East Arkansas Community College has announced an 11.7 percent enrollment increase for the spring semester.
"Our enrollment in credit courses for last year at this time was 1,299," said Dr. Coy Grace, EACC president. "This year we have an official enrollment of 1,451."
The two-year school's SSCH (Student Semester Credit Hours) is 13,031 for this semester, which is also an increase over last year by 11.8 percent. It was also reported that the student FTE (Full Time Equivalencies) has also increased by 11.8 percent over the spring semester of 2001.
"We're really excited and pleased at this terrific increase in students and the number of semester hours they are taking," said Grace.
Grace said that the way the state calculates funding for higher education is to base it on the FTE figures, not the total head count in credit courses or non-credit courses.
"Although we are elated about the total number of students on our campus, the really significant numbers are those that reflect he FTE, as far as funding from the state is concerned," he said.
The way the FTE is reached is to take the total number of student credit hours in a semester and divide it by 15, which is the average academic load for a full-time student. For a full year, the total number of credit hours is divided by 30.
According to Grace, based on current trends, EACC should expect to have about 1,000 FTE for the 2001-2002 academic year, which includes summer students.
"EACC offers students a quality educational experience with caring teaches for a very reasonable tuition," Grace said. "I am pleased that our enrollment numbers reflect such a significant increase. Education benefits the entire community, not just the individual student. An educated workforce is the key to a community's productivity and growth."
The city of Wheatley will begin issuing domesticated animal licenses starting Friday, March 1. The town recently passed a new "dog ordinance," which applies to all animals in the city, domesticated or not.
The new law was in response to complaints about animals running at large through the city.
"We have had a big problem, yes, but it's beginning to get better," said Wheatley Mayor Larry Nash, who added that most people are in favor of the new, strict ordinance.
"Some people have been fussing a little bit, but the big majority of people are happy with it, if we can just get it enforced."
Nash said proper enforcement would be the key.
"We're going to try to take care of the dogs that are running loose," he said. "We've had a lot of trouble with dogs being out, scaring kids and chasing people."
The ordinance requires proof of rabies vaccinations, or owners risk paying a fine of up to $1,000 for each offense. There will also be a fine of up to $500 for failure to obtain a dog license.
The license fee will be less for animals which have been spayed or neutered. An animal which is spayed or neutered will carry a license fee of $5 for the first animal and $3 for each additional animal. Otherwise, the cost is $30 for the first animal and $25 for each additional animal.
Nash said forms for city dog tags aren't ready yet, "but will be in a few days."
There will be city animal pound, and Wheatley Chief of Police Bill Talley will be the animal control officer.
According to the ordinance, the animal control officer will have the authority to seize all animals which are in violation of the ordinance, and states that he can enter any unfenced lot, tract, or parcel of land within the corporate city limits to do so
Owners of impounded dogs may reclaim them, for a fee of $20 for the first time, with the amount increasing. Unvaccinated animals will require a bond of $100, refundable if he animal is vaccinated within 48 hours.
Owners have five days to reclaim their animals, after which the dogs may be disposed of or sold.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
In the end, I was the one who received the most."
That is the assessment by Brenda Caldwell, pharmacy director at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City, after returning from a week-long trip to Honduras.
This was no vacation, no sight-seeing tour. This was a working trip, a medical and dental mission, with the slogan, "Medicine -- the magnet that draws people to Christ."
A team of about 30 people, mostly from Baptist churches in Arkansas and Mississippi, spent about a week in Honduras. The team included two pharmacists, three physicians, seven nurses, and two dentists. The others included volunteers who came along to help, including Honduran college students who acted as interpreters.
Caldwell said she had been on a similar mission about 10 years ago, to Venezuela. A friend who was with her on that occasion informed her that a group was being assembled for Honduras. She decided to try and make the trip.
"We flew in to the capital city of Tegucigalpa. They have a mission house there and we stayed there," said Caldwell.
The next morning, they were taken to a field site. What they found was a different world from what most folks in this country are accustomed to. Sanitation, plumbing and electricity were rare, where they existed at all.
"This was in the mountain area, and it gets pretty cold at night," she said, adding that the living conditions were not what Americans would consider up to snuff. "In the village where we were, only part of it had electricity."
The water system consisted simply of whatever people could get, and there was no water purification plant. The result was a lot of bacteria and parasites in the water. "We took our own water," she said.
The clinic was set up in a school building. They were not equipped for emergency treatment, so what they saw was a lot of chronic complaints. Some were the same kinds of problems one might encounter in a family clinic in Forrest City. Others were different.
"A lot of the health problems were common colds, aches and pains. Of course, they all had parasites and they all took worm medicine," she said. "Everybody got parasite medicine, and we would have them take the medicine right there, to make sure they'd take it."
Many elderly people came. "Some had walked four or five hours." Blood pressure problems and diabetes were common.
"And everyone got vitamins. And if they were pregnant, they got vitamins plus iron and folic acid. For children there were chewables. And for small children and infants, there were liquid vitamins.
All was packaged up with instructions in Spanish.
Word seemed to have gotten out that there were doctors and medicine at this place, because of the numbers of people who showed up. It bore out the truth of the slogan that medicine could be a magnet.
The only requirement for people to see the doctors or nurses was that they attend an evangelistic service.
"There was a small Baptist Church there and he people from the church helped us to register people," said Caldwell. "Each patient would register at the church and attend a service where the Gospel was preached in Spanish, prior to coming to the clinic."
There were six or seven services a day, and the clinic was open from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. Some of the people saw nurses only. Others were passed on to the physicians. Along with the medicines, about 400 pairs of eyeglasses were given out.
In all, there were 1,811 patents, with 490 children. Almost 9,000 prescriptions were given.
In addition, there were 848 tooth extractions.
"I never realized this. You don't think about people being sick because they have rotten teeth," she said. "The life expectancy in a lot of those places is 10 years less because of poor dental care."
"If we held the clinic here in the States, all goods and services could be valued at around $80,000," said Caldwell.
And did the "magnet" work, beyond getting people to come for health care? Some 4,000 tracts were given out, along with 700 New Testaments. And there were 310 professions of faith -- professions of faith which may not have been made, had the medical professionals not made their trip.
Caldwell said she would like to go again next year if she can.
"We were truly blessed. These people are really, really poor. I don't see how they live at all. Their houses have no bathroom facilities and very few have electricity. And they were very excited to have medical people there. There are a lot of things we take for granted.
"The work was steady," she continued. "You were weary, but it's a different kind of weary, because you're helping people. It was a unique experience, where I could use my professional job to make a difference both physically and spiritually."
The deadline to sign up for the 2002 Forrest City youth baseball and softball program is Monday, March 4.
Fees are $15 for those youths living inside the city limits, and $25 for youths living outside the city limits.
After Monday, late sign ups will be held through Monday, March 11, from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. each day at the Forrest City City Hall.
A late fee of $5 will be added making the entry fees $20 and $30 for each child.
For more information, call FC Recreation Director Kenneth Taylor at FC City Hall at 633-3667.
The sign ups for the adult men's and women's softball league continues through April 1.
A Forrest City teenager was sentenced Wednesday to 30 years in prison for murder.
Markcus Greer, 18, Forrest City, plead guilty to the shooting death of Arthur Lee Humphrey. Humphrey was shot several times during a disturbance last July at Lucas Pool Room on Highway 261 West in Caldwell.
Also during circuit court hearings Wednesday at the St. Francis County Courthouse, a Proctor man was sentenced to prison on drug charges.
William D. Allensworth Jr., 41, was sentenced to five years in prison on a variety of charges stemming from a July 2001 arrest.
The 13th annual POPS and MOMS Banquet will be held Saturday, March 23, at the Forrest City Civic Center, beginning at 7 p.m.
The guest speaker will be former U.S. Senator David Pryor.
Tickets may be purchased from any member. For more information, contact Willie Whitley at 633-2775 or Glenn Ford at 633-7618.