Gary Goff
Public receptions will be held Monday, Oct. 8, for Roane State Community College President Gary Goff, who is retiring Oct. 31 after leading the college for seven years.
One reception will be held at the Roane County campus in Harriman, and the other will be at the Oak Ridge campus.
The reception at the Roane County campus will be from 10:30 a.m.-noon in the administrative area of the Dunbar Building. It will be on the building’s second floor, near the president’s office.
Oak Ridge school board members sidestepped a potentially controversial policy change on Monday that would have given them the right to restrict cameras and video recorders that are used disruptively.
The five-member Oak Ridge Board of Education had been scheduled to consider a policy change that said it “reserves the right to restrict the use of cameras, camcorders, or other photographic equipment that interferes or disrupts a board meeting.”
That was a watered-down version of a policy change recommended by the Tennessee School Boards Association. The original version said “No one shall bring a camera, camcorder, or other photographic equipment to board meetings without the consent of the board.”
Chris Whaley
After a nationwide search, a state education official has recommended that Roane State Community College pick one of its own executives to be the next president.
Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor John Morgan has recommended that Chris Whaley, Roane State’s vice president of student learning and chief academic officer, be appointed to the job, TBR said in a news release Monday.
The board of Regents could consider the appointment during a 3 p.m. Oct. 1 teleconference.
Astronaut Bernard A. Harris Jr., right, talks to Scott Wood, an Oak Ridge National Laboratory computer analyst and Roane State Community College observatory volunteer, after a Friday morning talk at ORNL.
He had prepared for this space mission for years, starting as a boy fascinated by the Apollo program and continuing through rigorous astronaut training.
Still, as Bernard A. Harris Jr. stepped out of the space shuttle Discovery in 1995—the first African-American to walk in space—he hesitated, afraid he might get sucked out of the craft’s air lock and fall 250 miles to Earth.
Holy cow, Harris thought as the Earth flew by far below at 17,500 miles per hour.
“I am really doing this,” Harris recalled thinking. “It was just incredible.”
The parent-teacher organization at Grand Oaks Elementary School is raising money for fifth-graders to go to Washington, D.C., for an AAA Safety Patrol Trip.
To raise money, the PTO is hosting a rummage sale early next month. It will be held at Grand Oaks Elementary School from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Oct. 6.
A “Meet the Candidates” event next month will feature candidates for Oak Ridge City Council and Oak Ridge Board of Education.
The Oct. 9 event is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. in the A/B Room of the Oak Ridge Civic Center. It’s open to the public and sponsored by Democracy for East Tennessee.
Note: This story was updated at 4:06 p.m.
There are 17 candidates eligible for election to 10 city council seats in Oak Ridge, Norris, and Lake City in the Nov. 6 election.
There are also nine candidates in a special election for Anderson County Commission District 3. Commissioner Johnny Alley gave up that seat after he became Anderson County property assessor in the Aug. 2 election.
In addition, there are three candidates for Oak Ridge Board of Education and one candidate for Oak Ridge City Judge.
The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 8. Early voting starts Oct. 17 and runs through Nov. 1, Anderson County Election Commission Administrator Mark Stephens said Thursday.
A consortium led by Roane State Community College received a $12.6 million federal grant to offer more training for health care careers and help students finish their degrees, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Wednesday.
The announcement included $500 million in grants for community colleges and universities across the country. The Roane State consortium was one of 27 funded nationwide, Roane State President Gary Goff said in a press release.
East Tennessee teachers accept more than $36,000 in education grants from Oak Ridge Associated Universities during a ceremony last week. (Photo submitted by ORAU)
Oak Ridge Associated Universities awarded more than $36,000 to about two dozen East Tennessee teachers during a grants ceremony last week.
The grants were used to buy educational materials and equipment such as interactive white boards, iPads, robotics kits, computers, and more. The equipment will help teachers “continue to meet rigorous, state-wide curriculum standards and enhance the learning experience of their students,” a press release said.
The grants were awarded to 23 teachers from 15 schools during the 11th annual ORAU Education Grants ceremony.
Nine students pursuing master’s degrees in business administration at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville will work at the Y-12 National Security Complex while they complete their studies, thanks to a partnership between the two institutions called the Career Advantage Program, a press release said.
The program participants include six Class of 2013 MBA students: Lee Creviston of Brentwood, Bill Fortunato of Knoxville, Logan Howell of Mascot, Mike Koban of Nashville, Kelcee Ramsey of Oak Ridge, and Nick Tussing of Centennial, Colo.
In addition, three Class of 2012 students are continuing from last year: Chris Hurley of Delbarton, W.Va.; Aaron Jacques of Murfreesboro; and Melissa Tucker of Knoxville, the press release said.
A research team at the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory will receive $4.1 million during the next five years to study materials used in nuclear fusion reactors.
The funding is part of a larger $11.5 million U.S. Department of Energy project that includes seven other laboratories and universities across the country.
The goal is to help convert nuclear fusion, which promises an “almost limitless supply of clean and safe energy,” into a practical, commercial power source, a UT press release said.
The Oak Ridge Education Association will host a public forum for five Tennessee House of Representatives candidates on Wednesday.
Three of the candidates—Democrat Jack McNew, Independent Allen Cole, and Republican Kent Calfee— are seeking seats in Tennessee’s District 32. That district includes Roane County and part of Loudon County. The seat has been held for one term by Lenoir City Republican Julia Hurley, who lost to Calfee in the Aug. 2 primary.
The other two candidates—Clinton Democrat Jim Hackworth and Oak Ridge Republican John R. Ragan—are battling to represent District 33, which includes most of Anderson County.
