By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The final enrollment for the spring semester at East Arkansas Community College stands at 1,299, a 12 percent increase over the spring semester of 2000.
Vice President for Student Affairs Catherine Coleman said the report would have been given sooner, but the board didn't meet at its regular time.
She also reported an increase in early enrollment for the two summer terms and next fall. The current enrollment for the Summer 1 term is 108, up from 51 last year. The Summer 2 term has 47 enrollees, up from 24 a year ago. In addition, 101 people have registered early for the fall semester, up from 53 at this time last year.
Coleman said she believed the steep increase is due to a greater awareness of the benefits of early registration, rather than a doubling of enrollment.
"I think it's people getting accustomed to registering early and getting the classes they want," she said.
On another matter, Beverly Hancock a faculty member, gave an update on some of the new features of distance learning and the Media Center in the new LRC.
She said the last hardware and software has been received to complete the multi-media lab.
"This lab combines video, audio, still pictures and text into a presentation that can be distributed," she said.
Students will be able to use the system for projects. A VHS tape, for instance, can be digitized onto a computer, be edited and saved either to a home page, a compact disc or even on VHS tape. There are also scanners to digitize photographs. Area businesses can also use the lab, for instance, to produce its own electronic catalog for distribution to potential customers.
The distance learning capability allows an instructor to teach a class in several different locations simultaneously.
Hancock will also be among those traveling to Norton Radstock College in Bath, England later this year. She said part of her job will be to help set up a media center at Norton Radstock. She said this would be a challenge because none of the software is the same.
"Right now I am learning as much as possible about how to do it a different way," she said.
The board also approved the 2001 academic calendar and holiday schedule for the school. Two recommendations for employment were also approved: Beatrice McEwen as an SSS Learning/Transfer specialist and Debbie Young as a secretary for the Department of Allied Health and Science. The board also accepted the resignation of Claudia Farr, a maintenance worker.
EACC President Dr. Coy Grace reported that the school's latest audit had no write-ups, and congratulated everyone on their record-keeping.
Grace, who had spent a lot of time in Little Rock during the legislative session, said the school did not get the funding hoped for, but added that not many state agencies did get everything they wanted.
"In terms of funding, it was a disappointing session for higher education, and I think that comment would be reflected by most of my colleagues around the state," he said. He also said a study was being made on tuition and a recommendation would be made at a later date.
The board appointed Sam Blount of Marianna to the EACC Foundation Board.
The board also went into executive session, after which it approved a contract extension for Grace for another two years, to June 30, 2003. This also includes a 2.8 percent raise in pay.
Also, board member Kevin Jumper announced that he was moving and was resigning from the board. He asked to make some remarks, and said he wanted to challenge the school to keep up with new technology. He said that was one of the most important things the school could offer.
Citizens of St. Francis County can use Wednesday this week not only as a day to empty files for recycling, but to also experience the benefits of Northeast Arkansas Recycling at the Forrest City Civic Center.
NEARCO, the City of Forrest City and the East Arkansas Solid Waste District is sponsoring the first "Clean Out Your Files Day."
According to County Judge Carl Cisco there will be boxes located at the Civic Center not only for white office paper but also for newspaper and cardboard boxes which means that individuals as well as business owners are encouraged to bring any excess paper products to the event.
"We're calling it 'Clean Out Your Files Day' but we want everyone to take the opportunity to come out and bring paper products that aren't useful and dispose of them. We will have a box set up to receive newspaper and a box for cardboard and we will also be shredding office paper so really it's an opportunity for everyone to just do a little cleaning," said Cisco.
Participants for tomorrow are asked to observe the following guidelines: Remove all paper from filing folders; the filing folders can then be reused or they can be brought to the collection center in a separate box or container for recycling. White office paper should be brought to the recycling trailer at the Forrest City Civic Center.
According to Cisco the event, which the East Arkansas Planning and Development District has been planning for nearly three months, will be the first of what he hopes will be many opportunities for the county to increase the number of people utilizing NEARCO's services.
"This is a good way to clean up and help the environment and keep some of this stuff out of the landfills. We received a lot of help from the Planning and Development District on this because they are working to increase recycling in all of the counties in eastern Arkansas. We're one of the first to have this type of event because we're a little ahead of some of the other counties in the district but we still have work to do to improve our services," said Cisco.
According to Cisco part of those improvements may eventually be recycling bins that would be distributed at strategic locations throughout the county.
"We're looking to the future and continuing to try to make improvements in what we offer in the county. In some other counties they already have the bins which are placed near schools or other places that receive a lot of traffic and it allows people to bring plastics and paper and cardboard and get rid of it safely once a month. We would like to move ours around from month to month once we get them so that everyone in the county could be serviced," Cisco said.
The schedule for "Clean Out Your Files Day" is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information about the event, call 630-0357.
A Brinkley woman is suing a major automobile manufacturer following an accident in which five members of her family were killed in 1999.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Little Rock on behalf of Cassandra Winslow against General Motors Corp.
Winslow and her husband, Terrance, were enroute to Forrest City at the time of the accident on Dec. 14, 1999. Family members said the parents were taking their children to day care before going to work at a Forrest City manufacturing plant.
Cassandra Winslow was driving the van when she swerved to avoid hitting a dog that had darted into the van's path on Highway 70 near Wheatley. The van skidded across the highway into a creek, trapping Terrance Winslow and the couple's four children, one-year-old twins, a four-year-old and a seven-year-old.
The lawsuit claims GM should have warned consumers of problems that would arise if the 1992 Chevrolet Lumina van was submerged. The lawsuit blames General Motors for failing to provide an emergency window-breaking device as standard equipment.
According to the lawsuit, all of the van's occupants were conscious when the vehicle began sinking.
The suit claims the parents could not open the front doors or the rear door because of unequal water pressure. The father then tried to knock out the rear side windows. But as the van filled with water, it started a nose-down movement, and Terrance Winslow instructed his wife to exit a front side window to get help. However, the suit claims, she got stuck in the window opening and could not get out without help from a rescuer.
Just as she exited the van, the vehicle became completely submerged, and the entire family drowned, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit, which seeks monetary damages, has been assigned to U.S. District Judge James M. Moody.
As a deadline of May 2 approaches, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Fire Administration have voiced concern over the low number of applications for the new Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program.
The application period opened April 2.
Danny Ferguson, a state representative and also executive director of the Forrest City Chamber of Commerce, said that as of April 16, there had only been 250 applications submitted. The Fire Grant appropriation is $100 million.
According to FEMA, there are more than 30,000 fire departments eligible to submit applications. These include fire departments in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The Fire Grants are matching grants, with the local entity required to provide a 10 percent match of non-federal funds.
The grants can be used to train firefighting personnel, to establish wellness and fitness programs for personnel, to buy firefighting vehicles (no more than 25 percent of the appropriated amount may be used to purchase vehicles), to buy equipment, including protective equipment and to fund fire prevention programs.
The maximum grant which can be received is $750,000 in a fiscal year.
Grant applications should be mailed to: USFA Grant Program Technical Assistance Center, 16825 Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, Md, 21727-8898. More information on the grant program is available at www.usfa.fema.gov.grants or through a toll-free information line at 866-274-0960 or by sending an e-mail to usfagrants@fema.gov.
According to Ferguson, anyone who has trouble accessing the FEMA website can call the Arkansas Department of Rural Services at 1-888-787-2527.
A Madison teenager has been arrested for rape.
The 16-year-old boy was arrested Monday on the charge of rape involving a 12-year-old Madison girl.
The rape allegedly occurred during January in Madison.
The teenager was charged following an investigation conducted by the Family Protection Unit of the Arkansas State Police.