from Wendell Pritchett, the chancellor of the Camden campus of Rutgers University.

Pritchett opposes the plan, pushed by both Norcross, a Democrat, and Republican Gov. Chris Christie, to allow Rowan University, a former state teachers college now saddled with a very expensive medical school, to swallow the Camden assets of what has been New Jerseys only real state university Rutgers.

Pritchett sent out a note to the Rutgers-Camden alumni explaining his opposition to the Rowan takeover. In it, he cites comments made by Norcross in a radio interview "that many of the concerns over the elimination of RutgersCamden were 100 percent correct. It also quotes Georges brother Donald, a state senator, about the need to keep the Rutgers brand" in Camden.

In an interview, Pritchett concedes he doesnt know "whats going on in the minds" of the powerful Norcross brothers, but he hopes these were signs the execution of Rutgers-Camden would be commuted to a life sentence of "partnership" with Rowan, an arrangement that would allow it to remain part of a major, national research university: Rutgers.

George Norcross sent Pritchetts email here with his cryptic "FYI." He declined an interview. Gov. Christies spokesman also did not respond to a request for comment.

Perhaps the Norcross-Christie partnership is having second thoughts about the wisdom of eliminating Rutgers-Camden by fiat. If so, there is a good chance one reason is the work of a Camden finance professor who is raising serious questions about the financial implications of the proposed takeover.

Eugene Pilotte, unlike other Rutgers professors and opponents of the takeover, doesnt argue against the merger for sentimental or "branding" reasons. Hes talking serious stuff money.

Pilotte starts with the irrefutable position that medical schools cost money: "Medical schools are costly enterprises that require large subsidies from their hosting academic institutions and states," Pilotte said in a presentation to the Rutgers trustees.

Rowan took over medical education in South Jersey and is about to open a medical school. The head of the new schools trustee board is George Norcross. Its a Norcross achievement boosted by his former friend in the governors office, Jon Corzine. The existence of the Rowan medical school was cited by Christie as a reason for pushing Rowans digestion of Rutgers-Camden.

But Pilottes report notes that, since trying to run a medical school, Rowans debt has skyrocketed and its bond rating was downgraded by Moodys Investment Services in November, 2010. That downgrading was reaffirmed last May. Moodys shows that Rowans debt per full-time student is $51,704 versus $22, 986 for Rutgers.

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Braun: South Jersey political boss Norcross mum about Rowan University merger plan