Problems At The Ivory Towers

Academics in Kentucky aren’t pleased that someone questions them being given a blank check.

Facing some of the angriest public remarks by a group of Kentucky University presidents in memory, a panel gave the initial vote of approval Thursday to higher tuition at the state's public universities and community colleges, including five institutions whose requests were cut.

By a 4-0 vote, with one member absent, the budget and finance committee of the state Council on Postsecondary Education approved the council staff's tuition recommendations for 2008-2009. It's rare for universities' tuition requests to be denied or even scrutinized to the extent they have been this year, at least since higher education reforms of 1997.

Let’s give credit to the Council on Postsecondary Education for at least trying to do their job.

The blame for rising tuition has a multitude of fathers and a few mothers.

First, we can blame the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky for the almost universal disdain for education. As long as the major and most of the minor institutions provide entertainment with their athletic teams most Kentuckians don’t give a damn about what happens on campus.

Second, the so called representatives of the people in Frankfort who don’t have the cohones to pass a viable revenue bill, and thus creating the budget short fall. I think special recognition should be given to the “NO NEW TAX” crowd that prefers sound bites that appeal the first group above.

Third, the administrators of our institutions of higher learning who place students last on their list of priorities, permit the building of petty fiefdoms, and allow a host of other sins in the name of academic freedom.

I’m not saying to run the Universities like a business, but a little accountability and responsibility would be nice from all concerned

Orwell Would Be Proud

A Tip of the Hat to the Alpha Geek for these gems.

“You are not paranoid if they are out to get you.” Col. Frank Burns

Microsoft Gives Backdoor to Law Enforcement -- Well, Not Really

Admit it. You always thought Microsoft had put a backdoor into its operating system to allow law enforcement agents to worm their way into your computer.

Now the proof is here. At least that's how some readers are interpreting a story out yesterday about a forensic tool that Microsoft is providing crime-stoppers to help them extract evidence from computers seized at crime scenes.

Microsoft device helps police pluck evidence from cyberscene of crime

Microsoft has developed a small plug-in device that investigators can use to quickly extract forensic data from computers that may have been used in crimes.

The COFEE, which stands for Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor, is a USB "thumb drive" that was quietly distributed to a handful of law-enforcement agencies last June. Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith described its use to the 350 law-enforcement experts attending a company conference Monday.

FBI seeks law forcing ISPs to retain data

The United States' top cop told a Congressional committee this week that law enforcement would benefit from a law forcing Internet service providers to hold onto customer data longer.

In comments before the House of Representatives' Committee on the Judiciary, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III told members that Internet service providers (ISPs) should be required to retain the records of what customers did online for longer periods of time. He suggested that records be kept for a minimum of two years, according to a CNET News.com report.

Concerned Kentuckians

Four prominent state Democrats signed a letter, sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.

Four prominent state Democrats signed a letter to U.S. Senate candidate Greg Fischer on Thursday asking him to stop running a negative ad against his rival.

The four -- state Auditor Crit Luallen, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, Attorney General Jack Conway and Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo -- described themselves as "concerned Kentuckians."

They urged Fischer to "remove your personal attack ad from the air immediately, take the high road, and spend the final weeks of the primary running a campaign focused on why you are right for the job, not divisive character attacks that are part of the reason Washington needs to change."

Am I the only person that remembers Lunsford’s campaign against Ben Chandler and then him standing beside Ernie Fletcher.

Fischer’s campaign, in the words of Clint Eastwood, is pretty much a clusterf**k. Bruce doesn’t need these four “concerned Kentuckians” to whip Fischer badly. The smart money says that Mitch McConnell is going to hand Bruce his head in November. So the question is why did they publish this public letter?

Maybe they are trying to suck up to Chuck Schumer or a hoping for Bruce’s money in future elections, who knows.

But I’ll believe that Fischer has really stepped over the line when concerned Democrat Ben Chandler comes to Lunsford’s defense.

Chandler Endorses Obama

Ben Chandler has endorsed Barack Obama.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler said he's ignoring potential political risks to back U.S. Sen. Barack Obama for president -- a decision made after months of mounting and intense pressure.

"I've listened to the man. I have met with him and, like many of you, I am excited by his message of change for the future," Chandler told about 40 Obama supporters Tuesday in Louisville. "I made a decision in my own mind that in this place and this time and in this country, the time was right for Sen. Barack Obama."

The important fact in this story is not that Chandler gives Obama one more super-delegate or that Chandler’s endorsement will swing Indiana voters.

The important fact is that Ben Chandler is notoriously risk adverse. If Chandler learned one thing from his grand-daddy it was how to do political math.

Chandler would never put his political career at risk to endorse a presidential candidate. So this means Ben has done the math, he is certain that Obama will be the party’s candidate.

You can disregard the statements from the Clinton camp as damage control. After all how much credibility can you put to statements from a guy who missed a trip to the big house on a technicality?

“The picture should now be focused on electoral college votes and which one of the candidates is more electable," said Jerry Lundergan, the former state Democratic Party chairman and member of Clinton's national finance team.

Score One for the Guv

From: Patrick, Sue (CPE)
To: Patrick, Sue (CPE)
Sent: Tue Apr 29 16:33:13 2008
Subject: CPE PRESIDENT ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION


COUNCIL ON POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Release Date: April 29, 2008

Contact: Sue Patrick

Phone: 502-573-1555 ext. 308



Note to media—There will be no further comment today from President Cowgill.



STATEMENT OF BRAD COWGILL, PRESIDENT

KENTUCKY COUNCIL ON POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

Today I announce my resignation as president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. I do this for one reason: in the foreseeable future, it would be necessary to devote excessive time and effort to unproductive activities, denying me the satisfaction of fruitful work.



I was drawn to this position by my desire to make a meaningful contribution in aligning the Commonwealth's always-limited resources to our statewide postsecondary education goals.



During my eight month tenure, there has arisen within the Council a consensus agenda that focuses on affordability, performance funding, accountability and the state's Double the Numbers educational attainment goal. The Council determined from my track record here that my experience and qualifications would be a good match with its long-term agenda.



I am not aware of any dissimilarity between the Council's postsecondary education agenda and that of Governor Beshear. Iin the last two weeks, he has shown a determined interest in the Council's presidency, contending that the organization must duplicate last year's search and must exclude me from it.



I have no desire to wage a battle with the Governor over this matter.
It would unduly harm Kentucky's postsecondary education reform efforts, and the positive momentum that has been achieved to this point.



It has been a great pleasure to have had the opportunity to work over the past eight months with a deeply committed staff and outstanding board members. The Council's work is nationally respected and should be a source of great pride to the Commonwealth.



The effective date of my resignation will be worked out with the Council to provide a seamless transition to new leadership.





Sue Patrick, APR
Director of Communications
Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education

1024 Capital Center Drive, Suite 320
Frankfort, KY 40601
502-573-1555, ext. 308

Free Food, Kentucky Style

Let’s talk about stupid for a moment.

Who wants to stand out in the cold and rain for bad food? According to the Herald-Leader, probably about 12,000 people need a free meal.

But there is no such thing as a free lunch or in this case a free breakfast. And guess who gets to pay for it, --- you do.

Serving hours are from 7 to 11 a.m. with about 70 workers from the Kentucky Department of Parks serving more than 2,000 pounds of country ham, 15,000 biscuits and servings of cheese grits, 25,000 scrambled eggs, and 1,200 pounds of sausage.

Now I don’t know how much this little party costs, but looking around the Internet you can get some idea.

Workers from the Kentucky Department of Parks, let’s say they are paid at the mid-point of a grade 10. Food and Dietetic workers pay grades run from grade 6 to grade 16. The mid-point hourly rate for a grade 10 employee is $16.355.

So let’s assume a couple of hours to setup and a couple more to clean up and we have 70 people working 8 hours at $16.355 or $9,158.50 for staff.

Then there is the cost of the breakfast fixin’s:

Kentucky Country Ham, 2,000 pounds at $4.89 a pound would be $9,780.00.

Beaten Biscuits, 15,000 at $3.25 a dozen would be $4,062.50.

Cheese Grits (had to go to Hartford CT to find a link), bulk price 18 servings for $14.95 so let’s call the price of grits at $6,000.00. The price would be less than half the retail price in Hartford,

Eggs, 25,000 at $2.17 a dozen would be $4,520.83.

Sausage, 1,200 lbs at $6.25 per pound would be $7,492.50.

So now we have a projected cost of $41,014.33.

I didn’t figure in the time to setup the tents, or clean up the streets or anything else and we are knocking on the door of $50,000.00.

The only thing more stupid than standing in the rain for cold eggs is spending this amount of money, or any amount of money, for this little show.

I know this is chump change in the state government budget, buy surely to God when you are cutting social programs, don’t you think Steve Beshear could find something better to do with $50,000.00?

Free Rice

For all the Mr. Know It All’s out there here is something fun you can do and it’s for a good cause.

Moral Values and Neurotoxins

Yesterday, I got an email from Jonathan Miller. Well actually I got two emails from Miller’s group the Compassionate Community. I guess the spam software belched, and yes, I did sign up for the group.

The email was hyping Kentucky’s First Lady Jane Beshear and her project of the Green Team and began with this:

Happy Earth Day!

I'm pleased to tell you that in celebration of the holiday, First Lady Jane Beshear just announced her vision to make the Governor's Mansion and all Kentucky homes more energy efficient and environmentally friendly.

The email concludes with a link to a Facebook page:

So, please join us by signing up for the Green Team at greenteam.ky.gov and/or join our Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15267901982.

I know that a lot of the First Ladies have pet projects. The projects allow the First Lady to do “good work” and get good media attention. Usually the projects are more about projecting image that actually accomplishing anything.

I still remember Martha Wilkinson (Wally the Weasel’s wife) poster. Martha, dressed in a 1940’s WAC outfit, was trying to get volunteers for her GED Army.

So a couple of questions:

First, did Miller use this opportunity to touch base with supporters? I don’t understand the use of the Compassionate Community to promote a state government website. Isn’t the standard press release enough? Does the linking of government supported activities and a personal website promoting a book give anyone else heartburn?

Greetings and welcome to The Compassionate Community, where we believe public policy should reflect the fundamental moral value of compassion for others.
On this site, you can:
Order copies of the book (Now in paperback!);

Second, the Facebook page for the Green Team has Jonathan Miller as the creator. Does the Secretary of Finance really have the time to sit around and create a Facebook page? Let’s hope some staffer did the work and just put Miller’s name on the page.

Third, did anyone actually do any research before they put the Green Team web page on the Internet?

One of the tips from the First Lady was to:

Replace regular incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (cfl)

CFLs use 60% less energy than a regular bulb. This simple switch will save about 300 pounds of CO2 a year.

Of course this would be a great idea if there wasn’t that pesky neurotoxin problem:

….the bulbs contain small amounts of mercury, a neurotoxin, and the companies and federal government haven't come up with effective ways to get Americans to recycle them.

I guess the thing that bothers me about this little project isn’t the cause; I’ve been accused of being a liberal tree hugger myself.

What bothers me is the amount of time and effort put forth by Miller and staff on a public relations exercise and the linking of a personal promotion website to a Kentucky government project.

Don’t they have anything else to do?

Doesn’t anyone ever think about how things might look before they do these things?