Archives for November 2002

Clarendon College joined other Texas colleges, universities, and state leaders this month in launching an unprecedented statewide campaign, called College for Texans, to encourage hundreds of thousands of additional people in Texas to pursue higher education over the next decade and more.

CC President Myles Shelton said the campaign has four major goals: Participation, Success, Research, and Excellence. The later two are goals for major universities, but the first two are goals for all colleges and universities in the state.

“If you look at the demographics in Texas between now and 2015, you see a growing population which will participate at the same or lower percentage in higher education,” Shelton said. “Texas is already lower than California, New York, and Florida in terms of the percentage of our population enrolled in college.”

The campaign to increase college enrollment statewide was authorized by the Texas Legislature last year and is directed by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

“Although more people than ever are enrolled in Texas colleges and universities, the increases haven’t kept pace with the state’s population growth, leaving Texas on a path to becoming a less educated, less prosperous state,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Don Brown. “We must close the gaps in student participation and success for all of the state’s people, especially for low-income groups and people in regions of the state with low college-going rates.”

As higher education participation rates and educational attainment decline, average annual household income is projected to fall by an estimated $30 billion to $40 billion statewide by 2030 – with dire effects for Texas families and the state’s economy, according to demographers.

Shelton says the future of the Texas economy is linked to citizens receiving college training and job skills.

“If we don’t increase participation in higher education, then we won’t have a trained workforce, and there is a direct economic impact with not having a trained workforce,” he said. “Those jobs will go somewhere else.”

Only 23.3 percent of the population which is age 25 and older in Donley County has earned a college degree, according to the 2000 US Census. Another 28.5 percent have some college but no degree.

Shelton said surveys show that every dollar invested in a community college education returns $9 in higher future earnings for the individual. Every dollar invested by state and local governments in education returns $18 statewide.

A survey commissioned by the Texas Association of Community Colleges concluded that a better educated Texas could save $276.3 million in improved health and in reduced welfare roles, lower unemployment, and less crime.

Gov. Rick Perry says getting a higher education is also tied to having more opportunities in the future.

“An educated Texan inherits a world of unlimited opportunity, and higher education is critical to achieving higher aspirations,” said Perry. “This campaign will help empower more young Texans to live their dreams by teaching them how to prepare academically and financially for college.”

College for Texans will motivate primary and secondary students to prepare and aim for college and ensure that colleges reach out to embrace those students. The campaign will inspire parents, teachers, and communities to support each child’s aspirations to prepare and enroll in post-secondary education.

“It starts in the public schools with making the college preparatory program the standard program and recruiting and retaining qualified teachers,” Shelton said.

College for Texans is designed to give all people, especially families without any higher education experience, information about the value of higher education, the preparation needed to participate and succeed in college, and ways to find financial aid or otherwise pay for college. The campaign is aimed at helping bring 300,000 additional academically prepared people – beyond the 200,000 additional students expected to enroll based on current trends – into higher education by 2015.

“I think the College for Texans plan is necessary for Texas and will benefit Clarendon College,” Shelton said. “It’s necessary for us to have an educated workforce. We’ve got to communicate to current and future students that success in the future is going to be based on further training beyond just a high school diploma.”

By Cheryl Johnson, Clarendon Enterprise

The second annual Donley County Old Fashioned Christmas Celebration will be held on Saturday, December 7, 2002, in Clarendon.  The event is sponsored by the Donley County Tourism Council.

The day begins at 9:00 a.m. with the Breakfast with the Star at the Community Fellowship Church.  They will tell a story to the children, sing songs, and make crafts. 

Downtown merchants and businesses around town will hold special sales beginning at 10:00 that morning.

The Family Treasure Hunt will also begin at 10:00 a.m. at the Burton Memorial Library. Children can pick up their map at the library and visit each merchant for a special treasure.  The hunt will continue until noon. The library will also host a homemade cookie walk at 10:00 a.m., kids craft corral, and storytime.

A Charity Tree Forest display will be set up at the Downtown Ministries Building from 10:00 to 1:00 with information on the Charity Tree Forest.  Businesses, organizations, and individuals are encouraged to purchase a tress, decorate it, and then donate it to an organization or individual of their choice.  More information will be available at the display. 

Nightwinder will be providing entertainment at the Downtown Ministries Buildling from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

A craft show, cake walk, face painting, and concessions will be open to the public at 10:00 a.m. at the Old Gym.  KEFH will hold a live remote broadcast from the location.  Hay rides will ferry shoppers from the activities downtown to the craft show all afternoon. Crafters are still needed for the show.  For more information on the craft show, contact Dawn Watson at 874-2141.

The Clarendon College Nursing School in downtown Clarendon will hold a bake and craft show Saturday morning.  They will do free blood pressure checks.

Kids can have their picture made with Santa at Janie’s Beauty Shop.  Poor Boy’s Antiques will host an Art and Quilt Show from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The Chamber of Commerce Open House will also be held during the celebration.

By Cheryl Johnson, Clarendon Enterprise

The Howardwick Beautification Club will light up the Nativity Scene at the Howardwick City Park this Sunday, December 1.

The First United Methodist Church Youth Band will provide entertainment. Rev. Genoa Goad of the Howardwick Baptist Church will give the invocation. Refreshments will be served at Howardwick City Hall immediately following. The public is invited.

The club will also hold a Christmas Lighting Contest for the residents of Howardwick.  Entry forms are available from Peggy Cockerham, and the deadline to enter is December 6.  Entries will be judged on December 8.

Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District personnel will present information at the Claude Activity Barn in Armstrong County on Thursday, December 12 at noon.

PGCD personnel presented information on the 2002 Rainfall Enhancement Program, which ended on September 30, 2002, at the “Range Management Conference” in Wheeler, on October 24 and to a gathering of Roberts County landowners on October 25.

These meetings are designed to present results of the 2002 season and to receive comments and inputs from District residents.

The meeting will be in conjunction with the Armstrong County Extension Service’s “Fall Producers Meeting, and those planning to partake of the meal need to RSVP to 226-3021.

Additional presentations will be given in each county throughout the District in the near future.  PGCD invites everyone to attend one or more of these presentations. 

The district is interested in the community’s comments and would like to share their data with everyone.

Donley County met with a reversal of fortune of the best kind last week with the news it had successfully met the requirements of a $50,000 challenge grant.

The challenge grant came from an anonymous Texas-based foundation which earlier this year donated $100,000 to the restoration of the 1890 courthouse.

Donations from local individuals, businesses, and organizations, as well as a supplemental grant of $185,000 from the state, have more than satisfied the requirements of the challenge grant. Donley County received the $50,000 check last week.

“We’re really happy and fortunate to have these funds because it is going to allow us to add some additional stonework to the project,” said County Judge Jack Hall. “We’re just very pleased.”

The new funds together with $350,000 in additional tax notes issued by the county this fall have placed the county in the position of having an estimated $326,000 in excess funds for the project.

Hall said the county hopes to use part of that money for debt reduction but also wants to take care of some work that is not currently called for in the project such as sidewalk repair and replacement.

Commissioners met Monday to consider what if anything should be added to the project now that extra funds are available.

“It’s just human nature that if you don’t do things now on this project, they will probably never get done,” said grant administrator John Kiehl of the Panhandle Regional Planning Commission.

The Commissioners’ Court discussed using the $50,000 challenge grant to replace or repair the worst of the deteriorating stonework on the building. The original scope of work called for repairing all the bad stones, but that part of the project was eliminated last year when the sole bid for the job came in nearly $1 million over budget.

Commissioners also discussed repairing the large stained glass window on the east side of the building and restoring artwork on original vault doors. Both items were eliminated from the project last year. A flood lighting system for the exterior of the building and a speaker system for the district courtroom were mentioned as other priorities which need to be added to the project.

Judge Jack Hall said commissioners also need to consider refinishing antique furniture for the building and preparing a display cabinet for relics found during the restoration.

“I believe that all the furniture which has come out of that building needs to be sanded, stained, varnished, and put back into the courthouse,” Hall said.

Some original courthouse furnishings are currently in the Courthouse Annex or other offices, and other pieces are in storage.

Commissioners agreed that professional services would be needed for the top priority items of the stained glass window repair, the vault door preservation, the exterior up-lighting, the speaker system, and the stone rehabilitation work. Other items such as furniture repair and restoration and window treatments might be done cheaper using local firms and talent.

The court will meet in a called session in conjunction with the contractor’s next construction update conference to discuss added priorities for the project. A date for that meeting had not been set at press time.

Clarendon College officials broke ground last Thursday on a new dormitory complex which will increase the number of beds for on-campus students by 37 percent.

The new facility, located on the southwestern side of the campus along Clarendon Avenue will house 80 students and will be set up as suites. Rooms will be open to the outside, and every two rooms will share a bathroom. The facility will house both men and women.

CC President Myles Shelton said if the new residence hall gets filled with 80 new students, it would increase overall enrollment on the home campus by 20 to 25 percent.

CC currently has a problem housing existing students with more signing up to live on campus than there are beds available, and the shortage was expected to worsen without the new facility. A new Lady Bulldog softball program is expected to attract between 25 and 30 new students, an Equine Science program will draw about 40 students, and the addition of Intercollegiate Rodeo should bring in 50 to 60 students.

The $2 million facility is being financed with revenue bonds, which are paid for by student fees. No tax dollars will are being expended on the project.

Officials expect the residence hall to be completed by the fall 2003 semester.

Also on Thursday, CC Regents met in a called session and gave approval for the construction of a new equine center to be built on the western side of campus along US 287. All regents voted in favor of the center except Jim Blackerby, who abstained.

The center will be a metal building, 230’ wide and 320’ long, and will cost an estimated $728,873.

The cost does not include stands, stalls, or arena equipment. It will take an additional $250,000 to bring the center up to a fully operational status.

Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander delivered $368.9 million in monthly sales tax payments to local governments last week.

Rylander sent sales tax rebates of $252.3 million to Texas cities and $20.2 million to Texas counties. Seventy-four special purpose taxing districts received $9.8 million, and Texas’ six metropolitan transit authorities and two city transit departments received $86.5 million in sales tax revenue.

Local rebates were mostly down with Clarendon dropping 13.87 percent to $23,665.88 and Hedley dropping 33.75 percent to $608.92. Howardwick was up from $1,095.15 for the same period one year ago to $1,446.45 this year

November sales tax rebates include local sales taxes collected in September by monthly filers and in July, August and September by quarterly filers, and reported to the Comptroller in October. The state’s share of sales tax reported during this period was $1.1 billion.